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The Savannah Tribune • Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - 3
Obama Inauguration: We had to be there!
My Ancestors
Submitted by: ZaDonna M.
Slay
As I stood in the esti
mated 1.5 million mass on
January 20, 2009, I thought
about prominent figures from
slavery to the present, and
how they longed for the day
an African-American would
become President of the
United States of America. Our
race has gone from being
uncounted, to three-fifths, to a
valued citizen with an insur
mountable host of struggles
and achievements along the
way.
When Rev. Rick Warren
led us in the invocation, I
experienced a chill of tran
quility and assurance as I lis
tened to AMERICA recite the
Lord's Prayer. Throughout the
morning I absorbed the sights
and sounds of people of all
ethnicities, ages, religions,
and backgrounds that
embarked on a journey to the
District of Columbia.
Arriving to the National
Mall was about a two-mile
walk from our Metro train
stop. Walking down
Independence Avenue, I
thought about March 3, 1913,
the date of the Women's
Suffrage March that my
Sorority's twenty-two
founders marched in to advo
cate for the right to vote and
to protest other social injus
tices. If it had not been for my
founders and the other
women that participated in the
march down Pennsylvania
Avenue, I may not have been
able to vote in the historic
election on November 4,
Have Arrived!
ZaDonna M. Slay
2008.
I traveled to Washington
with my mother and younger
sister to share in the experi
ence that my grandparents
and ancestors were unable to
take part in during their life
times. They fought and
dreamed for my reality. I
stood in the National Mall on
the shoulders of past genera
tions, and as I witnessed the
momentous occasion, I real
ized that we are celebrating
more than the achievement of
President Obama. We are
commemorating a time in his
tory when society openly
accepts change to rebuild
America, and a new genera
tion taking the helm to make
change possible.
I am truly excited to be a
part of this change and able to
tell my story to future genera
tions of how an election creat
ed a movement. A movement
that excited a younger genera
tion, captured our attention,
and kept us focused. This ulti
mately gives us hope to set
and achieve high expecta
tions.
The Inauguration: My
Second Great Washington
Experience
By Mayor Pro Tem Edna
Branch Jackson
On August 28, 1963, I
was among the 250,000 citi
zens who traveled to
Washington for the historic
March on Washington. We
were there to demand the
passage of meaningful civil
rights legislation; the elimi
nation of racial segregation
in public schools; protection
for demonstrators against
police brutality; a major pub
lic-works program to provide
jobs; the passage of a law
prohibiting racial discrimina
tion in public and private hir
ing; an increase in the mini
mum wage; and self-govern
ment for the District of
Columbia. This was the
largest demonstration ever
seen in the nation's capital,
and one of the first to have
extensive television cover
age. I was there when Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
stirred the consciousness of
the nation with his eloquent
“I have a Dream” speech.
On January 20, 2009,
more than 45 years after the
March on Washington, I was
in Washington for another
historic event. This trip was
not to make demands or to
protest any government
action or inaction. This time,
I traveled to Washington to
witness the Inauguration of
an African-American as
President of the United
States of America.
Edna Branch Jackson
The Presidential
Swearing-in Ceremony, and
all of the other events before
and after the big moment,
were spectacular. Although
surrounded by almost 2 mil
lion people, everyone was
patient, courteous, proud,
patriotic and hopeful.
The Inauguration was
certainly a very emotional
experience for me. Although
I was honored to be there and
sit among our Congressional
leaders, my mind kept turn
ing back to our battles for
freedom, justice and equality
in Savannah and across the
nation. Many of my friends
who were part of the Civil
Rights Movement are no
longer with us, so I could not
help but wonder what would
be their thoughts at this great
moment in history. What
would they say, or what
See Inauguration, page 4
Letter to President Obama
From Mayor Otis Johnson
January 19, 2009
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
I am the second African
American Mayor of
Savannah, Georgia. I was
bom in Savannah in 1942,
and grew up in a segregated
South. As a boy, I never had
a dream that I would one day
be mayor of the first city in
the thirteenth British colony
in North America. My gener
ation was taught that educa
tion, good character, a strong
work ethic, and being ambi
tious would bring success.
But there was always the
reality of the Jim Crow sys
tem we were living in.
Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr., and other freedom fight
ers before him instilled in us
a new vision of the possible
as we were coming out of
high school. Through the
Civil Rights Movement, it
became possible for me and
more than 600 other African
Americans to be mayors and
provide leadership for our
local communities. There are
thousands of other African
Americans elected to local,
state, and national positions
as a result of the 1965 Voting
Rights Act. Young African
Americans no longer doubt
that they can become may
ors, governors, and represen
tatives and senators at the
state and national levels.
But, there was still doubt
Mayor Otis Johnson
about making that final hur
dle of electing an African
American President of the
United States.
Your brilliant campaign
and subsequent election on
November 4, 2008 to
become the 44th President of
the United States have
removed forever the doubt in
my mind, and millions of
others, that an African
American could be elected
President. You are the fulfill
ment of the message in Dr.
King's famous "I Have A
Dream" that one day in
America we would judge
people by the content of their
character and not the color of
their skin. Tomorrow, I will
witness you become the most
powerful man in the world as
you take the oath of office.
Dr. King was our Moses. You
can be our Joshua. A Joshua,
not just for African
Americans, but for all
humanity, just as Dr. King
See Letter to President, page 4
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Main Office
701 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd
Skida>vav Brandi
7110 Skidaway Road
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