The Inauguration of Barack Obama

I am currently watching the broadcast of the inauguration. Joe Biden has been sworn in.

Over the past few months I have experienced something that I would not understand on my own. From spending time with my African-American workmates, classmates and church...mates, I have learned how much this new president means to a people who have not only been the minority, but have been treated as a minority.

I'm Puerto Rican, but I'm considered a typical white American. I'm second generation born in the United States, speak English as my primary language, and have lived in and among white communities.

As I talk to so many different people, especially black Americans (not all are African), I am realizing how huge this event today is, that a black person would be the figure-head and leader of the United States of America. For many of us, it is another president. But for the black community, it is a beacon of hope. It is a prayer for a guiding light. And it means more to some than others could ever imagine.

I've been trying to wrap my head around that, and it's taking quite a bit. The more conversations I have with older people who lived through the civil rights movement, the more I get it. The more I hear from those who are still oppressed today, the more I get it.

I don't know what all this will mean for our country, or for our world, but I pray that this glimpse of hope for some will turn into a united effort to work toward a better world.