The Passage Project

My Day Trip to President Barack Obama's Inauguration

For our day trip to Washington D.C. for President Obama's inauguration, my boyfriend and I did not need any sort of ticket or special access to be satisfied. We were content to catch the metro from Reagan National Airport, make our way to The National Mall, and find a spot in the crowd to mark the occasion.

I wanted to attend the inauguration not only to be a part of history, but to have a communal experience. I sang America: My Country, Tis Of Thee with strangers standing next to me, then shouted excitedly as President Obama was sworn-in. I was surrounded by millions of people who felt it was O.K., maybe even cool, to be patriotic again as they waved a flag or buy a button. That is why I traveled here.

Below are a few photo's my boyfriend and I took from The National Mall January on that historic day.

Philipp photographs the crowd, the monuments and President Obama. Yeah.

Another crowd and monument scene at the National Mall.

President Obama's new home.

President Obama on screen being sworn-in.


 
After the swearing-in ceremony we ran into the Ron Clark Academy students that have been appearing on CNN all week. You know the song," Dear Obama, Bop, Bop, Bop..." I had to take a photo.

Could it be? Yes, it is! Bush leaving the scene to the airport after the swearing-in ceremony. Many cheered as it flew away.

January 20th, 2009: Taking in the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama in a City Near You

Image courtesy of Aspire Africa.


Still not sure how to celebration Barack Obama's Inauguration? From black-tie to casual, below are a few ideas regarding how to celebrate throughout the world.

• Kenya One of the most interesting inaugural events taking place is the solar powered watch party in Muhuru Bay, Kenya. Those involved with the event are building the village's first boarding school for girls and a community center.


• South Africa Johannesburg's Montecasino Ballroom will be hosting The African Celebration of the Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as America’s 44th President. The event will be hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce, the American Society, and Republicans and Democrats Abroad.


• Paris American Church in Paris will be celebrating the inauguration in a more relaxed setting beginning at 7:30pm. The evening will consist of a prayer service, gospel choir performance and live screening of the inauguration. Additional screenings will be held other laid back settings at The Highlander Pub (8 rue de Nevers; 6ème; Metro: Pont Neuf/Odeon), Carr’s Irish Restaurant and Bar (1 Rue du Mont-Thabor at rue d’Alger; 1ème; Metro: Tuileries) and the American Library in Paris. If you're looking for a bit more excitement, check out “Obama Day–Yes, We Can!" at Bizz' Art (167 quai de Valmy, 10ème, Metro Louis Blanc) from 6pm to 2am. The night will feature Obama-inspired silkscreened fashions by designer Xuly Bet (love him!), music by Chicago's Sean Haefeli and a photo exhibition. Let's not forget the live screening of the inauguration on the big screen.


• Hong Kong Dublin Jack (1/F, 17 Lan Kwai Fong Central, Hong Kong ) will be hosting an all night inaugural watch party and education fundraiser beginning at 9pm. (At the time this was written, the event has been sold out.)

• NYC Celebrate history at the legendary Apollo Theater or start your day practicing your asanas in Bryant Park with Luluemon Athletica's Omm-bama: A Yogic Inaugural Celebration.

• Washington D.C. Aspire Africa and the Smithsonian National Museum for African Art (950 Independence Avenue) will be hosting A Celebration for Change in the World.The black-tie event will include performances by Youssou N'Dour, Les Nubians, Akon and more at the museum. The evening will also include a video tribute by Nelson Mandela. Former presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, U2's Bono and actor Danny Glover are among the invited guests.

• The day before the inauguration, Aspire will be hosting the symposium "New Terms of Engagement with Africa for the Obama Administration.

• The website for Democrats Abroad is the place to look for other inaugural events in cities throughout the world including Phnom Penh, Athens, London and more.


• Black Voices is also a great site to check out what happening using their inaugural "ball crawl".

Where will you be for Barack Obama's Inauguration?

The Legacy of Abraham Lincoln at the Inauguration of Barack Obama

Artwork courtesy of Philipp Kuecuekyan.

I am all about the upcoming inauguration these days because my boyfriend and I are planning a day trip to Washington D.C. for the big day. I've heard this year's presidential inauguration is embracing all things Lincoln, so I thought I would look into it. It seems that the sixteenth president's legacy is turning up in everything from the swearing-in ceremony to the food.

Today, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies revealed the menu for the 2009 Inaugural Luncheon and it too has a Lincoln-era touch. From their official announcement:

The menu, created by Design Cuisine, a catering company based in Arlington, Virginia, draws on historic ties to the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Growing up in the frontier regions of Kentucky and Indiana, the sixteenth President favored simple foods including root vegetables and wild game. As his tastes matured, he became fond of stewed and scalloped oysters. For dessert or a snack, nothing pleased him more than a fresh apple or an apple cake.

• First Course: Seafood Stew; Duckhorn Vineyards, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley
• Second Course: A Brace of American Birds (pheasant and duck), served with Sour Cherry Chutney and Molasses Sweet Potatoes; Goldeneye, 2005 Pinot Noir, Anderson Valley
• Third Course: Apple Cinnamon Sponge Cake and Sweet Cream Glacé; Korbel Natural “Special Inaugural Cuvée,” California Champagne

Image of President Lincoln Bible courtesy of Presidential Inaugural Committee's website.

Other examples of Lincoln's legacy during the inaugural ceremonies:

• The news that Barack Obama will be using Lincoln's bible during the swearing in ceremony broke a few weeks ago. Many presidents have chosen to use President Washington's bible when being sworn in. Obama will be the first to use Lincoln's.
  

