What fascinating times that we live in that the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday can be followed up a day later by the inauguration of the first black American President. It is, least of all to say, overwhelming. Much is being made of this convergence, and of the summoning of the spirit of our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, by President-elect Barack Obama on the eve of his inauguration as 44th President of the United States.
Yesterday's inaugural celebration in Washington, D.C. at the Lincoln Memorial found Obama addressing hordes of people in much the same way as Dr. King had forty-six years ago during his "I Have A Dream" speech at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and delivering a brief, but similar message of hope and abiding faith in the dream that all Americans share: freedom and opportunity. It is a deep thing to think that in a country that was built upon the backs of enslaved Africans, we will now entrust the safekeeping and guidance of our country in the hands of an African-American man. Dr. King said in his "I Have A Dream" speech:
"It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning."
Deep. If you would like to read the rest of his speech, please click here. Here is a video of the speech for the rest of you:
If you are in L.A., the Fine Arts Theatre is having a free inauguration screening beginning at 8 a.m. at 8556 Wilshire Blvd. If you are looking for an inaugural bash to attend in, well, anywhere, MoveOn.org has a nifty search engine for you. Hulu.com is also presenting the inauguration live at their site, and they have been nice enough to allow bloggers to embed the code to their live stream, so you can also watch it here tomorrow morning. ABC will be the only network televising the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball, a really cool deal where they'll be making the inauguration accessible to all people. Folks scheduled to perform for what will surely be one of the most massive crowds to ever fill a space as small as D.C. include Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Faith Hill, Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Stevie Wonder, Nick Cannon (who will D.J.) and additional performers TBA.
Also, in a 90's-style twist, a commemorative inauguration CD/DVD will be available for purchase. Here's some info as provided by Christine Nyholm of Suite 101.com:
The PIC has announced the release of a commemorative inauguration CD/DVD which will features top recording artists and eight of President-elect Obama’s campaign speeches.
The 18-track CD features songs by will.i.am, the Tony Rich Project, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Ozomatli, Sheryl Crow, India.Arie, James Taylor, Melissa Etheridge, Lenny Kravitz, Robin Thicke, Maroon 5, Usher Raymond IV, BeBe Winans, Wilco, Jennifer Hudson, Death Cab for Cutie and Common.
The CD-DVD will be available for purchase at official inaugural events in Washington D.C. and is also available at the PIC online store.
That's all folks! See you here tomorrow for the live stream of the show!
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