The inauguration of President Obama was a once in a lifetime experience that I was lucky enough to be a part of. For the most part, people were happy and excited to see an important part of American history. But my experience in the crowd of over one million people was a little different than depicted by the media.

My friends and I got onto the mall at 4:30 a.m. and were surprised to find that we were amongst the first few hundred people to get there. We were able to get as close as one could get without tickets. We were exuberant and could not wait to see our candidate. But soon more people came into the mall and we were all smashed together like sardines. After an hour of not being able to move a muscle we decided to move further back where we could have a little breathing room; that task proved to be easier said than done.

When we attempted to get out of the growing crowd we were met with rudeness and a overwhelming unwillingness to cooperate. People flat out refused to move to allow us to leave. We were at a standstill numerous times after only going a few inches. One female in particular locked arms with someone next to her and told me I was not getting through. After at least 10 minutes of standing in one spot, smashed against the people around me, making them as well as myself uncomfortable, I started to feel panic. I had never been trapped in such close proximity to others before and it was proving to be more than I could handle. I finally started telling people that I was going to have a panic attack and that I needed to get out. I pushed through the crowd and 10 minutes later I was out.

Later on in the day while trying to exit the mall I overheard many people saying to each other comments such as “You can’t shove me!” or “Don’t push me, don’t touch me!” I was amazed to see them treat each other with such hostility. There were over a million people in a small area; did you really think you were going to be able to do cartwheels?

It is not that I didn’t expect a lot of people to be there, it’s just that I thought all the people there would be as happy as I was about President Obama gaining power. Instead of being rude to each other, we should have been more than willing to help each other out. I expected much more from the American people.

I’m not saying that everyone there was rude. There was one couple I distinctly remember that we talked to while waiting for the mall to clear out. We could tell just by their faces that they didn’t mind standing in one spot and having people smashed against them; they were just happy to have been a part of the experience. They were even making jokes about how absurd the people around us were being. It was good to see such a contrast, compared to my earlier experience.

Overall, I had a great experience. I was lucky enough to see my favorite political figures gain power at such an important time in our country’s history. I was just a little disappointed to see the public treat each other with such discourtesy.

The inauguration of President Barack Obama was a defining moment in American history. Finally, an African-American man was elected to the highest office in American politics. The racial barrier has fallen, only 154 years after the Civil War ended. The President might not have been served food at a restaurant 50 years ago. While the Voice acknowledges this, and congratulates the President on his inauguration, the staff has wondered why the media outlets in this country continue to state the issue.

During his campaign, Obama was criticized for playing the “race card” by Republican opponents John McCain and Sarah Palin. The media created a circus over this, and debated it on every talk show from the moment it came up until the end of the election. Looking at all the evidence, Obama himself never took that angle. He was more concerned with his plans for the country. The media, however, decided to take a different approach.

The papers on January 21 all had similar lines. “The Press Enterprise” stated: “A jubilant crowd of more than a million…stood for hours in frigid temperatures Tuesday to witness a young black man with a foreign-sounding name take command of a nation founded by slaveholders.” It later said “He had a message for the world: ‘We are ready to lead.’ Meaning that he, the young African American, was ready to lead.” If President Obama had wanted to say he was ready to lead, he would have said so, and not used the word “we.”

The “New York Times” said “Mr. Obama, the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas inherited a White House built partially by slaves…the sight of a black man climbing the highest peak electrified people across racial, political and generational lines.” All of these comments fell in the first three paragraphs of the article. “The Press Enterprise” was by far the worse, spilling onto the next page where it read “The presidency passed to black Democrat Obama from white Republican George W. Bush.” The only paper that barely mentioned his race at all was the “USA Today.” You read, race free, until the fourth paragraph where it mentions his parents’ respective heritages and makes note that his inauguration happened less than two miles from where civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. After this, the article mentions his plans for the country and our economy.

We at “The Voice” feel that while the President has made history, and though we are all congratulatory, perhaps we need to stop thinking of the President as “the first black President” and instead think of him as “President Obama.” He has made his niche in history, and it is something we are all glad to have seen and be a part of.  We need to stop focusing on him by what race he is,  and instead look at why we all elected him as the new leader of the free world.   Let him do what we elected him to do, and stop worrying so much what he looks like.  Because now is his time to lead the land that is the melting pot of the world.  Regardless of what he or any of us look like, follow or believe in, we are all Americans, and that is what we need to follow.

This past Tuesday’s event in Washington D.C. was one of those moments when the entire world stops to watch, including some students from Bloomsburg.

The inauguration of the 44th president, Barack Obama, brought over 1.8 million people to Washington D.C., and millions more witnessed on their televisions, computers, phones and anything within reach.

Six Bloomsburg students traveled to the capital, braving the cold and crowds, to see the oath that has ushered in a new era for the country. The BU students, their hometowns, years, and majors are: Austin Brunson, Camp Hill, junior, political science; Ashley Caliguire, Clark, N.J., junior, secondary education and mathematics; Wyatt Mosley, Bethlehem, junior, political science and economics; Lauren McLaughlin, West Chester, junior, political science; Raeesa Khan, Bloomsburg, senior, philosophy and political science; and Tina Piquet, Bloomsburg, senior, health physics.

These students were a part of the “Leadership in a New Era” program with the Osgood Center for International Studies, located only a few blocks from the Capital building where the events were held. The program began on Jan. 9, and finished with the inauguration and the follow ball.

The Osgood program, comprised of students from all around the world, exists to “investigate the dynamics of a leadership transition in Washington,” according to the website. These students spent the days before Jan. 20 in discussions and guest lectures reviewing national issues like energy, the economy, social security, the war in Iraq, terrorism, and more.

The inauguration has introduced a theme of a  “new birth of freedom.” In his inaugural address, President Obama not only conveyed his hopes and plans for the years to come, but also reminded the world of the change that needs to come from within the people. 

The new president acknowledged that “greatness is never a given,” and “our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less.” His address let the world know that the government under Barack Obama knows the state of our situation will take both time and work before bettering itself.

The induction of a new president is a rare moment to see in person, and for this generation, it is far more meaningful to be a part of choosing who will lead the country. For those who watched, whether in the cold streets of Washington D.C. or from the comfort of their own homes, it was one moment that will be remembered by all.

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It was nearly impossible to avoid a feeling of unity, as strangers stood shoulder-to-shoulder with each other. According to a report by CBS, today’s turnout smashes the previous record set in 1965 at Lyndon B. Johnson’s inauguration, when a crowd of 1.2 to 1.5 million people was estimated.

The Associated Press calculates that more than one million people crammed between the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial today, a stretch of about 14 blocks. Estimates are based upon photos and crowd comparisons of past years. Crowds also formed on the porches of buildings lining the mall on Independence Avenue, and more spectators gathered along the 1.56-mile parade route to the White House.

Throngs of people were showing up on the Mall as early as 5:30 a.m., according to breaking news updates by The Washington Post. Streets were jammed around the Capitol building as pedestrians tried to navigate around security barricades and find available space on the Mall.

By 6:17, parking at the New Carrollton, Greenbelt, and Branch Avenue metro stations was filled up, and traffic was moving slowly on I-66, extending from the Vienna metro strop, according to The Post.

Precautions were taken to avoid disaster or injury, but an incident did occcur at the Gallery Place Metro station. A 68-year-old woman fell onto the tracks around 9:25 a.m. but was not hit by an oncoming train coming from Shady Grove. The woman was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Due to the incident, Red Line trains turned back at Farragut North and Judiciary Square, forcing riders to walk to the Mall from there.

Other stations were closed for periods of time throughout the day, including the ones at Metro Center, Smithsonian, L’enfant Plaza, and Federal Triangle.

There have been no major injury or disaster reports from the day, probably due to the maximized security measures throughout the city; it was easy to feel protected as security helicopters and planes circled the skies above the Mall throughout the ceremony.

Also preventing disaster today was the overall patience displayed by the crowd while maneuvering throughout D.C.. Ann Parker and her husband, who traveled from Berkley, California, said that people were jammed up in the metro stops, but never expressed any frustration. “There are incredible people [here] who just want to talk to everybody. People are just so joyful,” said Parker while waiting in a long line to enter the ticketed area on the Mall.

Parker explained that Obama has managed to propel the nation out of generations of sadness into this joyful state, despite an enduring economic repression and increasing war frustrations. She believes Obama was able to do this because of what he symbolizes—an equal playing field. “Everyone wants the same America,” she said.

Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. almost 46 years ago, describing his hope for equal opportunities for people across the board. Today, that vision was realized, said inauguration emcee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “This was the moment when the dream that once echoed across history from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial finally reached the walls of the White House,” she said.

For some, the hope Obama symbolizes extends beyond unity and equality, and may even suggest divinity. Novic Edwards from Detroit, Michigan, marveled at the millions of people sifting through the streets. “The Bible said they used to grab onto His cloak and follow. What are we doing now?”

This reporter failed to see much cloak grabbing, but groups linked themselves together by arms, and sometimes by ropes, to keep from losing each other amongst the organized chaos. Several groups also wore bright hats or carried flags to find each other easily if separated.

Sylvia Hooper said it was difficult to keep her family of six together in the city. She traveled with her husband, three sons, and one of their girlfriends from Columbus, Ohio by shuttle, and she explained that is was much more meaningful to be able to share the experience as a family. Unfortunately, they became separated into two groups upon arriving at the Mall.

One father-daughter pair managed to reach the National Mall together. Khalid Enahora traveled from Atlanta, Georgia with this 14-year-old daughter, Yasmeen. “I wanted her to experience this and pass it on to her children, and to their children,” said Enahora about his daughter. “It’s a symbol of change that people all over the world can see. That’s what this represents.”

Yasmeen Enahora said that, even though it was much warmer in Atlanta when she left than in D.C., where temperatures were in the mid-twenties with eight-mile-per-hour winds, she was glad to be there. “No one here knows me, but I feel like coming here, I had a purpose,” she said.

The Enahoras woke up this morning at 3 a.m. to drive on I-66 to the Vienna metro stop, but hit the heavy traffic. “A drive that should have taken 15 minutes took an hour,” said Khalid.

Once at the Metro stop, they were faced with heavy crowds, and when they finally made it onto a train, Yasmeen Enahora was forced to sit on the floor. Still, it was worth it, she said. “I can go back and tell my friends about the crowd. And I’m a part of history. I am a part of these two million people.”

Photos taken by Patrick Velliky and Shannon Hoffman.

Photos taken by Patrick  Velliky and Shannon Hoffman at the Naitonal Mall on the eve of the inauguration.  These photos and others will be posted in a gallery later today.  Keep checking back for more coverage.