Barack Obama became the first black US president yesterday, making history before a sea of people and declaring the United States in the midst of a crisis that can be defeated with a united sense of purpose. “Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real,†Obama said in his inaugural speech shortly after taking the oath of office. “They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.â€
Hundreds of thousands of people erupted in roars of approval on the broad National Mall grounds as they watched Obama stand with one hand raised, one hand on a Bible used to swear in Abraham Lincoln in 1861, and repeat the brief oath to become the 44th US president and succeed George W. Bush.
The inauguration of Obama, 47, the son of a black Kenyan father and a white mother from Kansas, was steeped in symbolic meaning for African-Americans, who for generations suffered slavery and then racial segregation that made them second-class citizens.
Beaming broadly, the new president had kisses for his wife, Michelle, and his school-age daughters, Malia and Sasha, then he turned to the crowds stretching away into the distance on a cold, wintry day.
“Obama, Obama,†the crowd cheered in Kogelo in his father ancestral home in Kenya celebrations were done overnight. At the neighbor in Uganda celebrations were done all night to extent that people did not go back to work.
By Fred B.