"We Are One" Concert Kicks off the Road to Inauguration (with video)
January 19th 2009 03:21
Today, the road to the historic Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama, was celebrated in Washington D.C. with the "We Are One" concert at the Lincoln Memorial. The concert featured rousing speeches and amazing performances. The most memorable moment being Barack Obama's address.
This Pre-Inauguration celebration was streamed for free online by HBO, and millions of Americans and people from all over the world were able to witness the excitement.
From President Elect Obama and Vice President Elect Biden placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, to the performances, to Obama's speech, it was a wonderful day. The looks on the faces of the people gathered in D.C. made my heart soar. We are really going to do this. They gathered in the tens of thousands in the freezing cold to be a part of this event in our lives, and I really believe that the Nation cannot help but be driven to Change by the momentum that we are feeling right now.
Sure, there are those who would try to spoil this amazing moment in history, and this pivotal time in our lives, but luckily for them, he will be their President as well, and 80% of Americans are behind Obama, urging him to help us regain our image in this world, and take our Country back from the brink!
I've been scouring the web for complete video of speeches and events, but so far there isn't much. MSNBC.COM has provided a great synopsis of the day's events. You can see the videos here: (Warning! Some of this footage is very moving
)
MTV.Com also has some great footage that you can view via this link:
WE ARE ONE CONCERT
And below are some images from the event. I will be attempting to keep you updated with all of the latest from the Road to the Inauguration!
This Pre-Inauguration celebration was streamed for free online by HBO, and millions of Americans and people from all over the world were able to witness the excitement.
From President Elect Obama and Vice President Elect Biden placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, to the performances, to Obama's speech, it was a wonderful day. The looks on the faces of the people gathered in D.C. made my heart soar. We are really going to do this. They gathered in the tens of thousands in the freezing cold to be a part of this event in our lives, and I really believe that the Nation cannot help but be driven to Change by the momentum that we are feeling right now.
Sure, there are those who would try to spoil this amazing moment in history, and this pivotal time in our lives, but luckily for them, he will be their President as well, and 80% of Americans are behind Obama, urging him to help us regain our image in this world, and take our Country back from the brink!
I've been scouring the web for complete video of speeches and events, but so far there isn't much. MSNBC.COM has provided a great synopsis of the day's events. You can see the videos here: (Warning! Some of this footage is very moving
)Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
MTV.Com also has some great footage that you can view via this link:
WE ARE ONE CONCERT
And below are some images from the event. I will be attempting to keep you updated with all of the latest from the Road to the Inauguration!
The Obamas Greet the Crowd
Obamas in the Shadow of Lincoln
Denzel Washington Opens the Festivities
Watching the Concert
View of the Crowd
Bruce Springsteen
| 67 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Lola Tahlulah
Lola Tahlulah
Comment by Richard Hansen
Comment by Doug Pollard
Current Affairs
Rainbow Reporter
Also airbrushed out of the picture, backing singers the DC Gay Men's Chorus, whose participation was unannounced and unacknowledged.
Really Long Link
Seems the gay community are getting short shrift from Obama before he's even in office.
Comment by Natalie 2
My Life My Muse
Beta Girl Blog
Here is a full transcript of his prayer.
A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama
By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
Opening Inaugural Event
Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
January 18, 2009
Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.