 Share
|
« Previous Daily-dish | Next Daily-dish » |
Email
Print
|
High Hopes
Byby Chris Bodenner
Xeni Jardin reports on the impact Obama's victory had on a remote, mountainous village in Guatemala:
That sudden jolt of aspiration felt around the world? It struck here. Hard. ... It meant a renewed belief in change, for a people who have survived natural disasters, racism, and 36 years of civil war that many describe as the Mayan genocide. If a black man can enter the Casa Blanca, they are saying, maybe a Mayan person can one day become president of Guatemala.
Don Victoriano, the local leader of an international nonprofit, wrote:
I heard the acceptance speech of Obama, at four in the morning when I turned on the little battery-powered radio I have here. ... And we give a triumphant hug to each other as if we were norteamericanos, because it made us so happy in our hearts. Next Thursday we’re going to have a Mayan ceremony, with the mamas and the nis, to give thanks to the Creator for this triumph, and for his spouse and two children. ... Only Ajaw could have made this possible. May the creator bless him, and guide his decisions so that he makes good ones.
