Black Horizons; 4008; Inauguration (Obama)

You Welcome to Black Horizons. I'm your host, Chris Moore. Today's show will be a special inauguration edition focusing on the historic events that took place just days ago. It's seen through the eyes of Pittsburghers. On Tuesday, January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became America's 44th president and its first African -American president. He was surrounded by record -breaking crowds in our nation's capital and fittingly only a day after the Dr. Martin Luther King Junior

holiday. It was a day that many thought they'd never lived to see and people traveled from all over the country and the world to be part of this historical event. Pittsburghers were no exception. For a more intimate look at the inauguration, we invited a couple of local opinion -makers to join us to share their once -in -a -lifetime experience. First, Cahari Mosley, National Political Director of the League of Young Voters. And one of the story, Tuskegee Airmen, attorney and civil rights pioneer, Window Freeland. Welcome to Black Horizons, both of you. And just for the record, I have to say, we did invite a female reporter, but she didn't get back on time for the taping of this program. So, Mr. Freeland, I have to start with you. I was talking with one of our cameramen earlier whose videotape you for a number of our documentaries, including Flyboys on the Tuskegee Airmen. You've been through so much as a civil rights pioneer, as an attorney, as a Tuskegee

Airman. Did you ever think that you would live to see this day? No. Just one word, no. Just one word. No. It was beyond my fondest dreams, I suppose. But in 2008, I was reminded that my mother, when she was a hundred, said, I've lived long enough to vote for a colored man to be mayor of Baltimore City. That's where you're originally from, in Baltimore. That's where she lived. And so, I said, well, I've lived long enough to vote for a colored man for president of the United States. So, I changed my registration to Democrat. A lifelong Republican? Oh, yeah. Well, I'm not a lifelong Republican. But a long time Republican in Pittsburgh, because that's how I got a job in the district attorney's office. And in 1951. And so, I voted for Barack Obama. And, incidentally, I still have my ticket from voting for him in the fall. And with the official invitation

that we got at the inauguration with the pictures and everything else, I'm going to have it framed with my voting receipt. That would be a family. It keeps saying, as a man who has shown me his forebearers' menu, mission papers. And we will point out for the people who don't know you. Then you are a black man. Yes, people who wonder all the time. When you are a black man, a Tuskegee Airman, that must really mean a milestone in the progress of America. Oh, my gosh. Of course it does. And in recognition of our place, the Tuskegee Airman's place in the civil rights movement, and in the development of the process of changing the country, the President -elect invited us to the inauguration. We had special seats, and there were 174 of us. Wow. You

were right behind the Medal of Honor winners. We were seated right behind the Medal of Honor winners. And, well, it was a day like no other. And I suppose I could tell you about it if you wanted me to start. Well, at five o 'clock in the morning, but let me get Carrey into the conversation too. Carrey, I know you worked long and hard for voting rights and people who get active, particularly young people. I'm told because I didn't go that there were tons of young people there, and they really felt that they made a difference. What's your hope as a result of this momentous occasion and your hope for the future? My hope for the future is that these young people who played a historic role in this historic campaign and election, that they continue to play a role in activism and organize in their communities and continue to address the issues juvenile justice, focusing on climate change and clean energy, focusing on making college more affordable and accessible to people all over this country. And I think we've made a momentous change in this country, but these two million people that came to the mall on Tuesday and

the millions of people all over the country and the millions of people around the world that support President Obama. They begin to fight for these issues day -to -day like they fought on the campaign trail. I think we'll see a historic change not only in this country, but all over the world. So this is a time to continue activism not to say we did it and lay back. This is not the time to do that. Absolutely. Now, I understand, Carrey, that you brought back some photos from your day at the Capitol. So we'll take a look at it and you tell us what's going on here. What are we looking at? Yeah, this is a La Fonte Plaza about an hour after the ceremony. When literally two million people were in a very small area in the district of Columbia and because of the inaugural parade, a lot of the areas were closed off. So you have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people basically just trying to find somewhere to go. And I just took this shot. This to really show just the density of people and kind of the scale of what it looked like just to be there and just to be in a place with so many people. Is that the La Fonte Plaza

