How I Got Over!

I'll admit it. I got teary-eyed as I filled out my ballot yesterday. And I shed more than one tear watching the results come in. I woke up this morning and walked outside, and the clouds were all lit up with morning light, and I had to choke back the tears again.

I just kept thinking about what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would think if he were alive. And I thought of all those individual people who stood and marched and fought with Dr. King, many of whom *are* alive today. Did they ever think they would live to see a black man elected president?

I tried to think of words, but I just have to go back to that Mahalia Jackson song I posted last month. The one she sang just before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his I Have a Dream speech.

How I got over
How did I make it over
You know my soul look back and wonder
How did I make it over?

Don't get me wrong. We still have a lot of work to do in this country. We can't just sit back and say, "We did it!" and that's that. But I think for this morning, it's ok to be quiet for a moment and watch the sunlight coming through the clouds. It's a new day.

Mahalia Jackson: How I Got Over

It's a dreary, rainy, cup-of-tea morning in Maine and I felt like I needed a little Mahalia to get me going. The quality of this video goes in and out, but it is *so* worth it.

How I Got Over is my favorite Mahalia Jackson song. She sang it at the March on Washington just before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. This particular video is live from a performance in Chicago.

No one can nail this song like Mahalia Jackson. (Well, no one can nail *any* gospel song like Mahalia Jackson.) I love how she creates this slow build and by the time she gets to "I feel like shouting" at the end, she can hardly stand still (and neither, apparently, can the audience). As the song gets worked up, watch the smiles start to spread!