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November 24, 2008
Posted: 06:42 PM ET
NEW YORK–Forty-five years ago today the man accused of killing President John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, was himself shot and killed on live television as an already stunned nation watched. I wasn’t alive then, but that moment in time, and the one just two days before it, when President Kennedy lost his life, were formative for my generation. Ours was a childhood marked by civil rights protest, Vietnam, and of course, political assassination. Kennedy, King, Malcolm and of course, Bobby Kennedy. But the President’s death came first, and with it, parent’s full of hope for their children became instead afraid for our generation. America’s sense of hope gave way to cynicism and fear. Now, nearly 50 years later, questions remain about who really killed President Kennedy and why. But a more important question was answered; could we survive it? And we did. President Johnson stepped bravely into the void of leadership. And our country came through that tumultuous time with grace to prove who we can be as Americans. Now, nearly a half century later, my generation is on the cusp of power. Barack Obama was just a boy when John Kennedy died, at a time when no one believed a black man could ever become president. The fact that one has is not only a tribute to how far we’ve come. It also signals a return to the hope that was lost all those years ago. –Jami Floyd, In Session anchor Filed under: Jami Floyd Last Word |
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