Descending into Kansas City enroute to DC
We had a great flight, even though they gave us no real food in 6 hours. What is with that? Good thing we brought some bagels, tangerines and dark chocolate from home.
The head flight attendant’s name was Barak. (I kid you not! Thought he pointed out that his name doesn’t have a ‘c’ in it, like Barack Obama’s.) Many people on the plane with us to Baltimore were also on their way to the Inauguration. I put on my “blogger” hat, grabbed David’s iPhone and interviewed several of them to find out why they were making this trip to Washington. Here’s what they had to say:
Rocky (from Hayward, CA): I’m the president of California Young Democrats. Barack Obama has reached out to all parts of America and inspired them to believe in our country again. I’m going to the Inauguration because it’s a fulfillment of a dream I’ve had for a long time to see a politician who worked hard, and listened to all voices. I think he’s setting a new tone for our country.
Jennifer (from Oakland, CA): I’m going to the Inauguration because I never believed there would be an African-American President in my lifetime. I hope to experience the camaraderie of everyone else that is there and the feeling of being present at a pivotal moment in history. I think there’s a message in all this for young people… that in the USA we have now proven that you can be anything that you want to be. And you can tell the girls, “Next time, it’s our turn!”
Boy (CA): I’m 9. On election day, we were watching on TV and when I heard that he won, I got a white t-shirt from my room and I wrote on it in marker: Obama Rocks!
Boy’s Mom: We’re not going to the Inauguration, but we’ll be in Baltimore and we’re going to the train station on Saturday, and you know about the train that Obama is taking to DC? Well he’s stopping in Baltimore and getting out at War Memorial Plaza. We’re going to see him there!
Annie: If you get any photos of him at the train station will you email them to me for this blog?
Boy’s Mom: Sure I will!
Arianna: I was invited to the Inauguration by the People to People Program, set up for student leaders to go to different places. I’m actually kind of excited. None of my friends are going and I’m going. They’re all jealous! I just want to be close enough to see him! This is the first black President. People are always told that they can be President… blah blah blah… but he’s like something different. We finally have somebody other than old white men. Now people will open their minds a little bit more to different things.
Victor from Kansas
Victor (from Kansas): It’s going to be history and I want to be part of it. Well, everyone is going to be part of it whether they’re there or not, but I want to be as close to it as possible just because it’s pretty amazing! Being an African-American myself, I don’t really consider Obama representing the African-American people–he’s representing black, white, Hispanic, Asian… where he’s come from, his background… I think he represents everybody, especially the youth. And being a youth myself, youth helped elect him and we get to see what he’s going to bring to us.
The excitement is definitely building (in the air and on the ground) and we’ve still got 5 days left until the Inauguration. Time for me to get some sleep… tomorrow we’re going to DC to tour the Capitol and the Supreme Court and you get to come along too… Just make sure you’ve got your virtual jackets, hats, gloves, etc., because, fyi, it’s 14 degrees outside!!
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Because whatever Obama does now will effect our future and what power America will have. Obama will probably improve the healthcare system and pay off some of our national debt. He will take troops out of America and will cost America less money.
Comment by Justin Herbert — January 16, 2009 @ 10:35 am
Throughout the years, nations have been accusing America of being a racist nation. One in which a black man could not rise beyond the ranks, and do well in life. No longer can these nations say any of this. On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as America’s 44th President of the United States. America’s first black president. Yes, racism is still out there. Yes, racism is still a major issue in our society. But Obama has seemed to do what most people consider impossible.
What should I care about any of this? I’m just a middle school student. Wrong. I have the right to know what’s going on in my country. Who’s representing me and many others in our nation? The way the president, his cabinet, and congress work together to solve issues should be my concern. These men are public servants. I am the public. They serve me and the country should know what is going on.
So what problems does our new president have to face? The first being the rapidly decreasing economy; this is the first issue that needs addressing. Without this, our nation cannot succeed in business of any sort. This is our first priority. Second, the war in Iraq; many people are anti-war. Despite this, I think it would be foolish to pull out now. Why stop what we have started. We need to finish strong in Iraq. Besides this, we need to stop being the world’s police. We cannot force foreign nations to do anything they don’t want to. The more we stretch out our armed forces, the weaker we make ourselves and not as capable of protecting our own nation. I am sure there are more issues that need addressing, but in my opinion, these are the most important.
Comment by Daniel R. — January 16, 2009 @ 10:40 am
Dear Annie,
What could you do to make your school better?
