Tuesday, January 20
1:49 pm
We can now call him Mr. President! What an incredible experience! I have never heard silence by millions of people!
But today was the day when millions of people stood, sat, cuddled, and cried together for one man and one family and for themselves. When I say there are no words, I really mean it. It's difficult to express how simply gracious the moment was when Barack Obama took the oath of office. I say gracious because it is nothing but grace that has brought this man and this country to this moment.
The silence was deafening as our new President stood tall and raised his right hand and swore to uphold the Constitution of this land with a Hoosier Justice facing him. The moment of saying "I do...." was like the first moment your plane touches down on the runway after being in the air for hours on end. It's like the nation and the world has been holding it's breath for the past two months, waiting for today's moment of impact!
As I walked back to our work station to prepare for tonight's broadcast it was so amazing to see how many people were on their cell phones talking to family, friends and loved ones about their "moment" and what it was like to be here when that moment took place. We'll share with you those moments from Hoosiers tonight at 5:00 pm.
We also saw some celebrities at the inauguration:
Tuesday, January 20
Good Morning, Hoosiers. Well, the day has finally arrived. We made it to Inauguration Day. We woke up this morning around 6:00 a.m. for a 7:00 a.m. departure to the Capitol.
We left early believing that it would take at least an hour or longer to take the metro subway from our hotel area to our work site across from the swearing-in ceremony site. But to our surprise, it wasn't bad at all. The ride took us about 45 minutes. It was a comfortable "closeness" on the train that was not at all like I thought it was going to be based on local reports. Perhaps that's because people began lining up at the National Mall around 3:00 a.m. this morning!!! As we approached our work site, guess who was being escorted by two security officers? Colin Powell. We almost brushed arms as we passed each other. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to say, "Good morning, Mr. Powell." He replied, "Good Morning."
And it's a great morning! There is truly an infectious excitement around the city! There are throngs of people selling all sorts of commemorative newspapers, buttons, books, watches, calendars, hats, pencils...okay, you get the idea. Anything that a picture can be affixed to, Barack Obama is on it!
To say this is historic seems to be an understatement. I wish there was one word that encompassed what I felt. But there isn't. It's such a heavy experience that just about every imaginable emotion has welled up inside of me. But I think it's safe to say that however you define it, this is YOUR moment. I've spoken with a lot of Hoosiers over the past four days and all of them have echoed this sentiment: they didn't want to miss being here. They simply want to say, "I was there."
Monday, January 19
Oh what a day! Our morning began with a cup of coffee at one of DC's historic restaurants!
The Florida Avenue Grill has been serving good ol' soul food since 1944. It was the only place during the civil rights era where blacks could eat. Picture a small space of about 10 booths that each seat four and about 20 counter bar stools. Across from the stools you're about 2 feet away from the grills where cooks are slathering butter on golden buttermilk pancakes, cracking eggs on the side of the oven to open them up and pour onto the smoking griddle, and smoked ham heating up under a cast iron spatula!!! I'm hungry all over again!
Some would call this a greasy spoon in the Midwest. But the locals know the spoons and forks and knives have been used by newsmakers and celebrities all over the world!
The walls are lined with framed photographs of Lena Horne, Clint Eastwood, and Bill Cosby to name a few. This a place where people with opposing viewpoints come to chew the fat about the debate of the day! Strom Thurmond and Al Sharpton's pictures are right next to one another! And all of the photos are signed, giving a shout out to the founders of the grill for the good food and real "honey what can I getcha' now" banter from the cooks and servers!
The reason why the lines are out the door and you can often find yourself waiting for up to an hour to get a seat is because the Florida Avenue Grill is where people want to touch and feel history.
You see, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ate here. And so did his father. The manager says Dr. King ate one day at the grill in 1963. It was in the morning. That same afternoon he went to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gathered 250,000 people for the March on Washington. We all know the story about a peaceful march of blacks and whites asking for equal rights; asking for a nation to judge people by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin; asking for unity among all the races.
Those were King's dreams. When he made that speech, little did he or the thousands of other people know that the dream was going to become a reality - but over time. Little did any of us know that on another continent, a boy was born of a Caucasian woman and a Kenyan man. He was just two years old when King spoke to the mountaintops. Someone heard King's cries and began to prepare and nurture this young man who lived with his grandparents for a while in Hawaii; spent some time back in Kenya with his father; and was eventually raised by a single mother who wanted for her son what all parents want - a good education.
This young man worked hard, eventually attended Harvard Law School, and settled in Chicago to work in his community on a grass roots level. This man moved into Chicago politics and the state legislature. The nation first heard of him in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention. Two years later that same man would announce he was running for the highest office in the land! And in 2009 this man, on the eve of the national holiday honoring Dr. .Martin Luther King Jr., would stand on the very steps King did in 1963 and deliver his speech to the nation, welcoming people of all races, cultures and ethnicities to the nation's capital.
