THE HILL WE CLIMB

During the Inaugural ceremony of Joe Biden last week, the nation and world were introduced to the nation's Young Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. Ms. Gorman recited a new poem that she was inspired to write after the Republican-led insurrection of the Capitol on January 6th entitled, "The Hill We Climb." You can watch it here.

In this five minute address, Ms. Gorman tells the story of America and how we are an unfinished project. This interview provides some background about the 22 year-old Ms. Gorman and what inspired her to write, "The Hill We Climb." She provides an aspirational view of how we can break through from hatred, division, and the past. First, and foremost, it starts will an acknowledgment of our history and a willingness to confront the injustices of the past as we seek to make a more perfect union. She closes with a stirring line that I, myself, have often thought of and phrased in my own way. My version goes like this, "Sometimes when it is dark, we cannot wait for the light to come. Sometimes, we must be that light for all those around us living in darkness. Her version is even more poignant, and I leave you with those words:

When day comes we step outside the shade,

aflame and unafraid

The new dawn blooms as we free it,

For there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it,

if only we're brave enough to be it.

46

This week Joseph Robinette Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States.  It was a long time coming with Joe's first presidential run in 1998 and his second in 2008. However, Joe was made for this moment in 2020 where the soul of the nation - as he put it - was on the ballot.

Joe's election means that decency is back, truth is back, and problem-solving is back. He faces the three challenges of a global pandemic, racial injustice and our long history of inequality, and an economic crisis. However, he has assembled a very capable team to take on these challenges simultaneously.

In his Inaugural address, Joe clearly did not shy away from the challenges ahead. However, he also made it clear that the antidote to all three crises is unity. If we socially distance, wear masks, and coordinate the federal and state response to COVID, we will hasten its end. If we accept that our nation has a history of white supremacy and that people who espoused that philosophy of hate were responsible for the attack on the Capitol and so many other incidents of domestic terror, we can defeat it. If we invest in getting schools back open, forestall evictions, and get people the financial support they need in this pandemic, we will lift individuals and families out of poverty and hunger. In sum, we are the ones we have been waiting for to solve what ails us as Americans.

I, for one, am ready to report for duty. Godspeed Joe!

ONE DAY MORE

 One day more. 

Another day, another destiny. 

This never ending road to Calvary.

So begins the song “One Day More” from the musical Les Miserables set in the backdrop of the French Revolution.

Today is the last night of the Trump Presidency. However, it is not revolution we seek. Rather, we seek evolution and a restoration of dignity and sanity.

We lost many things these last four years - an appreciation for truth, democratic norms, cooperation, and common decency. These things were not so much lost as they were stolen away from us by Trump and his many enablers in the Republican Party, social media companies, and his many followers who prayed at his altar. They are responsible for the carnage that has been inflicted on us all.

One day more. Three words I thought I would never utter in the depths of despair of the past four years when my faith in the America people and our institutions sat shattered. However, this country and its people have a way of making up for its past, for making amends, and for righting wrongs. How else can we explain the salvation that was delivered to us last November 3rd?

I will hopefully sleep better in the days and months ahead. If I do, it will be because we again have a true leader in the White House, a man whose life has been touched by tragedy, pain, and loss far too often. As James Clyburn famously said in his speech nearly a year ago that saved Joe’s candidacy in South Carolina and beyond, “We know Joe. More importantly, Joe knows us.” 

That is why I believe we have arrived in this moment, the final night of Trump’s Presidency. Three hundred and six electoral votes worth of Americans looked at the error of our collective ways from 2016 and asked who can fix the damage that Trump hath wrought? The answer was clear, my President, Joe Biden.

Let those of you who are religious pray for his success, but let us all do everything in our power to make his presidency and our country fairer, safer, kinder, and more equal. Then and only then will our American promise be restored.

Good night.

THREE DAYS IN JANUARY

On January 5th, Georgia made history by electing its first Jewish senator and its first African-American senator. It was a historic shift for a state that also helped to elect Joe Biden President of the United States two months ago, and winning these two senate seats now gives Democrats control of both the House and Senate!

There are many reasons the Democrats prevailed in those races: Trump's behavior, the activism of people like Stacey Abrams, and the quality of our candidates. It was a perfect storm, a blue wave, and I was rightly in awe of my country on the morning of January 6th when the outcome of both races became clear.

However, later in the day, my sense of wonder and hopefulness were shattered. During clinic, I received from numerous text messages that a violent mob incited by Trump had invaded the Capitol where Congress was meeting to certify the vote. These terrorists breached the barricades literally and forcibly entered the Capitol, vandalizing it and terrorizing all those in their path - all those except many of the Capitol Police who ushered them in or stopped to take selfies with them. 

It was a shocking, memorable, day in America's history. Undaunted, Congress reconvened later that day. After frivolous challenges to the Electoral College win by Biden by 8 Republican senators and 138 congresspeople, the election was eventually certified at 330 AM the next day. 

American history is complex with many examples of sin and righteousness. However, I have never seen the juxtaposition of two such polar opposite events in the same day - a day none of us will ever forget. What I take from yesterday is that we still have so far to go as a country. We took a giant leap forward by re-gaining control of both the executive and legislative branches, but that was matched by the step back when a sitting President and congresspeople attempted a blatant coup. In the end that coup failed, and our republic held. 

In his death bed op-ed, John Lewis famously said, "Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part to help build the Beloved Community, a nation and world society at peace with itself." Let us remember the arc of John Lewis' life and his words, and let us never forget that democracies do not happen on their own. They happen when we fight for our lives to make our union more perfect. May we never forget that after these three days in January.

V-DAY

Today was like any other first day of a new year except today - Jan 1, 2021 - is the day I received the COVID-19 vaccine.

It is hard to remember a time when I did not fear death or disability from COVID-19, but today I feel a little more at ease. I do not plan to change my habits or behavior, but I will sleep more soundly knowing that preliminary results from the Pfizer vaccine trial show that the vaccine I received is 95% effective at preventing COVID-19.

Producing a vaccine for a new human pathogen using brand new technology in less than nine months is nothing short of a miracle. Indeed, as I sat in the lobby of Ford Auditorium at the University of Michigan and felt the needle plunge into my right arm, I was overcome with wonder and gratitude.

Arthur C. Clarke famously once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." This was my first personal brush with the magic made by science that has the potential to save my life and prevent me from sickening those for whom I care or about whom I care.

I hope that everyone is able to receive their own piece of magic soon. Thank you to the RNA biologists, the virologists, the pharmaceutical companies, the patients who volunteered for the trials, the clinical research teams who conducted the trials, and to the healthcare facilities and workers for making distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine a reality. I am forever indebted to all of these magicians!