• Around 200 guests will dine in Statuary Hall, in the U.S. Capital, with Thomas Hill's painting A View from Yosemite, as a backdrop. Hill's painting is also tied to the former president's legacy because it was Lincoln who signed the Yosemite Grant June 30, 1864, allowing Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to be protected and reserved for public use.

• Some of the china being used during the luncheon are replica's of the china used by Mary Todd Lincoln when she and her husband first moved into the White House.

To download the recipes from the inaugural luncheon, visit the Joint Congressional Committee on  Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) website.

The People's Inauguration Project and The Stafford Foundation

Image courtesy of the website for The People's Inauguration Project.

In an earlier post, I wrote about The People's Inauguration Project, the brainchild of  The Stafford Foundation. They have updated their website to include an inaugural event schedule for January 19-20, 2009 as well as videos and news briefs. Events include a prayer breakfast on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 19 as well as a MLK luncheon. On the evening of the inauguration there will be an Inaugural Youth Ball at 6 p.m. and The People's Inaugural Ball at 8 p.m.

You can also become a fan of The People's Inauguration Project on Facebook. There you will find additional videos and news updates. 

Poet E. Ethelbert Miller on Poetry, the Politics of Change, Langston Hughes & Frances Ellen Watkins Harper on NPR

Yesterday's Weekend Edition Sunday on NPR used Sam Cooke's A Change is Gonna Come as the perfect introduction to a conversation about the change coming to the U.S. presidency January 20th. The program featured a segment with poet E. Ethelbert Miller discussing two talented poets who were were also powerful instruments of change: Langston Hughes and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

Image of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper courtesy of Dickinson College.

During the segment Miller read an essay he wrote about the poet Langston Hughes followed by a wonderful reading of Harper's well known poem Bury Me in a Free Land.  First published in William Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist newspaper The Liberator in 1864, the poem is also included in the book A Brighter Coming Day: A Frances Ellen Watkins Harper Reader.

Make me a grave where'er you will,
In a lowly plain, or a lofty hill; 
Make it among earth's humblest graves,
But not in a land where men are slaves.

I could not rest if around my grave
I heard the steps of a trembling slave;
His shadow above my silent tomb
Would make it a place of fearful gloom.

I could not rest if I heard the tread
Of a coffle gang to the shambles led,
And the mother's shriek of wild despair
Rise like a curse on the trembling air.

I could not sleep if I saw the lash
Drinking her blood at each fearful gash,
And I saw her babes torn from her breast,
Like trembling doves from their parent nest.

I'd shudder and start if I heard the bay
Of bloodhounds seizing their human prey,
And I heard the captive plead in vain
As they bound afresh his galling chain.

If I saw young girls from their mother's arms
Bartered and sold for their youthful charms,
My eye would flash with a mournful flame,
My death-paled cheek grow red with shame.

I would sleep, dear friends, where bloated might
Can rob no man of his dearest right;
My rest shall be calm in any grave
Where none can call his brother a slave.

I ask no monument, proud and high,
To arrest the gaze of the passers-by;
All that my yearning spirit craves,
Is bury me not in a land of slaves.

Morning Edition Sunday also included two other segments with an Inauguration Day theme: Juan Williams tying the event to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy and a call for listeners with tickets to the inauguration to contact NPR to let them know about their plans for the big day and how they got their hands on the hottest ticket in town.

Attending Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration January 20th, 2009

 

Artwork courtesy of Philipp Kuecuekyan.

 

Like many people across the country, my boyfriend and I are planning to travel to Washington D.C. January 20th to witness President-Elect Barack Obama being sworn in as our country's 44th president. And, like the other 3 to 5 million making plans, there are many looming questions:

• Where to stay? (Is there anything left?)
• How to get there? (Rent a car for the day from NYC or take the train so we don't have to worry about parking?)
• What time should we arrive? 
• How close can we get and what events will be going on in D.C. to mark the occasion? (Does it really matter, though? We just want to be part of this important day.)

There is no need to ask why go. It's just a given to us that we should be part of this historic day. That decision was decided election night and the desire to attend was intensified knowing that the national day to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday is the day before. Now we just need to figure out the logistics. Below are a few details about the big day. See you there!

• Inauguration theme:  A New Birth of Freedom (commemorates the 200th anniversary of President Lincoln’s birth)
• Location: West Front of the U.S. Capitol
• Gate open at 10 A.M.
• Musical prelude begins at 10 A.M. 
• The President will be sworn in by 12 noon. (From the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies website:  Amendment XX to the U.S. Constitution states that the term of the President expires at noon on January 20.

 

Image of Earl Stafford of the People's Inaugural Project courtesy of CNN.com.

Please look at the following websites to find up-to-date information about the Inauguration

• Presidential Inaugural Committee: Inauguration schedule, ticket information, email updates: pic2009.org
• Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies: Provides scheduling, parade, traffic, weather, and general logistic information (this includes parties and balls): inaugural.senate.gov/index.cfm
• Virginia businessman Earl Stafford plans to help people attend the inauguration through the People's Inaugural Project organized by his non-profit The Stafford Foundation. His guests will stay at the Washington D.C. JW Marriott Hotel in addition to attending several inaugural events. According to the website Marketwatch, Stafford said in a statement, "The People's Inaugural Project offers the underprivileged in our society a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come to our nation's capital and join in the watershed inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. It's a historic investment for our foundation."
• Expedia.com has dedicated a portion of its website to inauguration travel. Here you'll find travel tips, hotel information, free activities and trivia tailored for Washington D.C.'s big day.