On Memorial Day weekend in 2003, after attending a convention, my husband Carman L. Smith and I toured our nation’s capital. My last visit was in 1962 a brief one at the White House graciously hosted by then President John Kennedy for young Red Cross volunteers from around the world. I was one of them, a high schooler from Lima, Peru. Though brief the visit was most memorable and life impacting. We visited the historical sites as foreign guests…
This time in 2003 visiting the historical monuments, I felt the overwhelming presence of our history’s heroes. I had yet another assurance of my deep love for this, my new country, that is now my home. “The first time I had this realization was immediately after the 9/11 attacks…along with the experience that this national tragedy brought all of us together.” I wrote this on the Smithsonian Museum’s survey titled “How my life changed during the Sept. 11, 2001 terror.”
This visit was also a confirmation to embrace diversity in our communities as I joyfully experienced in our nation’s capital. Fifty years ago, the only diversity I noticed was black and brown: brown was usually just me when I arrived in Detroit to go to college just after high school from Peru. I experienced the stares and the curiosity in people’s eyes and in their lips through their questions.
This time, this visit was different. A few short blocks from the grand Omni hotel we walked to the Adams Morgan retail and residential neighborhood. I was amazed at the diversity of retail: West African, Ethiopian, Caribbean, Salvadorian, Italian, American diners, Irish Pubs, used bookstores, clothing boutiques, Salvadorian banks, framing shops, etc. All of these were mom/pop businesses.
In conclusion, I felt in our nation’s capital the awesome history of our country by the long-ago fathers and mothers of democracy. I also felt vibrancy and inclusion. I was extremely encouraged to see that inclusion and democracy in the Adams Morgan district, full of diverse merchants experiencing the American dream through the nurturing of entrepreneurship by the visionary city leaders. I urge everyone, especially the recent immigrants to our amazing country to visit our nation’s capital and experience the history of how freedom from England was ultimately attained and how through the centuries courageous men and women forged the nation we enjoy have/are today and how now we continue to forge the future, together working in the present for a better nation and a better world for all our children.
Happy 4th of July.
