It’s always a mind-blowing night — the first time I went I actually met Rosa Parks — and last night’s Freedom Awards gala didn’t disappoint. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the first democratically elected leader of Liberia, set the tone when she reflected on her awe at being in Memphis, and touring the National Civil Rights Museum, and the 92-year-old historian John Hope Franklin voiced my own feelings when he chided his country for sitting around wondering whether “it’s almost time” for a woman to lead it. He named the long list of nations who have elected women leaders, and wondered how we could be so “short-sighted and arrogant” as to not want to put our future into the hands of women. Not a commercial for any one candidate, he said, but a ringing endorsement of thinking that shouldn’t be so radical in 2007. Amen, Mr. Franklin.

And more good news for the museum: The Ford Fund has given it $1 million to use to refurbish the permanent exhibits and develop new technology and educational programming. Don’t be distracted by the recent heat and light about the lease of the museum — this is a treasure that our community needs to continue to value, and last night shows that the museum and its board are committed to continuing to play at the highest level.