Comments on: Friday Question of the Day http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/ Welcome to the beautiful life Sun, 21 Mar 2010 05:26:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: st http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130721 st Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:54:57 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130721 Do you believe in miracles? Yes!! Do you believe in miracles? Yes!!

]]> By: david http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130720 david Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:31:17 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130720 In addition to the Kennedy assassination, which happened when I was in eighth grade (I'm surely one of the oldest readers of this blog), an event a few years earlier remains in my memory. In 1957, a mere three years after the Supreme Court ruled legally mandated school segregation unconstitutional in the "Brown..." case, about a dozen African-American students attempted to attend a previously all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. The governor of the state attempted to stop them; in response, President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne. I was seven and just beginning to understand that I was a "Negro" and some of the implications of that, and the idea that the President was sending soldiers to protect Negro children from bad people was quite overwhelming. Ever since, Eisenhower has had a place in my heart. In addition to the Kennedy assassination, which happened when I was in eighth grade (I’m surely one of the oldest readers of this blog), an event a few years earlier remains in my memory. In 1957, a mere three years after the Supreme Court ruled legally mandated school segregation unconstitutional in the “Brown…” case, about a dozen African-American students attempted to attend a previously all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. The governor of the state attempted to stop them; in response, President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne. I was seven and just beginning to understand that I was a “Negro” and some of the implications of that, and the idea that the President was sending soldiers to protect Negro children from bad people was quite overwhelming. Ever since, Eisenhower has had a place in my heart.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130719 Anonymous Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:17:30 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130719 Mine was when Reagan was shot. I was in elementary school & I remember watching the news footage over and over in our classroom as it all unfolded. Then we were dismissed early, yay! Mine was when Reagan was shot. I was in elementary school & I remember watching the news footage over and over in our classroom as it all unfolded. Then we were dismissed early, yay!

]]> By: christopher http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130718 christopher Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:10:58 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130718 oh reuben, you are so funny :) oh reuben, you are so funny :)

]]> By: reuben http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130717 reuben Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:49:23 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130717 The execution of the abolitionist John Brown. (just kidding) Ah, guess it would be the King assassination... The execution of the abolitionist John Brown. (just kidding)
Ah, guess it would be the King assassination…

]]> By: IntangibleArts http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130716 IntangibleArts Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:34:48 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130716 Oh yeh; I was in the ratty little theater in Laurel Mall (i think that was before they built the big indoor bit on the opposite side of Peoples' Drug) in 1977 when the Death Star exploded. Oh yeh;
I was in the ratty little theater in Laurel Mall (i think that was before they built the big indoor bit on the opposite side of Peoples’ Drug) in 1977 when the Death Star exploded.

]]> By: maeella http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130715 maeella Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:26:25 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130715 As a kid I think it would have been Hurricane Andrew... It was a really weird experience to be sort of holed up in the house with my parents for a few days. At first it seemed like a fun, electricity free vacation, but when we finally opened the front door and went outside everything was a mess. They ended up cutting down a lot of trees to prepare for the next "big one" and all around the gulf coast so many people lost their homes. Then as an adult, again, it would be Hurricane Katrina. I had just come to DC for my preliminary trip to find a job (as in I flew up the day Katrina hit) and I felt completely stranded. I spent days finding family and friends, seeing if our homes were ok, feeling guilty for not being there to help my mom evacuate when it happened. All in all it was incredibly profound because of the way I felt personally and then it really informed how I felt politically about the governance of Louisiana and the US. You really start to feel differently about the people in power when they basically flat out show you that they don't care AT ALL about the poor and powerless. On a happy note, I cried like a baby when Obama won because it really felt like my experience in DC came full circle. The man has a lot of hopes weighing on him... As a kid I think it would have been Hurricane Andrew… It was a really weird experience to be sort of holed up in the house with my parents for a few days. At first it seemed like a fun, electricity free vacation, but when we finally opened the front door and went outside everything was a mess. They ended up cutting down a lot of trees to prepare for the next “big one” and all around the gulf coast so many people lost their homes.

Then as an adult, again, it would be Hurricane Katrina. I had just come to DC for my preliminary trip to find a job (as in I flew up the day Katrina hit) and I felt completely stranded. I spent days finding family and friends, seeing if our homes were ok, feeling guilty for not being there to help my mom evacuate when it happened. All in all it was incredibly profound because of the way I felt personally and then it really informed how I felt politically about the governance of Louisiana and the US. You really start to feel differently about the people in power when they basically flat out show you that they don’t care AT ALL about the poor and powerless.

On a happy note, I cried like a baby when Obama won because it really felt like my experience in DC came full circle. The man has a lot of hopes weighing on him…

]]> By: FloristaThorne http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130714 FloristaThorne Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:51:16 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130714 Kent State shootings Kent State shootings

]]> By: Hoodrat http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130713 Hoodrat Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:29:01 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130713 As a side note, it is fascinating how few of these are events that people remember as positive. Just the Wall. And Obama's election. As a side note, it is fascinating how few of these are events that people remember as positive. Just the Wall. And Obama’s election.

]]> By: Hoodrat http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2008/11/friday-question-of-the-day-76/#comment-130712 Hoodrat Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:27:14 +0000 http://www.princeofpetworth.com/?p=4738#comment-130712 I certainly remember the Challenger explosion (I was in grammar school and the grade had gathered to watch it on television) and the Berlin wall falling. In both instances, I gathered from the reactions of adults that it was important, but I'm not sure I understood what was going on. I remember watching my teacher cry more vividly than I do the explosion. And I remember my parents trying to explain why the fall of the Wall was important, unable to tear themselves away from the television. Similar for Desert Storm. I mainly remember watching the reactions of adults. The first national "moments" that I think I understood on a more personal level came as a teenager - the first events that my peers and I really reacted to. Kurt Cobain's suicide (which probably only mattered to teenagers). And the OJ verdict, which in the great scheme of things is probably not that important, but I saw racial schism on a nationwide scale for the first time. I had seen it on a personal scale. And even on a community scale. So the differing reactions in my high school cafeteria didn't surprise me. But the press coverage of the same thing happening across the nation was mind-boggling. I certainly remember the Challenger explosion (I was in grammar school and the grade had gathered to watch it on television) and the Berlin wall falling. In both instances, I gathered from the reactions of adults that it was important, but I’m not sure I understood what was going on. I remember watching my teacher cry more vividly than I do the explosion. And I remember my parents trying to explain why the fall of the Wall was important, unable to tear themselves away from the television. Similar for Desert Storm. I mainly remember watching the reactions of adults.

The first national “moments” that I think I understood on a more personal level came as a teenager – the first events that my peers and I really reacted to. Kurt Cobain’s suicide (which probably only mattered to teenagers). And the OJ verdict, which in the great scheme of things is probably not that important, but I saw racial schism on a nationwide scale for the first time. I had seen it on a personal scale. And even on a community scale. So the differing reactions in my high school cafeteria didn’t surprise me. But the press coverage of the same thing happening across the nation was mind-boggling.

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