Farewell 2017: Everyday we wrote the book

We are barely removed from the end of 2017,

which is a good thing because it was a very tough year in America.

We lost a lot of dear and talented people: 

Dick Enberg, Tom Petty, Mary Tyler Moore, come to mind.

And, there were lesser known but just as important ones we 

lost such as Maryam Mirzakhani, who was a Stanford 

mathematician. She worked like an artist, always drawing.

For nearly the entire year, we dealt with a President named Trump.

And, we know how well this has turned out for our country.

However, with the arrival of 2018, the first blank page of a 365-page,

year-long book that each of us will author began to be filled.

All of us start the New Year with a clean slate.

Hopefully, each of us will take the time to write a thoughtful book, 

be it a memoir or a best-selling novel,

day by day, page by page.

 With 2018 coming into clearer view, we welcome its challenges.

Remember, the words of Ecclesiastes, who said:

"The race is not to the swift,

nor the battle to the strong."

Life is to be enjoyed day by day,

 one day at a time.

Take time for family,

read a good book, 

listen to good music,

master a hobby like photography,

talk to good friends – and listen to them, too.

Support the arts, support newspapers.

Vote your conscience, but do vote!

Here's wishing you and your loved ones a Happy New Year.

May each of you enjoy cheers, love and peace on earth

in the New Year ahead.

Tunisia: Always a sense of hope for a better future

My Facebook friends in Tunisia awoke on Sunday to vote in national legislative elections that will lead to a permanent Parliament being seated. In the almost four years of transition since initialing Arab Spring in this proud North Africa republic -- the smallest country in the Maghreb region -- "despite political assassinations, an emerging insurgency and economic discontent," in the words of The New York Times, there has always been a sense of hope for a better future for Tunisia. 

In my many conversations with my dear Tunisian friends, I have tried to express how democracy can be a beautiful thing, but that it can be a slow process, too. I am proud that several of my friends became involved in the democratic process. Some canvassed for various political parties vying for power such as the well-organized, moderate Islamist Ennahda Party and the secular liberal party Nida Tunis (Tunisia Calls), while others volunteered their time on Election Day working at polling places in cities such as Beja and Ben Arous. Also, a long-time friend of mine has been politically active with the watchdog group I Watch Tunisia, which strives to preserve the gains of the Arab Spring revolution through monitoring political activities for transparency while also educating the electorate. She summed up her feelings on her Facebook page in a single word -- "excited".

As my university-educated friends exercised their democratic right to vote -- and I know many of them expressed to me how proud they were to get out and vote on Sunday -- it gave each a chance to reflect on the state of their beloved country and, importantly, vote their conscience. Together, I know each wants to help make Tunisia a model for moderation, tolerance and democracy in their region of the world. Considering the plight of neighboring Libya and what has befell war-torn Arabic countries like Egypt and Syria, there is much pride in and hope for Tunisia today.

Just last week, Lonely Planet, the largest travel book publisher in the world, named Tunisia as its best value travel destination for 2015, noting that "as the tourism industry begins to recover since some travel warnings have been dropped, the North African destination offers beautiful beaches, as well as cheap and reliable transport. It's modern capital Tunis also reflects its long Ottoman history, and there are Roman remains dotted around the North to be explored."

From my side of the world, I feel the pride and share the hope of my dear Tunisian friends. Sunday was a first step in a journey that continues next month when presidential elections are held. By all accounts, Tunisia's parliamentary election day was free, fair and peaceful -- from Tunis to Mahdia, from La Marsa to Sfax, from Kasserine to Gabes. The returns point to an electorate that wants security and stability -- not to mention a strong economy and a focus on education that will lead to meaningful jobs for university graduates. Based on early election returns and exit polling, it appears that Nida Tunis has won 35 percent of the seats of the 217-member parliament, giving it the right to form a governing coalition. 

God bless my dear Tunisian friends on their historic Election Day. It's just a reminder there's always a sense of hope for a better future.

