The End of Fear

Many of us identify September 11th, 2001 as the day that things changed. It was the beginning of period so dark in our history, that many of us believed that it was the end of America. Last night, as I was standing in a crowd of people, having all sorts of drinks spilled on my new outfit, and listening to Melissa Etheridge sing "Piece of My Heart", I could sense that here was another day when you could actually feel things change. There was no one in Washington yesterday who did not feel power of the positive energy, no one on the street who was not uplifted by the words of our new President, there was no one on the subway dreading the dawning of the next day.

It was an incredible feeling.

As much as I dislike living in Washington, there have been moments when I consider myself lucky to have been fortunate to have been close enough to witness history. The moments have not always been happy, there have been numerous marches to protest war, gatherings to remind the world of friends who were victims of AIDS, and many gatherings to demand equality for all Americans. But yesterday, the gathering of people in the city was different, the joy was shared by everyone, the hope was real.

Many liberals are exhausted from the struggle of the last eight years, but the work of the left is not finished. We are still at war, we still face social and economic inequality, the planet is still in dire peril. But what a relief it is to stand in this moment in history, with the rest of the country in sync, knowing that we face many impossible challenges, but feeling unafraid.

Now let's get to work.

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