Looking out from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the site of Martin Luther King’s infamous “I Have a Dream” speech 45 years prior, nearly two million people are packed within the confines of Washington, D.C.’s Mall, extending for two miles to the nation’s Capitol building. They’re all listening, watching, eating, walking, talking, and wide-eyed despite the early-afternoon chill and less than comfortable crowding. Some, but not many, are close enough to see the Capitol; others watch on large screens set up throughout the mall. Somewhere in the middle, though, just south of the Washington Monument, Charlie Resnick is balancing on a tree limb, several feet in the air.
The ideals embodied by Obama brought people from all over America, as well as the rest of the globe, to Washington, D.C. last week, to witness the swearing in of the first black president, and first Democratic president of the twenty-first century. Resnick is one of what The Washington Post estimated as 1.8 million, who came to support Obama during his first day in office.
At roughly 130 lbs, the 17-year-old from Arlington, Virgina is dwarfed under the massive obelisk, which extends nearly 600 feet into the mid-Atlantic sky. Despite the steady flow of the crowd, and the millions bustling beneath him, Resnick diverted the attention of dozens to his tree-top-perch. They stopped and tilted their heads to the sky, seeking out the source of the enthusiastic yelps that escaped Resnick’s lips only to catch the high school senior waving a peace flag.
“Like, how could I not be a part of this, you know? I live three miles away from where we stand right now and the fact that people from all over the world have gathered in this one spot,” said Resnick, doe-eyed and visibly cold, despite the poncho draped over his frail frame. “The fact that millions of people have gathered in this one place to celebrate this amazing, amazing event…” continued Resnick. “To me, that’s one of the things that speaks most loudly and most clearly.” Following in the footsteps of his father, a political activist in the 1960s and an advocate of Dr. King, Resnick feels a sense of pride in vocalizing what he believes in most strongly. “What my father was fighting for back then has now been achieved,” said Resnick, who sees Obama as a symbol of progress, representing the civil rights achievements that have been made in the past several hundred years.
One night earlier, just shy of eight p.m. on Martin Luther King Day, Anette Ross was around 150 bodies back from the entrance of the world renowned Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, D.C. Days earlier, Barack Obama ate here, a few blocks up the street from historic Howard University. Only a handful of hours before the 47-year-old Illinois Senator took the oath of presidency, the line outside of Ben’s wrapped around the building. Even with single digit wind chills and the absence of gloves or a scarf, Ross, who had lost track of exactly how long she had been waiting on Ninth Street for her chili dog, was still insistent on seeing what all the hype was about.
“I had never heard of this before,” laughed Ross, an African-American woman in her sixties, who flew out to D.C. from her home in Los Angeles to be a part of the next day’s inauguration. The Washington Post noteed that Ben’s Chili Bowl, located at 213 U Street, is “probably the only business on this strip that survived both the 1968 riots and the construction phase of the Metro Green Line.” After riots that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ben’s was one of the only businesses that remained open that year. The restaurant also boasts a history of famous guests such as Bill Cosby, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, and the Reverend King, himself. Since Obama visited Ben’s on January 10, the D.C. civil rights landmark has been booming with business. The president elect at the time stopped by the local landmark with DC’s mayor for a chili dog and sweet tea, had lunch, and left. Neighboring businesses have cited crowds gathering outside the doors of Ben’s as early as 4 a.m. in the day’s following his visit, and preceeding the inauguration.
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In a sense, all of metropolitan Washington was abuzz in a very similar way. From the banks of the Potomac in the South to the stripmalls and Safeways that line Highway-1 into suburban Maryland in the North, millions of people from around the world ventured to the nation’s capital last week to be part of what is being regarded as the most important election of our lifetime. While the hype was indeed evident everywhere—from the optimism in the eyes of Ross, who intended on staying up all night after her meal at Ben’s to get a good spot for the inauguration the next afternoon, to the signs that advertised Barackwurst hotdogs and Obama soup for sale down the street—very few seem without faith in the new president of the United States’ capabilities to lead the country for the next four years, during what is arguably the worst economic recession and era of war that the country has been immersed in within the past four decades. Even Ariel Wiznia, 23, a traveler hailing from Argentina, specifically visited Washington, D.C. on inauguration during his travels across the United States, for the event that he thinks of as “something truly unique.”
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It has never been a secret that the votes cast by young America had an overwhelming influence helping secure the presidential position for Barack Obama. CIRCLE, a non-partisan research center that specializes in youth civic engagement, reports that young voters preferred the Democratic candidate over Republican John McCain by nearly 40 percent, and Obama is overwhelmingly aware of their presence and role in his successful campaign for the presidency. “When you look at the history of this campaign,” he said on the night of his inauguration, “what started out as an improbable journey when nobody gave us a chance was carried forward, was inspired by, was energized by young people all across America.” The president spoke these words to a room of 7,000 during a youth-oriented inaugural celebration just a few hours after he took the oath of office.