March: Transforming an American civil rights icon into a geek celebrity

John Lewis rose from the humble beginnings of growing up poor on an Alabama sharecropper's farm to become a national leader of the American Civil Rights Movement and, later, a conscience of the Congress. He has lived a life committed to justice and nonviolence.

Now, imagine this same American civil rights icon and admired politician transforming into a geek celebrity. When he's not being the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation, Lewis has shown he's just as comfortable being surrounded by librarians and the Comic-Con crowd as he is being around politicians on Capitol Hill.

March, a graphic novel
trilogy by John Lewis

Lewis has written a graphic novel trilogy, March, and the first book in this series of three will be published next week by Top Shelf Productions. It's a remarkable and vividly-told memoir of his lifelong struggle for civil and human rights.

Book One illustrates Lewis' life as an African-American boy in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down Jim Crow segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins. Lewis' leadership in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. is relived in March, and we learn what happened and how it happened. (Eight days after the "Bloody Sunday" protest, former President Lyndon Johnson sent the Voting Rights Act to Congress.)

Lewis collaborated with writer and congressional aide Andrew Aydin and award-winning cartoon artist Nate Powell on March. Aydin adapted the strong narrative of Lewis' story to the graphic page and Powell richly illustrated it all in black and white. As a student, Lewis was inspired by the 1958 comic book Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story. So, it should come as no surprise that Lewis would turn to the graphic novel format in which to provide another story about the American civil rights movement.

Now, everyone from CNN to Comedy Central is lined up to interview Lewis, the only sitting member of Congress to write a comic book, in the coming days. (He is booked to appear on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report on Aug. 13 to promote March.)

March has generated good reviews and drawn universal praise in advance of its Aug. 13 release.

"Congressman John Lewis has been a resounding moral voice in the quest for equality for more than 50 years, and I'm so pleased that he is sharing his memories of the Civil Rights Movement with America's young leaders," wrote President Bill Clinton on the book's back cover, in praise of March. "In March, he brings a whole new generation with him across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, from a past of clenched fists into a future of outstretched hands."

As a young activist, Lewis once stood along side Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the "March on Washington" in the early 1960s and delivered a keynote speech at the march. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during its most productive years, Lewis was one of the "Big Six" leaders in the American Civil Rights Movement and the young upstart played a key role in the struggle to end legalized racial discrimination and segregation. Lewis was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom rally 50 years ago (its golden anniversary is Aug. 28) and, sadly, is the only remaining speaker of the event alive today.

Now age 73, Lewis has served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987, where he represents the 5th district of Georgia. In his distinguished career, Lewis has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barrack Obama, the first African-American President.

Rep. John Lewis signing March
at the American Library Association
summer conference in Chicago.

In June, at the American Library Association national conference in Chicago, I was fortunate enough to meet Lewis (I was third in line) and receive a signed "advance look" copy of March. (At the Comic-Con pop culture convention in San Diego last month, I learned, lines for Lewis' appearance were so overwhelming that fire marshals almost shut the event down.)

After signing my copy of March, Lewis extended his hand to shake mine. I thanked him for his lifelong dedication to civil rights and public service. I'm sure he hears this kind of praise all the time from his constituents and admirers. Nevertheless, he seemed appreciative of my words and thoughts -- and my interest in his book. Lewis looked me straight in the eye, smiled enthusiastically, and wished me well.

On this summer Sunday afternoon, it was too good an opportunity to not make the effort to be there for John Lewis and, personally, say "thank you" for his struggle of a lifetime to build a beloved community.

Photograph of Rep. John Lewis by Michael Dickens (copyright 2013). 
Image of March courtesy of Top Shelf Productions.

Four more years: Finishing what Obama started

Four more years / A chance to finish what he started.

Love, charity, duty and patriotism is what makes America great, said President Barack Obama in the early hours of Wednesday morning in delivering his victory speech at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. 

