Inauguration 2013: Restoring faith in a younger generation

Watching the 57th Presidential Inauguration on Jan. 21, 2013

Barack Obama and Martin Luther King Jr. have a lot in common. They both lived their lives with a common theme -- you can achieve anything, as long as you set your mind to it and work hard.

From King's famous advocacy for equality among the races, to Obama fighting for equal rights for homosexuals, both of these men will go down in history as black men who saw something that needed to be changed, and worked hard to make it a reality. 

During King's notable 1963 speech, "all men are created equal," is a line he said which has gone down in history. Fifty years later, Obama followed up to the famous speech by being the first president to mention homosexuals in his inaugural speech.

"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law -- for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well," Obama said during his speech, which became a buzz, much like King's speech did 50 years ago.

All people, regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation or lifestyle, are created equal, and that is one belief both King and Obama want to restore to the country, especially the younger generations who will grow up to be the future of the United States.

Obama is the first black president the United States has ever seen, which is history in itself, showing the accomplishments King made on the world, but with his own fight for equality, he made sure his the 2013 inauguration would be one to remember.

The inauguration of the president of the United States is a long-standing tradition and an important part of our nation’s history.

The tradition's purpose is to honor the incoming president in a formal manner, allowing the citizens of the nation to witness history. 

The Presidential Inauguration has been a tradition in the United States for more than 200 years. It began in 1789 with the inauguration of George Washington as the United States' first president.

On Monday, President Barack Obama was publically sworn in as a part of the 57th Inaugural Ceremony.

The official, private swearing in was Sunday within the White House. This year marked the seventh time in United States history when the official inauguration day fell on a Sunday.

Monday was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an annual celebration of the life of one of the leaders of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. The last time the public inaugural ceremony fell on Martin Luther King Jr. Day was in 1997, the day of President Bill Clinton’s second inauguration. 

While sitting on my couch Monday morning, I watched the inaugural ceremony on television, feeling more like an American than I had in a long time. However, while millions were sitting at home, more than 800,000 people were at the National Mall to witness the event, each with an American flag in hand, reminding viewers at home how united Americans can become, and we are not as divided as it may seem sometimes.

“No matter how many times one witnesses this event, its simplicity, its innate majesty and most of all its meaning that sacred yet cautious intrusting of power from ‘We the people’ to our chosen leader never fails to make ones heart beat faster as it will today with the inauguration of President Barack H. Obama,” Senator Chuck Schumer said during the opening remarks of the ceremony.

Both inaugurations of President Obama are important to the history of the United States, primarily because he is the first black president this nation has seen, and that itself shows the progress the United States has accomplished since King's time.

If it was not for the work of Martin Luther King Jr., there is a chance Obama would never have become president. Although King's life was cut short, he changed the world in ways he wanted, but probably never would have expected.

“Faith in America’s Future” was the theme for the 57th inauguration ceremony.

The theme represents “the perfect embodiment of this unshakable confidence in the ongoing success of our collected journey is an event from our past,” Chuck Schumer, New York senator said during the opening remarks of the ceremony.

The theme of the ceremony could also be related to King and all he did for civil rights in the 1960s. If it were not for him, it is possible none of those people would have been at the National Mall on Monday celebrating what could be considered a result of King's work.

Without our past, we would not have our present, or our future.

To have faith in America’s future means to have faith in the younger generations, which means the younger generations need to have faith in themselves and those around them.

“Americans have always been, and still are a practical, optimistic, problem solving people,” Schumer said. “America always rises to the occasion. America prevails and America prospers…those who bet against this country have inevitably been on the wrong side of history.”

Schumer’s speech had a tone saying America can do anything, and anyone who believes otherwise, will be proven wrong, because as a whole, the nation can achieve anything it sets its mind to, anywhere and at anytime.

“The opportunity to become whatever our mankind, our womankind allows us to be,” Myrlie Evers-Williams, a civil rights activist said during the ceremonial invocation. “This is the promise of America.”

Evers-Williams invocation gave the feeling to those in attendance as well as those watching at home that the United States gives everyone the chance to be what they want to be, which is because the freedom of America allows it.

The president’s inaugural speech had allusions to King's "I have a dream" speech given 50 years ago – an appropriate gesture in honor of the holiday honoring King and the public inauguration ceremony being on the same day.

The similarities of the two speeches could mean a couple of things -- things have not really changed in the 50 years since King stood at the podium, or things are changing in a positive way, but we have different, but related priorities today in 2013.

What these two men have in common is they both believe in people, and they believe everyone should have the same rights, and if everyone comes together, change can happen in a positive way.

Obama mentioned gay marriage – a topic widely discussed, which the president has publicly showed his support for, as well as equal rights for women during his speech – issues he will address during his second term as president.

President Obama is the first president to publicly address same-sex rights in a formal speech. The progress he has already accomplished in his first four years in office is a foreshadowing of the changes to come, hopefully within the next four years. 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal," King said in his famous speech. That line could be applied to black Americans in the 1960s or gay men and women today. The message is the same: we cannot stop until everyone has equal rights, regardless of their skin color, sexual orientation, or origin. 

These are subjects are things Obama is clearly passionate about, similar to King and his desire for equality between black and white Americans. Obama could even be considered a modern day version of King in this way. 

King was a strong advocate for civil rights and helped lead the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s before being tragically assassinated in 1968.

The way King advocated for civil rights for black Americans in the 1960s is similar to how Obama is advocating for same-sex rights today, 50 years later.

King’s dreams stated in his famous 1963 speech are still in progress of becoming a reality, but with the help of President Obama, they are coming true.

If you believe in something, there is no way it cannot be a possibility. Strange things happen all the time, so dream big.

President Obama has a lot on his plate for the next four years, but millions of Americans have faith in him, just as he has faith in America.

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Sources used:

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp (Jan. 21)

http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/

http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/about/facts-and-firsts

http://change.gov/learn/inauguration

http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf (for reference)

Inaugural coverage on CNN