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In 1961, I just finished my education and started work. I was also a newly naturalized US Citizen and voted for the first time in a presidential election. The most memorable line in President Kennedy’s inaugural speech which is now famous - “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”. And he was the first Catholic president in US history. Now 48 years later, my grandson is voting for the first time in his life and we have our first African-American president. The line in Obama’s speech that struck me was – “We are all equal, we are all free, and we all have the same chance to pursuit happiness”. The most memorable scene was the NBC reporter interviewing a pair of 87 and 96 year old African-American women who waited for 9 hours in subzero cold so that they can get a glimpse of the new president as his motorcade passed by. They are so happy to have lived to see this day.
As a minority in the US, this is a historical and poignant day everyone will long remember.