Wildes

There is something about standing in the frigid sub-zero cold for hours that is not quite appealing to me, but there is something about beholding the unfolding of history that has made me decide to attend the inauguration of the first black president of the United States of America, Barack Obama.

Tomorrow, I will fly to Washington, DC, to observe the historic event. District officials are expecting as many as four million people for the inauguration - that is almost a million and half more people than the population of Jamaica and almost 3.5 million more than the resident population in DC.

While the inauguration will be on Tuesday, Monday will also be quite significant as it is Martin Luther King Jr Day. It will be my first time witnessing the holiday and I expect it to be particularly significant because of King's ground-breaking role in charting a path for Obama's ascendancy to the most powerful job in the world.

As The Gleaner provides comprehensive coverage of the event, I hope to document the confluence of emotions, ranging from pride and hope, to uncertainty and opposition, as well as tap into the consciousness of folks standing far away from centre stage, glued to big screens, or those huddled in front of family-room TVs.

I will also be seeking to get views from Jamaicans and other Caribbean nationals who might be present at the event.

With more than four million people, I am praying that there are no stampedes.

andrew.wildes@gleanerjm.com