The Wrong Black Man

Today, I was at my beauty shop, getting my hair done. I took doughnuts to the beauty shop, something I rarely do, as I figured I would have to bribe my way in.

<smile>

Not really. Tuesday's been doing my hair every other week for twenty years come this September. She was the first black person I met in Austin, she was the first person to do my hair here in Austin, and in nearly twenty years my hair's been done by someone else only twice. She and I are friends, and we have been debating politics at least since she had her first shop. She's religious, she's conservative, she votes Democrat, despite my best efforts <smile>.

We're friends.

So, anyway, she had one other customer in the shop when I arrived on Inauguration Day, a woman who I had seen a time or two before, but whose name I still don't know. Tuesday said I could watch the Inauguration with them, as long as I didn't boo.

I dissed Feinswine and made Tuesday and the other lady laugh. We critiqued Michelle's dress, and I figured out why Malia always dresses too "grown" for her age.

The three of us prayed that Aretha would be completely covered up when she was announced, and we were all loving that hat! She made all three of us cry ... Lord, thank you kindly for voices like Aretha's, that lift our hearts and our spirits.

Tuesday and the other customer went into the shampoo room, while I stayed outside to let them know when the oath started. I was digging Itzhak and Yo-Yo and the others, and digging the reaction of the children to classical music --- the expressions on some of the kindergardener's faces were wondrous.

Tuesday and the other customer came back out in time to see the swearing-in. They were all agog because of his skin color --- Tuesday even said, "I'm proud of my blackness today!" (Which shocked me.) Me, I was heart-full, as I always am, at the peaceful exchange of power. It wasn't done undercover, at midnight, but in the light, at the stroke of noon; it wasn't enforced by a gun or a bayonet, but by the rule of law and custom.

The color on his skin was, of course, wonderful to see ... but, truly, it's the content of his character that matters most to me, and should to everyone.

As I told the ladies at the beauty shop, it's wonderful to see a black man take the oath ... but it's the wrong black man.