February 2009

Issue 1, Volume 7

Because our publication is a monthly magazine, we are sometimes criticized when we publish “old news,” but I believe that the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama on January 20, 2009 is anything but old.

After Obama got elected, my friends and I immediately started talking about going to the inauguration. Many of us had worked for Obama during the election season and had put in many long and hard hours of canvassing (walking door-to-door persuading voters to vote for your particular party or candidate) and phone-banking (calling voters and urging them to vote for your particular party or candidate). Although I had submitted requests for tickets to the inauguration to multiple Congressmen, nothing had turned up.

By the time I had found out I was not getting a ticket to the inauguration, the media was reporting that millions of people would be descending on the nation's capital for the ceremonies. I decided to take a bus rather than drive due to the predicted traffic. As we drove, we played Obama trivia (I won-I knew all that time on Wikipedia had to be worth something) and I met some pretty interesting people. Some had worked for Obama and some had not. But everyone said the same thing: they all wanted to go, “just to be there.” By 4:30 AM, we were in DC.

We parked at RFK Stadium, which is a good six blocks below the Capitol building and the Mall where the inauguration was taking place. In order to get closer we had to take shuttle buses. As we were waiting on the bus, I saw the exit ramp of the highway. There were tour buses lined up spanning the entire length of a lot just waiting to park. As we walked to the shuttle bus, we were greeted with lines of people just there to say, “Welcome to D.C.”. Others were selling every kind of counterfeit Obama souvenir one could think of. Lastly, and arguably most important, there were port-a-potties everywhere.

Within the city, transportation was limited. D.C. had decided to shut down all of the metro buses and even closed stops along the metro lines. It took a while to drive only 6 blocks. When we got out of the bus we had to walk up the exit ramp of the highway and kept on walking until we could get to the Mall. It was like a scene out of an apocalyptic movie. Along the way I saw security forces and patrol cars from all over the nation. Finally, I made it to the mall where I squeezed through the gate. Security had blocked an entrance into the mall, so hundreds of people were bottlenecked through a gate that was about 4 feet wide. By the time I found a decent spot it was 7 AM.

My friend Josephine and other members of the College Democrats were coming to watch the inauguration as well. Miraculously, we were able to meet up. At about 8:30, somebody had the brilliant idea of playing the inaugural concert on all of the JumboTrons, which made time in the 20 degree freezing weather go by a lot quicker

At about 10 AM, the concert was switched off and the arrivals to the ceremony were being shown. While I knew who many of the inaugural guests were, all I wanted to see was Barack. When the camera finally showed him entering the Capitol building, the applause was deafening.

The ceremony was short and sweet. I thought Joe and Jill Biden kissing all of their children after he had been sworn in was touching, that Obama looked amazingly calm throughout, that his speech was magnificent, and that his wife looked wonderful. Most of all, I remember Reverend Joseph Lowery's benediction, which he delivered after the swearing in. “ ... help us work for that day when black will not be asked to give back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right."

When the Obamas and the Bidens sent off the Bushes and Cheneys, people started waving to the JumboTron. But as the helicopter carrying the Bushes flew over the Mall, a few people continued to wave, a few more gave them the peace sign, but many gave them the bird. What can I say? The man screwed over a nation.

People started leaving immediately after Obama was sworn in. As they left, I looked around at all of the flags and all of the packets of hot-hands on the ground. The mall was left in a sea of garbage, perhaps one of the most lasting testaments to what had occurred that day.

Getting back to the bus was a pain to say the least. It took about 40 minutes to get six blocks. But as I thought about the day, what I had seen, and what I had witnessed, I remembered what I felt at the moment Obama was sworn in. There was a sense of elation and optimism that I do not think I will ever feel again. That is why I went - to be a part of history and see the dawning of a new era in American society.