Inauguration Weekend: Final Dispatch

Live from Washington DC

The Moment.

At CNN.com. That's the email address where people sent in photos of Barack Obama's oath of office this morning. With the hundred of thousands of images received, the news network created an explorable composite 3D record of history.

Although this new tool of mass participation and communication had little precedent (like many things this Presidential Inauguration weekend), it wasn't something new or complex that had the biggest impact on me. It was simply being a part of this wide field of people numbering in the millions, all there to hear a man speak for a short while.

In spending these few days here in Washington DC I, and it seems that many others, have been taken by the optimistic fervor of "Obamania." Whether or not being hopeful was naïve, we will only be able to say with the passing of years.

What I can say for sure without the advantage of history's purview is that it was not just me in Washington DC but all of us: from New York to Jakarta, from London to Long Island, and from Boston to Chicago. All of us bore witness to an event that left us in awe and reminded us of the enduring power of our American experiment.

Thank you and good night.

Inauguration Weekend: Dispatch 12

Live from Washington DC

We are standing at the foot of the Washington Monument and under a clear and sunny winter sky, people have filled the length of the mall from the US Capitol Building, where the Presidential Inauguration festivities are taking place, to the Lincoln Memorial over 3 miles away!

A military band is now playing several marches and we just saw the first aerial glimpse of the Mall. And people are still coming to this unprecedented spectacle...

Inauguration Weekend: Dispatch 11

Live from Washington DC

Earlier in the day, the museums surrounding the Mall had special events for MLK Day. The Sackler Gallery of Asian Art hosted South Indian dance performances with the theme of renewal and responsibility. A Kwele band performed at the African Art Museum, alongside a photo and video montage of Obamania from Zanzibar to Zambia.

A storyteller at the Smithsonian Castle chose a more sober tone and spoke of life in the simplest of terms: the year we are born and the year we die. "It is the dash in between," he said, "that encompasses our accomplishments and failures, goodness and dark times. And in a time of national introspection, we must also look into ourselves to be the change we seek."

Afterwards we dashed through the Museum of Natural History and the Sculpture Garden of the American Museum of Art. Most of the museums have now closed but the growing feeling of excitement on the Mall is intoxicating.

MSNBC just started their live coverage and a steady stream of politicos have started coming to the news outpost here. There were unconfirmed reports from fellow spectators that a former US senator as wells as Eddie Murphy just arrived!

As darkness comes around the open lawn, floodlights have streamed on, dramatically highlighting the surrounding buildings and monuments. When the sun returns tomorrow morning, we'll be just several hours away from the end of one presidential term and the beginning of another.

Inauguration Weekend: Dispatch 10

Live from Washington DC

It's hazy and humid and temperatures are in the 80s. No, I haven't left DC for the DR. I am at the US Botanical Garden, just several hundred meters from the US Capital Building. This is one of several stops, including the Smithsonian Castle, that we've taken this afternoon during our extended Pre-Inauguration Day stroll of the Mall.

The museums are packed, but so is the Mall itself due to the mild weather today after some morning snow showers. Preparations for tomorrow are ongoing. Jumbotron TVs are setup. MSNBC has parked their mobile reporting room near the Museum of Natural History. Traffic barricades are up. And of course, Tshirt/calendar/button/bag/postcard/DVD salesmen are making brisk business.

At the Capitol Building itself, the San Francisco Boys and Girls Choir is practicing in front of hundreds and hundreds seats that are now empty but will soon be filled with politicians, dignitaries, entertainers, athletes, and anyone else lucky enough to get tickets to what some may say is the most hyped event in the world now. Just beyond these seating areas, a crowd of passerbys have gathered to get their own glimpse of what is to come on Inauguration Day.

Inauguration Weekend: Dispatch 9

This dispatch was written with Sahar and Ali (Atif's brother's sister-in-law and her husband).

Live from Washington DC

After the Inaugural Kickoff address by Barack Obama, the sea of spectators started moving back towards the event entrances between 20 and 23rd streets. The crowd had noticeably thinned as Beyonce sang "My Country Tis of Thee," closing the luminary-studded event that Denzel Washington had started two hours before. Although fans may have left, the collection of secret service agents on the roof of the Lincoln Memorial remained.


We moved with the huge crowd past the north side of the mall, where we had waited earlier in the afternoon. At that time, we had placed bets to see how long it would take us to get on the grounds in front of the Lincoln memorial. Abdul Qadir Uncle (Atif's dad) won hands-down with a prediction that we would enter by 2:00 pm.

Obamania was soaring but tempratures were dropping. Our multiple layers of Lululemon, North Face, and CVS (emergency gloves) helped us to stave off freezing. We moved on towards the Foggy Bottom Metro Station on streets lined with military personnel. Atif picked up several buttons and a copy of the Nov 5 Washington Post from among the numerous vendors hawking their wares. As we passed through the GWU campus and got close to the station, it became obvious that we were competing with the crowds to even enter the station. After 40 numb toes, 30 minutes, and a depleted supply of kurkure (Indian cheetos) we cut our losses and retreated to a nearby pita store to warm up and nosh on falafels.

Inauguration Weekend: Dispatch 8

Live from Washington DC

Joe Biden, Marisa Tomei, Queen Latifah, John Mellencamp, George Lopez, and Kal Penn (yes Kal Penn!, Stevie Wonder, Common, Tiger Woods, Jack Black, and Rosario Dawson have just spoken.

On this same soil, FDR said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Kennedy said "ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." MLK said, "I have a dream." And now Garth Brooks just sang "Bye Bye Ms American Pie."

Bono is on!

Inauguration Weekend: Dispatch 7

Live from Washington DC

One word: unbelievable.

We are just several hundred feet from the Lincoln Memorial. The kickoff concert began with a marine salute that set a chilling silence across the perhaps millions in attendance, and then a performance of the Star Spangled Banner and Aaron Copeland's March for the Common Man. Acts that have come and gone on the stage read like a who's who of pop culture...Elmo (!), Bruce Springsteen, Mary J Blige, Jamie Foxx, Steve Carrell, and Patti LaBelle with Bon Jovi. Tom Hanks was just introduced. He began with "We cannot change history...but we hold power and bear responsibility to change our future."

Before all of this there were some light moments - enthusiastic volunteers entertaining the organized chaos of people heading here, a monumental wave across the crowd before the show started, and a combined chant of "raise it up" when the speakers on the right side went out...

Above our heads, a steady clip of planes continue on the flight path above the memorial enroute to Reagan Airport, in the buildup to Tuesday. The Inaugural Kickoff is the first event leading to what history may tell us years from now was a defining moment in the American experience.