1998-2008

In June of 1998 a black man was murdered in my small town. Jasper, Texas was thrust into the media spotlight as three young white men, one of which I knew very well, began their defense in court.
At eleven years old, I sat outside the Belle-Jim hotel every morning eating my breakfast and watching the KKK, the Black Panthers, and all sorts of journalists and reporters congregate outside the doors of the Jasper courthouse.

What happened was a horrible, hateful crime. I'm sad that our town became so infamous as racial tensions grew, and my heart goes out to all of the families involved. It's rarely talked about on CNN now, but I'm sure they must live with what happened every day.

Today the first black president steps into the white house. I'm proud and hopeful. It's amazing to me that ten short years ago I was a little girl trying to sound smart and open-minded in front of the glaring eyes of a documentary filmmaker's camera, and today I'm relishing in the fact that I voted, for my first time, for the man who has changed history.

One day I'm going to tell my kids, hopefully to their amazement and confusion, that I was present in a town that was victim to a hate crime. I say confusion, because I hope my children and all the future generations will have no concrete understanding of racism and hatred. I hope it's something they're only cognizant of due to history books, old movies, and wikipedia-like websites.

So, I'm just excited about what's in store for the next four, hopefully eight, years. I have a lot more to say about all the subjects I've mentioned in this blog, but I just wanted to jot my thoughts down at this time. I have to get back to MSNBC....and Rachel Maddow. Rrrwow.