Today's ceremony was the first inauguration that I have watched. Ever.
As for all Americans, especially for those of us who are of a minority, today was a surreal dream that I am still trying to let sink in. Just like in those moments where we are in between dream-land and the real world, where reality is suspended and the sensations of the other side hang upon us like fairy dust, the swearing-in of Barack Obama as the President of the United States today has not quite crossed over in my mind from fancy to real life. Are we living in a world where "Brown can stick around?" It is hard to believe, but the answer is:
YES WE CAN!
Aretha Franklin brought me to tears, belting out a soulful and moving "My Country, 'Tis of Thee;" Reverend Lowery (who deeply reminded me of my late grandfather, a hard-working, dedicated family man, whose parents immigrated to America from Lebanon and were looked upon as the lowest of low) brought me to tears as he delivered a moving and dear benediction, invoking people of all colors to do the right thing; and of course, Barack Obama brought me to tears as he proclaimed, "The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."
I wish I could have been with my children this morning, as they were in school, to emphasize to them the enormous bridge that our country has crossed. However, I am thankful that the meaning of this day resonated with them, regardless of my maternal reminders. At last, we are at a crossroads where we CAN choose our better history. We are at a place where my precocious and charming daughter, great granddaughter of many who struggled to reach this country for hope of a better life, can announce to me at breakfast, that she cannot wait to turn 35 so that she may run for president of the United States. To that statement, I could not hold back my tears, because I now realize that yes, she really can become the President of the United States, and that she can be correct in her conviction that this could become her reality.
With the words of Martin Luther King, who quoted an old spiritual in his "I Have a Dream" speech, "Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last," I am inspired and shaken and moved that from hope, we spring forward to this new reality.
At last indeed...
