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I’m beyond excited for tomorrow. Obama has renewed my faith in this country and I am so excited to see what he will do. While driving today I was listening to NPR and this poem was on All Things Considered. Suzan Lori-Parks is one of my favorite playwrights so it seems fitting that she was able to put into words everything I have been thinking….
All The Love For The President – Elect
by Suzan-Lori Parks
U Being U
U Being U
Mr. President-Elect
Makes me wanna get MY stuff
correct
I feel like starting with something RADICAL
Like,
Love my Neighbor
Like share what I’ve got
Like think for myself
Like ask the hard questions
Like lean toward the good and help keep the peace
U being U
Makes me wanna do something new
Like Go Green, or at least try to.
You being you, Mr. President-Elect
Makes me want to look on others with respect
Makes me wanna
practice Radical Inclusion, you know,
Open my heart wide, especially in the presence of folks who
Are not like me, you know,
work to see my Brother
In the Other
You make me want to entertain all my far-out ideas
Make me wanna represent the race, as in the human race,
And know that, like You, I too am Prized.
And to those who say yr a Magic Negro,
I love them just the same
And my love helps us weave a United States.
Mr. President,
Heaven sent
Since heaven is just a place where possibility
becomes possible
And where hostility
holsters
its hostile,
I feel like picking up the trash in the park or on the beach
I think I’ll teach, and learn, from all I meet
I think I’ll apologize in person for all our faults
and try to make amends for our shortcomings
And also, I think,
I’ll brag,
Just a little bit,
About how cool We The People are
Oh, I just had to sing you a little something
Because you,
Mr. President,
You are embarking with Us on an awesome and beautiful
And potentially perilous journey
And so I am giving you
All the Love
All the Love
All the Love
All the Love
Mr. President
That I’ve got
Because I believe
In the dream
And I am ready
To wake up
And live it.
For the last 4 and a half years, I have always been the one being left. Bare with me while I explain. I seem to easily become friends with those people who are older than me. While I would never trade these friendships for anything in the world, they do cause one to be left. I have always found that moment of not quite saying good bye a bittersweet one. While I know that with Facebook and other technologies I will still be in contact with them; our relationship will never be the same. They are off to something new and I, being the one left, behind continue daily life as if it hasn’t changed.
Now I am the one leaving. I know when I return to visit Mary Wash, it will be different. It will not be the same campus that I spent my college career at. Those friends I hold so close to me will grow and discover themselves without me being here to grow with them. I will return and there will be that awkward first “Hi how are you?” Only this time it will be me on the visiting end. This realization is met with bittersweet sadness.
First, let me begin by apologizing for neglecting you for so long. I feel sort of like a Catholic entering confessional after a year of sinning. It’s been about 6 months since my last entry. So much has past that it would cheapen the memories to rehash it all to you.
Right now I stand in the greatest transition period of my life. I literally have 5 days until I am finished with college. I say finished with college not that I have graduated. To be frank, my final on Friday determines whether or not I graduate. I’m quite stressed about it. I feel I will pass. I feel I will graduate. I just don’t want to jinx it.
This evening I was standing in my kitchen discussing with Sam, my incredible roommate (On the subject of roommates, I have really lucked out this semester. My roommates are incredible and I really don’t want to leave them), how we had to make sure I didn’t leave any of my dishes. This subject caught me off guard as it finally sunk in that I was moving out. Moving out of an apartment I adore and leaving roommates I adore even more. I know I can do this and I know there is more out there for me than Mary Wash. I’m not one of those people that can be in school for the rest of their life and I’m really looking forward to actually getting a job. In the same respect, I don’t know where I will be in a month and this fact scares me to no end.
What does the future hold? To be honest, I have no idea.
My sister graduated! Mary graduated from Lesley University in Boston last May. I know I’m a little late and wrong on my updating of my blog. Forgive me. Anyways I was lucky enough to get to go up to her graduation. I’m super proud of her. She’s a total rockstar.
Last week I spent 4.5 hours in the High Museum. I explored every gallery I could and ended up “accidently” crashing an opening night recepection for their new exhibit. The exhibit which took me by suprise was Young Americans by Shelia Pree Bright. It’s a series of photos taken of 20 somethings which the American Flag in their interpretation of what America means. These five were my favorite shots.
Photo Credit: Sheila Pree Bright from her website http://www.sheilapreebright.com
Mary and I went to see the Blue Man Group last night. It was AMAZINGLY FUN. It was theatre and a rave at the same time. It was really incredibly fun. Everyone should see them if you ever have a chance. While reading the program before the performance there were two reviews one of Macbeth at BAM and one of Gypsy. It was so cool to be able to say I had already been to those performances. Boston has been a great trip. Part of me is not ready to leave. I only have two more days then DC then Newport News then Georgia on the 27th! I’m so excited for this summer but still very nervous.
“You can’t be a part-time artist. You can’t be a part-time poet, painter, or photographer. You’ve got to love it so much that you go to bed thinking about it, and you wake up thinking about it. I can’t think of doing what I do any other way.”
- John Swannell
Photo Credits: John Swannell from his website www.johnswannell.com
So this is my final project for Ideas In Performance. I’m incredibly proud of the work I did on it. Especially since I lost it all and had to rebuild the project. My deepest deepest thanks goes to the IT staff (especially Mike and Jim), Gregg, Jon, and Ms. Desi in Financial Aide. I hope you enjoy it! You should comment if you watch it. CLICK TO PLAY Click to Play This is a better resolution than the other one. This video was originally shared on blip.tv by dwebe8pl with a No license (All rights reserved) license.
