The FORA.tv Blog

It has been a remarkable two years covering the hundreds of events, discussions and debates that culminate on Inauguration Day. On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I give you the interview of the man standing next to me at the end of Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver. Phildell, a young, charismatic African American minister, and I talked throughout the speech. At the close, candidate Obama referred to a young preacher from Georgia and closed with words that, on this holiday, I'll reproduce below. The audience erupted and, little Flip video camera in hand, I turned to Phildell and asked what he was feeling. He said, "Tonight was awesome, because it put so many more people on the map. I know being African-American, I feel a part of this country…I feel that today…
I don’t have to just get jaded or bitter anymore... I feel a part of this. This is an awesome time in history. And so, go Obama. Change we need for America. For real." Enjoy the short video and watch a man's sheer joy.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr.. Day. And Happy Inauguration Day.


"And it is that promise that, 45 years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.

The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustrations of so many dreams deferred.

But what the people heard instead -- people of every creed and color, from every walk of life -- is that, in America, our destiny is inextricably linked, that together our dreams can be one.

"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."

America, we cannot turn back...

... not with so much work to be done; not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for; not with an economy to fix, and cities to rebuild, and farms to save; not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend.

America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone.

At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise, that American promise, and in the words of scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America."