I could make the school better by having our school president lead our school more. my reason for this is because we voted at the beginning of the year, but haven’t heard from her once after that. There seems to me to point for that at all. We could also make it better will less trash the 8th graders espessiably (me 2) are really bad at cleaning up our lunch space and we are punished by having to sit in assigned seating during lunch all because some students can’t clean up there trash.
Questions:
Q:Does everyone go to the ball that was invited or does only certain people go?
Comment by Megan D. — January 16, 2009 @ 10:46 am
how do you get ticket to go to the inauguration ball. and make sure to tell us about it hope you have fun.
Comment by gabriel — January 16, 2009 @ 10:46 am
i think that it is very interesting that you are going to the inauguration of Barack Obama, but I was wondering why it was so important for yo to go to the inauguration yourself and not watch it on T.V instead, do you want to feel how it is like to be one of the first people to meet the president, and a final question i would like to know is are you going to be there for the entire inauguration or just for the swearing in of Obama and Biden?
Thank you
Daniel
Comment by Daniel Bassily — January 16, 2009 @ 11:32 am
2009 Presidential Inauguration
Unfortunately for me I have never had the opportunity to go see an Inauguration and I looking forward to just seeing it on TV. I will soon be going to DC myself in a few weeks. I can’t wait to see this because my ENTIRE district will be watching it. Not just my school. It’s going be great. Our school did a mock election and Barack won here (to students this was no surprise) and for some of those huge supporters from our school they probably can’t wait and maybe be going to the Inauguration themselves.
I can’t wait to see this very historical moment in not just the U.S. history but in the worlds history.
Comment by Taylor P. — January 16, 2009 @ 11:39 am
Barack Obama is a very new and interesting subject among people my age. not only has there never in our lifetime been such a huge commotion over a presidential elect, but he seems to bring hope with his famous promise of “Change”. this being so we have no choice but to be intrigued by the sheer uproar over the first African American president. this is even more so because I live in a VERY blue state in a a VERY blue area and my family is generally red, but even I have been caught by the greatness of Obama and the hope for a better tomorrow.
Comment by Connor N — January 16, 2009 @ 11:40 am
Victor from Kansas, you are absolutely right. I think in the past, our president didn’t quite care too much about the people and what we should do as a country. But now i believe everything will change, and it will be great too! Lots of people didn’t know anything about the people running, and for that reason, they didn’t care about who would be our next leader. And thats what i thought as well. But I soon forced myself to watch anything that involved candidates. I found that I really enjoyed Obama and his history. My mother read a book about his life and told me a bit about it. He is very extraordinary and went through so much in the past. I think he will make a really good leader.
Comment by Claire L — January 16, 2009 @ 11:52 am
I believe that it is incredible that we have elected the first African-American president. It is amazing to me that it even took this long, but the fact that America has finally become colorblind enough to elect an African-American as president is remarkable. This election says a lot about how the American people are certainly ready for change. President elect, Barack Obama is all for that and I believe that’s why the majority of our country voted for him. It certainly is time for change and I’m so ecstatic about Obama as our new President.
Comment by Ari — January 16, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
I think that this shows the growth of our country. Only 60 years ago when African Americans couldn’t even sit on a bus where they wanted and also couldn’t even drink at the same water fountain as a white. This shows how much power the people have in the future of this country. This especially shows that American is a very unique country where everyone can be who ever who he or she wants to be. I also think that this opens the doors for anyone to be a president of any race. Lastly, this shows why America is what it is today.
Comment by Parker — January 16, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
I think every student in the United States should care about the inauguration. It is going to be one of the most historic moments in the past decade. (Besides Boston winning the world series.) There has never been a president before who was not white, so this is huge. He will also get us out of this sticky situation in the world today. I says so many things about us Americans as well. First and foremost it says that we are a mixed racial group of people. And that all the different races of people unite as one to form the USA. If I were the one being inaugurated the first thing I would do would be to get us out of the current financial situation. We can’t get the troops out of the middle east until we have a more steady financial situation. Also I would talk to the UN about something every nation could do to slow down or even reverse the rate of global warming.
Comment by Gideon Elson — January 16, 2009 @ 12:36 pm
I think that the election of the first African-American president says a lot about us as Americans. Only about 40 years ago, we were in a deeply segregated country.
Now, we have elected an African-American president! From all of the horrific things that have happened in our country’s past, we can proudly say we are above that now. Our country has finally learned the lesson they should’ve learned years ago, racism is wrong. I feel confident that this election will shine a brighter light on how far we’ve come and how much further we’ll go. I am proud to say I am an American who’s country has finally started righting it’s wrongs.