Across America, in both small towns and large urban cities, citizens exercised their civic duty to vote, sometimes having to endure long lines and long waits. Importantly, they voted and they followed their conscience in marking their ballot choices. More than 119 million Americans voted in the 2012 Presidential election on Tuesday. In the final outcome, Obama won re-election for a second term as 44th President of the United States by garnering both the popular vote, with more than 60 million votes, as well as the Constitutionally-mandated electoral vote 303-206.

It was after 11 p.m. in the eastern U.S. (8 p.m. out west), when the state of Ohio, which was considered by most political pundits as the ultimate battleground state, was declared for President Obama. Its 18 electoral votes easily pushed him over the threshold of the 270 necessary to win re-election as President of the United States.

Barack Obama /
"We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions."

About 1:40 a.m. eastern time, following a gracious concession speech by the defeated Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, President Obama walked out on stage to loud, thunderous applause and cheers from well wishers, and he addressed his supporters and the nation who re-elected him. The messenger delivered a great message.

"Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come," said President Obama.

"We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and forever will be, the United States of America."

Obama's Night /
Wednesday's front page of The New York Times.

Text of President Obama's victory speech:

Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward. (Cheers, applause.)

It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our own individual dreams, we are an American family, and we rise or fall together as one nation and as one people. (Cheers, applause.)

Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our hearts that for the United States of America, the best is yet to come.

(Cheers, applause.) 

I want to thank every American who participated in this election. (Cheers, applause.) Whether you voted for the very first time -- (cheers) -- or waited in line for a very long time -- (cheers) -- by the way, we have to fix that. (Cheers, applause.) Whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone -- (cheers, applause) -- whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference. (Cheers, applause.)

02:58 On Speaking With Romney

I just spoke with Governor Romney and I congratulated him and Paul Ryan on a hard-fought campaign. (Cheers, applause.) We may have battled fiercely, but it’s only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has chosen to give back to America through public service. And that is a legacy that we honor and applaud tonight. (Cheers, applause.) In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Governor Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward. (Cheers, applause.)

I want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years, America’s happy warrior, the best vice president anybody could ever hope for, Joe Biden. (Cheers, applause.)

04:21 The First Family

And I wouldn’t be the man I am today without the woman who agreed to marry me 20 years ago. (Cheers, applause.) Let me say this publicly. Michelle, I have never loved you more. (Cheers, applause.) I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America fall in love with you too as our nation’s first lady. (Cheers, applause.)

Sasha and Malia -- (cheers, applause) -- before our very eyes, you’re growing up to become two strong, smart, beautiful young women, just like your mom. (Cheers, applause.) And I am so proud of you guys. But I will say that for now, one dog’s probably enough. (Laughter.)

To the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics -- (cheers, applause) -- the best -- the best ever -- (cheers, applause) -- some of you were new this time around, and some of you have been at my side since the very beginning. (Cheers, applause.)

But all of you are family. No matter what you do or where you go from here, you will carry the memory of the history we made together. (Cheers, applause.) And you will have the lifelong appreciation of a grateful president. Thank you for believing all the way -- (cheers, applause) -- to every hill, to every valley. (Cheers, applause.) You lifted me up the whole day, and I will always be grateful for everything that you’ve done and all the incredible work that you’ve put in. (Cheers, applause.)

06:49 On Campaigns and Staff

I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly. And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics who tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of special interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out at our rallies and crowded along a rope line in a high school gym or -- or saw folks working late at a campaign office in some tiny county far away from home, you’ll discover something else.

You’ll hear the determination in the voice of a young field organizer who’s working his way through college and wants to make sure every child has that same opportunity. (Cheers, applause.) You’ll hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer who’s going door to door because her brother was finally hired when the local auto plant added another shift. (Cheers, applause.)

You’ll hear the deep patriotism in the voice of a military spouse who’s working the phones late at night to make sure that no one who fights for this country ever has to fight for a job or a roof over their head when they come home. (Cheers, applause.)

That’s why we do this. That’s what politics can be. That’s why elections matter. It’s not small, it’s big. It’s important. Democracy in a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy. That won’t change after tonight. And it shouldn’t. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty, and we can never forget that as we speak, people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter -- (cheers, applause) -- the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.

