Community Vision

On January 20th, I was
very fortunate to witness history by attending Obama's inauguration
in Washington, DC. There have been a number of crowded moments in
America's history and January 20th, 2009 will sure be remembered as
one of them. It's not every day that one gets to experience an
historic event with 2 million other people, and I thought I should
share such an amazing journey with you.

Our nation's capital
filled with history and culture is without a doubt a beautiful city,
but the festive atmosphere of the inauguration made it look even more so. The Capitol and other buildings in the city were decorated
with flags and signs that welcomed the new president. Despite the
freezing temperatures, the atmosphere in DC was warm and inviting.
Pennsylvania Avenue and other streets of Washington were full of
visitors who had come from all over the country to witness history.
The festive energy was so infectious even strangers were hugging and
taking pictures with each other. People of all ages, races and colors
had come together to celebrate not just the new president, but the
hope and change identified with Obama's name. The Obama supporters
had a smile in their face, hope in their eyes, and wore Obama hats,
shirts or scarves. On the inauguration day, Pennsylvania Avenue and
the National Mall Viewing Area were packed with people, who had even
slept in the street or climbed trees to secure a good viewing spot.
Around 2 million viewers – reportedly the biggest crowd in
Washington's history – braved the bitter cold to see Barak Obama
swear-in on the steps of the Capitol as the nation’s first
African-American president. The ceremony was filled with high
emotions and tears of joy. For some it was even hard to
believe what was happening was “really real”.

With its first black
president, America sent a message to the world that it has overcome
slavery and bigotry in an admirable way. And really, what better
confirmation of the power of our democracy than an African-American
president? I left DC with hope that this wonderful momentum will last
and the promises for change will be fulfilled.

Click HERE to see some of the photographs I took.

This story, illustrated
with pictures from the inauguration, will be featured on this week's
Community Vision news program. Community Vision airs every Saturday
and Sunday at 9:30 am and 5:00 pm. It also airs on Saturday at 9:00
pm, Sunday at 11:30 pm, and Monday at 11:00 am. For those who don't
live in Worcester, our news program streams live on our website at
the same times. Stay tuned for Community Vision and other great local
programming at WCCA TV13 -- The People's Channel!