Where else would I start, but with the event that sparked it all. The 2009 Inauguration of the President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama was nothing less than awe inspiring. Yes, it was cold and crowded, but it was also very inspirational to see how one man can silence the world with his cadences. Yes, the words were moving, but he was breathtaking. Yes, it was the 2009 Inauguration of the President of the United States of America, but the man inducted as the commander-in-chief happens to also be the first African American to hold that office. The 2009 Inauguration of the President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama was nothing less than awe inspiring.
As I listen to the speech and see the pictures from the event I readily recall exactly what I was doing at that moment. As Aretha Franklin sang a chilling rendition of “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” I was looking at a flag waving above fellow spectators that read “Inauguration, Washington D.C., 1-20-2009, Barack Obama”.
It was also at this time that tears welded in my chest until I couldn’t detain them any longer. If you have ever felt your eyes fill with tears and tried to fight them back until the very thought of keeping them captive causes you to release them, then you know what I felt. I never realized how much I was missing the feeling of America being ‘My Country’ until the moment that I actually felt that America was ‘My Country’. Liberty is not the opposite of being enslaved and so the sweet land of liberty was not always so sweet. As of January 20, 2009 I found that the land of milk and honey our ancestors sought was directly beneath my feet. The grass was partially brown and partially green and seemed trampled long before I stood there. My feet were cold (seemingly frozen solid), my fingers consistently tingled, and there was a reoccurring ache through my Achilles from standing so long, but the sweet land of liberty below my feet subdued all my grief. This was the land where my fathers died. No, not on that patch of grass but the land I was standing upon. I was standing at the cross roads of over 365 years of slavery, of martyrs’ unrealized dreams, of soldier’s battles, of Frederick Douglass’ agitation, of blood, sweat, tears, hope, and focus of Americans from every ethnicity. It was there, at the base of the Capitol building on the day our first African America President was inducted into office, where my fathers died and where I understood how sweet liberty is. I was standing on the land of milk and honey. 
One memory I will never forget is of the wind. I know that sounds strange, but when one man has the ability to silence over 2 million people, the wind is an unforgettable sound. I will never forget it because as President Obama spoke the wind was all I could hear. I assume that at the same moment much of the world fell silent as well, but I can confirm the millions of people that stretched from the Capitol building to the Washington Monument were utterly silent other than the occasional sniffles. I often stop to think about how powerful this man has become. He has the power to catch the attention and admiration of the entire world and engage millions of people in camaraderie for a weekend. The atmosphere of DC reminded me of a family reunion. The only difference is that it wasn’t the McClendon reunion, the Smith reunion, the Jackson reunion, the Klein reunion, the Gonzales reunion, the O’Brian reunion, nor the Peterson reunion. It was an American reunion. It was the reunion of the American dream and the human spirit. There are extra-sensory events that shake the foundation of America and when the rumble subsides we realize that we all came from the same family tree; the tree of human life. Unfortunately, the last time this occurred prior to January 20th was at the cost of many American lives during the attacks of September 11th. I am proud to say that I was there when I saw that same harmony echoed through an entire city and no one had to die to realize it. I witnessed a peaceful crowd stand in the cold DC air waiting about 3 hours for a Metro. As a cheerful crowd ran through the barriers to see their president, I witnessed 2 complete strangers create a human barricade around my friend who stumbled to the ground in the stampede. I witnessed a street vendor argue that he owed us a dollar.
I am forever a witness to an amazing piece of history. I will bear witness to what I experienced through this blog and through my continued accounts of what occurred. I will bear witness to the understanding that anyone can achieve anything if they choose, by committing to save the world. Don’t doubt me, just help me. Help me bear witness to future generations that we are a group of individuals who came together at a time when our society and the world needed us the most. Help me bear witness that if “A man whose father, less than 60 years ago, might not have been served in a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath”, then any thing is possible. Anything!
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