This man's "We Are One" event would draw over a million people and his speech would echo the same sentiments as King did in 1963. I was there when this man named Barack Obama spoke - llifting from the reflecting pool King's spirit that has brushed upon every person who has visited its waters resting before the Memorial that holds an immortalized marble likeness of the Great Emancipator Abraham Lincoln.
In 1863 Lincoln wrote in his Gettysburg Address that someday there would be a "new birth of freedom." That's the theme of the 56th Inaugural. Tomorrow, when Barack Obama is sworn in as the nation's 44th President, I will be reflecting on these three men whose paths inextricably crossed. In 1863, Lincoln foreshadowed this day. 100 years later Dr. King dreamed about this day. In 2009, Barack Obama fulfilled that dream! 3 men - one goal!
At 12:00 noon January 20th, unity will have been achieved! At the Florida Avenue Grill, everyone is welcomed. And everyone has the freedom of choice. The two newest menu items: The Barack Obama Special and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Special. Trust me - everything at the grill is good! Okay it's great so I could choose both. But I'll take the Obama special because it comes with the hotcakes and home fries!
And maybe the next time I go, I might be sitting next to the nation's next President. Ms. Crawley, the grill owner, says she has a seat waiting for him near the counter! And an empty frame is waiting for his signed picture to hang on the wall too! Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Thank you!
Sunday, January 18
If I didn't know any better, I would have thought the Inauguration was today!! Hundreds of thousands of people walked the streets of D.C. today all headed in one direction, to the Opening Celebration of the 56th Inaugural on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The event began at 2:30. But like many people who wanted to be close to the steps with all the action, we embarked on our walking journey from our hotel early this morning. At every turn, we walked upon either police or national guardsmen and women blocking all of the streets. There was no vehicular movement whatsoever!! So, we walked about 30 LONG blocks to the Memorial..IN THE COLD! I'm not complaining considering we left 9-degree weather in Indiana and got lucky with 20-degrees today in DC! But let's just say I'm using a lot of hand and feet warmers. Nonetheless, we were greeted with a lot of smiling volunteers directing us to the Memorial and eventually the long line outside of the security entrance. Once beyond the perimeter, the National Mall area opened up and we became engulfed in a sea of humanity.
The best way to describe the scene: take a look at pictures of the 1963 March on Washington event at the Lincoln Memorial with the reflecting pool. Take that image and double it! The feeling was awesome. One Hoosier told me she didn't have the words to describe the scene. People from all races, cultures, ethnic backgrounds and ages were represented. It was quite simply - the melting pot of the world! I met people from Belgium, London, and Madagascar!!!
We thought looking for Hoosiers would be challenging. But it was amazing to see how many people from Indiana recognized the Channel 13 logo and came over to us!!! We found a lot of needles in the haystack today; college kids from Purdue, former Notre Dame grads, friends here together from Indy, a woman from St. Paul, Indiana. An entire family of six!!!
But the shining glory took place when the announcement was made that the Vice-President-Elect and his wife were making their grand entrance, followed by President-Elect Barack Obama and soon-to-be first lady Michelle Obama! I saw people actually crying! It was a moment I will never forget
The narrations were fabulous: Denzel Washington, Marisa Tomei, Lawrence Whittaker, and Jamie Foxx were some of the many notables. Foxx had the crowd roaring with a great Obama impression! Musical entertainment was equally impressive: Bruce Springfield, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Bono and Indiana's own, John Mellencamp. He received the largest applause by the crowd with "Little Pink Houses." And everyone started dancing and reciting the words. What a great moment to see everyone from all walks of life brought together by one unifying song!!!
The best moment was saved for last: President-Elect Barack Obama walked up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to thunderous applause. Another defining moment that Hoosiers say they will never ever forget! His speech was equally inspiring as it paid tribute to ordinary people. Like Mike and Cheryl Fisher from Beech Grove and Barney and Carla Smith from Marion. They were in the VIP seats and chosen to be part of the four-day festivities by the Obama's after having met them on the campaign trail last year.
Obama said it's ordinary people, like the Rosa Parks and the Martin Luther King Jr's, who made a difference for all of us. Obama challenged all of us to give back to our communities and find ways that we can change the world for the better. He said all of us are standing on the shoulders of our past and while we honor them, we must blaze new trails together. And the crowd chanted at the end of his speech and the event, "YES WE CAN!"
Saturday, January 17
We just arrived in D.C. after an hour and forty-minute flight! You should have seen how many people were on board heading here for the Inauguration! A lot of folks had Obama hats on!
We spoke with a family, the Sallees from Indy, who are excited about their trip here! They don't have tickets to any of the events but hope to be able to make it to the National Mall Tuesday to watch the swearing-in ceremony!
We also met with Barney Smith. Remember him? He spoke at the Democratic National Convention. He told me a great story about how the line "Smith Barney" came to be.
We'll see you tonight on the Nightbeat for that story and the story of how two Hoosiers were hand-picked by Barack Obama to take a historic ride from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.!
