The city is overflowing and in the grip of joy. Every thing is decorated, and Obamamania is jumpstarting the economy at street level. It is truly wonderful and amazing. Today I had my photo taken with Frederick Douglass. We walked in a MLK day parade to lay a wreath at the African-American Civil War Memorial, which is very near our apartment. The parade marshals were from the 54th Massachusettsboth re-enactors, and the newly re-formed regiment of the Mass National Guard. They were accompanied by a group of black women re-enactors, and the Douglass re-enactor was at the ceremony. It was kinda mind blowing; the 54th risen from its watery grave in vindication after all these years. The people were singing: ‘Before I’ll be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave.” And then at the end, when we were doing one more time around on ‘We Shall Overcome,” someone started a verse: ‘No more Bushes ever, we have overcome tooooo-day!”

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