This is a day I’ve dreamed about, hoped for and prayed about: Barack Obama’s inauguration as President of the United States of America!!!! And judging from this morning’s news coverages, I’m not the only one who’s done this!
As a child in elementary school, I remember our teachers huddling the upper classes together in the cafetorium around a black and white TV set to watch JFK’s inauguration. It was a bitter cold day on TV but not where we were, in sunny 80 degree Miami, Florida. The wind was so blustery in Washington, D.C that day, I wondered if their top hats would blow right off their heads? Then an elderly white-haired gentleman said a poem and I knew his name. It was Robert Frost!
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Since that time so long ago, I’ve studied and taught and traveled in this incredible country and world to see and appreciate all its amazing diversity. (And I’ve grown some white hair myself!) Today, part of me is watching TV again like a small child full of the wonder of it all! But the grown-up part of me knows the difficult tasks ahead for our 44th “Pres”. Will our nation be able to unite and find reconciliation with the rest of the world? Will we be able keep our poor from sinking even deeper into poverty? Will we be sitting down to talk with our “enemies” instead of bombing them?
For me, looking back over the last 7 years, I would say yes, no one has inflicted any more terror on our soil (mainly because we’ve built our barriers so high!). America had gained so much sympathy and support after 9/11 from the rest of the word, but, sadly, our 43rd President turned all that good will around so that hatred for our government is the greatest it’s ever been! I fear the ineptitude of the 43rd presidency will continue to dog us for a very long while.
But today is not the day for fears, but for celebrations…….that a new healing path has finally been set for our country, that goodwill from the rest of the world is returning to us, and that the content of a man’s character does count far more than the color of his skin! I love this ‘new’ America! And I’m proud of your investment in the future! Salaama na baraka America! (peace and blessings in Kiswahili)