“Happy Obama Day!”

By Douglas Graves © 2009


“Happy Obama Day!” shouted Bethlehem Township’s Brenda M. Brown to some friends as they entered the Bethlehem Room at the Comfort Suites on 3rd Street.
The Bethlehem Chapter of the National Association of Colored People’s (NAACP) post-inauguration party in honor of President Barack Obama’s meteoric ascension to the office of President of the United States was like a close family getting together with a few community friends. Pride and maybe some surprise mixed with elation defined the mood of the group.
Kids were invited, some as young as three or four. Several teenagers were in the crowd of about 55 people. “We kept it non-alcoholic because we wanted to include children so they could understand the meaning of today,” said Cordelia Miller, the First Vice President of the Bethlehem NAACP. “This is totally new beginning for this country. We, as a black community, are celebrating with the world today.”
Seven-year old Nyah Best, a second grader at Thomas Jefferson Elementary, had her own take on things. “It’s Barack Obama’s birthday,” she said, prompting some help from her mother, Shakima Dowdell. After a consultation with her mom, Nyah added, “He held his hand up and they told him to say something and then he was the president.”
She was perfectly clear about what she wants to be when she grows up: “I want to be a nurse, like my aunt.”
Her sister, Yasmin Dowdell, a ninth grader at Liberty High School, when asked how she felt about the inauguration said, “I’m very happy and surprised be born into a time when history is being made. It was almost as if Martin Luther King was on TV speaking this afternoon.”
Laura Lawrence, the treasurer of the Bethlehem NAACP, was more emphatic. “This is the best day that this country ever had,” she said. “We are making a sea-change: this the first day of our maturity. He said every thing I wanted him to say—including to ‘nurture your children.’”
As the room filled up, the band, On Fire, played the Bill Wither’s song It’s a Lovely Day while adding the refrain, “Obama, Obama, Obama . . .” The room started to warm up. Then a man, an impromptu cheer leader, shouted “Give me an O! Give me a B!” Soon the crowd was shouting along and getting excited while on a television in the background played footage of the new president and his family.
“Obama came from a varied background that qualified him for president,” said Esther Lee, president of the Bethlehem NAACP. “Dr. Martin Luther King led the way so that anyone coming behind can succeed.” Lee gave credit to higher powers. “God in his divine providence determines what we will or won’t do.”
Lee also gave credit to Obama’s mother and grandparents: “His mother prepared him for the task; his grandparents raised him.”
Lee is a former board member of the Bethlehem Area School District and former president of the Parent-Teacher’s Association.
Lieutenant Colonel Jerome Hatfield of the New Jersey State Police, wearing civilian clothes, celebrated Obama’s inauguration with family. The big former Grenadier is a 1977 graduate of Liberty High School. When asked what Obama's inauguration means to him, he said, "It represents an opportunity for change. In looking at the National Mall during the inauguration, it truly represented the melting pot of America. This occasion instills the hope and faith necessary to move this country forward. Hopefully, other countries will be inspired at this administration's outward ability to recognize and respect differences amongst people. I hope that the results would lend itself to greater peace in our world.”
The officers and matrons of the association had come early to fill up long tables with sandwiches, snacks, and cold drinks for the celebratory, yet reflective crowd.
Lincoln Elementary School principal Benita Draper-Terry arrived to join the festivities. “I’m here to celebrate the election of President Obama,” she said. “I was telling my students today that it was just 45 years ago that Dr. Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech from the Lincoln Memorial.
“Another part of his dream has been realized today,” said Draper-Terry. “I think the whole campaign has been remarkable. It’s one country—we have to work together. As Barack Obama has said, it's not about him, it's about the people coming together to make this a better nation."