Meditation on the Inauguration

When Wednesday morning, November 5th, 2008 dawned, I felt as though it was Christmas. Jorge and I and friends from the GlobalServe Community 'Motherhouse' had spent the evening before reveling in downtown Chicago, in that mass of joyful and generous-spirited people. Not since I was a young child had I felt this mixture of giddy excitement, awe, and hope.

This morning, it felt like Easter, a new dawn that holds new life. The snow blows outside but we are all here circled around the television, all work on hold for now, watching the ceremony and the inaugural speech. I am so happy, so happy.

After the election, several classmates asked me if I planned to go to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration. I did not want to. Sure, there were the factors of cost and travel time; but more than that, I felt deeply that I should not go. Simply put, I didn't feel right taking a seat, or space along the parade route, or a hotel room, or a plane ticket, that should rightfully go to a Black person. For as much as this moment in history means to me, there are those who deserve more a front seat at this victory celebration.

For me, the front seat was in the room at the Iowa caucuses just over a year ago. I remember the energy in the room, the holding of breath as numbers were counted and candidates eliminated, and the amazing surprise at the end of the night--Obama would go on. I remember only six months before that, at the Clear Lake Fourth of July parade, when all the crowds came to see the Clintons, and one lone, young Black student held a sign in the parade and called out for our support. Then he was a voice in the wilderness; now there is a roar.

It is so beautiful to see all the people filling the National Mall, stretching back as far as the eye can see. It is so much like the pictures of the March on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is so beautiful to see the people in the streets of NYC and Chicago, and also the schoolchildren in the classrooms, all allowed to watch. Not just here in Chicago, but also in Jakarta, Indonesia, and around the world. The world has wept with us before, and today the world celebrates with us. Let us join with them now, do our neighbors no further harm, and work together towards the Beloved Community.

For me, the best part of the ceremony was the remarks made by Rev. Joseph E. Lowery (co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and a friend of MLK), especially the inversion of the old color scheme; expressing the hope that now if you're Black, you don't have to "get back," and the hope that those who are white will finally do what is right. And helpful, I thought, the mention of 'when the red man, can finally get ahead, man.' It was a day not to divide among the races or religions, or to pit oppressions against each other, but to work together for the liberation of all.

There is so much more work to do, and yet today, we have come so far.

peace to you,

Le Anne