It is a good day.
And I will always remember where I was at this moment that will define a generation. I watched President Obama take his oath and deliver his inaugural speech from a small but popular—and packed beyond capacity this evening—restaurant in Mubende, Uganda. I write this entry as the emotions are still sizzling, my head still whirling as I try to grasp that this is reality.
Lilian (my coworker and housemate) and I strolled down the hill from the house to the restaurant, which had DSTV and CNN, at about 7:30pm Uganda time (11:30am Eastern Time in the US). The two-roomed, two-TVed restaurant was already packed. No one was there for the food. Lilian and I took the last two remaining chairs and set them up in the front row.
As 8:00pm approached, dozens more people squeezed in so that their eyes could also witness a moment in history. Excitement, genuine interest, pride, and anticipation filled the room. Somehow my presence there, as an American, validated the experience for the Ugandan viewers. Now they were not just witnessesing a moment in history, but were witnessing a muzungu witnessing her moment in history.
Just like I did on election night (which turned out to be a very early election morning, Uganda time), I felt blessed to be able to view this moment through a different lens. Through an African lens, an East African lens, a Ugandan lens, a global citizen lens. Yes, it would have been amazing to have been in DC to watch the thing unfold before my eyes, but watching it on a TV screen hooked up to a generator in some dingy restaurant in a small town in Uganda will certainly be memorable.
When the instrumental piece was performed ahead of the President's oath, the crowd died with giggles and shrieks of joy when Obama gave that little wink to an unknown person. (He just radiates coolness, doesn't he??). When he turned somewhat awkwardly to watch the musicians above and behind him, viewers shouted in Luganda "Banange, turn the man's chair around so he can see properly!" When one of the speakers mentioned that Obama is the son of an African immigrant, the room erupted in cheers. (The thought, 'he is one of us and anything is possible!' seemed to float through the air.)When President Obama made a slight slip-up during his oath, my fellow viewers did not notice. They were far too mesmerized.
As the President began his speech, a whispering of the gravity of the moment started to trickle in. I need to re-watch, re-read, and re-live that speech in order to fully appreciate it and identify the lines that rang most truly in my heart. Being in Uganda amongst Ugandans, we felt as if Obama were speaking directly to us as he said "To all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born; know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."
And in this way, the American dream becomes more than an American dream, and more than Americans share in that American dream. Soon after President Obama's speech concluded, my phone started getting flooded with text messages from friends congratulating me on my new president. One friend's message: "Smooth seas never make skillful sailors. And because it's so, Obama will be a great president. Congratulations and God bless America, but at one time let him also remember Uganda."
S e n t f r o m m y B l a c k B e r r y ® s m a r t p h o n e
