The Wall Comes Down

It was a cold, sunny day in the midwest today, just as crisp and bright as that in Washington.

Between work tasks, I listened to the press coverage of the inauguration on NPR; read blogging updates on NYTimes.com; stole glances at CNN-Facebook internet video streaming; and caught some PBS coverage on T.V. I was struck by the amount of people in the crowd holding up cell phones and taking pictures. This day was not only remarkable for the historic significance of the first person of mixed racial heritage becoming President of the United States of America, but also because of the widening participation of citizens of the world through the wonders of advanced technology. It was (almost) like being there! The Facebook streaming included live comments by its members, most just as overjoyed as I was to be witnessing the passing of the helm in such a dramatically immediate way.

What excites me most about the new Obama presidency is this sense of passionate participation among so many who have expressed disenchantment with the political process in the past. It truly feels like a "gathering of the tribes," so wonderfully captured with humor by Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery near the end of the ceremony today, calling for a new day "when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white would embrace what is right.” I do not recall, in my lifetime, speaking with so many people who wanted to BE THERE--whether it was in Grant Park for the acceptance speech last November, or on the mall in D.C. today. People feel compelled, drawn...driven to be present...to witness this incredible day on a very personal level.

It reminds me a bit of the fall of the Berlin Wall. When I was in my mid-twenties, traveling through western Europe by train, the wall came down, and it seemed like everyone was heading there to see it collapse into a pile of rubble. This day feels, to me, like one of those days. The creators of the Berlin Wall built it not only to contain people, but to limit ideas. Years later, the will of the people brought that wall down and opened the world for a new generation of dreamers. People, historical events, and conditions in this country have created real obstacles...walls...for people of color, for women, and for people in poverty. Yet, today, we bear witness to another achievement of the will of the people. Barack Obama's inauguration represents the destruction of another ugly, divisive wall. And, oh, does the light shine bright and true without its shadow!