Amy Goodman/Marian Wright Edelman @ 6th & I on Wednesday

UPDATE: Here is the right place to rsvp to see Amy Goodman and Marian Wright Edelman tomorrow night.

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From Democracy Now’s Website:

November 12, 2008
Washington, DC

Washington, DC, November 12, 2008 Award-winning journalist Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, is on a national speaking tour to launch her third book with journalist David Goodman, Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times.

Award-winning journalist Amy Goodman, host of the daily, grassroots, global, radio/TV news hour Democracy Now!, is on a national speaking tour to mark DN!’s 12th anniversary and launch her third book with journalist David Goodman, Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times.

WHEN: 7pm
WHERE: Sixth and I Synagogue, 600 I St NW, Washington, DC 20001
WHAT: Founder and president for the Children’s Defense Fund – and bestselling author – Marian Wright Edelman looks back on what has been done, and what still needs to be done, to make our nation and world safe and fair for all children. Edelman will discuss her new book, The Sea is So Wide and My Boat is So Small: Charting a Course for the Next Generation with journalist, Amy Goodman.

Shepard Fairey's Art in DC

Even if you haven’t heard the name Shepard Fairey, you’ve probably seen his work.

He’s the dude behind the above iconic Obama images that have blown up.

If you’d like to see more of his stuff, this DC exhibit goes on through December 6th. He and two other artists have their work on display.

(hat tip Catherine)

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Here’s a little more on Fairey:

Also, Moveon.org has a deal where you can get some Obama stickers featuring Fairey’s art.

Not sure what they do w/ your info, but it’s free.

Lincoln Exhibit @ National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery’s “One Life: The Mask of Lincoln” opened today.

It isn’t all that big but it is very worth the trip, especially in light of the National Portrait Gallery being the site of Lincoln’s second inaugural ball.

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After walking over there, I got back to work just in time to hear Obama’s first press conference as President-Elect.

Obama mentioned reading Lincoln’s writings so now I want to check out some of his speeches.

The historical background for his second inaugural speech is pretty rich:

At a time when victory over the secessionists in the American Civil War was within days and slavery was near an end, Lincoln did not speak of happiness, but of sadness. Some see this speech as a defense of his pragmatic approach to Reconstruction, in which he sought to avoid harsh treatment of the defeated South by reminding his listeners of how wrong both sides had been in imagining what lay before them when the war began four years earlier. Lincoln balanced that rejection of triumphalism, however, with a recognition of the unmistakable evil of slavery, which he described in the most concrete terms possible. Unbeknownst to him, John Wilkes Booth, David Herold, George Atzerodt, Lewis Paine, John Surratt and Edmund Spangler, a few of the conspirators involved with his assassination were present in the crowd at the inauguration.

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I’ve embedded some audio of a historian talking about the photo above. I thought it was the National Portrait Gallery but I think it’s the Capitol building.

It’s pretty damn creepy that Booth is actually in the shot.