| The Day We Were All One! |
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 On Tuesday, January 20th, Sallie Goode and 2 million others journeyed to DC to bear witness to history. If you want proof that a change has come, just read her story.
All that ended on January 20. I left Greensboro, NC on January 18, with my daughter heading for the historical Inauguration of our first Black president. The anticipation of witnessing history was more than I could bear. The excitement alone was incredible and I couldn't wait to get there. We passed charter buses and cars with signs in the window like "Heading to DC to witness history", or "Inauguration Bound". I was sorry I didn't have a sign of my own. Since DC is home for me, I looked forward to seeing family and friends and hopefully sharing this occasion with them, but most of them chose to watch the events on TV instead. Some were apprehensive about the crowds and the possibility that something would go awry. I didn't care though, I wanted to be a spot in the crowd and if something were to go wrong, so be it. When we arrived at the Capital Heights subway station, we were floored at how crowded it was. Everyone was in good cheer and the feeling of exhilaration clung strongly in the air. The enthusiasm became greater at each subway stop, it became so crowed that some stations were passed by. I remember being amused when we stopped at the Eastern Market station and a few white people got on the train. At first, they looked a bit nervous, but once they got on and saw the good mood everyone was in, I noticed they relaxed. By the time we got off at the L'Enfant Plaza station there were so many people that the escalators were turned off and we had to walk up. Midway up, we turned around to look at all the people. I couldn't remember seeing the subway that crowed since the first day it opened in March 1976 and everybody got to ride all day for free. In the stimulation, somebody started singing the theme song from the Jefferson's, "Well we're moving on up, to the East side" and everyone chimed in at the end, "we finally got a piece of the pie". Who would have ever thought something so simple could feel and mean so much? Once we all finished singing, a young man behind me shouted "Black power". I turned and looked at him with scorn since I didn't feel this was the time or place for that. To my relief, I noticed a few others had given him the same type of glare; after all, this was to be a peaceful day, not a day for derision. When we got upstairs and saw all the people, it was amazing. We ended up walking down Independence Avenue towards the monument and ran into a barricade. We watched one-person jump the barricade trying to get closer and like idiots everyone started jumping over too. When we got over, we soon learned we made a terrible mistake and the reason they put the barricades there. We were smushed and there was very little room to move. People were climbing trees, standing on top of the port-a-johns, and doing whatever they thought would get them a better view. In the tightness, a young man apparently went into a panic attack and started pushing to get back over the barricade. I wasn't feeling any better since I have been in two stampedes in my life and was feeling nervous myself. However, the crowd held it together enough to see the young man's state of mind and helped him get back to the other side. My daughter and I went over next. I had to admit I was scared we would be trampled, and although the other side was crowded too, it was a better and safer place to be. My daughter, who is taller than me noticed the crowd that must have arrived much earlier than everyone else sitting on the monument grounds and said, "Mommy, look at that, look at all the people". As much as I stood on my tippy toes I couldn't see anything except the back of the heads of everyone in front of me. My daughter picked me up from behind and I was able to see what got her so excited. There were so many people you couldn't even see the grass. It was bewildering. Although it was freezing and my fingers and toes were numb, the thrill of being there kept me going. I listened to people talking and was proud at how well everyone was getting along in such close proximity. Everyone was laughing, interacting and just so filled with exuberance. There were black people, white people, Asian people, Hispanic people, people who just arrived in the US and waiting for their citizenship and people of every background imaginable. For the first time in my life I experienced being proud to be American and was overwhelmed too because I also felt patriotic. Growing up in DC where there is always something happening when a crowd gets together, it pleased me that a gathering of almost 2 million people did not require police attention. On this day there were no fights, no racism, or ugliness of any kind because it was a day we were all one. God bless America because even though there is much work to be done, we've come a long way.
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