Organizing for America | Vinette Pryce's Blog: Change has really come to America

Change has really come to America

By Pryceless - Jan 31st, 2009 at 8:04 pm EST

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Where do I begin? Christmas was awesome. New Years was amazing. And from Jan. 1 until Jan. 17 all I could think was Washington D.C. Actually, it all revved up on Jan. 15 when I attended Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tribute at Rev. Al Sharpton's House of Justice. It seemed every New York politicians showed up to hail the King. From Gov. Paterson to educators holding the highest offices of government, the packed Harlem headquarters kicked off a weekend of Obama revelry. Ironically, the Thursday offered much to celebrate with a US Air plane landing softly near La Guardia Airport on the Hudson and not a single casualty, a blessed pilot named Sully made us all give thanks for the superb salvation of so many lives. In any case. From that day until now my focus has been solely Obama. Friday, I was deluged by phone calls from friends wanting to be talked into driving to D.C. My dear friend Marcia Griffiths called from Jamaica. She seemed bewildered that she would not make the historic journey. I convinced my friend Dreamy, a photographer to make the 16-hour drive. At 6 a.m. Saturday, he called to say he was on the road with two more colleagues. That same evening, my mother, and a retired 83-year-old nurse from Barbados boarded a bus to Washington. It was frigid...deathly cold, but anticipation, excitement and pure adventure kept us warm. Our bus pulled into the capital at the same time Dreamy and his pals logged 16 hours. From there it was party time. We all headed to a house at 11th St and bunked near dawn. My phone rang incessantly. Itae from Nigeria stopped by to hand me 10 tickets to the African Inaugural Ball. Another friend, Fay called to claim her ball tickets, she had arrived earlier that afternoon from France. Others checked in to confirm their arrival in the district. At 5 a.m. Fay from France showed up at the house. We all got dressed and headed to the Metro to buy commemorative passes. from there it was straight to the Lincoln Memorial...what a day. All, day music, non-stop revelry. I spent much of the afternoon reveling with a couple from Alaska...no not Wassila...they were from Juneau. There is so much to say but it would take days to express my glee this Sunday as millions packed the mall to witness a free concert at the monument named for the man who reportedly freed the slaves. fast forward to my return to the house, I got there to see singer Marcia Griffiths decked out in winter white, standing at the top of the stairs. The shock of seeing her cannot be written. Against all odds, she had made it to Washington D.C. Time was fleeting and I was due at the African Ball at 7 p.m. I got there at 9 p.m. We all watched a video about Sen. Obama's visit to Kenya and the next thing I knew, Marcia was singing her signature hit "Electric Slide." Needless to say, we were in celebration mode. Monday, another early day...it was the day of service I volunteered for RFK Stadium to help pack items for military service members. But before that l made it to cardoza High Schoold where Rev. sharpton held his annual Dr. king tribute. The 13th St. school was jammed. Two busloads of New Yorkers had arrived early in the day and were cheering Sen. John McCain, Mayors mike Bloomberg, Corey Booker, Adrian Fenty and two others along with the outgoing and incoming secretaries of education, former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, numerous political figures, Sen. Newt Gingrich, producer/artist Wyclef Jean, actor Bill Bellamy, Martin Luther king III and loads of folks just oozing praises of the King. This day was chock full of activity but Tuesday was the day. It started at 4 a.m. The Metro was packer than pack. But here we were -- Marcia, my mom, Enid the nurse, Dreamy all headed to meet fay, Gearge, Zach, Joan and others...I have never seen so many people in my wildest...I will have to detail the rest of the day, when Barack Hussein Obama took the oath of office. I will have to really explain my pride and gratitude for bearing witness. But later. That evening, I attended the US Virgin Island Ball...indeed Change Has Come To America...and I cannot stop giving thanks...

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