This is getting to be like the week before Christmas, when you start to have presents lying under the tree - watching Barack Obama get off of the presidential plane on Monday, then seeing him yesterday, meeting with all the ex-presidents at the White House, it is starting to feel realer than real that this black man will be the president of the United States of America in less than two weeks.
Even Obama, "Mr. Cool" himself, has got to be getting a little tingly right about now.
The Super Bowl is usually the event that gets the big build up in January, but not this year. People are starting to get that far away look in their eyes when you say "January 20th", like they are about to go on a vacation they’ve been saving for all their lives.
I myself am getting restless, like an overfed tiger at the zoo. I'm walking a little taller, like I've just discovered how to stand up straight after all these years of slumping my shoulders. I can't even watch my favorite political pundits on TV lately, since they all seem like they are just killing time arguing over the Obama appointments until the Big Day arrives.
And as I read the jubilant messages from that select group of people across the blogosphere, who are not just going to be in D.C. next weekend, but are going to be there with the actual invitations to the Inauguration Ceremony that they have begun to receive, I start to wonder - am I missing out on a big part of this if I am here at home in Atlanta with my party hat and my noisemakers on the biggest Tuesday of the year? Should I try to talk S. into making this once in a life time trek to the nation's capital to join the millions of other black people who will line the streets around the Mall?
Unless someone from Oprah's staff calls me with some tickets and a room in the mansion she's renting for the week, on January 20th, I'll be in the same VIP section I sat in on Election Night - right here in the basement in the ATL. With a bathroom, bar, and big screen TV - three of the four "B's" that normally satisfy 80% of a man's urges - you would think I should be happy to watch history unfurl itself with my remote control in hand.
If you are fortunate enough to be going to D.C. next weekend, pack plenty of longjohns and enjoy yourself. And email me some pictures.
If you are among the super fortunate, who have received an invitation like the one in the picture above that allows you to attend the actual ceremony – I'm greener than the Incredible Hulk right now, but please - email me some pics anyway.
And if you are going to be in your hometown, or in your basement, or at work, you can email some pictures too.
I will post them all.
Now where do they sell those black balloons with the "O" on them?
I'm with you. I'd be satisfied most days...but I admit, the Inauguration thrills me to no end. And yes, I want 'from the people' pictures too.
ReplyDeleteMore than I can express, I wish I could be there for the Inauguration. But it's not going to happen. However, I am inviting some friends to stop by my home and at least be together in a little group while we watch the festivities on PBS. Sharing it with others will help it seem more celebratory. (I wonder if it will also inhibit me, though, too. I wonder if I will cry as I would if I were alone? I guess I'll see in about 12 more days.)
ReplyDeleteI've taken down Christmas decorations and renamed the tree the "Inauguration Tree;" it is covered in red, white and blue----how odd for me to display those colors with pride, without cynacism.....with sincerity. Pictures of the new First Family also adorn my tree.
My three beautiful American children of African descent do not yet fully appreciate the enormity of this moment. But when they are old, when their children and grandchildren ask them questions about the time when Barack Hussein Obama was elected to his first term as President, my children will have pictures and memories of how their mom tried hard to get them to pay attention to this historic event from their childhoods.
This is a time to cherish, a genuinely momentous time. Only a few million can really be there on the Lawn or on the Mall. Most of us will be in our homes. But we will be bound together in spirit. And think of all those ancestors watching, too...weeping with us, offering us encouragement to face with courage and strength the many, many challenges yet to come. I feel so privileged to be here, now, at this moment in time. I am grateful beyond words for all of those brave souls who have come and gone before us, who did not live to see the dawning of this important day while they were still among us in the flesh.
But on their shoulders, with his hand on that Bible...you know the cloud of witnesses will be surrounding President Obama. Our cheers and our tears will be our thanks to them all.
I'm getting all tingly with anticipation too, Brown Man... so much so that yesterday I wrote my silliest post ever: The Twelve Days of Barack's Inauguration.
ReplyDeleteWhen not humming along with it, I giggled like a school girl the whole time. My kids thought I was nuts! Don't care, and got my long johns ready. Hah-ha-ha!
I saw "The Twelve Days of Barack's Inauguration" last night - you hit the nail on the head about that email business.
ReplyDeleteI just returned from a work trip from the nations capitol and it's amazing how much preparation is being done for the big day. Even inside Dulles airport, there were kiosks promoting everything Obama. I live in Chicago and having lived through the campaign and the WIN in the epi-center of it all, I am amazed and humbled at how the world is embracing him!
ReplyDelete