Metro station? Yes. Yes. Right by the hotel. And this is leaving out. I was in the blue section. I will watch the festivities and this is just leaving out and I just turned around and just lifted up my camera. I just took this shot just so that people really could see on the scale from not just from the cameras, but from just being right in the middle of it and just look at all the faces as a different hues. And you know, and this these were two gentlemen. Now we're sitting right next standing right next to me during the ceremony. You see, you know, older white gentlemen and a younger African American both looking at intently listening to the president's inaugural dress. And it really, to me, showed the type of unity that his campaign and now his administration in this country really realized that, you know, it's just an amazing thing. And this is my view from from the mall. So you're fairly close here? Yes. Oh, it looks like you can't see the podium. I can just see more of the stands. It looks like the grandstand on the left side. Yeah, we were very close to the grandstand and we had to basically look from that jumbo tron. But

we were really close and one thing that blew me away when the jumbo tron did the pan shots of the crowd all the way back to the Washington Monument. I was completely blown away because the section where we were sitting at, we didn't have that advantage point to really be able to see like how far the crowd went back. Okay. And people who wanted a better vantage point so they climbed on top of the porta -party. Yeah, these are three young people that climbed on top of the porta -party. And actually, I'm on Facebook a lot. And one of my friends from New Mexico said they took this exact same picture. So I think we might have been at 10 or 12 people apart and just never knew just because it was that many people on the mall. But wow, you know, I thought that was a really symbolic picture. And this is on the metro on the way just showing like how packed each subway car I'm going down to the mall was. It's just to talk about just the level, you know, or just crowdedness, you know, just hundreds of thousands of people. It was almost like a pilgrimage in a way. And that's in the station now, crowded TV. Yes, that's a metro center in downtown Washington. You can just see like just it's just the hues of the people. And this in this one, you know, just really

wants my heart to see the young African American girl three or four years old holding up the flag. And those two flags standing there, you know, it just really exemplifies and illustrates, you know, really the idealism of America. And that's moving forward to taking a giant step. Cahari, everybody talks about the euphoria that was part of the crowd. Did you get that same sense? Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, you could feel it, you know, you could feel it in the air, you know, in the morning, like going down, you know, you could just feel that energy. She looks like she shouldn't want these boots. I don't know. Maybe they tell me there was a lot of walking. Yeah, there was a lot of walking and it was extremely cold. It was bitterly cold in the morning as you waited three to four hours to get in. And a lot of people didn't come just for the occasion. And this woman was standing in line with me. There was a bot hand warmers and toe warmers. That was a very lucrative business that morning. There was probably more people selling hand warmers and toe warmers than, you know, military and police

personnel. They say that Mr. Obama had been for at least Washington, a one man gang in terms of boosting the economy just like the Steelers playoff game here. What did you call this picture? I called it a unity. You see, like, you know, through three women, but it looks to me three different ethnic groups. I look like I believe it like Tito woman, African American woman and a Caucasian woman walking down the middle street holding hands smiling. And we talk about that euphoria and that exuberance and that unity. It was just it was like a deal of celebration. And I thought it was a deal of healing for this nation. Mr. Friedland, you had a better vantage point. You're in the grandstand. You're right there on top of things. What was it like for you? Well, it was fantastic because she said he was sitting. I think he was standing. Yeah, I was standing. But I was sitting. And it should be. And I'll tell you what what he talks about the hand warmers. We were a bowling Air Force base where we met at 615 in the morning and went a irony of all ironies to the

officers club saying kind of officers club they wouldn't let you enter when you were in air. That's right. And we had breakfast there. And I just sat there and just I text a few people about the irony of being in a white officers club. And then then we were talking about the hand warmers. On our bus, I'll tell you about the bus and how we got on our while we were waiting there after we had breakfast and we went through cut we went through security there. We didn't have to go through security at the Capitol. Went through security there. We got in the bus and a Lieutenant Colonel and you were in the military car you may not have been but a Lieutenant Colonel was fairly high. And he's not not a bus boy. Not a messenger boy. He brings us hand warmers. He said the hand warmers for you. It was such an irony. It is especially considering the

fact that you were confined in quarters 101 of you because you all tried to enter an officer's club when you were in the military. But did you hear him, say he was texting? Yes. And it makes me think of how these generations are coming together. And what Mr. Obama was able to do with young people in texting but that you all even brought Mr. Freeland along because he's out there doing it too. They got me at least in the 19th century. I'm working my way up to the 21st. Well through the day, though it was filled with excitement and its celebration, the new President reminded the nation of the difficult road ahead and the work America still has to accomplish. Thank you. My fellow citizens, I stand here today humbled by the task before us.

