19,000 Steps And 9.2 Miles Just To See History!
by Bonique Edwards
My journey to the capital steps started 13 months ago when I had the opportunity to meet Hillary Clinton at the home of a client. Among a small group of 300, I was immediately impressed with Hillary. She had style, sophistication and .....she was a woman. I left there thinking that I would vote for Clinton, the brand I know and trust.
Two months later, my girlfriend Angela recommended that we go see Barack Obama at the Universal Amphitheater. It was only $50 and I figured I should give the man a shot to convince me of his candidacy. WOW! are the only words to describe seeing him in person. Barack had something that Hillary did not. He was genuine. I changed my mind and decided to change the minds of every person I knew who was voting for Hillary. Mind you....I didn't actually think we could pull it off (him being Black and all), but I was determined to vote for the right candidate instead of the candidate who I thought could win.
Fast forward to January 18, 2009. A bunch of us decide to meet in Washington DC to see Barack Obama's inauguration. We didn't have tickets, but we were prepared to witness history together. You could literally taste the energy among the people. There were Obama T-shirts, beanie caps, hats, pins..I even saw a letterman jacket. To date, Barack Obama paraphernalia has grossed more than any entertainer in history! He is more than our President, he has started a movement that will change the world! Barack gear has been a mini stimulus package for entrepreneurs across the country. There were young people and old people. There were people who did not even speak English. It was an amazing group of people who gathered there for the Inauguration!
On January 19, 2009, my girlfriend Niki was able to score us tickets. She had tickets for the blue entrance and I had tickets for the purple entrance. Our friend Deena scored even bigger with yellow tickets thanks to Roland. (oh yes, the coloring system is similar to a class system....The silver tickets were for the masses and the general mall was open to every man, woman and child with no ticket needed)
Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009:
Our day started at 3:50am since we were staying with friends in Maryland. After dealing with the subway crowd we arrived to the mall around 6:00am. At that time, the streets were dark and lined with thousands of people and vendors ready to partake in the celebration.
The first thing we noticed was the capital. The moment was really indescribable. Take a moment to image our capital; an amazing structure that represents freedom and change in our country. The lights were glowing through the dark of the night. It looked as if it were the only building in the city. We all sat there for a moment in silence. It was hard to believe that we were going to witness history.
Rumors had it that ticket holders could enter the mall at 8:00am and non ticket holders at 9:00am. To get a jump start, Niki and I left the group to find our way to the capital. We walked 8 blocks to 2nd street. I was told that purple ticket holders needed to go around the capital. (Keep in mind that the map they provided did not indicate that the streets would be blocked off) I left Niki and started on my journey solo. I walked back to 11th street struggling to get through the crowds.
At 11th street, a volunteer told me that I needed to return to 2nd street and go around the capital building to access my PURPLE gate. At 2nd street, the security guard told me to go back to 14th street. (LOL) At this point, I realized that there were forces trying to stop me from seeing my President!! Another officer said, that I could walk underneath the mall to access the other side of the building. He also informed me that the distance was 2.5 miles. NO PROBLEM! --I was determined to see this!
I walked briskly in 25 degree weather. I was walking so fast, I actually had to pull off a few layers of clothing. I arrived at the purple gate by 8:35am. I had plenty of time to make the 11:30 start time. I checked my pedometer; which indicated that I had walked 8,500 steps by 8:35am. I was going to get a new president and a new waist line!
For the next 2 hours our line never moved. I phoned Niki and we discussed a plan B of watching it with our other friends in the general location. I was actually having visions of missing his speech. How could I tell my friends and family that I had tickets and missed it? I felt powerless.
Rumors circulated in our group that the mall closed an hour ago. Another rumor indicated that there was no line at the purple gate. So many messages and no one there to direct traffic.
There was a bi-racial couple in front of me. He was 6'5 and she was 6 feet. I overhead him say that just beyond the crowd, there was no line. Height has clear advantages! By now, everyone in line was cold and cranky. Some people simply gave up. The smiles were gone and everyone was confused.
The woman, determined to not miss the event fastened her gloves and said to her husband "Baby, are you ready to do this?"
They took off and started to cut through the crowd. I seized the moment and grabbed her arm. She looked back and said "come on sista." After 500 or so steps we realized that we were not standing in the correct line. The crowd coming from the opposite direction was blocking everyone's access to the purple gate. We start jogging to the gate and finally found the "real purple line." Seeing the real gate felt like seeing The Promised Land. It's now 11:00am and it does not look promising because we cannot find the actual entrance.
The woman decides to cross through yellow police tape and her husband followed. I was younger, but they were quicker than me so I was stopped by the police. I pulled out my bi-racial card and said.."Those are my parents...I need to catch up!" I was in! We navigated our way through very tight crowds. To say that we were packed in like sardines is an understatement. My friend Niki said it best when she told me "There were times when my feet were not on the ground." I just prayed for our safety.
After more pushing and shoving we GOT IN at 11:25am! Thank you Jesus! I was in!
Could I see well? Of course not, by then people were standing on top of port a potty's and climbed up in the trees. Was it all worth it! ABSOLUTELY....The experience was PRICELESS!
There were more than two million people there. No fights. No drunkards. Just Americans who wanted to see our 44th President get sworn into office.
