photographs by author
Independence Mall, Philadelphia, PA; April 18, 2008; An observation and endorsement of “We the people…”
As the sun descends, I lay in the grass near Chestnut Street, the zenith of the long, downward-sloping expanse of Independence Mall. I can make out the prequel to a full moon under the blue sky; its depth washed out by the beach ball size, florescent flash emanating from the stage area several blocks ahead.
Meanwhile, families, students, and contented and forlorn locals of varied age and race continue converging on the green carpet separated by streets and walkways.
We wait for Barack Obama.
Imagine plays over the speakers: A performance from Live’s frontman Ed Kowalczyk. After a couple of solos, Will.I.Am, lead singer for the Black Eyed Peas, joins Kowalczyk in a rendition of Where is the Love.
As that anti-climatic moment wanes, we wait some more.
Pleasant enough, considering that Friday is enjoying its first warm spring day in Philly.
About an hour later, at 8:45 p.m., a cheer from the crowd, one of a string, but this one seems to linger. A microphone transmits Obama’s introduction. I start walking toward the stage and pass by the Liberty Bell.
Expectations are high after the speech he gave here last month, the one that now stands alongside the orations of Kennedy and M.L.K.
Absorbed by the encompassing bubble of bated hope and Obama’s words, I stop intermittently.
He speaks for 20-30 minutes.
He broaches a McCain presidency as more Bush policy, under new leadership. He addresses Clinton’s propensity to work within Washington’s fractured politics in contradiction to the new political stage he seeks to create. He cites our country’s economic, social, and military woes.
He does not say anything particularly brilliant. But it does not matter. His speech was earth shattering before he arrived.
Thirty-five thousand people, Obama’s largest audience to date, gathered on the land that birthed this country’s freedom for Friday night politics!
And in doing so, we expanded the footprint of our minds beyond our doorways.
We needn’t wait. But we did. And now our hopes and fears spill into 4 square blocks and trickle down the arteries.
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