Sacrifice

Let me begin by first saying one thing: I did not vote for Barack Obama.  This said, now that he has been elected and inducted, I fully support him as our 44th president.  After watching the inauguration ceremony and reading Elizabeth Alexander's poem "Praise Song for the Day", I noticed several strong connections between the two.  The first of which was what Alexander described as "noise and bramble, thorn and din" in her poem.  The entire inauguration ceremony seemed somewhat informal and unorganized to me, much like the line from Alexander's poem when she describes the "noise" surrounding our daily lives.  This informality was first noticeable after Chief Justice John Roberts botched the swearing in when the crowd began to chant "Obama!" as if they were at a sports event rather than a sacred and historical ceremony.  This feeling of informality continued when President Obama thanked former President Bush for his service, causing the crowd to emit sparse clapping mixed with boos.  The height of disorder came when the camera panned to the crowd, showing a number of people standing and sitting on a statue somewhere on the mall.  As a native of Washington D.C., seeing this upset me greatly.

Blatant disrespect and informality aside, President Obama's inaugural speech and Alexander's poem had another connection which affected me more deeply, the theme of sacrifice.  President Obama mentioned sacrifice several times in his speech, mentioning it even in the first lines when he proclaimed himself as "mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors".  With our current economic state as well as the wars we are involved in overseas, I believe that this theme of sacrifice is of the utmost importance if we wish to move forward as a nation.  Alexander focuses on sacrifice as well when she says, "that many have died for this day", referring to the sacrifices made by African Americans for this momentous occasion.  Both President Obama and Elizabeth Alexander recognize the sacrifices made in the past for our country, as well as the future sacrifices we will have to make in order to restore our nation to its former standing.  Thus, while I may not have voted for President Obama, I am nevertheless hopeful for the future and am anxious to see how he handles the presidency in these turbulent times, hoping that he doesn't forget his or Alexander's powerful theme of sacrifice.