Spreading the Word
Last night’s read-aloud at the homeless shelter in Anacostia continued the election theme we started in September. That was when the kids barely knew who Obama was and one of them thought he had lost to some white man.Now they were well aware of our new President and seemed quite excited. We had decorated the room with red-white-blue streamers to make it seem festive. I brought in the front page of Wednesday’s paper so they could see the Obama family.
I read them the following letter, sent to me in response to the letters the kids had written to the Obama family in September:
Dear Children:
Thank you for your kind words and for your support. I am impressed with your interest in politics, especially at your young age. I encourage you to visit my website kids.barackobama.com to learn more about everything we’re doing to make your family’s future even brighter.
I leave you with three bits of advice that will make your life more fulfilling: Look out for other people, even when it does not directly benefit you; strive to make a difference everywhere you go; and get back up every time you are knocked down.
Thanks again for writing to me. Seeing young people like you who care about making things better inspires me and gives me great hope about the future of our country and our world.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
After reading books like Grace for President and Max for President (in both of which girls become President of something), we did an activity that largely involved sticking things on paper. I had managed to scrounge up enough bumper stickers so each child could have one. We had other Obama stickers, flags, stars, and other patriotic stickers. I had also pilfered some abandoned Obama posters from a tent out in front of the Falls Church Obama office.
The children all left with their Obama posters and not even 3 minutes later, two of them were back to return everything, saying their mother said it was against their religion to possess anything political. I didn’t have the nerve to ask what religion they practiced.
posted by Barbara at 7:59 AM
6 Comments:
Barbara, here's a site that may be a possible answer to your unasked religious question.
http://www.watchtower.org/e/20011015/article_02.htm
I told one of my friends about the religion aspect and she mentioned Bahá'í, which she'd researched in her own search for a church.
"Bahá’í teachings hold that political action of a partisan and divisive nature cannot provide the answers to problems that are universal in their very essence."
I had no idea. The topic was great, though.
LR, Kristin -- I find this all very curious. I'm guessing this was the same woman who said voting was against her religion. Whether she is a Jehovah's Witness or a Bahai, how can she possibly conceive of a country surviving if everyone were to ignore the business of governing it? A belief in God does not build roads or provide disaster relief.
What a great letter! Even if it was written by some intern, it certainly sounds like Obama. :)
I was guessing Jehovah's Witness, too. I hadn't thought about the Bahai angle.
Steve -- The kids were especially excited that the new President had written to them. I would love to think that maybe someone from the new White House might come read them a story some day.
What a beautiful letter! It's so great to see young children showing an interest in politics, particularly now when there's so much to be excited about :)
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