BrucieWeb

The actions of nine students in the 1950’s are seen as pivotal to the civil rights movement and have helped pave the way for the election of Barack Obama.

BBC World News America has unearthed a fascinating clip of Dr Martin Luther King speaking to the BBC’s Bob McKenzie in 1964 in which Dr King predicts an African-American president “in less than 40 years.”

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and co-operation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land – a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America – they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted – for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and travelled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and ploughed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions – who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them – that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control – that a nation cannot prosper long when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart – not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defence, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with the sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort – even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West – know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honour them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment – a moment that will define a generation – it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter’s courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent’s willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence – the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have travelled. In the year of America’s birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive…that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it].

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

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

Copy on official inauguration site

Arriving at Church

Leaving Church

Leaving the White House with the Bush’s

Preparations at the Capital

Motorcade

Security

Swearing in

Times: Inauguration Images

Times: Ball Images

Obama inauguration: the front pages

I am looking forward to seeing what the sassy young staffers in the new Obama administration are going to do with whitehouse.gov – it’s never been much cop over the years – and Bush has certianly made it dreadfully dull.

But, things are sure to change – this is a very web savvy administration – from the groundbreaking use of barackobama.com in terms of mobilising america and raising unhead of sums, to change.gov and its innovative public engangement features to usaservice.org.

It’s use of Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, Twitter, and many more, both as candidate and then as President Elect, has been unsurpassed. This is a team that really know the internet and how to leverage it.

It sounds like it is going to be great:

The new whitehouse.gov is expected to be the window for what is being touted as a bold experiment in interactive government based largely on lessons learned during the most successful Internet-driven election campaign in history.
“The White House is going to be a very exciting place,” said Macon Phillips, director of New Media for Obama’s transition team. “We’re pushing the envelope here.”

and a real game changer:

Congress is going to have to keep up or risk being taken apart by the New Media tool-kit of the Obama White House as it pushes its legislative agenda, Rosenberg said.
“The expectations of your constituents are going to change,” he said. “You’ll have no choice but to try to follow now that Obama’s changing expectations of what government looks and feels like.”

Change.gov coming to the White House

The Wired Presidency: Can Obama Really Reboot the White House? Great article*

WhiteHouse.gov Overhaul for Obama Administration

BlackBerry-using Barack Obama set to become first President 2.0

Top 10 Online Tools to Connect With the Obama Administration

Bush leaves behind a mixed technology legacy

Obama poised to be first ‘wired’ president

Obama poised to be first ‘wired’ president

Barack Obama’s inauguration: Views from cyberspace

In the News: Change.gov becomes Whitehouse.gov at noon Tuesday

A change in whitehouse.gov

Update – first images from the new site:

Doesn’t it look great? I really like it, and it does not disapoint – it was live right on the second Barack was sworn in – perfect timing – I caught the tail end of the transfer – as the old sites CSS failed.

The first blog posting shows what they have in store.

New White House website angers conservatives with dig at Bush

Kottke: New White House site
 

whitehouse.gov on iPhone by brucieweb

whitehouse.gov on iPhone by brucieweb

Calls for open source government

The BBC article below makes mention of the robots.txt file, quite a techy mention for them, but linked into a take on open gov, it does make sense. Kottke mentioned that straight away.

White House plans open government

The country’s new robots.txt file

Web traffic soars for Obama inauguration

Obama inauguration stops traffic – web traffic, that is

Obama inauguration: where to find coverage online

Campaign by the net, govern by the net

Keeping It Real

Photo Confirms Obama Has Presidential BlackBerry

Obama allowed to keep BlackBerry

Silicon Valley welcomes Obama

I found this article on the Beeb interesting about the anticipated strain on the mobile network in Washington, the steps they are taking to mitigate this is interesting.

As the most technological election ever, it will be interesting if the mobile network will support the millions Twitter, Blog and Flickring today.

Once again, Rory and I are on the same wavelength. He blogged this morning musing whether this was going to be a big new media event, or one for old media. I found this interesting:

But one of my colleagues, who analyses our web traffic, isn’t convinced that the inauguration will be a big online event, pointing out that it doesn’t play to the strengths of the internet.

He told me that big web events involve a lot of data, like an election, or a lot of conflict, with people coming online to argue. With Barack Obama already elected and the sole focus of the event, there is not much information to digest – and not a lot to argue about.

Update: Obama crowds test mobile networks

I was impressed with the BBC online coverage, it barely stuttered over the 2 hours that I was streaming.

whitehouse.gov on iPhone by brucieweb

A day millions fought and died for and a day millions more thought they would never see.

