Watching the Inauguration from a Former Slave Market

Alexandria, VA--We Alexandrians think of Market Square as the heart of this city of 128,000. Every Saturday, at the farmers' market, we come to buy fruit, vegetables, eggs, meat and prepared foods, especially bread and pasta. In continuous operation since 1753, this may well be the nation's oldest such market. George Washington, who regularly went to church and conducted business in Alexandria, also sent some of his crops to be sold here.

Eighteenth-century Alexandria was a thriving port that shipped tobacco abroad and imported manufactured goods. It also trafficked in human cargo. The Market Square of that day was the site of the second largest slave market in the American colonies.

This afternoon, in this square and on the Mall in Washington, just five miles to the north, the descendants of slaves bore witness to an event their forebears could not have imagined: the inauguration of an African American as President of the United States.

Market Square today was filled with hundreds of people, kids and dogs in tow, watching the inauguration ceremonies on a Jumbotron. In spite of wind and cold, our spirits were high as we punctuated Barrack Obama's inaugural speech with cheers and the sound of gloved hands pounding.

In 2005, then-Senator Obama came to Market Square to support Tim Kaine's gubernatorial campaign. I saw him here again in 2006 on two occasions when he spoke on behalf of Jim Webb's Senate race. The charismatic force Obama would bring to his own campaign was evident then.

In November, Kaine and Webb returned the favor and barnstormed the Commonwealth on his behalf. Coupled with a bottom-up campaign that mobilized tens of thousands of new voters, they turned Virginia blue, giving Obama nearly 53 percent of the vote. In Alexandria -- the bluest of the blue -- 72 percent of us voted for Obama.

In his speech this afternoon, our new President reflected on how much the country has changed, marveling that "a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."

It was a reminder of how far we've come as a nation. But as Obama made clear: "Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

And so the work begins.