When I went to vote on Tuesday, I brought Nate with me. As we walked through the parking lot, we heard singing. A woman was singing. A black woman was singing. She was singing a spiritual\u2014a song of hope and faith. And she was walking slowly towards the polling place.<\/p>\n
I stopped to let her go by. I turned to Nate, tears in my eyes, and said, “Remember this. Remember that woman, and her song.”<\/p>\n
Of course, he asked why, but I didn’t want to explain the historical significance of the moment. He is five years old, and he lost a big chunk of his innocence when he lost his mom. I don’t think he needs to know about slavery just yet. I don’t know if he could understand. I don’t know if he would believe me.<\/p>\n
We have done so very many things to be ashamed of.<\/p>\n
He will learn history, in time. But for now, I am proud that Nathaniel has no idea why a black woman voting for a black man should be at all noteworthy. For him, this is the way things have always been.<\/p>\n
And I am terribly, terribly proud that I lived to see this day.<\/p>\n
It gives me just a little bit of hope for the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I went to vote on Tuesday, I brought Nate with me. As we walked through the parking lot, we heard singing. A woman was singing. A black woman was singing. She was singing a spiritual\u2014a song of hope and faith. And she was walking slowly towards the polling place. I stopped to let her … Continue reading Higher and higher<\/span>