Every morning on my walk to the bus, I pass the windows of a shop called Bazar. They sell imports, womens' clothing, shoes, etc. I often look at the dresses on display with an eye for something my wife would like me to surprise her with. They often have some posters for bands or performances that I assume the owner fancies.
However, in addition to their normal offerings for eye-candy, they offered something to reflect Barack Obama's election. Entitled "an historic night" it was several large swaths of white paper hanging in the windows. The hangings, read from left to right were one-line capsules of events, ideas, statements and thoughts from the beginning of the campaign up to election night.
It was and (is still) a moving experience to see the journey, laid out like a string of moments all in a row. I had forgotten how some of the moments, victories and losses related to each of the ones that preceded or followed. Some of them, I had forgotten altogether.
(Cross posted at The National Gadfly)
What strikes me, is that this is a shop window and not a media outlet. It is wonderful and hope-inspiring that everyday people are showing up in their lives to claim pride in a vision of America that calls us all forward. looked on the website, it's not there. They have taken the display down. It was a passing moment in and of itself, much as the campaign it celebrates. I am simply not content to let the moment or the statement pass out of existence without at least a few more people taking it into their own lives and memories.
I asked Doug at Bazar for the list so that I could extend his window dressing from the corner of Paulina and Roscoe in Chicago out to the rest of the world. He was kind enough to oblige and I thank him for the chance to share this. If you like this, then shoot Doug an email and let them know that their windows can be seen from where you are standing.
Enjoy,
- gadfly