We Stood in Awe at the Inauguration
January 20, 2009
We made our way out of the hotel’s front lobby at 6:30 a.m. bundled in our ski gear, bran muffin in hand, walking to the metro station at Pentagon City. There was a wind chill of a smooth 12 degrees and all roads into the District of Columbia were closed for security. We quickly made it onto the subway train for a ten-minute ride to the Chinatown station where we would strike out on foot toward the gate for the purple ticket holders on the Senate side of the Capitol.

After a brisk twenty-minute walk, we found ourselves in line with several thousand people trying to get into the grounds of the Capitol. The gates would not open until 8:00 a.m. to start screening people through security. When they did open, we witnessed one more failure of the U.S. Government; fifty to sixty security agents with eighteen x-ray machines only allowing five persons at the time to go through. At this rate, we saw little hope of making the 11:30 Inaugural of President Obama.

An hour and a half later, someone took charge of the security and started allowing a steady flow of weary line standers inside. Reverend Mart Gray and his ten-year old son, John, who travelled with us, had gotten separated in the crowd and were a couple hundred feet behind. They would not get in. Nearing 11:30, Deidra, Laken and I found ourselves inside the Capitol grounds, a few minutes before they closed the gates.

Receiving a personal invitation from newly elected Congressman Bobby Bright in mid-November, Deidra and I had decided to give our Senior University of Alabama Political Science major an early graduation gift – a trip to the Inauguration.

Once we made it inside though we found our path across a four and a half foot stone wall to the standing area we were to be in already blocked. Laken had tears in her eyes as she struggled to see through folks sitting on the wall. The combination of seeing her disappointment, the 950-mile road trip, and the excitement that filled the air of this new administration caused me to find strength enough to scale the wall, then pull Deidra over. We then coaxed Laken into allowing us to pull her over as well.

Laken’s tears quickly disappeared as she suddenly had a clear view of the red, white and blue flag-draped West side of the Capitol, some two to three hundred yards from the podium where President Barrack Obama was being sworn in. Laken was beaming. For it was there in that same building that she gave tours while working for Senator Richard Shelby during the summer. It was then she decided to break from her earlier desire to become a lawyer and instead pursue a Masters in International Affairs.

While her tears turned to smiles, tears swelled in my eyes as I listened to President Obama’s inspirational speech. The coldness turned to warmth when he talked about the small band of freezing soldiers led by the Father of our Country who bravely fought for our freedom so many years ago. As he cited scripture and talked about his vision I realized what it must have been like when JFK was inaugurated in 1961, almost two years before I was born. For not since then has any President sparked the imagination of the American people in such a way.

The feeling of unity among the 1.8 million people in attendance is something we will not soon forget. Folks of all races, all ages, and all backgrounds were talking and singing together, not only that morning, but during the entire weekend. We were reminded that what brings us together, belief in God and belief in this democracy, are far greater than that which separates us.

As we stood on Capitol Hill, as far as we could see down the mall, past the Washington Monument, were masses of people. They were not white people or black people or red or yellow people, but American people. They were not Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, or Jews, but Americans who believe in God. We were told there was not a single arrest among those in attendance at the Inauguration. Why should there be? For we were all there bearing witness to history. We were all there believing in that which is good about this country. There were only positive feelings in the air.

We are amazed at this Union, this Democracy that Jefferson and Washington, Franklin and Adams, and our other forefathers forged well over two hundred years ago. To witness this country coming together to elect a man who was judged not by the color of his skin, but by the strength of his character gives us great hope for this country.

We are a nation in deep crisis; a nation at war and a nation with the most serious financial and economic woes in 75 years. But we are also a nation built on faith, hope, and ingenuity. And for a time, we soaked in the waters of faith, hope and ingenuity embodied by President Obama’s Inauguration. For a brief moment, we witnessed the transfer of power of a country by the people and for the people brought about by an overwhelming majority who have elected change.

We stood January 20th in awe at this great country; this “one Nation under God”. We are moved by the strength of its people and its ability to survive through the will of its democratic process. We are proud to be Americans.

By Wesley Laird