Tuesday, January 27, 2009

"Obama-stock"

My wife, Jen and I flew from San Francisco to the greater Washington D.C. area on January 17th. Our friend, Tim had graciously invited us to stay with him while attending the presidential inauguration and related festivities. While we flew east, we watched Barack Obama’s whistle-stop tour on the plane’s built-in video monitors. Our anticipation grew. We arrived in the Maryland suburbs of D.C. and were happy to see our friend. The next day, Sunday, January 18th we decided to stop by the free concert that was taking place at the Lincoln memorial. Of course, we expected some large crowds, but when we arrived, it was truly amazing to see so many people. I have read estimates that over 500,000 people were in attendance. I can believe it. Perhaps there were more. We could only get just beyond the western side of the Washington monument, between the Washington monument and the World War Two memorial. We could see the speakers and performers as dots against the stark white of the Lincoln memorial. In the intervening space, three sets of “Jumbotron” monitors allowed us to see more detail of what was taking place. The list of performers and speakers was a who’s who of entertainment notables. It was an amazking concert that ran the gamut of genres. Just look at the line-up:


Of course, then President-elect Biden and then President-elect Obama spoke and the crowd roared with thunderous applause. It was great to see them again. But the most impressive part of the whole experience was the attitude of the people. Everyone was so happy, and so friendly. Thousands of people sang along together and cheered. We experienced a feeling of community and shared historical import in a way that I have never known. It was truly amazing. Some have taken to calling this event “Obama-stock”. I have to say that the name is appropriate and will be remembered in its own right, not simply as a prelude to the inauguration.

Click here for an account from the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza.


Here are a few of the pictures I took at "Obama-stock":





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About Me

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Lima, Ohio, United States
I was born and raised in Ohio. I am a lifelong Catholic Christian who has always been interested in the big questions of life. I have a passion for learning especially Philosophy, Science, Religion, History and Culture. I graduated from the University of Toledo in 2001 with a B.A. in International Relations. I married my soul-mate, Jen in 2001 and we moved to rural Tanigumi-mura Japan where we taught English for 3 years. We moved to California and lived in San Francisco and the Bay Area for 4 years. Tired of sitting on the sidelines, I began volunteering for the Barack Obama campaign in March of 2007 and was eventually hired as a Field Organizer. Through the Obama campaign, I found my calling and moved back to Ohio to continue organizing. In 2009 I helped the field operations of the Keith Wilkowski for Mayor of Toledo race. After that, I was hired as a Regional Field Director for 15 northwestern and north central Ohio counties for the 2010 Democratic Coordinated Campaign. Jen and I are continuing to volunteer as we wait for the next organizing opportunity to present itself.