Age of Aquarius

The other night as I came upon the movie Hair online, I was overcome by a watershed of emotion hearing one of my favorite childhood songs, "Age of Aquarius." Popularized by the group the 5th Dimension, the tenor of the song crystallizes many unfulfilled aspirations of the 1960s. Forty years have passed since the turmoil of 1968, but the ideals of that period have not been extinguished. In many ways, the election of President Elect Obama represents the realization of those unfulfilled dreams that shaped my consciousness, so many years ago. I feel an historical and cultural shift in American life, something life affirming and global in scale. Yes, the election of President Elect Obama is a fulfillment of unrealized dreams of equality and social justice, a hope in the possiblity of real social change.