Forty-five years ago, a man stood in front of the nation and dreamed of a day when all would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Forty-five years ago, that seemed a distant dream.

Five years ago, could we have imagined this day?  

I was unable to watch last night's speeches live last night. I caught part of Biden's speech on the radio as I drove home. It pained me to miss the festivities. Pained me even more to wade through all the punditry when I hit the bed to catch Bill Clinton's performance.

Last night, I conducted the last of five, two-hour resume-writing workshops for teens and adults at Oak Cliff's Hampton-Illinois branch of the Dallas Public Library. Over the last five weeks, I've had the privilege of meeting and working with about 20 total adults of every race, from every walk of life, pull together and package the details of their experience, skills and job history to begin yet another job search.

Last night, six "repeat customers" came to take advantage of our last session.

More below:

MANY years ago, I was watching an Oprah show where she said (and I'm paraphrasing):  "I don't like it when people say they are color blind, because if they don't see my color, they don't see me".  Believe it or not, I've struggled with that statement.  Because I think we CAN be colorblind, and are increasingly becoming more so.

I've been a Democrat for my entire adult life.  Maybe you haven't.  Heck, maybe you're STILL not.  You sure don't need to pay party dues to want what's best for the country and your family.  Even among those of us who share party labels, we have far more powerful things in common.  That said, whether you're a Democrat or not, it's obvious to me that most of us here have been following the convention pretty closely... and speaking only for myself, I've been doing so with escalating enthusiasm as we've seen home run after home run from Michele Obama, Hillary Clinton, President Bill Clinton, and now Joe Biden.  Tonight I'm expecting no less from Vice President Al Gore and of course...batting cleanup...the Next President of the United States Barack Obama.  

So then what happens?

I gave $25 to Barack Obama's campaign today.  For me, at my level right now, just having had to  buy a car, glasses for my kid and deal with the rise in prices for almost everything on a single parent's salary,  I still gave.  And every time I have an extra $25 from conserving food, energy and foregoing non-essentials, I'm going to give it to him, too.

Why?

See below.

I generally do not like using bad events as campaign fodder, but I think passing on this opportunity would be a huge error by the Obama Campaign.

Judging by the reaction of hundreds of bloggers watching Hillary's speech in The Big Tent Tuesday night, the verdict was unanimous...she absolutely nailed it. From her opening:

I'm here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat, as a proud Senator from the state of New York, as a proud American, and as a proud supporter of Barack Obama.

...to her line that needs to be made into an ad immediately:

It makes a lot of sense that next week John McCain and George Bush will be together in the Twin Cities, because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.

...Hillary was on fire. She skewered John McCain, gave her unequivocal support to Barack Obama and she threw down the gauntlet to her supporters, declaring that nothing less than "the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance."

From start to finish, it was a powerful speech that left no question where her loyalty lies, what she expects from her supporters, and of course, what she thinks a John McCain presidency would mean. There was so much in her speech that is worth highlighting, but for me, this was the most powerful moment of the entire speech.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

My mother was born before women could vote. But in this election my
daughter got to vote for her mother for President.

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and
never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker , a woman who risked
her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they're shouting after you, keep going.

Don't ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Kudos to Hillary on a job well done.

In case you missed these powerful words from Two of our Countries Dedicated Veterans of the Current Occupation Theaters.

Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan can be Proud of these two, your brother and sister Veterans, as can the Families of All who are Serving and have Served, for You All are the Only Ones Sacrificing as this Country refuses to understand that Sacrifice!

The 'Honorable Cause' is the protection of your brother's and sister's as they protect you, in any conflict theater this nation sends those that serve it, wrong or right!

This Country must Now make it Right for All of You, it has Shirked It's Full Responsibility for far too long, from Korea to the Present Day, that must End!!

One of Vermont's "local" papers has a piece in it this morning which I noticed was an AP piece seconds into reading it (I hadn't looked at the byline yet).

I'll give an example.  The piece quotes Biden:

"Barack Obama will bring down health care costs by $2,500 for the typical family, and, at long last, deliver affordable, accessible health care for all Americans."

It follows that up with the "fact" about the story:

Obama's health care plan does not provide for universal health care coverage. He promises to make it affordable and would require children to be covered, but not adults. Estimates of how many would remain without insurance vary. Hillary Rodham Clinton said during the primaries that Obama's plan would leave 15 million people uninsured.

You know what's interesting about this?

It doesn't contradict what Biden says.  It presents the "fact" as though it's contradictory, in a format suggesting there were facts missed, but Biden refers to "affordable" health care, and the AP hack piece responds with a comment about universal health care.

More, after the fold, all of these from the August 28th edition of the Brattleboro Reformer, "FactCheck: The fuller story in Denver by Darlene Superville"

W.E.B. died 45 years ago yesterday. Del Martin died yesterday.

In between them, and alongside them, and in ignorance of them, and because of them, and in schools and suburbs and strife-filled encounters, and in arguments we had so that one silent bystander would hear another point of view, we nominated a black man with a foreign father and a white mother to be president of the United States.

And two women led the charge.

And today, on this last day of rallying before we and ours depart to convince the rest of the country that this change is change we need, let us consider very briefly how we got here and who isn't here with us.

When I look at Barak Obama, I see my Uncle Rufus.  A good man.  A family man.  But a man with negroid features which barred him from the American Dream™.  

I was born in 1951, and lived between New Orleans and New York.  I am more than half white, but my uncle could not escape his blackness.  His daughters inherited none of his blackness.  I inherited none. Except maybe black shiny eyes.    I have "good hair", and "fine features."  My brother has "course hair." But fine features. Uncle Rufus had yellow skin, and thick lips.  He couldn't pass, but his daughters could.

The McCain ad which falsely accuses Obama of wanting to raise taxes, displays the lettering "HANG" above Obama's head in the ad. Details & image below.

Updated with video!

- so why should we trust him with ours?

Cindy had John sign a prenup in 1980 - at a time when such agreements were very rare.

It's been an exciting week for me.  Last October, I moved back to Denver from the San Francisco Bay Area.  I did so to give my two small boys a better chance at a quality education and to provide a safer environment for my two mixed race sons to grow up in.  Please understand, as you parents out there surely do, they are my reason for being.

Everyone knows that tomorrow is the 45th Anniversary of the famous "I Have A Dream" Speech and the march on Washington led by Martin Luther King, Jr. On that day, King addressed a crowd of over 200,000 saying:

"This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

While this historic date cannot be downplayed, there is an anniversary tomorrow that is forgotten and has not mentioned in any news that I have seen:

The Death of Emmett Till

Second-to-last night is over and done...your closing thoughts?

Not really worthy of a diary, however, permit me to say "it's time to dig deep people."  We are one!  We are a family.  The issues have been laid bare.  We know the difference... we know the choice.  There is only one candidate who believes what you believe.  There is only one candidate who will do what you would do.  

Do you have $10?  How about $20?  Now is the time to donate!  WE HAVE THE TEAM TO WIN - LET'S GET THEM THERE!  (BTW, for $15 you get a magnet!)

Obama Home Page

And this is only WEDNESDAY! Imagine, a cameo..AT YOUR OWN CONVENTION!

GOBAMA GO! WHEW! I CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE!