Elizabeth Alexander's Inaugural Poem

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light. CQ Politics

Malia Said It Better Be Good and It Was

Big and bold speech. Speaking to us and the world. Brilliant. Loved when he spoke to the Muslim world, when he told nations if you unclench your fist, the U.S. will be there, that we will help poor nations. That we will help ourselves. Inspiring. Read Obama's speech here.
Rev. Joseph Lowery really rose to the occasion and the ending was fun. Poet Elizabeth Alexander rose to the occasion as well. Love.
Hey, did you check out Whitehouse.gov. Obama's in the house!

Check this out -- the official White House youtube channel. 
Obama takes the oath:

From WhiteHouse.gov where it simply says: Change has come to America

Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I'm Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog.

A short time ago, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States and his new administration officially came to life. One of the first changes is the White House's new website, which will serve as a place for the President and his administration to connect with the rest of the nation and the world.

Millions of Americans have powered President Obama's journey to the White House, many taking advantage of the internet to play a role in shaping our country's future. WhiteHouse.gov is just the beginning of the new administration's efforts to expand and deepen this online engagement.

Just like your new government, WhiteHouse.gov and the rest of the Administration's online programs will put citizens first. Our initial new media efforts will center around three priorities:

Communication -- Americans are eager for information about the state of the economy, national security and a host of other issues. This site will feature timely and in-depth content meant to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. Check out the briefing room, keep tabs on the blog (RSS feed) and take a moment to sign up for e-mail updates from the President and his administration so you can be sure to know about major announcements and decisions.

Transparency -- President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, and WhiteHouse.gov will play a major role in delivering on that promise. The President's executive orders and proclamations will be published for everyone to review, and that’s just the beginning of our efforts to provide a window for all Americans into the business of the government. You can also learn about some of the senior leadership in the new administration and about the President’s policy priorities.

Participation -- President Obama started his career as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, where he saw firsthand what people can do when they come together for a common cause. Citizen participation will be a priority for the Administration, and the internet will play an important role in that. One significant addition to WhiteHouse.gov reflects a campaign promise from the President: we will publish all non-emergency legislation to the website for five days, and allow the public to review and comment before the President signs it.

We'd also like to hear from you -- what sort of things would you find valuable from WhiteHouse.gov? If you have an idea, use this form to let us know. Like the transition website and the campaign's before that, this online community will continue to be a work in progress as we develop new features and content for you. So thanks in advance for your patience and for your feedback.

Later today, we’ll put up the video and the full text of President Obama’s Inaugural Address. There will also be slideshows of the Inaugural events, the Obamas’ move into the White House, and President Obama’s first days in office.

History of Slavery and the Hope of Obama

Dateline did a great job covering the moment in its show tonight. I've posted several segments. Here is the final one on the significance of Obama's inauguration.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Will Inaugural Poet Elizabeth Alexander Deliver the Goods?

Imagine what the fourth ever inaugural poet must be feeling right now. Here's what she hopes to accomplish:

Cleveland Post: "I think what I hope to symbolize and demonstrate is the important role that arts and literature can play in this moment when the country is thinking so keenly about moving forward and coming together," Alexander said.

Alexander acknowledged the challenge before her. She said she does not start with a message in mind, likening the process to a radio antenna in which she listens for the right language.

"You're always trying to catch a rhythm," she said. "It's something I will be chipping away at every day."

Maya Angelou scored but other inaugural poets didn't, according to Poet David Yezzi, who wrote a story about the challenge in today's WSJ:

Inaugural poets to date have not had the most sterling track record on the big declaiming day. Ms. Alexander is the fourth poet to fill the role, the first being Robert Frost, who read at John F. Kennedy's inauguration in 1961. (It is interesting to imagine what Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln inaugural poems might have been like; surely Teddy Roosevelt would have written his own, in a Kipling spirit.)

Yezzi says her poem has to have broad appeal: 

WSJ: Poems create this condition with the stories they tell, but more importantly in the way they tell them. Great poems find an expression for experiences and emotions that we would not have words for otherwise. In so doing, they give us those emotions and the experiences fully for the first time. The stumbling block for most political poetry is narrowness. As soon as poetry espouses an interest group, it ceases to speak to the widest audience and fails in its bid for universality.

In the end, the greatness of Elizabeth Alexander's inaugural poem will depend on how many Americans find it both affecting and true. For her participation to be something more than ceremonial, she will have to speak not only for Mr. Obama and his supporters but also for the more than 50 million voters who pulled another lever or punched a different chad. If successful, she will have added to the language, claiming for it a new richness -- always a welcome thing. If not we will have only more politics as usual.