• 0900 GMT (0400 EST): The National Mall opens for people without tickets for the swearing-in ceremony to start entering the area. They will be able to watch on giant screens.
• 1000 GMT (0500 EST): Washington’s Metro system starts running; services are likely to be busy with as many as 2m people expected to congregate in the city centre.
• 1300 GMT (0800 EST): People with tickets to watch the swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol can start entering the area.
• 1455 GMT (0955 EST): President George W Bush and First Lady Laura welcome President-elect Barack Obama and Michelle to the White House for coffee.
• 1500 GMT (1000 EST): The inaugural festivities start. They will include music from the US Marine Band, San Francisco Boys Chorus and San Francisco Girls Chorus.
• 1630 GMT (1130 EST): Mr Obama and Vice-President-elect Joe Biden arrive at the Capitol for the official inaugural ceremony on the West Front Lawn. Mr and Mrs Bush participate at the event. Mr Biden is sworn in as vice-president.
• 1700 GMT (1200 EST): Barack Obama takes the oath of office, administered by using President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural Bible. He then delivers the inaugural address, his first speech as President of the United States. It is expected to last just under 20 minutes.
• 1740 GMT (1240 EST): President Obama escorts former President George W Bush and former Vice-President Dick Cheney as they leave for a departure ceremony.
• 1805 GMT (1305 EST): Mr Obama attends an inaugural lunch in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall.
• 1825 GMT (1325 EST): Mr Bush speaks at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, before boarding a flight for Texas.
• 1920 GMT (1420 EST): Mr Obama begins a review of the troops. The 56th Inaugural Parade then makes its way from the Capitol via Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. Mr Obama watches from a bullet-proof viewing stand between Lafayette Park and the White House. Crowds line the parade route to see the procession pass by – made up of marching bands, military cadets, high school bands, dance troupes, civic organisations and performers, all picked by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
• 0020 GMT (1920 EST): Mr and Mrs Obama leave the White House for the first of 10 official inaugural balls they will attend in the course of the evening. Singer Beyonce will perform the first dance song. They include the Neighbourhood Ball, the Obama Home States (Illinois and Hawaii) Ball, the Biden Home States (Pennsylvania and Delaware) Ball and the Youth Ball. A number of unofficial balls also take place, hosted by various organisations and companies.
• 0725 GMT (0225 EST): The Obamas leave their last ball to return to the White House, their new home.

Overview of the Inauguration

LIVE: Barack Obama inauguration: LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY

BBC Coverage

BBC Special Report

Obama: His Story

Guardian: Obama’s White House

Guardian: Full Coverage

Telegraph: Full coverage

Barack Obama to open new US era

Obama’s day of pageantry

World has ‘high hopes’ for Obama

Obama inauguration maps

Transition day at the White House

Barack Obama inauguration: world waits for the 17 minute speech

Magical spell that will open a new American era

The making of a president

Barack Obama’s speeches: 2002 to 2006

Barack Obama’s speeches: 2006 to February 2008

Barack Obama’s speeches: February 2008 to election night

Watch the inauguration online

Two million descend on Washington to hear Obama tell U.S.: ‘We will walk as one’

From Slave Street to the White House, Michelle Obama’s family history is revealed

Jill Biden lets slip that Obama offered her husband Clinton’s job as Secretary of State

Stage set for first black American president

Barack Obama: new presidential limousine

Barack Obama: redefining the male physique

There will be nowhere to hide when Barack Obama goes live

Barack Obama in real time

Official Obama Photobook Project

What a black president means to me

Obama echoes JFK’s Camelot romance

Tapping deep into America’s past

Barack Obama inauguration: The world celebrates the president’s swearing in

Liveblogging the inauguration of Barack Obama

US BLACK HISTORY MILESTONES

• 1861 – Civil war starts
• 1865 – Civil war ends, leading to abolition of slavery
• 1870 – Hiram Revels is first African-American senator. African-American men gain the vote, but face resistance and intimidation
• 1954 – Civil disobedience campaign starts
• 1963 – Martin Luther King: “I have a dream” speech
• 1964 – Civil Rights Act
• 1965 – Right to vote guaranteed

Technology has been at the heart of the successful Obama campaign, his web site redefined the political use of the medium and for fundraising. Here is an insight into the website that came after to support the transition – change.gov.

The Obama Administation’s commitment to reform and transparency is embodied by the one of the Transition’s most dynamic groups—the TIGR (Technology, Innovation and Government Reform) Team.

The experts who serve in TIGR advocated for some of our most innovative features on Change.gov—including the Citizen’s Briefing Book and Seat at the Table. Watch the video and get to know the people behind the ideas—and let us know your reaction to some of the initiatives they’re proposing.

[Source]

Flickr have opened up a group for people to post their snaps of the Inauguration.