After a fantastic first day, starting with phone calls to Palestinian President Abbas and other ME leaders; then signing Executive Orders to crack down on lobbyist influence and expand transparency, putting a moratorium on Gitmo trials and promising the Order to close it tomorrow, - it appears the faith the world put in President Obama upon his Inauguration was well-placed.
There were a few flies in the ointment, the usual... Iranian Conservatives who said that due to the "political structure in America, it seems that Obama cannot do a lot", Russian media that pointed to the stock market decline and said "his approaches to many fundamental problems facing the country and the world as a whole won’t differ that much". The Chinese eliminated portions from the speech transcript, and faded out television broadcasts whenever there were criticisms of Communism or oppressive governments.
Still, most of the world rejoiced and so we have put together a collection of Inauguration Day videos and pictures. One of my favorites was the celebration in Kyogo, the small village of President Obama’s ancestors. He brings them Hope too, for economic as well as cultural changes, the kind that brought them water and electricity. That same electricity powered the projector that was used to show the inauguration and the lights for the 4 day party that drew villagers from miles around. There were games, food and families dancing in the streets, as much there as here.
As so many have tried to analyze the spirit of this movement, pinpoint the energy that fuels it, express what this man means in these times, it seems somehow fitting that a young woman from Kenya has summed it up the best of all, "We the people of Kogelo, our minds and our eyes are now open because now we don’t feel so small, we don’t feel of so small value anymore."
We don’t feel so small.