Pearls of Heritage

I want to record this link to the article about the pearls that Kamala Harris and others are wearing pearls this week. Other commentators have talked about them, but none as eloquently as this article does.  https://www.poet nytimes.com/2021/01/19/style/inaugurations-pearls-kamala-harris.html

To quote the article:  

"430,000 women who are members of a Facebook group called “Wear Pearls on Jan 20 2021.” The idea is to honor Kamala Harris who wore her signature pearls when she graduated Howard University, was sworn into Congress, grilled Brett Kavanaugh, debated Vice President Mike Pence, as she received her Covid-19 vaccine and again on Inauguration Day when she was sworn in as the country’s first female vice president."

“They represent sisterhood,” said Darnell-Jamal Lisby, a fashion historian. 

"The group was started in early December by Hope Aloaye, 46, a retired Navy chief who lives in Orange Park, Fla. “I woke up and thought, ‘We need to come together as women not just to celebrate Kamala Harris, but ourselves,’” 

“I love the solidarity,” she said. “We are doing something together for once, and it’s why I keep engaging.”

"Other women have used the inauguration as an opportunity to search for long lost pearls that have been passed down through their family. Jacqueline Richardson, 70, who is now retired but used to work for the state of Maryland, has been looking for the pair her mother gave her when she graduated high school." When I read these and other pieces of that article, I was touched that the hearts of the children are turning to their fathers. We are celebrating humanity, and womanhood, in coming together, even across the divides of party lines. 

I was touched with the Inagural ceremonies for this president, even though I didn't vote for him. I appreciated especially the silent prayer he asked for during his first speech as President. I was touched that He would be humble enough to recognize that we need Heavenly help! I was touched by the singing of Amazing Grace following his speech, and then the poem of this beautiful 22 year old girl.  Here is an article about her presentation https://www.kold.com/2021/01/24/amanda-gormans-inaugural-poem-inspires-next-generation-poets/

Because I am not sure how long these links will be valid, I will include the transcript of Amanda's poem here: 

Read a transcript of the full poem below.

When day comes we ask ourselves,

where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry,

a sea we must wade.

We've braved the belly of the beast,

We've learned that quiet isn't always peace,

and the norms and notions

of what just is

isn't always just-ice.

And yet the dawn is ours

before we knew it.

Somehow we do it.

Somehow we've weathered and witnessed

a nation that isn't broken,

but simply unfinished.

We the successors of a country and a time

where a skinny Black girl

descended from slaves and raised by a single mother

can dream of becoming president

only to find herself reciting for one.

And yes we are far from polished.

Far from pristine.

But that doesn't mean we are

striving to form a union that is perfect.

We are striving to forge a union with purpose,

to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and

conditions of man.

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us,

but what stands before us.

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,

we must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms

so we can reach out our arms

to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true,

that even as we grieved, we grew,

that even as we hurt, we hoped,

that even as we tired, we tried,

that we'll forever be tied together, victorious.

Not because we will never again know defeat,

but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision

that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

and no one shall make them afraid.

If we're to live up to our own time,

then victory won't lie in the blade.

But in all the bridges we've made,

that is the promise to glade,

the hill we climb.

If only we dare.

It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,

it's the past we step into

and how we repair it.

We've seen a force that would shatter our nation

rather than share it.

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed,

it can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth,

in this faith we trust.

For while we have our eyes on the future,

history has its eyes on us.

This is the era of just redemption

we feared at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs

of such a terrifying hour

but within it we found the power

to author a new chapter.

To offer hope and laughter to ourselves.

So while once we asked,

how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert,

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was,

but move to what shall be.

A country that is bruised but whole,

benevolent but bold,

fierce and free.

We will not be turned around

or interrupted by intimidation,

because we know our inaction and inertia

will be the inheritance of the next generation.

Our blunders become their burdens.

But one thing is certain,

If we merge mercy with might,

and might with right,

then love becomes our legacy,

and change our children's birthright.

So let us leave behind a country

better than the one we were left with.

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,

we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.

We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west.

We will rise from the windswept northeast,

where our forefathers first realized revolution.

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states.

We will rise from the sunbaked south.

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover.

And every known nook of our nation and

every corner called our country,

our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,

battered and beautiful.

When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid,

the new dawn blooms as we free it.

For there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it.

If only we're brave enough to be it.