It's a New Day

Well, my butt is numb and my eyes are basically swollen shut from watching all the festivities on television from Sunday until late last night. I cried through the entire HBO show. I cried whenever the news commentators would go out to talk to the crowd and everyone choked up when they tried to speak about how they felt about being there to witness the inauguration. I cried when I saw all the beaming faces with tears running down their faces because I knew how they felt. I boo hoo'd when the lady opened up her coat and had all her ancestor's pictures pinned to her coat so they could be there too. I cried when President Obama and Michelle had their first dance serenaded by Beyonce singing "At Last." I cried when you could tell she was fighting to sing that song, having to look away several times in order to keep singing and not break down in the middle of the song. Most of all though, I cried during his speech. It has been so very long since we have had a president we could truly call a leader. One that exudes the power, confidence, stamina and sheer force of will that this country needs and the rest of the world expects.

One of the things that amazes me the most about President Obama is that he knows us. All of us. I don't think we have ever been able to say that about a president. Ever. I have intentionally not been watching him on television during the transition. I've been reading but not watching. I wanted to see the transformation without any pre-conceived notions. Yesterday, it was like watching what, 66 days ago, was a wet behind the ears boy (not that he was, by any means) become a fully self-actualized man. Amazing. Here's the oath and the speech, in case you missed it.

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I looked for a video that didn't have embedding disabled but all I could find were the lyrics to Will.i.am's song "It's a New Day" which when I heard it last night for the first time pretty much summed up how I felt and I suspect summed up how much of the nation felt this morning.

"I went asleep last night
Tired from the fight
I've been fighting for tomorrow
All my life
Yea I woke up this morning
Feeling brand new
'Cause the dreams that I've been dreaming
Have finally came true

It's a new day
It's a new day
It's a new day
It's a new day
It's a new day

It's been a long time coming
Up the mountain kept runnin'
Souls of freedom kept hummin'
Channeling Harriet Tubman

Kennedy, Lincoln, and King
We gotta manifest in that dream
It feels like we're swimming upstream
It feels like we're stuck inbetween
A rock and a hard place,
We've been through the heartaches
And lived through the darkest days

If you and I made it this far,
Well then hey, we can make it all the way
And they said no we can't
And we said yes we can
Remember it's you and me together

I woke up this morning
Feeling alright
I've been fightin' for tomorrow
All my life
Yea, I woke up this morning
Feeling brand new
Cause the dreams that I've been dreaming
Have finally came true

It's a new day
(it's a new day)
It's a new day
(it's a new day)
It's a new day
It's a new day!

It's been a long time waitin'
Waiting for this moment
It's been a long time praying
Praying for this moment

We hope for this moment
And now that we own it
For life I will hold it
And I ain't gonna let it go

It's for fathers, our brothers,
Our friends who fought for freedom
Our sisters, our mothers,
Who died for us to be in this moment

Stop and cherish this moment
Stop and cherish this time

It's time for unity
For us and we
That's you and me together

I woke up this morning
Feeling brand new
Cause the dreams that I've been dreaming
Have finally came true
Yea, I woke up this morning
Feeling alright

'Cause we weren't fighting for nothing
And the soldiers weren't fighting
For nothing
No, Martin wasn't dreaming for nothing
And Lincoln didn't change it for nothing
And children weren't crying for nothing

It's a new day
It's a new day
A new day
It's a new day
It's a new day!"



Amerah sent me this video last week and I promised I would include it in this post. It's beautiful, if a bit graphic, and doesn't really seem to fit with the spirit of this brand new day, filled with all the sparklies of promise and hope and change. What struck me, when I first saw it, was just how many had come before President Obama to pave his way and the huge mountain of sacrifice and talent he is standing on. What a lineage :)