Oh Freedom!... MLK and Guantanamo Bay

This song has been running in my mind this week... hum along with me!
(and if you don't know it, click the song to the right)

Oh, freedom,
Oh, freedom,
Oh freedom over me.
And before I'd be a slave
I'd be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free.
No more moanin' etc.
No more weepin' etc.
No more shootin' etc.
There'll be singing etc

I like the version by Joan Baez because its the one I know best but I just found the David Axelrod version- excellent! This is an old folk song from the time of slavery that was then used in the civil rights movement and is still used today.

And what a week it's been:

Monday- the yearly tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.
An American hero of civil rights, peace and change through non-violence. Marco and I visited the King Center and his family home in Atlanta, GA a few years ago:

The King family had a nice house in an all black (segregated of course) area of Atlanta. This is where he first learned to dream and build his strong beliefs about truth, justice and nonviolence

shotgun style houses across the street

me looking terribly serious (and sad?). The quote is good though:
I have nothing new to teach the world;
Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills

The other day a member of Vincent House wore a T-shirt with this quote on it- a reference of course to Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, I like it!

Rosa sat so Martin could walk.
Martin walked so Obama could run.
Obama ran so our children can fly!

Tuesday- Obama is our new president, a swell of idealism makes tears come to my eyes as I desire to believe his eloquent words
Among others...
"To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."
Will this be true?

Wed- Guantanamo Bay closing it's doors on the shame that it has been.

Will human rights come to stand for something?

Can all our advancement, technology, consumption and prosperity be directed toward something positive, wholesome and compassionate in this world?

....

Sigh... my optimism and my cynicism are especially at odds with themselves these days.
I'm really not expecting miracles, but I do think some small but real change is coming. Right?
:)