Granddaughter of former slaves talks about Inauguration trips

More than a million people came away from Tuesday’s Presidential Inauguration with memories of a lifetime.  And that includes many Eastern Carolinians and a very special woman from Georgetown; she’s 92, and the granddaughter of former slaves.

Miss Minnie Kennedy, as she’s known, has many memories of the time she spent in Washington D.C. for President Obama’s Inauguration and now she has several permanent reminders of her historic trip.

“It was amazing to think that it seemed like everybody was thinking the same thing, I got to be well-behaved, this is an important moment, I had a feeling that that was in everybody’s mind, this is an important American historical moment.  I wasn’t thinking that it was blacks making history, this time it was America making history, that’s what I was thinking, that’s why I had tears in my eyes all that day.”  Kennedy said.

Kennedy and her friend Tanya Sisk sat in between the stage and the reflecting pool for the ceremony and even though it was bitterly cold, Kennedy said the huge mass of humanity was peaceful and respectful.  “It was the most humane kind of getting together that I’ve been in, in a long time, if I ever was in one that felt so humane, nobody was a stranger to each other.“

Kennedy, who brought back newspapers, T-shirts, buttons, her Inauguration program, a special metro card pass, and of course the ticket to the ceremony, says after 92 years, January 20th, 2009, changed her life forever.  “From the time I was born until Tuesday, I could not say those last six words of the Pledge of Allegiance, with liberty and justice for all was never part of my life.” 

Kennedy said she stood on her chair at the ceremony to recite the pledge, so everyone could hear her.  And while she said she had fun, it was deeper than that Kennedy said she was part of something much bigger than herself.  “In my mind, I was not a black person fighting for rights, I was witnessing America making rights, this time it was America’s show.“

Kennedy was so touched that she thinks every January 20th should be celebrated as “America’s Day.“
 
Kennedy also met Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) while she was in Washington, to personally thank him for her tickets.  When they met, the senator extended his hand, but Kennedy said, no, we’re going to hug.