At the end of the day, I checked my pedometer......19,000 steps and 9.2 miles to see our President!
by Bonique Edwards
My journey to the capital steps started 13 months ago when I had the opportunity to meet Hillary Clinton at the home of a client. Among a small group of 300, I was immediately impressed with Hillary. She had style, sophistication and .....she was a woman. I left there thinking that I would vote for Clinton, the brand I know and trust.
Two months later, my girlfriend Angela recommended that we go see Barack Obama at the Universal Amphitheater. It was only $50 and I figured I should give the man a shot to convince me of his candidacy. WOW! are the only words to describe seeing him in person. Barack had something that Hillary did not. He was genuine. I changed my mind and decided to change the minds of every person I knew who was voting for Hillary. Mind you....I didn't actually think we could pull it off (him being Black and all), but I was determined to vote for the right candidate instead of the candidate who I thought could win.
Fast forward to January 18, 2009. A bunch of us decide to meet in Washington DC to see Barack Obama's inauguration. We didn't have tickets, but we were prepared to witness history together. You could literally taste the energy among the people. There were Obama T-shirts, beanie caps, hats, pins..I even saw a letterman jacket. To date, Barack Obama paraphernalia has grossed more than any entertainer in history! He is more than our President, he has started a movement that will change the world! Barack gear has been a mini stimulus package for entrepreneurs across the country. There were young people and old people. There were people who did not even speak English. It was an amazing group of people who gathered there for the Inauguration!On January 19, 2009, my girlfriend Niki was able to score us tickets. She had tickets for the blue entrance and I had tickets for the purple entrance. Our friend Deena scored even bigger with yellow tickets thanks to Roland. (oh yes, the coloring system is similar to a class system....The silver tickets were for the masses and the general mall was open to every man, woman and child with no ticket needed)
Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009:
Our day started at 3:50am since we were staying with friends in Maryland. After dealing with the subway crowd we arrived to the mall around 6:00am. At that time, the streets were dark and lined with thousands of people and vendors ready to partake in the celebration.
The first thing we noticed was the capital. The moment was really indescribable. Take a moment to image our capital; an amazing structure that represents freedom and change in our country. The lights were glowing through the dark of the night. It looked as if it were the only building in the city. We all sat there for a moment in silence. It was hard to believe that we were going to witness history.
Rumors had it that ticket holders could enter the mall at 8:00am and non ticket holders at 9:00am. To get a jump start, Niki and I left the group to find our way to the capital. We walked 8 blocks to 2nd street. I was told that purple ticket holders needed to go around the capital. (Keep in mind that the map they provided did not indicate that the streets would be blocked off) I left Niki and started on my journey solo. I walked back to 11th street struggling to get through the crowds.
At 11th street, a volunteer told me that I needed to return to 2nd street and go around the capital building to access my PURPLE gate. At 2nd street, the security guard told me to go back to 14th street. (LOL) At this point, I realized that there were forces trying to stop me from seeing my President!! Another officer said, that I could walk underneath the mall to access the other side of the building. He also informed me that the distance was 2.5 miles. NO PROBLEM! --I was determined to see this!I walked briskly in 25 degree weather. I was walking so fast, I actually had to pull off a few layers of clothing. I arrived at the purple gate by 8:35am. I had plenty of time to make the 11:30 start time. I checked my pedometer; which indicated that I had walked 8,500 steps by 8:35am. I was going to get a new president and a new waist line!
For the next 2 hours our line never moved. I phoned Niki and we discussed a plan B of watching it with our other friends in the general location. I was actually having visions of missing his speech. How could I tell my friends and family that I had tickets and missed it? I felt powerless.
Rumors circulated in our group that the mall closed an hour ago. Another rumor indicated that there was no line at the purple gate. So many messages and no one there to direct traffic.
There was a bi-racial couple in front of me. He was 6'5 and she was 6 feet. I overhead him say that just beyond the crowd, there was no line. Height has clear advantages! By now, everyone in line was cold and cranky. Some people simply gave up. The smiles were gone and everyone was confused.
The woman, determined to not miss the event fastened her gloves and said to her husband "Baby, are you ready to do this?"
They took off and started to cut through the crowd. I seized the moment and grabbed her arm. She looked back and said "come on sista." After 500 or so steps we realized that we were not standing in the correct line. The crowd coming from the opposite direction was blocking everyone's access to the purple gate. We start jogging to the gate and finally found the "real purple line." Seeing the real gate felt like seeing The Promised Land. It's now 11:00am and it does not look promising because we cannot find the actual entrance.The woman decides to cross through yellow police tape and her husband followed. I was younger, but they were quicker than me so I was stopped by the police. I pulled out my bi-racial card and said.."Those are my parents...I need to catch up!" I was in! We navigated our way through very tight crowds. To say that we were packed in like sardines is an understatement. My friend Niki said it best when she told me "There were times when my feet were not on the ground." I just prayed for our safety.
After more pushing and shoving we GOT IN at 11:25am! Thank you Jesus! I was in!
Could I see well? Of course not, by then people were standing on top of port a potty's and climbed up in the trees. Was it all worth it! ABSOLUTELY....The experience was PRICELESS!
There were more than two million people there. No fights. No drunkards. Just Americans who wanted to see our 44th President get sworn into office.
At the end of the day, I checked my pedometer......19,000 steps and 9.2 miles to see our President!