Grateful for the trust you bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices born by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition. 44 Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath has taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we, the people,

have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears and true to our founding documents. So it has been, so it must be with this generation of Americans, that we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war against a far reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost, jobs shed, businesses shudder, our health care is too costly, our schools fail too many, and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. But these are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics, less measurable,

but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land. A nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, that the next generation must lower its sights. Today, I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time, but know this America, they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over feet, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit, to choose our better history, to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea passed on from generation to generation, the God -given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness. Wow, I look at that crowd, and I see you almost reacting like you're there and not in your head watching the video tape. Yeah, it was absolutely amazing. You know, just seeing the looks on people's faces and young parents making sure that their one or two -year -old was there bundled up. And it was just an amazing moment. I think the message was right on. The message was right on about the idealism of what this country was supposed to be about, and really taking a huge step in that direction. I think people understanding that when we do come

together, what we can achieve, and a million people focusing on one thing can achieve so much more than a million people doing a million different things, taking them on by themselves. Well, put, Mr. Freeland, I know it as an attorney, as a civil rights pioneer, you're a man who appreciates good rhetoric. What did you think of the President's speech? Well, I had to read it. I had to read it because there were moments when I wanted to clap, but you clapping with gloves with warmers and you had no sound. And so we raised our hands and did this as we reacted. There were some great lines, but it was not a speech designed just to put great lines in the ears of the listeners. It was a sobering speech, but there were some fantastic parts of it. And the cadence,

the cadence was there. Someone on radio or television said yesterday, maybe, that he wasn't the orator the king was. Well, he wasn't the preacher the king was, but as an orator he exceeds him as a rhetorician, I think he exceeds him. King had the cadences of the Baptist Church. He has the cadence of several, several cultures. Not only cultures, but generationally, do you think that it is, we've reached a point here in America where a new kind of, and I hate this term, black leader because we don't really have white leaders, but a new kind of young person who's Harvard educated and maybe not out of the church, as you mentioned, who has such a cross cultural background that's really reflective of America, is becoming the kind of person who will not only lead black folks, but Asian folks and white folks and everybody else. And it's so important because that

person is the kind of person who used to be called a sissy in school, a nerd, a nerd who was rejected by the kids in the projects, the housing projects. That raises an important point. You work with young people, Mr. Mosley, all the time. What do you think this means to our young people? And I have to tell you, and you know this, all too often on this program, we've discussed the killings, the fracture side that's going on with our young people. What do you think this will mean to our young people? Well, as the young people say, you know, around the way, I think it's a call for them to step their game up. You know, and I think responsibility to theme of is inaugural dress, you know, doesn't just touch the folks where they are on the mall, but I think the brothers and sisters that are black, that are back on the block. And the young people that I work with in the fall, many of them who have a history and criminal activity have come from very tough circumstances, drugs, not having, you know, responsible parents around in their lives and things like that. And I've talked to them after the election and they have been through different situations where they could have made the wrong decision. And they always say to me,

Mr. Cajari, you know, I was about the wild out on this guy, you know, which means, you know, I was going to get to a fight or a cost type of conflict, but then I stepped back and said, I got to be like Barack. But we got to get to some other tape. But do you think that they appreciate what Mr. Freeman was just saying, that it's okay to study and be ready now, and you don't have to be hard and wild out on somebody? Absolutely. They tell me all the time. They say, you know, I want, you know, I want to, you know, get a suit in, when I saw him debating John McCain, I said to myself, I want to be able to use those words like that. They could see the power in it. And they see that, you know, what we've been talking about for so long, he's been talking about much longer than I have, that it is important to go to school and be smart. There's a power to intelligence and knowledge. I think young people from all stripes are really understanding that in a real way now. For many of us, the Reverend Joseph E. Lowry's benediction was the perfect ending for a day that symbolized the trials and triumphs of a nation. And now, Lord, in the complex arena

of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate, on the side of inclusion, not exclusion, tolerance, not intolerance. And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosque, wherever we seek your will. Blessed President Barack, First Lady Michelle, look over our little angelic Sasha and Maria. We go now to walk together children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone with your hands of power and your heart of

love. Help us then now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up so early against nation when tanks will be beaten into tractors. When every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream, Lord and the memory of all the saints who from their labor's rest. And in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day, when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right, that all those who do justice and love mercy say amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. I thought he was going to take up an offer and then one point there. I heard one announcer on KDK say that the Reverend Lauer had quoted an old blues musician, but he knows absolutely nothing about our culture. That was James Weldon Johnson is the musician he quoted in the first part. He was literally divorcing the second stanza of the Negro National Anthem. That's right. And that was an expression that did not come from any blues. It came from the street. We would talk about it regularly. Then when black became beautiful, people like me had to walk away. But those were expressions. Part of our magnitude, I suppose, is what we would call it. And of course,

there were so many things about Lauer's prayer. The words of James Weldon Johnson and the music of Rosamond Johnson, that second verse, it is powerful. Bit of the chastening rod. All of that that we have suffered. It's emblematic of how far we've come to come to a date like this. True to our native land, true to our God, true to our native land. Carrey, what did you think of the Benedictine? I thought it was entertaining and inspirational. And I think it appropriate for the moment, again, the day after among Luther King and the role that Reverend Loughley played in the Civil Rights Movement. Absolutely, but I did hear on that same radio program I was listening to. One white man take a call or take objection to that. What does he mean when white has to accept right? What is he talking about? Can you get explain that? Well, it's hard to explain. It's not.

