Il!'J lo rtla n h (S)beeruvr B l3 C k H i s t o r y M o n t h
February 25. 2009
PageA7
B lack H istory M onth
“Memories of our
lives, of our works
and our deeds will
continue in others”
— Rosa Parks
Portland resident and former NAACP Portland chapter president Skip Osborne took this
picture of the view he had o f President Barack Obama's historic inauguration.
History in the Making
continued ^ ^ fr o m A3
had to be in Washington, D C. to witness the
fulfillment of a promise.
I can't say pulling all the travel pieces to ­
gether was an easy task, but like anything
you want, you have to w ork hard for it to
m ean so m e th in g . A fte r n in e w e e k s o f
thoughtful prayer, 1 was rew arded with a se­
lection to attend the Sw earing in- Cerem ony
o f President-elect Barack Obama.
The invitation meant that not only would 1
be one of the 420,(XX) ticketed invitees, but I
would be in the seated section (15 yellow) up
close and personal, with some 1.5 million people
behind me.
Although my stay in the D.C. area was short,
it was packed full. On Monday, Jan. 19, the holi­
day set aside to honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., 1 took the M etro-rail from Upper
Marlboro, Md. into D.C. to attend the annual
National Action Network's celebration of Dr.
King's birthday, which was moved to the Capi­
tol to coincide with the inauguration.
• The theme of this function was education,
and the speakers were prominent mayors and
dignitaries from across America speaking to
their successes and failures surrounding edu­
cation in their communities, including the "in­
equality" in America’s educational system.
There was discussion on the disproportion­
ate number of black youth in the prison system
as compared to the school system at large, and
how 43 percent of non-white students fail to
complete high school.
Both, the outgoing E ducation Secretary
Margaret Spelling and the incoming Education
Secretary Arne D uncan spoke. Sen. John
McCain was present and I had the opportunity
to meet and speak with David Gergen, one of
the political analysts for CNN.
On Inauguration Day, my plan had been to
rise and be on my way to the Capitol by 4 a.m.,
instead I left my hotel about 7:45 a.m. and after
transferring from two trains, 1 arrived at the Capi­
tol about 8:20a.m.
By 9 am and after five security check points,
I was inside the yellow section looking for a
seat (there were no reserved seats) and was set
to enjoy the wonder that was about to unfold.
I originally was in my section 15, but then I
decided to go forward to take some photos and
a woman stopped me and asked if I was by
myself and offered me a seat next to her in the
second row of section 1. 1 accepted of course,
smiling and thanking my Higher Power.
Looking backward and to the sides, there
were people standing as far as the eye could
continued
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'y f on page A 9
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i IUNSPORTAIION
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M etro
City of Portland
City of Portland
Metro
Bureau of Purchases
Office of Transportation:
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Angela Watkins
Greg Wolley
Richard Gray
Susan Wheaton
503 797 1816
City of Portland
503.957.0024
503.823.5250
503.8239764
angela watkins@oregonmetro gov
gwol ley@ci Portland or. us
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www portlandonline com/omf/purchases
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