America’s aha moment arrives on day of Epiphany
In this Jan. 6, 2021, fi le photo supporters of President Donald
Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police offi cers
outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington.
Associated Press/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File
Caribbean Life, January 15-21, 2021 11
Every year on Jan. 6 Ethiopians
regale Christmas Eve. On
that same date, Latinos celebrate
the day with a parade
they promote as Dia de Los
Reyes or Three Kings Day. For
a vast majority the date is a
marker to dispense with Christmas
decorations and end the
holiday season.
Christians worldwide consider
the 12th day after the birth
of Jesus, Epiphany, and the time
it took the three wise men to
travel to Bethlehem where he
was recognized to be the son
of God.
Cambridge dictionary defines
the word “a moment when you
suddenly feel you understand,
or suddenly become conscious
of something that is important…”
A more conventional explanation
takes it straight to the obvious
exhorting the period of illumination
as an aha moment.
Americans and the rest of a
global population experienced
an epiphany, on Jan. 6, 2021
when Americans invaded America’s
symbol of democracy —
the Capitol — with intent to
kidnap, capture and harm legislators
because they disagreed
with the losing results of their
candidate.
President-elect Joe Biden
referred to the date as a day of
insurrection.
As many of his colleagues
huddled under desks, hiding in
offices and undisclosed areas
behind barricades the winner of
the national election redefined
the meaning of the day.
Like Dec. 7 or September 11
he made it clear Jan. 6 will live
in infamy.
Undoubtedly, watching from
afar it must have been more
than an aha moment for him to
see armed dissidents ascending
the steps of the Capitol building.
As with many Americans he
was repulsed seeing gun-toting
citizens scaling walls, breaking
windows, defiance of police
orders, and at least one individual
photographed sitting
mockingly in the chair of the
Speaker of the House and other
lawmakers.
Inside the Rotunda, they
brandished an over-sized Confederate
flag, paraded a lectern
Speaker Nancy Pelosi often used
while a scary-looking character
(later identified as Brooklynite)
— posed for pictures holding a
stolen, lucite, police protective
shield.
There where a burial chamber
for George Washington
honors the first president of
the United States — though
he was buried in Mount Vernon
— revolt exposed a divided
America.
Thirty-four men have laid
in state there, among them
politicians, military personnel,
government officials — President
Abraham Lincoln, President
John F. Kennedy, Jacob J.
Chestnut, Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, first female, in Statutory
Hall, Cong. Elijah Cummings,
Cong. John Lewis, the
first Black lawmaker, Sen. John
McCain and some of the nation’s
avowed citizens.
It is also the place the nation
pays the highest honor to private
citizens affording them to
lie in honor — Rosa Parks, a
Civil Rights among the few.
That Air Force veteran Asli
Babbitt travelled from San
Diego, California; and on arrival
to the state capital attended
a pro-Trump rally and afterward
felt compelled by the message
walked to the Capitol and
attempted to climb through an
opening to be shot for breaching
the sanctity of the institution
proved to be an aha moment for
television viewers.
Thirty-five-year-old Babbitt is
alleged to be a “staunch Trump
supporter.”
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Inside Life
By Vinette K. Pryce