THE Inauguration

Obama’s Inauguration and what it meant to me

“Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”

-President Barack Obama

Inaugural Speech

January 20, 2009

Those words were spoken by Barack Obama, the 44^th president of the United States and our first black president. I was truly touched by those words. As Americans, we have been through a lot during the past two years. Our economy is hanging on by a thread, we are fighting two wars and our environment is getting more polluted by the day. The 44^th president would have a lot on his plate already as soon as he was sworn in, and President Obama didn’t miss a beat.

To me, the inauguration meant a lot. Its official: he’s our guy now for the next four years. Being a black male, this meant a lot to me personally because I didn’t realize how much I could achieve until he was elected. I don’t believe many black males knew how much we could achieve if we just work towards it. In these modern times, I’ve seen African Americans do so much. I’ve seen Deval Patrick become the first black governor of this state. I’ve seen Sheila Dixon become the first African American woman to be Baltimore’s mayor. I’ve seen Shirley Franklin become the first black female mayor of my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.

Now the sky is the limit for our race. We can do and become anything now. This country’s race tensions have eased in the past 45 years, which if you consider it, isn’t that long of a time. Plus, this has also opened windows for other minorities like Asians, Latinos, Native Americans, Middle Eastern and women. It’s just great because not only did I not expect to see a black president until I was out of college, I actually thought that I would be the 1st black president, but Obama beat me to the point. Also, I don’t live with my biological parents, I’m with my grandparents and they both witnessed segregation firsthand. They were both a part of the civil rights movement so for them, this inauguration was extra special for them. My grandmother personally knew Dr. King and grew up in the Jim Crow South and she cried as he was being sworn in. It was truly amazing and will be remembered as America turning a new page in its history, with Barack Obama leading the way.

So in conclusion, Barack Obama has just shown the world how beautiful this country really is. In our darkest hour, we shine the brightest because we can put our petty differences aside and come together as a nation and work for our generation. Like President Obama said, “We are the change that we’ve been waiting for.”