Comment by Hanna — January 16, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
Annie,
I think its really great your going to see the Inauguration of President Barrack Obama. It’s very interesting how people from all over the world are gathering to see such a huge event take place. I watched the election with my parents and was ecstatic when I found out Obama was elected. It was actually a little funny because at that moment I though he was our new president, but later found out he wouldn’t be president until January 20th. I was able to see how little I knew about the election process, and I really wanted to know more. In class we discussed all the different ceremonies and events that take place throughout the process such as the worship service and the Inaugural parade, the luncheon, and finally the Inaugural Ball. We are going to be watching parts of the Inauguration in class, and I am extremely excited. Thank you
– Louis
Comment by Louis L. — January 16, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
I think it’s great that a lot of the nation is going to the inauguration to see Obama. I’m really excited to see some change in the oval office because the whole time I’ve lived in America, George Bush has been president. I can’t wait to watch Obama being sworn in and see al that goes on at the inauguration. I won’t be doing anything special, just watching MSNBC like I have for the last few months!
This should be really important to us students on middle school because this time period is a huge part of our life and what happens now will shape our future. We are the future and it’ll be us that are influenced the most and what we chose to do with our lives might be influenced by Obama’s decision as president.
Comment by Simon S. — January 16, 2009 @ 12:39 pm
1. I think that what happens in Washington is very important. This is the first time that an African American will be the President of the United States. This contributes to us because this is history. This is the very first time that an African American will be in control of our own very strong powerful nation. In the next 15 or 20 years from now our kids will be asking us how was it to have an African American as a president and what we were doing.
2. I think that the president says that we have to change. I am not really sure what he is going to change though. But i think that if we have to change something I believe that we he means the economy and the wars. There are a lot of problems that i cant even think of but i agree we do need to change.
3. The first think that I would do is tried to close down the gas companies. The gas companies are the ones that are stopping science tests from making electric cars, we have to act fast or there will be no such thing as 2070. The economy is the biggest problem these days. We can’t just turn down the heat at our house and say you are helping the earth.
4. I would first buy new field that is gastro turf. This will help us because kids want to have freedom and play field sports. I would also change the school a little. I think that at this school it is very strict and do not let us have any freedom. I would make it so it would make us feel that we are not still in the 1st or 2nd grade.
Comment by Bob hyner snichel — January 16, 2009 @ 12:40 pm
All middle school students should care because what happens in Washington is history in the making, the first African American president ever. Also people twenty years from now will ask us to tell them about January 20, 2009. The first African American president says that America is open to, as Barack Obama said through the election, change. If I were Barak Obama the first thing I would do to make this country better would be to get us out of the recession. The country would feel relieved and would try harder to make this country better. To make my school better, more fun and more active I would add a flag football team like my school had a couple of years ago. Also I would add other sports like a school baseball, soccer and golf.
Comment by Alex S — January 16, 2009 @ 12:44 pm
I think the election of the first African-American president says about us Americans how much of a free people we have become. About 40 years ago no one would ever think here would be an African-American president. I agree with Victor that he is representing everyone especially the youth. I am still wondering how Obama will deal with all the problems he has to face like the recession and the war in Gaza, he is under a lot of pressure.
Comment by Bret — January 16, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
Dear Ms. Fox,
I’m so amazed that I’m living through this experience. I think that it’s incredible what our country can do. We’ve elected the first African-American president; we’re making history as we speak. I think this election shows that America is finally opening up to new ideas. We’re ready for change. I believe, along with most of the country, that Barack Obama is that best person to help us with that change. Our country has come such a long way. From when the Declaration of Independence was written in secret, to the first African-American president, we have done so much. I’m ecstatic to live through this history that I will be telling people about for the rest of my life.
Comment by Keli Sherwood — January 16, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
Dear Annie Fox,
This year, presidential elect, Barack Obama, will swear in upon the same bible that Abe Lincoln used so many years ago. He will also recite the Pledge of Allegiance invoking the ‘under God’, despite the protests. Millions of people will tune in just to see this historic event, and no one is expecting any violence or protesting. But the question I have is why can the Pledge be recited on national television and not in the everyday public school classroom? What are your thoughts on the subject? I don’t see why people take the ‘under God’ part so seriously. To me, the Pledge is simply a way of showing respect to our country—not a prayer forced upon unknowing students. Plus, isn’t the interpretation of ‘God’ quite wide? Here’s a quote from Presidential-elect, Barack Obama, on June 29th, 2006:
“A sense of proportion should also guide those who police the boundaries between church and state. Not every mention of God in public is a breach to the wall of separation — context matters. It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase ‘under God.’ I didn’t.”
