President Barack Obama: Oh Happy Day!

Wassup, Y'all!

Surreal. Yes, there are a lot of adjectives ol Ty can attribute to yesterday, but the one that sums it up best for me is surreal. From seeing Smooth Barack and his telegenic family arrivin' at the Capitol in that massive motorcade, to seein' Smooth take the oath of office (despite Chief Justice Roberts giving him the wrong words), to seein' Justice Roberts congratulate him as Mr. President, to his well worded inaugural speech and his first entrance to 'Hail to The Chief'. All completely surreal, y'all but oh so satisfying. I watched the coverage over at my boy Cat Daddy's crib with his Madear and we both kept lookin' at the TV screen and askin' each other, 'Can you believe this?' Clearly we still can't. It's gonna take a few for this to all sink in. On my way out back to my crib I ran into my boy Big Mike comin' in and as we dapped up and I congratulated him on our new President, he said, 'You know - I got love for everybody today. Whether folks like the guy or not, I'm movin' on and just being glad in the moment'. Ol Ty couldn't have typed it any better. So I know y'all peeped in to hear my impressions on the day so check me after the jump...

First off - my people will be my people. Now I know it wasn't all southsiders chantin', 'Na,na,na,na, na,na,na,na, hey,hey,hey - goodbye' when GW showed up on the grandstand but I'm sure y'all were thick in the mix and I had to feel a little bad for GW and the fam since this was their last day and all. Even Count Chaney looked all frail and lost in his little wheelchair. I know GW was pretty bad, but no need to kick him on the way out.

Second, 'Chelle, Lil 'Chelle (Malia) and Cool Breeze (Sasha) were laid, y'all. They had the 'Beyonce' hair workin', cute little color coordinate outfits and they looked like they all walked straight off the set of 'The Cosby Show'. The Obamas are the new Huxtables, y'all. I also appreciated that 'Chelle's mama (who, thanks to 'Tini Mack, will now be referred to as the First Madear) fell right into her new role as caretaker of the First Kids. That's all good. I expect some spankins all around when they set some curtains on fire in the White House after playin' with scented candles in their room after being told not too. The First Madear looks like she doesn't play.

Third, there's a reason why I dubbed Barack 'Smooth'. There's no better adjective for homey. He's calm, cool, collected and humorous at every turn. He even tried to help out the Chief Justice when he blew the oath (that joint's like twelve words (okay - thirty-five but you feel me) *and* it's not like he didn't know the day was comin' - what happened to a little practice??). The speech was typical Smooth and homey just seemed so comfortable and poised in the moment. I have no doubt that demeanor will carry on into the Oval Office. He gave all the appropriate shoutouts to let folks know that the US is back in the business of leading the world both by word and deed. Gotta like the sound of that.

Forth, was there a better speaker (besides Smooth) during the ceremony than the Rev. Joseph Lowery (a brother who helped lead the Montgomery Bus Boycott)? Homey could have stayed up there all day. I appreciated him droppin' some of the oh so appropriate words from the 'Black National Anthem' - Lift Every Voice and Sing as well as his keepin' it real at the end by updatin' those old school sayin's by sayin' to the Lord, 'We ask You to work for that day when Black will not be asked to get back, when Brown can stick around, when Yellow will be mellow, when the Red Man can get ahead man and when White will embrace what is right' - ol Ty hit all three amens after that one, y'all. I love that brother.

Finally, I appreciate the appearance that Smooth and 'Chelle put in at the 'Neighborhood Ball' and, more importantly, the importance that they placed on that Ball - the People's ball. A lot of politicians talk the talk but it really seems like these two walk the walk too. They get that it's always been of, for and by the people, not themselves.

I also appreciate the way those two seem to genuinly love each other, the way they looked at each other during their first dance and the very appropriate Beyonce rendition of 'At Last'. 

In my mind, the Presidency has always been about being a leader and a role model and throughout the day (actually from the time he hit the national stage) Smooth proved over and over that he's the right person for job, at the right moment in history.

At last. Oh happy day, y'all. Oh happy day.

Peace@Least,

Tyrone