Inauguration

By Rebecca Ray and Darrell Turner

I experienced the Inauguration first as the concert at the Lincoln Memorial, a half mile back, with 400,000 attending.  After attending church on 16th Ave. N.W. where 2 choirs and a USO entertainer celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, we waved to the then President Elect and his family, heading down the street in a motorcade, having attended the Baptist church up the street.
 
We took a transfer on the Metro on Tuesday morning, Jan.20th to come up from Capitol South subway right at the corner of the Cannon Office Bldng where Congressman Sam Farr's staff held a reception.  We arrived to watch the swearing in on T.V.  just as President Elect Barack Obama arrived on the platform.  It was a very hospitible gathering of aproximately 50 people, with plenty of food!  After the ceremony Congressman Farr arrived to meet constituents and guests from Chicago and Georgia and take pictures.
 
Then my escort and I trudged miles around the parade route to get back on the subway with 937.000 other attendees.  It was too cold to consider returning after dark to attend an Inaugural Ball, with temperatures dipping to 18 degrees.  It was so astounding that folks came before dawn that day and waited approx. 5 hrs. to bear witness to the Inauguration of the first African American President.  As an interracial couple, it meant to me the possibility of more acceptance.  I experienced politeness and civility the whole day, even on the subway! 
 
What strikes me as important about the new start is the possibility of an era of more bipartisanship and less rancor.  It was said that the farewell to the outgoing president and family was the warmest send off ever...
 
I gave my President Obama button to a young man in rural North Carolina looking for work at a time of the highest unemployment in years.  If he can't find work, he will go to jail for nonpayment of child support.  That strikes me as counterproductive for fathers being there for their children.