On the one hand we feel delirious relief and hope. Barack Obama has rekindled our democratic faith with his idealism, intelligence, and grace. We are all the more inspired by the response of our fellow citizens, choosing hope over fear.

Yet we Americans live among the rubble of a political system that has been heavily shelled. Decades of cynical culture wars, abuses of power, and perversions of the Constitution have left many of us suspicious of our fellow citizens and worried about the future of this nation.

This is a moment that demands greatness. And Obama appears to have the fortitude for the job.

Of course, the election of Barack Obama does not magically transform that landscape. But in this calm, this armistice, we can take a breath and bask in the intangible, yet vital, rays of hope.

And there is no question about how profoundly this election of a son of Kenya and the American heartland reinforces our notion of American as an ideal, not a genetic marker.
It remains to be seen to what extent Barack Obama will transform government, but his serious, focused campaign certainly inspires us.

A few days ago, on Election Day, veteran poll watchers at the Takoma Park Middle precinct marveled at voters who had never before waited this long, one hour, two hours, even longer, to cast a ballot. It was a United Nations kind of crowd that is too rare a sight around here, despite all our rhetoric about local diversity. The mood in the long line was casual and festive as if there was no other place one could possibly want to be on this particular day.

In a tactical sense these votes for President did not matter. An Obama victory in Maryland was a foregone conclusion. Up and down the line, though, strangers struck up conversations and repeated the same sentiment, "I want to be part of history."
The following morning a woman boarded a local bus and was overheard to say, "The country that I love loves me back!"

It was a bit of appreciative eloquence worthy of Obama himself, and it may best explain why, even before taking office, our next President is being compared to another skinny politician from Illinois who also occupied the White House at a time when there was a need for greatness.

—Sam Pancake

Takoma Park, Md.

The year was 1965. The place was Ft. McClellan, Alabama. The burned child was me. The “little white girl” was my light-skinned sister.

First, we learned that these issues are of continuing great interest to our neighbors. The enormous community concern about adverse impacts has not diminished since our September 2007 General Meeting where the PHCA membership overwhelmingly adopted a Resolution requesting that the Maryland Transit Administration prepare detailed studies of “underground” options as well as traffic and congestion studies, so we can better understand the costs and benefits of the Purple Line for our neighborhood.

Apparently the combined Takoma Park, Silver Spring banner on the cover of the January Voice has stirred up some controversy concerning the Takoma-obliterating schemes of a certain publisher.

Maybe it would help if I provided a more basic and human explanation.

IMPACT Silver Spring is now accepting applications for the eighth year of its training program, Neighborhood IMPACT 2007, formerly called Community Empowerment Program (CEP). Neighborhood IMPACT is a unique leadership development and community action program offered to Silver
Spring renters.

(BTW, Blademonki, feel free to contact us so that we can attribute you with more than a screen name.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUiE41wBBFs&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ltzLBskJI

A few weeks ago my family was lamenting the horribly dirty state of Silver Spring's downtown green space, AKA, the Turf. I was complaining about my failed attempts to persuade local officials to clean it.

My daughter, uninterested in sharing my high dudgeon, made a brilliant suggestion. "Why don't we clean it ourselves?"

In a stroke: from powerlessness to power. Of course we could clean it ourselves— and have a good time to boot. So we teamed up with our friends the Karn/McDonagh's, put out a call for assistance on the list serve, and showed up on Saturday with brooms and trash bags.

As if by divine intervention, on the very Friday before our clean up, the Red Shirt Brigade was moved to do a thorough clean up of the turf, which made our jobs much easier. Big thanks to the Red Shirts.

This movie is a little vignette of that pleasant afternoon on the Turf.

As if to mark the decade anniversary, Mr. Simon Lee of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong visited Takoma Park on June 12 to learn more about our municipal government. Mr. Lee and his party are advocating for greater political strength for the local district representatives in Hong Kong.

He will be visiting Burlington, Vermont; Jackson, Mississippi; Lincoln, Nebraska and San Francisco on his three-week tour of the United States. He is participating in the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State. Mr. Lee met with City staff and with Councilmember Terry Seamens.

He was particularly interested in learning about where municipalities get revenue from and in Takoma Park's Council-Manager form of government.

—Source: Takoma Park Press Release

The series is organized by the Old Takoma Business Association/Main Street Takoma with the Institute of Musical Traditions and support from the Takoma Foundation and the Takoma Park Arts and Humanities Commission.

Topics to be discussed will include tenants' concerns about the condominium conversion process and possible changes in the rent stabilization law. Those interested in attending may contact Linda Walker at 301-891-7222.