The Sights in DC

I spent a week in DC for the ACI conference organized by ASAN. The conference schedule was pretty hectic, so there was barely any time to see the sights in DC. I had never been to DC so wanted to see at least a couple of the historic landmarks. 

National Mall

The conference on Sunday was starting only at 2pm, so we used that opportunity to go see the National Mall that morning. It was a blistering hot day. Had not expected the weather in DC to be this hot - in the 80s and 90s. Apparently, DC is both cold in winter and equally hot in summer. Showers were also expected that day so we had to take rain jackets as well which was a bit of a drag. Luckily it did not rain when we were walking around. We did not have a lot of time so had to rush to see a few things and could not linger at any. 

The über dropped us off in front of Lincoln Memorial. Wow - Lincoln Memorial is more impressive live than on TV. What can I say? 

Lincoln Memorial

The 36 columns in the Parthenon-like Lincoln Memorial building are the 36 initial states. The 19 ft tall marble Lincoln sits in deep contemplation, perhaps pondering the state of our country then and now. On the walls is his second inauguration speech.

Abe Lincoln

Marble Lincoln 19 feet tall

Glory days etched on towering column and wall

Bothered not by milling crowds

Determination, Compassion

Bent in contemplative reflection

Witness of democracy

mirrored in the reflecting pool

Things of past, sights of present
and protests in between

I wonder....

What would you say Abe?

If you were now given a voice?

If you were given a voice?
What would you now say, Abe?

We walked on the trail around the Tidal Basin all the way to Jefferson Memorial. Along the trail are many of the monuments like the Korean War Memorial, MLK Memorial, Roosevelt Memorial, etc. What a grand and wonderful tribute to the ideals of democracy and our history.  

We could stop only at a handful of them as we had to get back. Washington Monument was closed for repairs unfortunately so could not get an aerial view of DC. Next time.

MLK Memorial

Washington Monument

Jefferson Memorial

Korean War Memorial

"Freedom is not Free"
- Korean War Memorial

"Out of a Mountain of Despair, A Stone of Hope"
- MLK Memorial

"Among American citizens, the should be no forgotten men and no forgotten race"
- FDR memorial

"The test of progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. "- FDR Memorial

Lovely sentiments
Powerful messages
Set in stone, eons ago.

But what do we do?
We read, we admire... the words, the history.
We think we contemplate the meaning and grandeur of it all
We think we understand.
We really think we understand.
We really really think we understand.
We think we come away better folks.
Oh yes, we are now better folks.

But PRACTICE..... Oh No, that we do not. 
That we do not. 
Oh No, that we do not.  

Glanced at words, easily forgot.
Post on social media, then forgot
It's back to 'real' life, says we


The White House
A second sightseeing jaunt happened after our Hill Day visit on Friday, Jun 21 evening. Can't leave DC without a peek at the White House. 

Two of my ACI friends Lia and Rebecca accompanied us.  I'm so glad they both came along as they really enlivened the outing with their lively chatter and comments. 

Though The White House is just a little more than a mile away from Capitol Hill, it took forever for the Uber Driver to get to us on the steps of the US House of Representatives Building and then take up there as the traffic is pretty congested in DC. 

The White House

Opposite The White House was a man camped out under an umbrella surrounded by protest posters. Deja Vu! It so reminded me of all the protest posters that line Sproul Plaza on the UC Berkeley campus. 

Poster reads "Wanted: Wisdom and Honesty"
- opposite The White House

I even met another Cal (UC Berkeley) student there. She came up and asked if I was going to Cal and nostalgically remarked that she's just graduated. And added, "Go Bears!!"

On the way to the White House, there was a quick photo stop in front of the Treasury Building. 

US Treasury

It was a super hot day and my suit jacket just got soaked with sweat. So off came the tie and jacket but could do nothing about my long sleeve shirt. 

The Smithsonian
We were also hoping to catch a Smithsonian Museum if one was still open. Turns out the Smithsonian American Art Museum was still open. 

Smithsonian Museum of American Art

Feb 22 - I share a birthday with George Washington

Nice attempt at accessibility features in each gallery. 

Except the Spanish large print book had the English version inside and vice versa. 

A braille version too. My train of thought immediately went to what I'd read in Georgina Kleege's book, "More than meets the Eye: What Blindness brings to Art," and the interview I'd done with her for the A&E at the Daily Cal. 

I wondered what the braille print book said - did it give a sensory description of each image or did it just verbatim copy the explanations on the wall by each picture - meant for visual people. 

I'm a tactile person too in many ways, I was hard-pressed to not touch impulsively touch the images.  

My class with Prof. Victor Pineda last semester also really made me think of accessibility in a whole new way. 

Accessibility at the Museum

The president who happened to sign the ADA

What a lovely visual - showing the "emergence" of the Special Olympics

The story behind the Special Olympics is not so pretty. JFK and Eunice Kennedy Shriver's sister Rosemary was dx with ID and made to undergo a lobotomy by her father at age 23, supposedly to help with mood swings and her interest in the opposite sex. The lobotomy was a failure and reduced her to the level of a 2 year old with no speech for the rest of her life. None of her siblings knew of the lobotomy for nearly 2 decades as she was kept secluded. 

Pictures of earlier presidents in the Presidential Gallery were very formal and "portrait like"

JFK was a nice change - kinda nifty abstract arty. 

Picture taken for the beautiful "Capitol Hill" building that we spent all day in

A fitting message for us advocates from Barbara Jordan

"If you are dissatisfied with the way things are, 

then you have got to resolve to change them"