Inauguration Pt. 2

January 21, 2009
Celebrating the history takes many forms. Some choose quiet reflection, while others yearn for the company of others to share their excitement.

We chose the latter and attended the Michigan Inaugural Ball at the National Museum of American History located in the Kenneth E. Behring Center. It was a fitting location given that the Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life exhibit was on display and the 16th President was such an influence on the 44th President.

Walking into the museum with my sister Ana, her friend Ruth and our aunt Pearline, a live cover band was blasting Michael Jackson songs from his Thriller album and folks were “getting their groove on.”

Dignitaries from around the state and across industries were in attendance: Governor Jennifer Granholm, Former General Motors Group Vice President Roy Roberts, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, NAACP Detroit Branch President Wendell Anthony and Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. were just a few of the estimated several hundred people that attended the event.

We ended the night (relatively) early as our feet began to ache from walking earlier in the day and bags still had to be packed for the flight home the following morning.

8:45 a.m. Wednesday, January 21:
OK. I know traffic is one of the signs of a vibrant city, but this is ridiculous.

The 14th Street Bridge, which is the fastest way to get to Reagan National Airport from downtown DC, is still blocked off due to the inauguration festivities. My flight leaves at 9:20, it seems like every car in DC is headed in the same direction and we’re still a half hour away from the airport.

9:05 a.m.
Made it to the airport in what seems like record time. But, I still miss my flight. I’m on standby and no one can tell me when I might get onto another flight.

Waiting with me are dozens of other prospective flyers who either have their tickets or are trying to get onto the next available aircraft with a free seat. One of those “stranded passengers” is the living embodiment of the historic events of the last day: Judge Damon Keith.
Judge Keith is a Senior Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District. The distinguished jurist is a well known public figure in Michigan and a champion of Civil Rights for decades.

Sitting next to Judge Keith waiting for our planes, he recounted for me the significance of this particular presidential inauguration. It was a story that he said he shared earlier in the week with CNN.

“The significance of this trip for me is tremendous,” he said. “I was in Detroit when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the I Have a Dream speech after Marching down Woodward Avenue, before he delivered it (in Washington, DC) in 1963. When Nelson Mandela came to Detroit in 1990, Mayor Coleman Young asked me to introduce Mandela at Tiger Stadium. And now I’m here for this. It is just wonderful.”
After sharing some time with Judge Keith and the millions of others who came to Washington to celebrate the election of President Barack Obama and see the new First Family, sitting and waiting several hours for a plane doesn’t seem so difficult.

In fact, the last part of the trip seemed to sum up what the entire journey was about for me in the first place: No longer a dream deferred, but a dream realized.