September 12, 2009 marked a new beginning for America. People from all walks of life, of various cultures and ethnicity gathered in front of our capital to send a resounding message to this administration that we are speaking with one voice. People came from every corner of this great nation to converge on Washington to march on Pennsylvania Ave.
It was a day I will cherish for a life time, I was in awe as Sma’ Talk Wi’ T and I arrived at the metro station to find a line that swelled into the parking lot. People with flags, signs, and hearts full of patriotism waited in lines to buy the metro pass that would take them into the city. We were strangers but yet we all had the same goal, the same intentions. We loved our country and we were determined to take a stand. The ride on the metro was resilient, with each passing of a metro stop we cheered as we saw others anxiously wanting to join on our train! The mood was electric..as we pulled into our stop and the doors opened we poured out in droves and ascended the great steps of the darkness of the underground that we were in. What a site that awaited us! People were everywhere, the march had already started and it was barely 10:30 in the morning..I could feel the adrenaline rushing..without hesitation I joined the thousands already in the street..we chanted..”you lie’..”Can You Hear Us Now”..”Freedom” and “USA, USA, USA”…it seemed that as we marched our numbers grew and no matter what direction you turned there were people…the sidewalks were full, vendors appeared in the midst with the message that “capitalism” was still alive, selling pretzels and bottled water. The sky was cloudy and grey but our determination was not hindered.
As we made our way around to the opening to get in with the crowd that was directly in front of the capital, we met resistance! Yes, the capital police tried to hold us back…using the excuse that the area was full [they lied too]. We had seen by making our way around the wall that there was still many areas left for people to gather. One officer with a bullhorn climbed on top of a cornerstone and with a bull horn demanded we move to the over flow area. They clearly didn’t want the media to be able to show the number of people who actually had gathered. Temper’s started to flare but we held firm in our resolve to gain entrance, some started to chant, “let us in, let us in”..the officers remained indignant but when we noticed that some were leaving the area, we quickly slithered through an opening and quickly made our way up close. The police didn’t try to stop us and many filled in behind us!
We heard many speeches that day, all declaring a love of our God, our Country and our Constitution and how our rights were being squandered. We were encouraged to not let this surge of patriotism stop on this day but to let this day mark a “new beginning”..to hold the people we elect to the values and principles that are the foundation of our constitution. We vowed to carry this message home with us and to spread the message to our families, friends and to our communities and to work together to bring about real change for America…I was quoted by Nafeesa Syeed how this hadn’t started with Obama, meaning that it had been coming for a number of years, not only by his predecessor but by many that have held his title, but that this administration has attempted to take this country in a direction that finally awakened us to the tyranny and control that our government was trying to ram down our throats. I told her how this country was founded on the principle of being ruled by the people, for the people and that we were being ignored. That it was time we elected people who truly represented the middle class that we have heard so much about. I told her how many in Washington of both parties were clueless to the struggles of the middle class and how we wanted true representation. She went on to ask me about Glenn Beck and asked if I was upset that he was not at the rally, I explained that it wasn’t about Beck, that he was not the issue, nor was his presence required. Beck has done his Patriotic duty, he awakened the sleeping giant! We will return next year and every year until our elected officials start to take us seriously and listen to the will of the American public for if they refuse…we will continue to vote them out…A new beginning as begun…we are going to take our country back……………………………………………………