Richard Tafoya
Jan 18th, 2009, 11:13 PM
Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/18/AR2009011800917_pf.html
Rap fans danced to country musicians, elderly white men high-fived with young African Americans and tears mixed with laughter as a varied lineup of A-list stars and an equally diverse crowd jammed the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate the nation and its historic president-elect yesterday.
By some estimates, more than 400,000 people filled the western end of the Mall for the official start of a three-day jubilee of prayers, parades and parties. They endured long security lines and chilly weather for a two-hour salute to the man who will be America's first black president and to the country that propelled Barack Obama to the White House despite centuries of racial divisiveness.
"What a feeling this is! Good God, yes!" Mariela Jesse, a special education teacher from New York, shouted as Obama was introduced, her hands raised in the air.
Bruce Springsteen, Bono and Garth Brooks took the stage, but no one remotely touched the star power of one guest: Every time the Jumbotrons flashed a shot of the president-elect, a thunderous roar erupted from the farthest reaches of the crowd.
"We are all in this together," said actor Denzel Washington, adding that that is why the ceremony name was "three simple words: We Are One."
If the event served as a test run for what is expected to be a record crowd for tomorrow's inauguration, the lesson was simple: Arrive early. Traffic on some roads approached gridlock. But the day's biggest headaches were long delays at security checkpoints, and some people never made it in.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/18/AR2009011800917_pf.html
Rap fans danced to country musicians, elderly white men high-fived with young African Americans and tears mixed with laughter as a varied lineup of A-list stars and an equally diverse crowd jammed the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial to celebrate the nation and its historic president-elect yesterday.
By some estimates, more than 400,000 people filled the western end of the Mall for the official start of a three-day jubilee of prayers, parades and parties. They endured long security lines and chilly weather for a two-hour salute to the man who will be America's first black president and to the country that propelled Barack Obama to the White House despite centuries of racial divisiveness.
"What a feeling this is! Good God, yes!" Mariela Jesse, a special education teacher from New York, shouted as Obama was introduced, her hands raised in the air.
Bruce Springsteen, Bono and Garth Brooks took the stage, but no one remotely touched the star power of one guest: Every time the Jumbotrons flashed a shot of the president-elect, a thunderous roar erupted from the farthest reaches of the crowd.
"We are all in this together," said actor Denzel Washington, adding that that is why the ceremony name was "three simple words: We Are One."
If the event served as a test run for what is expected to be a record crowd for tomorrow's inauguration, the lesson was simple: Arrive early. Traffic on some roads approached gridlock. But the day's biggest headaches were long delays at security checkpoints, and some people never made it in.