Inauguration brings joy to civil rights sites
DJay Reeves - AP
Issue date: 1/22/09 Section: News
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A mood of celebration swept across landmark sites of the civil rights movement in Alabama on Tuesday as Barack Obama became America's first black president.
In Birmingham, where protesting
blacks faced fire hoses and snarling
police dogs in the 1960s, thousands
gathered in historic Boutwell Auditorium to view the inauguration on a huge video screen. They give the old hall the feel of a church revival with songs, raised hands and flag waving.
"I never thought it would ever come," said 77-year-old Ted Roberts, who marched in civil rights demonstrations
in Birmingham 45 years ago when white segregationists held power. Balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling as Obama completed the oath of office.
In Montgomery, where voting rights marchers led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. arrived on a journey from Selma in 1965, about 3,000 people packed the basketball arena at historically
black Alabama State University. A huge cheer went up when Obama was sworn in.
Matthew Harris, a senior at Booker T. Washington High School in Tuskegee, was among many students from the Montgomery area watching the festivities on a big screen.
"I'm proud to be part of a generation
that's starting a new era and fulfilling the dream that Martin Luther King had," he said.
A small group in Selma marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where state troopers once beat voting rights protesters, and then watched the inauguration at a nearby cafe. Some sat transfixed by the epic scene; some cried.
Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper, who is black, said it was ironic that a municipal auditorium where segregationists once met to maintain white supremacy was now the site of a mass celebration for the election of a black man as president.
"Times have changed. It really shows the progress we have made as a society, but there is still much work to be done. It's my prayer that President Obama inspires many young people, especially in the African-American community," he said.
In Birmingham, where protesting
blacks faced fire hoses and snarling
police dogs in the 1960s, thousands
gathered in historic Boutwell Auditorium to view the inauguration on a huge video screen. They give the old hall the feel of a church revival with songs, raised hands and flag waving.
"I never thought it would ever come," said 77-year-old Ted Roberts, who marched in civil rights demonstrations
in Birmingham 45 years ago when white segregationists held power. Balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling as Obama completed the oath of office.
In Montgomery, where voting rights marchers led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. arrived on a journey from Selma in 1965, about 3,000 people packed the basketball arena at historically
black Alabama State University. A huge cheer went up when Obama was sworn in.
Matthew Harris, a senior at Booker T. Washington High School in Tuskegee, was among many students from the Montgomery area watching the festivities on a big screen.
"I'm proud to be part of a generation
that's starting a new era and fulfilling the dream that Martin Luther King had," he said.
A small group in Selma marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where state troopers once beat voting rights protesters, and then watched the inauguration at a nearby cafe. Some sat transfixed by the epic scene; some cried.
Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper, who is black, said it was ironic that a municipal auditorium where segregationists once met to maintain white supremacy was now the site of a mass celebration for the election of a black man as president.
"Times have changed. It really shows the progress we have made as a society, but there is still much work to be done. It's my prayer that President Obama inspires many young people, especially in the African-American community," he said.
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