Sunday, September 19, 2004

Even At a Festival I Can Find Stickers!

Last weekend was the Roots & Heritage Festival here in Lexington, KY. The Roots & Heritage Festival is a black festival (sorry, not going to be politically correct here for a moment, will give reason soon) and the vendors come from all over. Many are from Gambia, Nambia, New Guinea, Ethiopia, and many other African nations. There are also some from Atlanta, New York, Washington, DC, and other states as well.

Their wares are laid out everywhere. One of the most interesting ones I saw were of beads. Since I and Hubby are beadcrafters, we stopped longer with these stalls than others and spoke with the vendors for a longer time.

Music is loud and of varying types such as gospel, hip-hop, rap, Old School 70's, and my ultimate favorite reggae. How they all mix so well is unbelievable.

We usually go to the Roots & Heritage Festival every year because Hubby is black and I am white (though with a black soul as his mother says). The people are always exciting and exciting to behold with authentic African clothing and you can hear the beauty of their native accents in their voices. The Roots & Heritage Festival is one of my favorite festivals to go to here in Lexington, and it grows larger year after year.

I love everything about the festival, and so does Hubby. We walk and look at each stall and usually end up staying to listen the first night, Friday night, to the blues concert.

The people in the crowd and the vendors as well, do not call themselves African-American, unless they have literal African-American dual citizenship. They call themselves "black" Americans and this festival is a celebration of who they are and what they have accomplished. It is a very positive thought pattern, and the people are positive and filled with life.

Whites go to the festival as well, and there are differing degrees of attitudes. Some look at the festival and find it very "unique" because it is so "black" and "free" and "wonderful to behold." There are others who roam and look and make no difference and call no difference to anything and enjoy everything about it. Another set is the "hippie-ish" set that roam and buy and have terrific fun.

This year at the festival I saw Hispanic and Asian faces as well, and it was great to see. They accepted everything with joy and presence and you could tell they were having fun.

At the festival this year, I just enjoyed it from top to bottom and roamed and spoke to many and had fun just being with Hubby. We bought a few things on Friday and were getting ready to leave when I saw a Kerry/Edwards table. I stopped. Not because I wanted a yard sign, not because I wanted a button, but because I saw Kerry/Edwards stickers.

What did I do? I went over and got two of them! Then, the next day I went back and got two more! Am I going to actually use them to tout my support of Kerry and Edwards? Heck no! I'm going to put one in my new paper journal that will begin probably around November, and then I will put the others in my sticker box (as soon as one can be procured)!

Life is good when you find stickers in the most unexpected places.







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