HG’s heart swelled a bit while watching the beautiful, elegant couple — Barack and Michelle — dance together at the Inaugural Ball. And, it followed the magnificent speech in which the President linked the battle for gay rights to this country’s ongoing efforts to achieve civil justice (sadly, much work has to be done). Memories were stirred: HG’s shock when, as a teenager, HG saw the omnipresent “Whites Only” signs in Atlanta. HG being physically assaulted when HG joined a picket line protesting the exclusion of an African-American war veteran from a New York swimming pool in 1946. HG in the 1948 student strike at CCNY which battled discriminatory practices at the College’s dormitory. HG’s shameful and reluctant acceptance, while a journalist in the early 1950’s, of the virulent racism in New York City law enforcement. On the brighter side: HG’s pride in meeting Martin Luther King and giving him strategic counseling concerning the civil rights movement and the Jewish community. And, most beautiful, the glow enveloping BSK when HG welcomed her back from Washington where BSK joined the historic March and heard Dr. King’s eloquent oration. HG and BSK watched the Inauguration and toasted the future. It all happened in one lifetime. Still hard to believe.
