The Inaugural Parade
It was an exciting moment when I found out that AmeriCorps Alums had been asked
by the President-Elect to march in the 56th Inaugural Parade on January 20th. I
had been doing my usual browsing of the Alums website when I discovered the call
for AmeriCorps alumni to put their name into a lottery to be selected to march.
I said to myself, what the heck, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and maybe,
just maybe, I will be selected. Then, a couple weeks later, when I had long forgotten
I had submitted my name, I received the email letting me know that I had been selected
out of over 1,200 people to be part of history. Wow, I don’t even think I realized
what that meant. I would be marching down Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the new
President, a President who understood my commitment to AmeriCorps, who understood
service. I thought back to his acceptance speech on election night. That night he
had spoken these words: “So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service
and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look
after not only ourselves, but each other”. I remembered getting chills when I heard
him speak these words, thinking to myself, I do this everyday, I do this because
of my experience in AmeriCorps.
We flew to Washington, DC on Martin Luther King Day. The day was not only for travel,
however, but for service too. Before my flight I reported to our service site in
Buffalo to assist with the MLK Day festivities that Western New York AmeriCorps
had scheduled. We had over 400 volunteers come out to serve on MLK Day! We saw an
increase in volunteers, many of which responded to the call to serve by the President-Elect.
This was not just true of Buffalo, in fact, just last week the Corporation for National
and Community Service reported that MLK Day 2009 had the most volunteers ever for
MLK Day service! After my morning of service, I left for the airport and it was
on to our nation’s capital.
On Inauguration Day, you could feel the excitement in the air. During our bus ride
to the Pentagon to be checked-in for the parade, we received credentials and parade
gear. When we arrived at the Pentagon, we were ushered through metal detectors,
received a box lunch and got back on our buses, ready to journey into Washington,
DC for the parade. We were on the buses during the swearing-in ceremony and although
we only were able to listen to the swearing-in and President Obama’s speech on the
radio, we all felt part of the moment. We cheered when Obama took the oath, were
silent during the speech and felt the excitement as we listened to his words, “…they
[members of the military] embody the spirit of service, a willingness to find meaning
in something greater than themselves. It’s this spirit that must inhabit us all.
There is a new era of responsibility, duties that we have…to our nation and the
world, that is the price and the promise of citizenship.” We knew that these words
were being heard by millions; the AmeriCorps alumni who sat on those buses were
ready to re-commitment their lives to service on this day and beyond.
Once we began our ride into the city, we started seeing the crowds of people leaving
the Mall. I would look down a street and see nothing but people. Something that
I will never forget is the calm that seemed to be radiating from these individuals.
Although the crowds had been out in the cold for hours, we were taken to warming
tents behind the White House, on national park land called the “Ellipse.” Here we
got into our parade formation. We were all excited to get out onto the parade route
and march by the President! This excitement, although always present, was subdued
slightly for a couple of hours while we waited in the cold; the parade had been
delayed for two hours! Finally, we began to move. We marched up Constitution Avenue
and along the Mall, all the while anticipating the turn that would take us onto
Pennsylvania Avenue and past our new President. The turns were the hardest. As a
group that wasn’t as practiced as a marching band, we had to concentrate on keeping
in step with the rest of our line, making sure we weren’t going too fast or too
slow and that we didn’t lose formation when we turned. Making our way up Pennsylvania
Avenue was exciting. It was getting dark, the crowds of people were no longer lining
the streets though I couldn’t blame them as they had been out there all day, some
since 5 AM! Finally, we reached the turn that would take us past the President.
The reason we all made this journey was upon us. 150 AmeriCorps alumni from all
across the United States were parading past the President! We were faced with huge
lights when we turned toward the Presidential viewing stand. We marched carefully,
slowly toward the President. When we reached the viewing stand, we all turned our
heads to the left and there they were: President and First Lady Obama and Vice-President
Biden and his wife. I do not think I will ever forget the excitement that was given
to us by the President and his wife. They were visibly thrilled to see AmeriCorps
marching by! We waved and cheered, thrilled by this moment in history. Then, just
as soon as we got there, it was over! I looked over my shoulder and saw the White
House in the shadow of the viewing stand and knew that although our moment to shine
was over, the excitement and dedication of our new President was just beginning.