I think that if our new president is saying the Pledge, we should too. Plus, if we aren’t going to acknowledge the flag in our classrooms, what is the point of having one?
Sincerely,
Chelsea R.
Comment by Chelsea R. — January 16, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
I think we should do P.E subjects that aren’t only good exercise but are fun. For example I think that we should play power ball instead of running because it’s just as good exercise except it way more fun. I also think we should have class gardens like I did in I think 3rd grade. I also think that you should be able to sign something that says that you won’t try to sue the school if your mp3 player breaks at break or lunch so that you’re allowed to use it then.
Comment by Lowell — January 16, 2009 @ 12:53 pm
Hi Megan,
To answer your question, I understand that there are about 10 official inaugural balls this year. One absolutely does need an invitation to get in. To find out who is sponsoring the balls this year, have a look here.
Comment by Annie — January 16, 2009 @ 4:52 pm
Hi Chelsea,
Many many public schools DO start each morning reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. I wonder why you think students aren’t reciting the pledge. They are!
Comment by Annie — January 16, 2009 @ 5:57 pm
Gideon… like you I think this is HUGE. And I have to tell you, African-Americans are especially proud (and rightly so.) Here is DC, I have been particularly aware of the numbers of African Americans who are in town for the Inauguration. David and I went on a tour of the Captiol today (I’ll blog about it later tonight) and on the tour with us was was an African American family who had traveled from Florida to be here. Everyone I talk to is very proud and excited. Just like Barack Obama said in his speech during the 2004 Democratic Nominating Convention (part 1 of that speech and part 2 of that speech ) we’re not a bunch of red states and blue states, we are the United States of America. And in the same way, we are… ONE PEOPLE… ONE NATION. Makes me smile to think of the power and hope in saying those words.
Comment by Annie — January 16, 2009 @ 6:16 pm
Barack Obama actually has written two wonderful books that you might like to read yourself. One is called Dreams of My Father and the other is The Audacity of Hope both are great books!
Comment by Annie — January 16, 2009 @ 6:23 pm
Annie-
I do understand that many schools are, and that’s great for them. But what does that have to do with my point. *We* are not saying the Pledge–in Tiburon, California. Your point saying that some schools do and some schools don’t only points out the inconsistency with which I have a problem. If our schools was one of the schools that said the Pledge, I wouldn’t have brought this up. We’re all American. What I’m getting from this is that some schools are more American, more patriotic, than others.
Why are those schools acknowledging the Flag and we aren’t. To me, you’re response only adds more questions, not answering the one I previously asked.
Best Regards,
Chelsea
Comment by Chelsea R. — January 19, 2009 @ 9:09 pm
Dear Annie Fox,
I think, being in 8th grade and all, that having an African American president will do this country a whole lot of good on the racial side of all this. I think that this can make he can help the world on a, as i said racial, economic, and just in general. All in All i think this will help the world.
Comment by Dakota A. — January 20, 2009 @ 12:06 pm
What does the election of the firs African-American say us, as Americans?
January 20, 2009, the first African-American president will step into office! President elected Barack Obama is changing everything about the history of America. It is changing the way that our country will be viewed. Showing that we are all equal: No matter what race, gender, background we are.
There are people coming from every part of the world to witness this historical event first hand. Hoping that one day maybe, that their country will be represented as a member of our nation. Barack Obama is and will make this dream possible for any one else who dreamed his dream!
-Rachael Palaima
Comment by Rachael P. — January 20, 2009 @ 12:32 pm
Hi again, chelsea.
I hear what you’re saying. I also feel that part of the whole message of what President Obama is talking about when he says that we are all in this together is that when you’ve got an idea… something that you feel would improve a situation… then it is your responsibility to speak up. In this case, if you are interested in having the Pledge of Allegiance said in your school, then talk to your teacher. That’s how change happens, when each of us takes responsibility for making it happen. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone gets to have things the way they want them… but it does mean that we can work together to resolve issues and find common ground. So I challenge you, Chelsea, find out WHY your school isn’t saying the Pledge while other schools are. Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Comment by Annie — January 20, 2009 @ 7:16 pm