On Tuesday afternoon, I made my way excitedly to the students’ union pub. I had heard they were going to be showing the inauguration live on a big screen (via projector). When I arrived there was a bigger crowd than I expected. But it still wasn’t too packed. There was room to move and breathe, at least.
I found a spot on the floor close the front and plopped myself down. Nothing was up on the screen and the vast majority of the people in the pub were over at the bar liquoring themselves up. After about ten minutes—at 4:40 or so—the event organizers announced they couldn’t get the projector working, so everyone was going to have to try to see it on the three regular-sized TVs they had over by the bar. This is typical Goldsmiths. You’d think that, for such a momentous occasion, they would have set everything up early enough to make sure things were running properly—not a few minutes before the event was supposed to start! It was billed as an inauguration party, after all. The students’ union had been planning this for a while! But nothing here seems to be run very well. I could provide numerous other examples, but I don’t want to steal Obama’s thunder.
So I ended up at the back of the throng and could hardly see any of the TVs. At least I could hear everything, though. People cheered when Obama came out, but there was a hush as he took his oath and made his speech.
Overall, I was quite pleased with his speech. It wasn’t as uplifting or memorable as most of his other speeches have been, but I think it was very appropriate for the moment. He referenced the great importance of the day, but wasn’t self-congratulatory. He reminded us that while our votes for him were also votes for “change” and “hope,” we cannot place the burden of those words entirely on his shoulders; we have to pitch in and do our part. And finally, he subtly denounced the Bush administration and made it clear that going forward will require going back—that is, to once again place the ideals upon which America was founded ahead of “national security” (i.e. terrorist witch-hunts), and just as important, to restore policies of peace-making, diplomacy, and generosity in foreign policy. It was a sober speech, but a good one. Those things needed to be said.
What I found even more moving than Obama’s words, however, were shots of the crowd. From what I could see way in the back of the pub, stretching up on my tip-toes to look between people’s heads, the mall was overflowing. To see this much excitement for a new president, to see all the people who came out in the cold to say they were there when history was made, to see close-ups of people watching with rapt attention—it made me very proud.
The worst part, though, was the singing of the national anthem. I’ve heard it hundreds of times, but I’ve never felt it had any significance for me, personally. It usually stirred up too many jingoistic connotations in my mind to have any positive value. But when I heard it sung that day, and when I saw President Obama singing it, I suddenly felt very emotional. More emotional than on Election Day, even. I felt tears welling up in my eyes and I had to hold them back because I thought, “I can’t be that American who cries during the national anthem!” But still, it was an incredible moment for me because I really, truly, felt proud of my country for the first time I can remember.
It all seems so strange because Bush is essentially all I’ve ever known. I was too young to be aware of Reagan and Bush Sr., and I remember very little of Clinton’s presidency besides his two elections, Kosovo, and the impeachment. I became politically conscious under Bush Jr. and the last eight years have made me very cynical about politics. But now I feel a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I feel like anything can happen. I feel—dare I say it?—hopeful.
Here’s to hoping the future is as bright as it looks.
