Together, this crowd of strangers and I celebrated the common bonds that had brought us here. We applauded politely for Bill Clinton, turned to our neighbors to remark on how adorable the Obama daughters were, muttered amongst ourselves upon George Bush's entrance, and when the president-elect's name was announced, the room erupted. Our applause blended into the audio from DC and again I felt like part of something bigger than just me, or even just Ohio--but at the same time something of which I was an integral part. Together, all of us in that room had helped bring about history, and joyously we watched the fruit of our unity.
As the opening prayer began, a student in a "Marraige is so gay" t-shirt strode boldly to the screen alongside Reverend Warren's image to hold up his homemade sign: REV WARREN IS A BIGOT! in huge black letters. The photography students and reporters threw themselves to the carpet to capture the moment from all the proper angles. He shook the sign at equivocating intervals, and in the audience we chuckled as the running commentary on CNN showed the words "Rev. Warren's selection has been unpopular with the gay community." More adjustment of camera angles, so that the sign and the headline could appear together in one photo. At one point, one of the children sitting on the floor in front of the screen pointed and exclaimed to her father, "Daddy, look at his sign!" We all laughed as the sign-holder grinned and nodded frantically. The moment the reverend had finished speaking, he put down the sign and went calmly back to his seat, nodding his understanding at the three reporters who pointed insistently to their video cameras, demanding that he answer for his action on-camera after the festivities.
While the quartet performed John Williams' arrangement of Simple Gifts, the clock rolled over to 12:00, and the scroller pointed out that although he had not yet taken his oath, Barack Obama was now officially the president of the United States. Again, we applauded wildly. By the time the quartet had finished and Vice President Biden stepped forward to take his oath, we were on the edges of our seats, more than ready for the oaths to confirm what we already knew: we had a new president.
There was a smattering of laughter at the size of the Lincoln bible, and a confused mutter swept through the crowd at the fumbled oath, but it was high time for another round of cheering as President Obama finished his oath and stepped forward to make his speech. Immediately, the room went silent. There was no more excited muttering, no murmuring commentaries.
I cannot, especially in a blog entry, fully describe what I felt as I watched him address the nation. The sheer history of the moment certainly struck me. Whether or not they voted for Obama, I hope people can recognize and cherish the progress that his election has marked in our history. Maybe the younger crowd has a tougher time realizing that, our walks of life certainly can't be compared to the teary-eyed Reverend Jackson, but I felt proud of my country just for what we had shown by electing our first black president, even if I can only grasp its gravity through the pages of history books.
Of course, it doesn't stop there. There was the ever-present feeling that I was humbled, but important. Sure I was a fraction of a fraction of this victory, but I had a part in it the same as anyone else there, and that felt great.
And on top of all this, watching him made me hopeful. He acknowledged that we are in trying times, and that there's a lot of work to do, but watching him speak I truly believed we could do it. He said that the world is changing, and that we've got to change with it, and there is no better adjective for his words than refreshing. Maybe a part of me is just old enough now to appreciate oration that I dismissed as 'boring' and dozed through when I was my sister's age. More likely, he's a gifted speaker that talks to the people on a level that I deeply respect. This is a man I want to follow. I cannot wait to see what the next four years have in store. Heck, I'm excited just thinking about the first one.
Sure, you're not going to see me falling over myself to buy Obama collectors' plates from the Home Shopping Network, and it might even be cheesy to put my experience and my thoughts down in this blog, but laying all embellishments and pretty words aside, watching this today was incredible. It made me proud of what little part I had in history, it made me happy to be American, it made me hope that maybe under the leadership of this man we can make things brighter than they were.
Nothing in my life has had that kind of power. It was a non-partisan feeling of belonging that kept resonating deep in me as we filed out for light refreshments and inauguration cookies. Half of us ended up sitting back down in the lobby to keep watching as the Bushes boarded their helicopter for the Air Force base, as President Obama signed his cabinet nominations and headed downstairs. In the background, sign-holder was swarmed upon by reporters. The atmosphere outside was lighter, we joked about CNN's apparent obsession with the congressional luncheon menu (mmm, seafood and pheasant!), but at least for me there was still a deep sense of pride and hope. Nobody can take that from me. Nobody can say that on January 20th of 2009, Grace Stout wasn't really and truly proud to be American. I hope I can carry today with me for a good long time, and I'm glad I could share it with my friends and my family.
For the rest of the day I was in and out of inauguration news: watched the president address the luncheon on my way to class, streamed live footage of the parade between classes, scrolled through a slideshow of the AP ball photos, hammered out the finer details of this post. And the whole time, I've kept hold of that feeling of small but definite power. And no matter what this day was to you, that's what it was about to me: I felt like a small but definite something.
I like that feeling.
