“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is,
‘What are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today is the second inauguration of President Obama.  I clearly remember being at work for the first one and streaming it on my computer.  Today I am home watching it with the kids.

It also happens to be the celebration of Martin Luther King’s birthday.  He would be 84.  His dream of seeing equality is fulfilled in Obama.  Brendan goes to school in Newton, a city with an African American mayor, governor and president.  Aidan loves to recite Lincoln (and all president) facts.  The use of both Lincoln and King’s Bible is something Aidan keeps talking about as he processes the history he is witnessing.  This is the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.  It’s the 50th anniversary since the march on Washington.  It is a big year in the history of African Americans- in American history as a whole.

Aidan and his Abe Lincoln bobblehead.
Lots of presidential trivia today.

The kids only really know Obama as president, they were 1 and 3 when Obama was elected the first time.  I actually have pictures of Aidan voting for Obama both times..  The have been alive for marriage equality in Massachusetts.  They have heard how Massachusetts, and now the country, wants to take care of all people.  We see each day the investment in education we make as a country.  There are flaws, there are policies not everyone agrees with, but today is about history.  They may not get that now, but I hope they remember today when they get older.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” MLK