It happened this way. At a town hall meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida, Obama responded to a young heckler who took him to task for supposedly not doing enough for black people. After detailing specific actions he’s taken, he ended by saying, “The only way we’re going to be able to solve our problems in this country is if all of us come together: black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, old, young, disabled, gay, straight.” DISABLED? Did he really say “disabled”?
He did—and all of a sudden I understood why it had meant so much to a friend with multiple sclerosis some years ago when Jesse Jackson had a silver stripe—for chrome wheelchairs—included in his rainbow. Howard kept saying, “He knows we’re out here, he knows we’re out here.”
Now I knew what he meant, because Obama was talking about me. I matter. People like me matter to the possible future President of the United States.
And today, as I kept reciting the list, which I’ve memorized like a mantra, I realized it’s not just a list of the excluded or the marginalized. More important it’s a list of the people who belong, who have to be counted—and that includes disabled people.
It’s been hard to come out, as it were, as a disabled person, despite the fact of that disability being so very obvious. But if Barack Obama knows me well enough to make me cry, I might as well “stand up” and be counted.
I think they were tears of joy.
Note: The photograph "Obama '08" appears in my photostream at Flickr.com.
2 comments:
And it makes me cry that Obama made you cry. Why didn't he include women and men? Oh well, he's still a star.
You can get yourself a free Obama pin at moveon.org. Just what you need to circle that stripe. Perhaps the rainbow flag should be polka dots.
Go girl.
Janet
I'm glad that you feel included, Lynn. And I'm glad that you are "out"--with your writing, your photography, and your feelings, sharing your unique and incredibly creative perspective with the rest of us so that we can learn from you.
All of us--whatever our gender, orientation, relative physical or mental capabilities--have valuable gifts to offer and receive from each other, and I feel particularly enriched when I look at and read yours.
Jon
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