The Magic of Overcoming

I took my kids to see Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary) sing this evening. Before the concert began, he spent some time talking to the crowd about the election, politics and change. The staff person who introduced him talked about how he marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. and how now, at this historic time, he’s still singing for peace, love and community. When we sang “We Shall Overcome,” I was fighting back tears. We have overcome. Sure, things aren’t perfect, but I never thought I’d see a black (woo-hoo, biracial) president.

I am not on any Obama bandwagon. As I mentioned earlier, I’m suspicious of politicians as a general rule. It’s not politics that brought tears to my eyes when I realized that Obama had won. It’s CHANGE. It’s PROGRESS. It’s PRIDE. It’s our country voting past color lines (in both directions).

Anyway, tonight my son sang with Peter Yarrow. He has just turned three and it was well past bedtime, and yet he stood in front of a room full of people and belted out the lyrics to Puff the Magic Dragon when Peter held the mic out to him. I was so proud of him. Peter asked Bug how old he is, and Bug said, “Free.”

Free. And he is. Bug can go wherever he wants. He can marry whoever he wants (we’re in Massachusetts – yay!). He can be a doctor, a musician, an engineer, a painter, a nobel prize winner. He can be president. And you know what? LadyBug (who isn’t yet “free”) can, too. How amazing is that?