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Wish you were here

A lot has already been written about the momentous event and "story" of Obama becoming US president. There is no denying it on so many levels.

Perhaps one of the best pieces encapsulating how historic it is, and the context in the lifetimes of many of us, comes from Bob Herbert, himself Afro-American, writing his regular op-ed piece in the NY Times [republished in the IHT]:

"And so it has happened, this very strange convergence. The holiday celebrating the birth of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became, in the midnight hour, the day that America inaugurated its first black president.

It's a day on which smiles give way to tears and then return quickly to smiles again, a day of celebration and reflection.

King would have been 80 years old now. He came to national prominence not trying to elect an African-American president, but just trying to get us past the depraved practice of blacks being forced to endure the humiliation of standing up and giving their seat on a bus to a white person, some man or woman or child.

Get up, girl. Get up, boy.

King was just 26 at the time, a national treasure in a stylish, broad-brimmed hat. He was only 39 when he was killed, eight years younger than Obama is now."

Do read this insightful piece here.

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