"those kids are our kids"

I am not a political person in any strong sense of the word. Most of the time, I refrain from discussing my vote or political opinions with even my closest friends. But Obama's speech is something else. Because it is not a speech that leaves me trying to figure out what he really meant, what his agenda really is, what he is covering up for. This is what I have been waiting for a political candidate to say for quite possibly my entire voting life: the truth.

It is a speech that I hope that one day, if not today, my children will understand. It is for them and about them. It's about you, too. And, because I'm hardly objective and this is a teaching blog, it's for the teachers. All the teachers: the biased, the idealistic, the strung-out, the black, the white, private, public, suburban, urban, rural, as well as those who have failed our kids and those who struggle against failure. All of them.

And I'm sap enough to admit that it made me cry. (I'm pretty sure I lost it at "those kids are our kids.") Because it is an honest look at the complexity of people and race and everything, for once - finally, without the side-stepping and posturing. It should be watched in it's entirety. Otherwise you miss the big picture and this, after all, is about the big picture.