A moment of reflection
The California of 1985 was a far cry from the California of 2020.
In 1985, California "native son" Ronald Reagan was beginning his second term as president.
In 1985, the GOP was in firm control of the Governor's Mansion, and would be until 1998.
In 1994, the voters in my state passed Proposition 187, which was the prelude to every GOP attack on immigration since then.
What a difference a few decades make.
What has happened in the intervening years in California is what is happening in the country at large.
My state has gone from Republican to Democrat.
My state has gone from conservative to liberal.
My state welcomes everyone from every place on earth, and they power the world's fifth largest economy.
Without my state, you wouldn't have fresh veggies in the winter.
Without my state, you wouldn't have fresh fruit.
And now, Joe Biden has picked my state's junior senator as his running-mate.
She's Black. She's Asian. She's married to a white man. She's a prosecutor. And she wants to hold police accountable.
She is the American Dream writ in palm trees and sand.
I could not have imagined this state in the years I was plotting to go back to New York. The change California has gone through since 1985 is unimaginable unless you live here.
When LA's first black mayor, Tom Bradley, ran for governor in 1982 and 1986, he was soundly defeated. And he was soundly defeated solely because he was Black. Now, a Black woman is on the cusp of going to live in the Naval Observatory. This is a big fucking deal.
People denigrate my beautiful state. But we're the future. A future of acceptance. A future of diversity. A future of making things work for everyone.
We have our problems. God knows we do. But we don't shrink from them. And that's something we can share with the rest of the country.
But what Joe Biden did in selecting Kamala Harris as his running-mate was to put the future front and center. Harris is the future. Those who look like her, who have her background, are the future. The castoffs who surround Donald Trump are the past, and best to be consigned to the rearview mirror.
Of course I'm proud that Kamala Harris may be the first Californian since Ronald Reagan to be in the executive. But I'm more proud that she's me. She's us. She's the promise of this country. Republicans hearken back to an age which we should study but not emulate. Democrats look forward to a future we have yet to build.
I'm riding with Biden and dancing with Kamala. Are you?