Inauguration Day, Harlem, NYC, 2009

Inauguration Day was cold on 125th Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, and even though the country is gripped by an economic crises, not seen since the great depression, some supporters arrived early and sat in front of the large JumboTron wrapped in Barack Obama blankets. One supporter, wearing her 2009 New Year’s Eve glasses, with an Obama pin on the front of her hat, took time off work to see the first black president sworn in on the big screen.


There was a near equal mix of blacks and whites gathered in front of the Adam Clayton Powell building, no doubt a testament to the new more affluent Harlem tenants.

The mood was festive among the 200 or so people gathered to cheer on the first black president of the United States, as he took the oath of office. At noon, Obama placed his hand on Lincoln's bible and was sworn in as president. The crowd erupted, waving small American flags and hugging one another. I was tears roll down one woman's eyes.

The Obama supporters kept their loudest outburst for when Obama was sworn in as president. I saw tears rolling down one woman’s face, while moms hugged their young daughters. Everybody appeared to wave small American flags.

The crowd fell deadly silent when President Obama gave his inaugural speech urging responsibility, hard work, and change. After Obama's inauguration speech, the crowd slipped silently away without any fuss - headed back to work - as if the enormity of the crisis facing the US just set in.