Following in the footsteps of the highly successful Rock the Vote campaign that helped engage youth involvement in American politics during the 90s, Declare Yourself, founded by television producer Norman Lear, aims to raise voter registration among the youth of the country. Gearing up for last year’s election, the organization pulled together A-list celebrities ranging from Jessica Alba to Christina Aguilera to pose for provocative photographs to adorn posters in hopes of catching the collective eye of the young America. 2.2 million more voters under the age of 30 hit the polls this past November than did during the ’04 election. Some of the group’s biggest supporters, including Jamie Foxx, Lindsay Lohan, and Sarah Silverman, gathered at Washington’s Renaissance Hotel the Sunday night before the inauguration to revel in the dawn of the Obama administration with a star-studded kick-off celebration, hosted by Alba. Even at $250 a ticket, ball-goers in elegant dress still managed to pack the hotel’s chandelier-garnished ballroom. Before Maroon 5 and John Legend took the stage to perform brief sets to the primarily young audience, many of the VIPs in attendance took the time to acknowledge not only the success of Declare Yourself, but of the emergence of an evolving America.
Silverman, an Emmy Award-winning writer who began her television career with Saturday Night Live in the 90s told Generation that she had been a fan of Obama since the first time she saw him on The Late Show with David Letterman and that he, frankly, “seems reasonable.” “I love being a patriot,” she continued. “I love being able to feel proud.” Silverman was also part of the Obama-promoting campaign, “The Great Schlep,” a campaign paid for by the Jewish Council for Education and Research. The campaign persuade Jews to use family ties to encourage others, namely their grandparents, to vote for Obama in states like Florida where the Jewish vote pulls a lot of weight, which can make or break an election. This was evident in George W. Bush’s win in 2000. In a short video promoting the campaign, Silverman urges Jewish Obama-supporters to “Schlep over to Florida and urge your grandparents to vote for Obama.” Using a bit of witty persuasion, Silverman remarked, “The name Barack is a Hebrew word. It means ‘lightning,’ and I would much rather have a president whose name means lightning than a president named ‘John,’ whose name means ‘toilet,’ or, ‘a guy who fucks hookers.’”
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Ben Scroggins and Nick Harrison, 17-year-old juniors from Allen High school in Allen, Texas, were able to attend the inauguration with their friends and classmates through World Strides, a program that provides students with educational travel opportunities throughout the United States and in places like Costa Rica and Europe. When asked if he would have voted for Obama if he was of voting age, Scroggins replied with an excited, “Oh, hells yeah. Absolutely.” Shortly afterwards, he notes that his “nerdiness” accounts for his interest in keeping up-to-date with current events by reading newspapers often and having strong opinions on things like the war in Darfur while some students at his highschool remain ignorant in regards to political happenings. Recalling his time in D.C. thus far, Scroggins mentioned that he and his group got the chance to see numerous monuments and memorials. During inauguration week, the city was chock-full of opportunities for educational experiences.
While Scroggins, among millions of others, hopes for a peaceful end to the conflict in Darfur, others hope for things that are particularly close to their own hearts. Sonia Silbert, a representative of the Washington Peace Center and a member of the Activist Coalition of D.C., stood downtown on inauguration day handing out 4,000 large signs that read, “Mr. President, I hope for _________.” Passersby were given multi-colored markers and were encouraged to scrawl down their own creative message on blank posters. This project aims to help people to “think critically about what we want to administration to do,” says Silbert, rather than just celebrating the day of the inauguration, itself. Silbert hopes that people who seek change under Obama’s presidency will look toward the peace and justice movement. When asked what she, personally, hopes for, Silbert replied, “I’m hoping for troops home NOW. Not in sixteen months—NOW.”
During his speech, Obama said, “Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.” Rosy-cheeked children ambled through the crowd on the day of the inauguration, holding hands and linking arms with parents and siblings making their way through the crowd. Some, like David Rosen, a man in his late-30’s who currently lives about ten blocks east of the capitol, chose to bring his family with him to the ceremony. Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Rosen moved to the D.C. area around six months ago to be with his wife who currently serves in the U.S. Air Force. “We just had to be here, you know, I mean…it’d be criminal for us to be this close and not be part of the crowd.” He brought with him his step-daughter, Maryann, his younger daughter, Piper, and his mother Ruth, who came to D.C. from Louisville, Kentucky for the occasion. Rosen was casually snacking on trail mix during his interview with Generation. Smiling, standing beside his family, he commented, “We were trying to get through the crowds over and here and it’s a mob scene, and we were crazy enough to bring a stroller with us. You know, we got split up, we had the baby crying and upset, and my mom’s trying to get the stroller over a curb, and these people just randomly came by, and like, picked up the stroller and carried it over the curb for us.” In a cheery bewilderment, Rosen remarked “It’s hard to imagine a friendly crowd of like, three million people, but it is…it’s like three million of your closest friends walking around.”
According to The Washington Post, there were 8,000 police officers, 1,000 FBI agents, 10,000 National Guard Troops, 13,000 unarmed troops and numerous secret service countersniper team members present during the inauguration ceremony. WJLA Washington News reports that there was not a single arrest during the inauguration. Representatives of groups opposing Obama’s policies were present, but not in large numbers. There were more peaceful demonstrations than true protests. While civilians wearing homemade “McCain in 2012” tees could also be spotted in the crowd, no one seemed very vocal about this notion and all remained peaceful.
