Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Hope over Fear


Live from Sumter County Georgia:

From the town that imprisoned Martin Luther King, almost destroyed Koinonia Farm through boycotts and bombings for their belief that the great commandment extended across racial divides, and a past stronghold of the KKK we are celebrating the election of the first black president of the United States.

Jan, Krista and I had the wonderful opportunity to volunteer for the Obama campaign. We worked side by side with a group of white and black democrats to telephone, canvas houses and drive folks to the polls. While it looks like Georgia will remain a red state, Sumter county was carried by Barack with lots to spare. This is no small thing. In fact, one of our fellow African American volunteers compared it to putting a man on the moon!

So tonight is a time of celebration. When someone asks where we were when Barack was elected, Jan, KJ, Krista and I will have the memory of sitting in the backroom of Woods Swinging Chicken Wings - the headquarters of the Obama campaign in Sumter county - with a collection of young and old, black and white, veterans of the civil rights movement and those of us who never experienced anything remotely like racial discrimination in our lives. It is truly a momentous day for Sumter County, America and the world.

Clarence Jordan, founder of Koinonia, would be truly pleased.

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