We the People are the Rightful Caretakers
November 5, 2024
Although I recall this treasured memory publicly with some degree of trepidation for the embarrassment of riches it holds when I look back on the 35 years I was blessed to share a life with a most remarkable woman; Alice Vartanian King; I ask your indulgence for sharing it with you because of the power it lends to this moment for me.
It may be that history will prove my gut feelings about the outcome of this election wrong. I will gladly eat the crow involved if my dreams exceed the day, but I am convinced that by the end of this process Kamala Harris will be our President-elect resoundingly.
In both my public life and our private one, Alice was never reluctant to provide constructive criticism to me when it was appropriate and I always took it seriously because she had a rare and perceptive understanding of human nature and a remarkable empathy for people of all different perspectives - coupled with a BS detector that allowed her to cut through the unimportant to the heart of the matter at hand.
She was also fiercely protective of the people she loved and freely offered compliments that demonstrated that love and respect. But the most memorable compliment she ever gave me was a “compliment” delivered with a healthy dose of tongue in cheek. Of all she said to me over those years there was no compliment I treasured more than those moments when Alice would tell me that I was a woman in a past life.
Now Alice was no flake, she had a deeply spiritual soul, but neither of us were arrogant enough to see the truth of what lies beyond as adequately described by anything more than the Native American concept of “the great mystery”. She wasn’t suggesting that she embraced some concept of past lives or any other dogma that any organized religion insists constitutes truth.
It was her way of reaching into the deepest possible connection that we could share and encouraging me to give voice to that part of me.
Over the years I think it is fair to say that together we crafted an outlook and political philosophy that I have come to call Radical Centrism. It is a belief that is based on respect for even those who disagree with us and a willingness, an eagerness even, to seek common ground, even if we need to build it from the ground up.
I know that it is too early to declare victory, none of us should rest until the last poll closes, but I can see it in the eyes of my fellow citizens. . . even those who will vote against Kamala Harris today. “All of us share”, as Bobby Kennedy Sr said in 1968, “one precious possession - the name American.”
Based on the campaign that Kamala Harris has conducted I am deeply hopeful that she will reach out to see and to grasp what my Alice did: that everyone matters . . . or no one matters. Everyone has a part to play in building our future, from the most modest family and community organization to the hallowed halls of Congress and the White House.
I believe she will be a great President and a great President knows how to marshall our dreams and fill our sails with the winds of hope, determination and purpose. She has shown us this through the course of her campaign.
I hope that she will take a page from my grandfather’s people, the Haudenousanee - aka the Iroquois - who more than 500 years ago, well before our own independence, established the first democracy on this continent. The responsibility of a leader according to Haudenousanee tradition is to serve, and to dream for, not only the next few years but the next “Seven Generations”.
Now, on to the point brought on by Alice’s wisdom and her compliment.
Although these last ten years have been filled with heartache and disappointment over the divisions, missteps, and lost opportunities in our beloved country, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to see what I have every confidence will be the election of our first President of the female persuasion. I wish that Alice could have seen it with me but I will be celebrating her when I celebrate the election of Kamala Harris.
I hope that the patriotism and optimism expressed by Kamala Harris will lead her to a table that is set for all of us and that brings her to a place where both the exigencies of the day and the next seven generations will be blessed by the strong, nurturing and brilliant woman that exists in the hearts of every man, woman, and child here.
About the Anamaki Chronicles Substack
This Substack has no paywall, we exist through the generosity of subscribers and the purchase of art from the gallery of images. Paid subscribers are thanked annually with a signed original print from Wayne.
About Wayne D. King: Author, podcaster, artist, activist, social entrepreneur and recovering politician. A three-term State Senator, 1994 Democratic nominee for Governor. His art (WayneDKing.com) is exhibited nationally in galleries and he has published five books of his images, most recently, "New Hampshire - a Love Story”. His novel "Sacred Trust" - a vicarious, high-voltage adventure to stop a private powerline - as well as the photographic books are available at most local bookstores or on Amazon. He lives on the “Narrows” in Bath, NH at the confluence of the Connecticut and Ammonoosuc Rivers and proudly flies the American, Iroquois and Abenaki Flags, attesting to both his ancestry and his spiritual ties. His publishing website is: Anamaki.com. Anamaki is a derivative of an Algonquin word meaning “abiding hope”, crafted by Alice Vartanian King his wife of 35 years who died in 2018. Fittingly, the term also has roots in both the Armenian and Persian languages of her own familial heritage. Alice, among many accomplishments, served in the Carter Presidential administration as the Administrator of the National Commission for Juvenile Justice; she was also the founder of the Massachusetts Civil Liberties Foundation and the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium Foundation.
Art, Columns and Podcasts produced at Anamaki Studios in Bath, NH.
This land lies in N’dakinna, the traditional ancestral homeland of the Abenaki, Sokoki, Koasek, Pemigewasset, Pennacook and Wabanaki Peoples past and present. We acknowledge and honor with gratitude those who have stewarded N’dakinna throughout the generations.
Signed Art Open-edition Prints
Signed art Open-edition prints
Signed Art Open-Edition Prints
Signed Art Open-Edition Prints Fine Art Poster
Signed Art Open Edition Print Fine Art Poster Image Only Open Edition
Wonderful words, Wayne! (the alliteration was unintentional)