21 January 2009
Crowds Pack Washington for Obama’s Inauguration
More than a million people attend inaugural address, parade
Washington — Before cheering crowds packed along the frozen ground of the National Mall, Barack Hussein Obama became the first African-American president of the United States.
Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country traveled to Washington to witness Obama’s inauguration. People stood shoulder to shoulder over much of the three-kilometer-long National Mall, cheering with deafening power at times but listening in respectful silence as the new president delivered his Inaugural Address.
Crowds expressed themselves through costumes and banners. In front of Constitution Hall, a man held a placard that said “MLK is smiling today,” referring to the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
A group from Housing Works, a nonprofit organization that provides medical services and support for homeless people with HIV/AIDS, traveled from Brooklyn, New York. “I am overjoyed, overwhelmed,” said Shirlene Cooper, an African-American woman who was a baby during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. “The dream that Martin Luther King had was so important not just to African Americans but to all people.”
As giant monitors showed Obama walking through the Capitol, one of Cooper’s colleagues shouted, “The dream is here, the dream is here.”
Cooper has seen politicians take office and then fail to deliver on their campaign promises, but she is optimistic that Obama will make good on his promises.
Others voiced their disapproval of President Bush’s policies and hoped that President Obama would enact changes. Shouts of “Free Iraq” and “Stop shutting down the borders” peppered the proceedings, but despite these protests, the audience remained civil and nonviolent.
Many in the crowd booed as Bush and outgoing Vice President Dick Cheney took their places on the steps of the Capitol, but the crowd’s demeanor changed abruptly when Vice President Joseph Biden was introduced.
When Obama finally stepped onto the balcony where the oath of office would be administered, the crowd cheered loudly and some began the chant “O-ba-ma, O-ba-ma.” Nearby, a group chanted, “Yes, we can,” while another answered with “Yes, we did.” Still others shouted “Change!” repeatedly, a reference to Obama’s campaign promise to bring change to American government.
STRANGERS UNITE IN CELEBRATION
After Obama was sworn in, the crowd erupted into vigorous cheers and sustained applause. Strangers congratulated one another, shaking hands with their neighbors.
In Washington, residents opened their homes and hosted friends and neighbors throughout the day. One such gathering was held at the Capitol Hill home of Gabrielle Dreyfus, who wanted to share her “good fortune of living in walking distance to the Mall.” She invited her friends, and their friends, to stop by and seek shelter from the cold while waiting for the crowds to disperse.
Obama’s presidency is “a new era,” Dreyfus said. “I have a lot of hope and optimism.” She was particularly moved by the part of the inaugural address in which Obama insisted that Americans need not sacrifice their ideals to ensure security.
Jubran Kanaan traveled from San Francisco to stand with the crowds and witness history. As Obama took the oath of office, Kanaan said he felt “profoundly grateful” about the possibility that the Obama administration will enact policies that will make a “huge difference for this country and the world and get [us] off the destructive path that we’ve been on.”
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the crowded Mall in freezing weather, Kanaan heard Obama deliver “a galvanizing speech to get through this difficult time that we’re facing.”
Kanaan spoke for many who found braving the crowds was worthwhile. “It was an incredibly memorable experience.”
For more information, see “Barack Obama Becomes 44th President of the United States.”
