Reflections on the Presidential Inauguration from the Executive Director
Tuesday, January 20, 2009

On Sunday, January 18, 2009, I boarded a plane at SFO with my African American partner and our 15 year old African American son, bound for BWI (Baltimore International Airport). We were making a journey that would culminate in the inauguration of the first African American president of the United States.

On the holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., I was at a day-long policy institute, Our Place at the Table, convened by the National Minority AIDS Council. I participated on a panel presenting a national HIV action agenda on behalf of nine leading national minority HIV/AIDS organizations. We dialogued and learned from key people working with then President-Elect Obama, including Winnie Stachelberg (Center for American Progress), Brian Bond (Deputy Director, White House Office of Public Liaison), and Marc Morial (President/CEO, National Urban League). It is my sincere hope that these efforts will influence how the administration of President Obama will address and diminish the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Executive Director Lance Toma presenting at Our Place at the Table.

I was there with the 1+ million others—a witness to history. We were all witnesses in this historic moment.

All present were there for ourselves, our families and friends, and those who were not able to be there. So many have died—we were there for them. And, so many couldn’t be there but were watching from afar. We were there in DC for them, too. This was clear and powerful, an expectation set by and for President Obama. We represent many and this is our responsibility. Our problems are big but not bigger than our collective ability to find solutions. Our voice is our own, of our ancestors, and must be used in service of justice and peace for everyone. Our power must be realized and harnessed in service of our global village.

From left to right: Brian Bond (speaking); Ravinia Hayes-Cozier, NMAC; Ronald; Rebecca Haag, AIDS Action; Cornelius Baker, National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition; Lance Toma, A&PI Wellness Center; James Albino

The America that President Obama talked about was right there in front of us. Everyone’s hopes and passions and struggles, past and present, were out in the open on the Mall. The weight of this was at once overwhelming and light, painful and exhilarating, deeply lugubrious and wonderfully magical. My eyes were fixed on the Washington Monument, my back buttressed by the Lincoln Memorial, and my soul centered on the distant horizon,  the dome of the Capitol, where my president was clearly visible. 

I thought of my mother’s father, who gave up his educational aspirations and made the hard journey from Okinawa to Kaua’i, Hawai’i, to work the sugar cane fields. I thought of my father’s parents and their rise from sugar cane plantations to successful business owners. I thought of my own relationship to my President Barack Obama, born and schooled in Hawai’i, choosing to live in Chicago, having family of African and Asian descent.

I felt, maybe for the first time in my life, my own place in the history of our country.

Lance Toma, LCSW
Executive Director