a beautiful thing!

~ jama

     

Happy Election Day!

I’m proud and happy to be included on this list of over 1000 children’s authors and illustrators all voting for Barack Obama today.

                    

Authors and Illustrators for Children (AIC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the world for children:

Authors & Illustrators for Children values a government that cares for children’s needs and plans for the needs of future generations.

We believe children have the right to quality education, health care and a clean environment.

We believe that children should be encouraged to think and dream – that is what their minds are for – and that the freedom to express their ideas and dreams is a human right.

We believe personal responsibility should be taught by example at all levels.

Every person listed here believes that Barack Obama is the  candidate who best represents these values. If you haven’t already done so, please read these two inspiring and heartfelt "This I Dream" essays by Bruce Coville and David LaRochelle.

Then take a deep breath, because it’s happening even as we speak. Change, for the better, is coming!!


My half-sister, Sylvia, and her husband, Jim, met Barack at campaign headquarters
in Bend, Oregon, this summer.

11 thoughts on “a beautiful thing!”

  1. a beautiful thing!
    Elaine M.
    This is a beautiful thing!!! I’ve attended two children’s literature festivals in the past two weeks. All the authors and illustrators and organizers and attendees I spoke with were Obama supporters. What a great community to be a member of!

    Like

  3. Re: a beautiful thing!
    You’re so right, Elaine. The vast majority of people I know in the field are also pro-Obama. I met Laurie Halse Anderson last night, who voted for him via absentee ballot. In her blog this morning, she said she couldn’t sleep last night, since she was praying for him in her sleep!

    Like

  5. I failed my first attempt at voting today, because there I was, stuck in a long long line between bitter people praising McCain and Palin, and I just couldn’t stand it any longer…totally destroying my own hopeful mood. I’ll be going back later, and, this being Rhode Island, the odds are I’ll end up between Obama supporters and it will be much nicer for me!

    Like

  7. image

    I love your book image for voting for Obama. I think he is going to be a great Pres. Incredibly inspiring. I also enjoyed your comment about him being Hawaiian. But I think it is historic just because of the man that he is. I don’t want to see his greatness downplayed by categories. I don’t think you are doing that here, but I do think there are media people trying to.

    Like

  8. I went back and read the 2 entries. I was 2 yrs old in 1968, but I can imagine what it was like, because I have seen many documentaries and read books on the subject. In college I remember thinking how exciting but also difficult that period was. Thinking about how trends tend to repeat and not wanting another decade like that. Too much violence and loss.

    Though Martin Luther King, Jr is not the person Obama most reminds me of (I think Lincoln), I see some resemblance. How extraordinary that it feels we may be coming full circle-to the promise of MLK and also Lincoln. How proud Lincoln would be that this is happening and that Obama is a person so focused on the well-being of our country, as he was himself.

    Like

  9. Yes, I do see the similarities between Obama and Lincoln — Obama has mentioned being inspired by Lincoln’s writings. Just as Lincoln saved the union, we are hoping that Obama can help guide us through a very difficult period in American history.

    Like

  10. Another way in which Obama reminds me of Lincoln is that they understand/understood the need to federally support infrastructure/communities. We desperately need that again. Lincoln’s support of the railroads headed our nation in a great progressive direction. Alternative energy and trains again could do the same. I do remember Clinton also talking about infrastructure. It started to happen under him and was killed by the Bush years. Everything has been neglected.

    But just in character, too. They stand apart. They are/were calm and reflective in the face of great turmoil and have tremendous focus.

    Like

Comments are closed.