Ihe Fortiani»
Februaiy 25. 2009
(0bBcruer Black History Month
Page A3
B lack H istory M onth
——
—
—
—
—
—
—
' " I
Black History in the Making
A witness to President Obama’s historic inauguration
Editor's note: Queenie Samuel of
Vancouver was in Washington, D.C.
on Jan. 20 to w itness President
Barack Obama’s inauguration as the
first African American president.
Here is her story in her own words:
by
Q ueenie S amuel
N o m atter w here y o u w ere o r w hat
you w ere d o in g o n Jan. 2 0 ,2 0 0 9 , y o u
becam e ap art of histo ry w h en B arack
H ussein O bam a, a black m an becam e
th e 4 4 th P r e s id e n t o f th e U n ite d
S tates o f A m erica.
N e a rly o n e m o n th a g o to d a y , I
sto o d in 28 d e g re e w e a th e r w ith a
w in d chill th at m ade it feel like 18 d e ­
grees, b u t I w as n o t co ld , the v o ices
inside o f m e w ere w arm in g m y body
an d m y h eart.
This w as the presence o f history be­
ing recorded and there w as nothing I
could say that hadn't already been said -
Barack Obama enters the Oval Office o f the White House on his first day as President of the United States
o f America.
Vancouver resident Queenie Samuel traveled to Washington, D.C. for
the historic inauguration o f the nation’s first black president. The
photography shows her outside the U.S. Capitol Building where the
ceremonies took place.
this day was a promise fulfilled, a day when
we cam e together regardless o f race and
lived in peace and harmony.
I had traveled some 2,500 miles from
Portland to Washington, D.C. to witness
a black man w ho 1 had never heard o f
som e 24 m onths ago, take the oath o f
office. 1 missed seeing the young senator
from Illinois, when he gave his famous
speech at the Democratic National C on­
vention in 2004- which many say, pro­
jected him onto the national stage.
L o o k in g a lm o s t a y e a r a g o , to
w hen I first w atch ed n ew s fo o tag e o f
this h an d so m e, brig h t, articu late, fo r­
m idable b lack m an anno u n ce his c a n ­
d id a c y fo r P re s id e n t o f the U n ited
S tates, m y m in d ra c e d b ack to the
th ree o th er black A m erican s that had
taken up this challenge in my life tim e-
C o n g re ss w o m a n S h irley C h ish o lm ,
R e v . J e s s e J a c k s o n a n d R ev . A1
S h arp to n .
I also th o u g h t o f the dism al chance
fo r election O bam a w ould have, given
h is to r y a n d r a c ia l a c c e p ta n c e in
A m erica. B ut o v er the next few w eeks
1 to o k tim e to read, listen and becom e
fa m ilia r w ith his m essag e regarding
life, h ope and the c h an ce for a b etter
fu tu re fo r all people.
1 cam e to realize that O b am a w as
the person w ho has been g iv en the
gifts to h elp change a nation and a
w orld. Soon 1 w as o fferin g m y se r­
vices w henever o r w herever they w ere
n eed ed — by v o lunteering, fund rais­
ing, and w alking an d talking up his
electio n p rojections and po licies as I
u n d ersto o d them .
O n the m orning o f Nov. 5, after Sen.
O b am a had w on the G eneral E lection
and b ecam e P resident-elect, I knew 1
continued
on page A 7
Coming soon to Spirit Mountain Casino
ROY JONES JR . presents...
S Q U A R E R IN G IN C .
M a r c h 6 th
million DOLLAR
STEVE FORBES
SCORE BIG • FEB. 23RD-APRIL 1ST
V a n c o u v e r, W A
REGIS PHILBIN • MARCH 20TH
LIVE PRO-BOXING
MARCH 6TH • Tickets: $25 - $100
For tickets go to spiritm ountoin.com o r coll STAR TICKETS PLUS at: 8 0 0 .5 8 5 .3 7 3 7
(A G N O