If her poem soars, her books will probably sell like hotcakes.
You can get them now-- at a discount. One of her publishers, the University of Michigan Press, is offering inauguration discounts on select books and has dedicated a site to Alexander and her work.

Alexander, born in Harlem in 1962, comes from a political family. She is good friends with Obama and her brother is on Obama's transition team:

WSJ: Ms. Alexander comes from a political and academic family and is a champion of politically engaged poetry. Her father, Clifford L. Alexander Jr., advised Lyndon B. Johnson on civil rights and later served as secretary of the Army under Jimmy Carter. Her younger brother, Mark, a law professor at Seton Hall, recently transitioned from Mr. Obama's campaign staff to his transition team.

More on Alexander from the official inaugural planning site.

Here she is:

New interview with Alexander (added 1-13)

Full Inauguration Schedule Jan. 20

For the Swearing-In Ceremony, security checkpoints will open for ticketed guests at 8:00 am and the musical prelude begins at 10 am. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies advises arriving no later than 9:00 am to ensure that you are through the checkpoints by the time the program begins. Screening will end when the program begins at 11:30 am and late arrivals will not be able to enter the grounds.

Ticket holders should walk or use Metro due to road closures and restricted access around the US Capitol.
Read the bios of the performers here. Official inauguration site here.

The order of the day's events:

Musical Selections
The United States Marine Band

Musical Selections
The San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus

Call to Order and Welcoming Remarks
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein

Invocation
Dr. Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA

Musical Selection
Aretha Franklin

Oath of Office Administered to Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
By Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
The Honorable John Paul Stevens

Musical Selection, John Williams, composer/arranger
Itzhak Perlman, Violin
Yo-Yo Ma, Cello
Gabriela Montero, Piano
Anthony McGill, Clarinet

Oath of Office Administered to President-elect Barack H. Obama
By the Chief Justice of the United States
The Honorable John G. Roberts, Jr.

Inaugural Address
The President of the United States, The Honorable Barack H. Obama

Poem
Elizabeth Alexander

Benediction
The Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery

The National Anthem
The United States Navy Band “Sea Chanters”

After President Obama gives his Inaugural Address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. The 56th Inaugural Parade will then make its way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House with groups traveling from all over the country to participate.

Later that day, the Presidential Inaugural Committee will host ten official Inaugural Balls. More details about the Inaugural Balls will be released at a later date.

Inaugural Poet Elizabeth Alexander

Update 1-20 Transcript/video of Alexander's poem.
Elizabeth Alexander studied under poet Derek Walcott, apparently a favorite Obama's. Here is her website. Read some of her poems.

WaPo: Next month, the little girl, Elizabeth Alexander, now 46, a prize-winning poet and professor of African American studies at Yale University, is scheduled to stand at the other end of the Mall before what will probably be an even bigger throng and read a poem at the inauguration of the nation's first African American president.

They are two moments in Washington history, more than four decades and about two miles apart, that on Jan. 20 will bracket a part of one poet's life, along with a chapter in the country's narrative.

"It was one of the iconic stories of my childhood," Alexander said yesterday of her attendance at the March on Washington. She said of her duty next month: "It will be hard, but it will be a privilege."

Alexander, who grew up in Washington and attended Sidwell Friends School, was named by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies as the poet to read at the swearing-in.

Other performers at the inauguration:

Alexander will join soul singer Aretha Franklin, civil rights figure Joseph E. Lowery and classical musicians Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill on the program.

She will be only the fourth poet to read at a swearing-in, after Frost, who read at John F. Kennedy's in 1961, Maya Angelou, who read at Bill Clinton's in 1993, and Miller Williams, who read at Clinton's second inauguration in 1997, according to government officials.

Alexander's bio at Poets.com:

Elizabeth Alexander was born in 1962 in Harlem, New York, and grew up in Washington, D.C. She received a B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. from Boston University (where she studied with Derek Walcott), and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Pennsylvania.

Her collections of poetry include American Sublime (Graywolf Press, 2005), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Antebellum Dream Book (2001); Body of Life (1996); and The Venus Hottentot (1990).

Alexander’s critical work appears in her essay collection, The Black Interior (Graywolf, 2004). She also edited The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks (Graywolf, 2005) and Love’s Instruments: Poems by Melvin Dixon (1995). Her poems, short stories, and critical writing have been widely published in such journals and periodicals as The Paris Review, American Poetry Review, The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, Prairie Schooner, Callaloo, The Village Voice, The Women's Review of Books, and The Washington Post. Her work has been anthologized in over twenty collections, and in May of 1996, her verse play, Diva Studies, premiered at the Yale School of Drama.