Brand New Day – Part 2
History in the making Obama takes office
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Just a quick attempt to put a few words to the images:
I was drawn to the flame of history as in the journalism days of the past. [ppw id=”133616547″ description=”History Lesson – Obama Takes Office” price=”.10″]
So I walked to the University of North Texas (UNT) campus to see if my expectations would be met by crowds gathered around for today’s inauguration. The epicenter of so much history, now, is wherever TV’s happen to be. That change came long ago. I remember quite clearly being in the TV room of a UNT then NTSU dorm when the news of Reagan being shot drew standing room only crowds to the big old tube TV’s. I also remember quite clearly, a young woman (whose ethnicity does not matter) say “It’s about time!” hearing the news that Reagan had actually been shot.
The epicenter of epicenters at UNT today, as in the past, was the One O’Clock Lounge in the ground level of the University Union. This is the virtually the same place where crowds gathered to learn the outcome of the great Luke & Laura General Hospital cliffhanger on daytime soaps. History.
There is hope – the place was packed and the crowd showed a salt & pepper seasoning much the same as 28 years ago during those historic moments. It was hard not to get a bit of an adrenalin buzz as the anticipation built, and I watched many of the young African-American students try to stay cool, be cool and look cool. Didn’t we all want that at that age?
It was impossible to miss one young man’s broad grin, and once my camera panned his direction, he would try and feign a serious look, but to no avail. And that is as it should be, don’t we all think? We should all be happy at least for a moment … the peaceful change, the potential, the past behind us, and potentially better days ahead.
After the event wound down, I took off with another photographer for a quick lunch. We were just sitting down when a young caucasian female student saw my camera and said, “you were over there?” I said yes, and she said “it was so … strange.” I asked her what she meant, and she hesitated, “They just all sat together and crowded together.” I asked her what she expected and she replied, “I don’t know. It was just strange.”
I have known what she means for a long time. I was one of those rabble rousers who wanted to try and join a black fraternity just to see what would happen. The idea of being branded didn’t appeal to me, but breaking a barrier did. Needless to say there aren’t many invitations forthcoming from southern black fraternities to a stick of chalk like me.
[/ppw]To Be Continued …
Category: Event Podcasting, Life Observed, OFF TOPIC, Writing
ah, to have been there. my 11 o’clock hour was spent listening to the drone of a bored educator. They say you’ll never forget where you were today… but I wish I could!