Inauguration Day impressions

These are reflections from some UAW members who attended President Barack Obama’s inauguration Jan. 20. UAW Local 2209 members Lisa McDavid and Constance Rowe-Sullivan, who work at General Motors’ Vehicle Manufacturing plant in Fort Wayne, Ind., traveled with Sandy Smith, a UAW Local 2145 member at Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Michigan in Grand Rapids. Mike Green, UAW Local 652 president, is from GM’s Lansing (Mich.) Grand River facility.

From left, Connie Rowe-Sullivan, Lisa McDavid, Sandy Smith and Kim Rowe, Rowe-Sullivan’s niece.

Mike Green, right, and his son Rollin.

'A new day has come’
McDavid: "As we took off in the airplane I got nervous. To ease my spirit I looked out the window at the horizon toward sunrise, the sky gleamed red, white and blue – almost a rainbow effect. A new day had come."

'There were no boundaries’
Rowe-Sullivan: "The crowd had no color … no boundaries, no 'us and them,’ man or woman. We were so much of a family. Age and race, none of it mattered."

'See the hope’
Green: "With the millions in attendance, everyone watched out for each other. … You could look into their faces and see the hope for a new beginning and the time to change course for America."

'An electrifying experience’
Smith: "This inauguration was an electrifying experience. Sharing this with other UAW friends and my daughter, Tracy Perry (who also attended), made it a very wonderful and memorable occasion."

'Historical moment’
Green: "What made this trip even more special was that my son, Rollin, came with me. It was great to see him be a part of this historical moment in our country."

'To be part of a dream’
McDavid: "In all I had studied and knew of black history, I was finally able to be part of a dream so many African Americans never lived to see. I was honored by that thought and emotional … as I thought of those who had come before me"

The Workers' Words feature in Solidarity showcases the creativity of UAW members, active and retired, and their families. Whether writing about their jobs, families, friends or a political issue, our union's brothers and sisters reflect a pride in working people often missing from the regular media.

E-mail your story, article or poem (400 words or less) to uawsolidarity@uaw.net; mail to Solidarity magazine, 8000 E. Jefferson Ave., Detroit, MI 48214 ATTN: WORKERS' WORDS; or fax to (313) 926-5120.