It comes from a past when we were so, so harassed that we felt that the only way we could ever be okay would be for white to be right. Now we've learned that black doesn't have to stay back. And that's another verse from that street link, though, too. Well, we only have 30 seconds left, so 15 seconds apiece. Mr. Mosley, what do you think now? No, now it's time to get to work. Now it's time to continue bringing people together. That broad coalition of diverse groups of people need to just continue moving forward. And Mr. Freeland? It's the same. And it's interesting that he, young Mosley and I are together, because this is the way it was with the Tuskegee Airmen, with their daughters and granddaughters holding on to them as he announced that oath. All right, gentlemen, thank you for being here. Again, I'd point out we did invite a female reporter to be here, but she did not get back in time for the taping. Well, that was just about do it for this edition of Black Arise's. And I thank you for joining us. As you may

know, this program can now be seen many times throughout the week on our various digital stations, including Sunday afternoon at two here on WQED and also in High Definition. I'm Chris Moore. And for all of us here at Black Arise and have a great week. Bye -bye. And

let's work it. I know you can't, but not a chance. No, no, if I can do this, where

you can do that, but I don't dare. I don't dare, I'm afraid of you. It's not a chance. Oh, no, stop. I'm just gonna sing it on the dance floor. I don't dare. Good back, I can do it. Take your chance. Swing it out, spin it around to the dance. I want to play ball, not dance, huh? I may get a triple, not a curve and ball. I can prove it through you till you know what's true, because I can swing it. I can bring it to the diamond too. You taught me a lot. Show me what you got. Stop. Swing it. Hey, swing it like this. Come on. Swing it. Swing it. Just like that. No, no, that's what I mean. That's how you swing it. You make a good guess on it, don't believe, I say you can. I know I can. I don't dance. You can do it. I don't

dance, no, nothing to it, out of boy, out of boy, yeah. He's got a part of it, he's got a part of what? Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!

Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Everybody, all the fault, why? I'll be a summer house just begun. Hey! Let's rock and roll, let it just let go. Feel the rhythm of the drums. We're gonna have fun in the sun. Not that all the hard work and work is done. Everybody's one for all, and all for one. Everybody up. Everybody rockin'. Take it from the top. And never ever stop it. It's not a cup of future. It's not a cup of past. It's makin' every single day. Last and last and last. What are the suns? What could be better? Let's have fun. Everyone together now. Everybody,

everybody now. This is where our summer really begins. It's not a summer, oh yeah. It's the very last time. It's never gonna be night. Peace. Party, no fun at all. Guys, showin' we can make some moves. Hey, girls, showin' we know how to groove. Here, and now, let's move the party out. Everybody jump in. Everybody, oh for one. No real summer has just begun. Let's rockin' rollin', just let go. Here's a rhythm of the charm. Come on.

Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Jared Scouts, let's rockin'

rollin' out. Come on. Come on. Come on. We'll run while we're young, and give the faith, give the faith, every day for our lives. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time.

Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Wanna find you there, for the whole our time. Um, I think that, you know, kid's. Watch stuff over and over and over again. Because it's something that they enjoy and something that they love and I think that. You know, high school musical too for them is just. Something that they've watched high school musical. Over and over and over. Probably already, that, um, I think they're all waiting for something new, and they're all, you know, they're all you know, they're all you know, what's going to happen in this sequel, and it's always exciting to see the character like Gabriella just turn around for the first time in a new setting, in a new movie. And each of our characters I think that they're going to be so excited to kind of learn the new dance moves, learn the new songs, so hopefully they enjoy it. And of course, the DVD will be able to have them enjoy it over and over and over again.

On DVD, you know, kids get to, I know when I was a kid, the first time I rented DuckTales Treasure of the Last Lamp, I put it in the VCR, yes the VCR, and I played it all the way through, and I loved it so much, I rewound it right then and watched it over again, and I think I did it three times, and that was just the first time I watched it. And, you know, when you're a kid and you're new, you're seeing new things, and especially entertainment with new things you're not jaded or you're not, you know, desensitized yet, getting to see especially musical numbers, choreography, people expressing such joy and such jubilation, you want to experience that over and over again, and that's why the rewind buttons there are the chapter back now, you know, whatever it is. So yeah, I think it's important, I think it's fun for kids.

I'm a huge fan of DVDs, and my favorite part of them is always the extras, the behind the scenes, I love watching people's audition tapes, and how the film was made, and all of the creative process I'm really intrigued with.