God Spare Life

Barack Obama: Doing My Part to Bring the Change We Need

When I set out to host an open house for Barack Obama, I could not have known what interesting, heart-warming, and hopeful stories I would hear from those who attended — and even one that arrived by mail from a "snow-bird" neighbor now working for Obama in Michigan:

• a Vietnam Veteran who opposes McCain
• a young woman who had decided not to vote, but learned enough at my house to decide she'll vote for Obama
• a parent of a special needs son, who's incensed over Palin "parading" her Downs baby around like a campaign prop.

What can you do to make sure your state votes "blue"?

Here are some ideas:

Kente Cloth Ceremony at Vassar College Commencement 2008

I had the honor of being invited to speak at this year's Kente Cloth Ceremony at Vassar and afterward talked with my publisher, Yvonne DiVita, about the event (including ... groan! ... the airline delays that made me late):

You can find more information on the origins, meaning, and adoption of Kente stoles as a graduation symbol at site like the Association of Black Professionals at Radford University or the Black Law Students Alliance at the University of Michigan.\

Later that day, I attended another part of the Commencement 2008 events, the Baccalaureate ceremony hosted by the Vassar Council of Black Seniors. I enjoyed it even more because my host for the weekend, Professor Joyce Bickerstaff, was honored for her years of service to Vassar.

She's been on the faculty since the year I graduated (1971), played an important role in building the Africana Studies program, and is currently Associate Professor of Education and Africana Studies.

According to information on the program,

"the Baccalaureate service originated in a statute of 1432 at Oxford University, requiring each graduate to deliver a sermon in Latin. Over the years, the Baccalaureate has come to signify a sermon of farewell to a graduating class. Historically, Vassar participated in this practice, however during the 1960s the tradition was lost. In 1991 the Council of Black Seniors rejuvenated the service as a Commencement weekend event."

This year's Vassar Baccalaureate was entitled "By Any Means Necessary" (Wikipedia entry on the origin of the phrase) and Reverend Dr. Michael Eric Dyson gave the address.

Afterward, I had the opportunity to meet him, give him a copy of my book, and get my picture taken.

All in all, a wonderful day.

Barack Obama - Another Magical Moment in History

I'm feeling a bit psychic, given the news today. Listen to my interview with my editor/publisher, Yvonne DiVita, from a few days ago about my experience at a private reception for Senator Obama here in Florida on May 21.

As I mentioned in the interview, I was able to give a copy of my book to Senator Obama and he wrote this about it:

Dear Claudia,

Thank you so much for the copy of your autobiography God Spare Life. Your struggle to break boundaries never before crossed is truly inspirational. I encourage continuing to spread your message to everyone that we should never give up our hopes and dreams. Of course, the greatest gift you can give is your support, and I truly appreciate it. ...

Click on the image to enlarge and see the rest of Senator Obama's letter to me.

As you can tell from my smile, my words, and my voice in the interview above, I'm in turn inspired by Senator Obama and his message. When I and my classmates took over the Vassar College administration building in 1969 and wondered if we would accomplish our goals or be expelled, I could not yet envision this day.

Now we have an African American ready to be nominated by a major party for President ... and serious talk of a woman as his running mate! As I said in the interview, the feeling for me is magical.

How can you help make diversity happen?

The AAOS made this wonderful video to help introduce me as this year's Diversity Award winner. But my hope is that you'll see this as more about how each person can contribute to changing things for the better:

Video courtesy AAOS

Diversity Award: 2008 and Beyond

What an amazing week I had at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in San Francisco last week! In addition to receiving the AAOS 2008 Diversity Award, I had the opportunity to meet the future I've worked so long to help bring about.

You may recognize these two shining examples:

> > >    > > > 

That's Debi Thomas in the middle (yes, the former US and World Champion and Olympic medalist figure skater), who's now a practicing orthopaedic surgeon. She attended the Trilogy Breakfast where we bring together the African American, women's, and Latino societies of orthopaedic surgeons. 

And the third photo is Kalilah Allen-Harris (Miss Black USA 2007), who is in medical school studying toward becoming an orthopedic surgeon. Kalilah and I were on a panel presentation entitled "She Can Do It" and she expresses the spirit of passing on what we've been given on her own blog where she wrote, "Being able to encourage people is such a blessing."

Here's more about my whirlwind week from a conversation with Yvonne DiVita and Tom Collins last Friday (just click the Play ">" button to listen, or the link below to download the MP3):

MP3 File

Stop back soon for another segment from this conversation.