09:42 Hope for the Future

But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America’s future.

We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers -- (cheers, applause) -- a country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation -- (scattered cheers, applause) -- with all of the good jobs and new businesses that follow.

We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by debt, that isn’t weakened up by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet. (Cheers, applause.)

We want to pass on a country that’s safe and respected and admired around the world, a nation that is defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this -- this world has ever known -- (cheers, applause) -- but also a country that moves with confidence beyond this time of war to shape a peace that is built on the promise of freedom and dignity for every human being.

We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a tolerant America open to the dreams of an immigrant’s daughter who studies in our schools and pledges to our flag -- (cheers, applause) -- to the young boy on the south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner -- (cheers, applause) -- to the furniture worker’s child in North Carolina who wants to become a doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or even a president.

That’s the -- (cheers, applause) -- that’s the future we hope for.

(Cheers, applause.) That’s the vision we share. That’s where we need to go -- forward. (Cheers, applause.) That’s where we need to go. (Cheers, applause.)

12:06 Finding Common Ground

Now, we will disagree, sometimes fiercely, about how to get there. As it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a smooth path. By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won’t end all the gridlock, resolve all our problems or substitute for the painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult compromises needed to move this country forward.

But that common bond is where we must begin. Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. (Cheers, applause.) A long campaign is now over. (Cheers, applause.) And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you. I have learned from you. And you’ve made me a better president. And with your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and the future that lies ahead. (Cheers, applause.)

Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. (Cheers, applause.) You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours.

And in the coming weeks and months, I am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together -- reducing our deficit, reforming out tax code, fixing our immigration system, freeing ourselves from foreign oil. We’ve got more work to do. (Cheers, applause.)

But that doesn’t mean your work is done. The role of citizens in our democracy does not end with your vote. America’s never been about what can be done for us; it’s about what can be done by us together, through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self- government. (Cheers, applause.) That’s the principle we were founded on.

14:50 What Sets America Apart

This country has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our university, our culture are all the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores. What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the most diverse nation on Earth, the belief that our destiny is shared -- (cheers, applause) -- that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations, so that the freedom which so many Americans have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as rights, and among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism. That’s what makes America great. (Cheers, applause.)

I am hopeful tonight because I have seen this spirit at work in America. I’ve seen it in the family business whose owners would rather cut their own pay than lay off their neighbors and in the workers who would rather cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job. I’ve seen it in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb and in those SEALs who charged up the stairs into darkness and danger because they knew there was a buddy behind them watching their back. (Cheers, applause.) I’ve seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York, where leaders from every party and level of government have swept aside their differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible storm. (Cheers, applause.)

And I saw it just the other day in Mentor, Ohio, where a father told the story of his 8-year-old daughter whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care. (Cheers, applause.) I had an opportunity to not just talk to the father but meet this incredible daughter of his. And when he spoke to the crowd, listening to that father’s story, every parent in that room had tears in their eyes because we knew that little girl could be our own.

17:55 Optimism

And I know that every American wants her future to be just as bright. That’s who we are. That’s the country I’m so proud to lead as your president. (Cheers, applause.)

And tonight, despite all the hardship we’ve been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I’ve never been more hopeful about our future. (Cheers, applause.) I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope.

I’m not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the road blocks that stand in our path. I’m not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight. I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. (Cheers, applause.)

19:19 Progress

America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunities and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founding, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or who you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, abled, disabled, gay or straight. (Cheers, applause.) You can make it here in America if you’re willing to try. (Cheers, applause.)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. (Sustained cheers, applause.)

I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and forever will be, the United States of America. (Cheers, applause.)

And together, with your help and God’s grace, we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on earth. (Cheers, applause.) Thank you, America. (Cheers, applause.) God bless you. God bless these United States. (Cheers, applause.)

Photographic images courtesy of Barack Obama 2012 and the New York Times.