the moment
What a weird afternoon.
As part of my research for the travel book I'm writing, I found myself wandering around the half-deserted streets of downtown Atlanta today, on a mission to visit the New World of Coca-Cola© and Centennial Olympic Park. I worked in the neighborhood nearly a decade ago, so it was both refreshing to see how the hood has changed and dispiriting to see how far it still has to go.
Over in Woodruff Park, among the usual collection of makeshift sunglass stands that cover the area, I noticed one vendor selling obviously knockoff Barack Obama gear, including some hideous bright orange T-shirts with a poorly reproduced version of the image that appears to the right. Walking away from the stand, I nearly ran into a heavyset black man who was wearing a different shirt with similar messaging; it said: "My President is Black." (Really? Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves just a little?)
Back in my car, not five minutes later, I happened upon a small street corner protest outside one of the big downtown hotels. As I got closer, I realized it wasn't a protest at all but some sort of rally -- for John McCain. Yet the sign-wavers seemed completely devoid of any sense of pride or joy you might expect from a group of supporters. They were just a bunch of pissed-looking white folks. One middle-aged guy in particular had his jaws clenched up in a way that said, "Jesus, I hope I can make it back to Kennesaw before rush hour hits."
I'm not sure but I guess the "rally" had something to do with McCain's appearance here today.
And it was at that moment that the new Big Boi/Mary J. Blige song "Somethin's Gotta Give" came on my car radio, which includes an explicit endorsement of Obama.
Seriously, have we ever experienced an election like this before?
As part of my research for the travel book I'm writing, I found myself wandering around the half-deserted streets of downtown Atlanta today, on a mission to visit the New World of Coca-Cola© and Centennial Olympic Park. I worked in the neighborhood nearly a decade ago, so it was both refreshing to see how the hood has changed and dispiriting to see how far it still has to go.
Over in Woodruff Park, among the usual collection of makeshift sunglass stands that cover the area, I noticed one vendor selling obviously knockoff Barack Obama gear, including some hideous bright orange T-shirts with a poorly reproduced version of the image that appears to the right. Walking away from the stand, I nearly ran into a heavyset black man who was wearing a different shirt with similar messaging; it said: "My President is Black." (Really? Aren't we getting ahead of ourselves just a little?)
Back in my car, not five minutes later, I happened upon a small street corner protest outside one of the big downtown hotels. As I got closer, I realized it wasn't a protest at all but some sort of rally -- for John McCain. Yet the sign-wavers seemed completely devoid of any sense of pride or joy you might expect from a group of supporters. They were just a bunch of pissed-looking white folks. One middle-aged guy in particular had his jaws clenched up in a way that said, "Jesus, I hope I can make it back to Kennesaw before rush hour hits."
I'm not sure but I guess the "rally" had something to do with McCain's appearance here today.
And it was at that moment that the new Big Boi/Mary J. Blige song "Somethin's Gotta Give" came on my car radio, which includes an explicit endorsement of Obama.
Seriously, have we ever experienced an election like this before?
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