With a temperature of approximately 37 degrees Fahrenheit around the noon hour, EMTs were on call, treating people for hypothermia. According to the Associated Press, one first aid station saw twenty people with hypothermia and Georgetown University Hospital treated over two dozen for inaugural-related medical incidents by around 4 p.m. Police helped reunite around 140 lost people. Many cell phones lacked service during the inaugural celebration, and once someone lost touch with the group that they were with, it was near-impossible to find them in a sea of what the National Parks service and The Washington Post reported to be close to two million people.
Official numbers of those in attendance at the inauguration range anywhere from just under to well over two million, not taking into consideration millions more in the greater D.C. vicinity who did not make it anywhere near the steps of the Capitol building. As early as November 11, NPR’s Asma Khalid reported that hotels in the metropolitan D.C. area were already completely booked, with phones ringing off the hook at front desks across Washington. At the Ritz Carlton only a week after election day, Khalid reported that “every single room, the cheapest, $1100 a night, was sold out.” Khalid went on to cite that many hotels in the city were charging double their standard January rate, and some hotels were offering $15,000 a night rooms, only available with a minumum of four night stay, and that some private residents were offering week-long stays in their capital-side homes for several thousand dollars. For news organizations from across the globe eager for coverage, these over-priced stays quickly became the only options, as hotels all the way into southern Pennsylvania were filling up in the weeks prior to Obama’s inauguration.
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Despite the overwhelming demand for accomodations, people far and wide came down to the city for the inauguration. While understandably most came to revel in the celebratory festivities, many came to capitalize on the mass influx of visitors to the city, which transformed the nation’s capital into a clustered sea of bodies, assembled from individuals originating from all kinds of diverse backgrounds. Vernis Brown, 32, made the trek from his hometown from Atlanta, where he makes his living as an artist. Brown set up shop on Eighteenth Street, a few blocks from the Mall. On the day of the inauguration, he was selling his art, which was comprised entirely of Obama-related pieces. Brown surrounded himself in hand-etched portraits of the fortyfourth president—some serious, some cartoon-ish renditions that placed the president alongside Homer Simpson. For this artist, making a few bucks wasn’t necessarily the main goal. Just being a part of “the celebration and electricity in the air,” he said, made the week a great thrill for him. A life-long democrat who voted for Obama, Brown is a strong believer in the ideals preached by the new president. “It’s time for a change, and I’m totally with his entire message,” he said.
Matt Thompson and Reggie Nelson of nearby Richmond, Virgina also ventured into the city for the week, but were somewhat less creative with their wares. The two, African-Americans in their mid-20s, walked the streets of Washington offering the opportunity to have pictures taken with a cardboard cutout of the president for one dollar a shot. Joe Gebbia, another budding entrepreneur, used the event to raise awareness of a new project he had recently co-founded with two others. Dubbed Airbedandbreakfast.com, the website aims to connect thrifty travelers with beds and baths in residential homes within big cities. On the subject of breakfast, Gebbia pondered what cereal President Obama would lend his name to, and it hit him: Obama-Os. “It’s the cereal of change,” proclaimed Gebbia, age 28. His company now has a presence in 650 cities across 70 countries, and the San Francisco native used the opportunity to not only support Obama, but also to advertise among the thousands of travelers who might need a place to stay.
Jinx Proof, a popular shop on the commercial strip of D.C.’s Georgetown, capitalized financially on the new president with something a tad more permanent. Since election day, they had been offering Obama-themed tattoos, ranging from the star-spangled “O” logo to portraits of the president’s face. TJ Mohler, an employee at the shop, admits that though the tattoos are not tremendous sellers, the store has inked the emblems on a handfull of customers already. “Everybody’s gotten a kick out of it,” said Mohler. “Every time we’ve walked out front there’s either been somebody in the window looking at them or taking pictures of them or something like that so we definitely have drawn a crowd.” Jinx Proof tattoed their first “Yes We Can” design within hours after election day.
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While Obama supporters came far and wide to the nation’s capital to celebrate the swearing in of the new president, not everyone was blessed with as fortunate of an opportunity. Stephen Klein, the president of UB Mock Trial, wanted to go but couldn’t make the trip. Instead, he called in from work and gathered with a group of friends to see the ceremony at home. Faizan Habeeb, another member of Mock Trial and an Obama-supporter, watched the event from his television, too. “It’s an absolutely unprecedented historic moment,” said Habeeb, who was allowed to miss his African Politics class in lieu of catching the ceremony. “I just think it would have been a huge piece of American history and an unforgettable experience.” Tom Ballou, a 26-year-old Niagara County Community College graduate fabricated an “Inauguration Brunch” party to skip his full-time job. “If I had the chance to go, I probably would have gone,” said Ballou, who watched coverage all morning from the comfort of his couch with, yes, brunch.
“The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.” Dr. King spoke these words as part of his “I Have a Dream” speech in August of 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. In 2009, President Obama promises his honest intent and, already, has gathered the dedicated following necessary to illuminate the days to come in such a way that justice will make its way to the top, sailing along the surface, free at last.