With the parade experience behind us, now more than ever is the time to support
national service. Joshua Randle, an AmeriCorps alumnus from 2000 and now Chief Operating
Officer for Western New York AmeriCorps, sits on the National Leadership Council
for AmeriCorps Alums and was one of the few responsible for organizing the Presidential
Inaugural march. In his own personal reflection of the historic events on that amazing
day, he has found fresh inspiration in his own service journey and made several
pledges for national service, beginning with a 100-day service commitment. He has
shared his commitment with many throughout the national service network, challenging
them to make their own 100-day service pledge. “I have created a list of acts of
service that I am committed to accomplishing over the next 100 days,” says Josh,
“I ask you, what will be your service pledge?”
I find myself inspired by this challenge and have made my own list of pledges that
I will work on completing over the next 100-days. I will end with this quote, stated
by Candidate Obama at Cornell University in 2007, and allow you to reflect and make
your own pledge of service.
“We need your service, right now, in this moment-our moment-in history. I’m not
going to tell you what your role should be; that’s for you to discover. But I am
going to ask you to play your part; ask you to stand up; ask you to put your foot
firmly into the current of history. I am asking you to change history’s course.”
-Kate Sarata, Western New York AmeriCorps
“By participating in the Inauguration Parade, I hope we raised awareness of the
need and the benefits of doing community service. I think by having over 125 AmeriCorps
Alums out there from all over the U.S., we showed that the national service movement
is not a fringe movement, but a great movement in which many people participate
in one way or another.”
-Falland Toscano, City Year New York alumnus
Neal Gorman, also marched in the parade. "My first thought was how far the AmeriCorps
program has come since I was a member in 1996 in Western New York. Little by little,
we are all helping the program grow as members, but more importantly, we are helping
spread little acts of volunteerism that I'm convinced have encouraged others to
volunteer too," said Gorman. "Of course I believe AmeriCorps is the best way to
serve - but serving in any way, in any neighborhood, is really what the overall
volunteer movement is about," he added.
-Neal Gorman, VP for public relations at Lutheran HealthCare in Brooklyn, NY, and
a member of the AmeriCorps Alums Leadership Council
Phoenix House AmeriCorps
To honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s realized dream and to celebrate the inauguration
of Barack Obama, the first African-American President of the United States, Phoenix
House AmeriCorps members and staff regaled in a combined celebration with Phoenix
House clients. As a diverse group of more than 200 individuals – representing a
broad range of creeds, races, ages, and genders – we shared pride, joy, hope and
great gratitude for this monumental occasion. Together, we celebrated the past and
the present, and reaffirmed our commitment to bridging the gaps of social injustice
and racial inequality.
On the morning of the inauguration, staff, clients and AmeriCorps members gathered
at Phoenix House’s Jay Street facility in downtown Brooklyn to watch the joyous
moments surrounding Barack Obama’s swearing in ceremony. To commemorate the event,
a team of clients patriotically decorated the 7th floor meeting room, created an
elaborate collage of images of Dr. Martin Luther King and Barack Obama, and fashioned
over a hundred home-made pins from red-white-and-blue ribbons and paperclips. Plus
a gourmet lunch was prepared by the staff and clients of Phoenix House’s Career
Academy’s culinary class. A volunteer professional photographer’s flickering camera
documented this warm Phoenix House moment.
Following Obama’s oath of office, amidst a furry of cheers, hoots, hugs and tears,
we shifted our focus to a podium at head of the room for our own in-house celebration.
The party kicked off with a prayer of thanksgiving, and a moving rendition of the
Black National Anthem, Lift Every Heart and Sing. Next clients and staff read poems
that captured the excitement of the day and shared reflections about the personal
significance of the inauguration and the hard work ahead. One client told of his
personal journey since election night, which he spent in prison at Riker’s Island.
Inspired by Obama’s successful presidential bid, he committed to turning his life
around and chose to enter Phoenix House. He has been sober for the past three months
and passionately described his renewed personal faith. After all the readings and
speakers, everyone sat down to a wonderful lunch.
Along with our lunch, we digested what took place before our eyes. It was truly
a day to give thanks for the civil rights work of our forefathers. It was a day
that boosted HOPE for all who have struggled. And a day to proudly say “YES I CAN”
to personal goals – with the evidence that they can be achieved. It was a day to
take stock of personal accountability; and (never rest but) inhale a sigh of relief
that the world definitely has changed for the better. As great a day as it was for
African-Americans and people of color, it was a great day for all human kind. This
is what Dr. Martin Luther King and President Barack Obama stand for.
In our reflections throughout the hours and days following the event, staff and
members alike shared goals of working together to improve the lives of the individuals
we serve, strengthening the communities in which we live and work, and creating
a society where all people are accepted and respected, based on character alone
and not by the color of their skin. On this day we reaffirmed our commitment to
our life’s goal of working hard to make the world a better place.
-Joan Hajjar, Phoenix House AmeriCorps