Finally.......

Finally Obama is President. Though I can't help feeling people are pinning everything on him. Will he be able to live up to all his promises? Whatever happens I think he is going to bring a lot of change to the US and hopefully the world.

I also finally signed the Gaza petition. In Durham of all places. I think we as a generation need to be more politically active and fight for what we belive in. Its not enough just to talk about it I think we need to do. May I remind you of the poem by Niemöller

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Is it that we don't have the time anymore. Or because we live in the Western world we are not affected by what is happening abroad so we simply block it out.

It reminds me of an exhibition I saw earlier this week at the Baltic Art Gallery in Newcastle about Bernadette Devlin. At the age of 21 she is the youngest ever woman to be elected as an MP. Throuhgout the Northern Ireland troubles, Devlin was a key political activist for the Republicans.