January 20, 2021. Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C., with the backdrop of the Capitol, ravaged only two weeks earlier. The day’s plans were made under strict COVID-19 protocols and expanded security concerns, exchanging the crowds of people who flock to the District for a sea of flags on the mall. It’s traditionally a day of pomp and ceremony, signifying to the world that the United States is able to fulfill its commitment to a post-election peaceful transfer of power.
For the people-watchers among us, the glittering black-tie balls offer a glimpse of glamour as we wait to see what the first lady will wear to the biggest dance of her life. Edith Wilson wore black velvet, with an eight-foot sequined train. Mamie Eisenhower danced in pink, with two thousand sparkling rhinestones. Rosalynn Carter wore chiffon, and caught some flack because she wore the same gown for her husband’s gubernatorial inauguration six years earlier. Nancy Reagan and Michelle Obama went with one-shoulder dresses for their first inaugural balls, while Melania Trump chose an off-the-shoulder ensemble for the 2017 ball.
This year, the balls were cancelled, and the closest we came to eveningwear was the glorious red skirt with the accompanying dove of peace, worn by Lady Gaga as she sang The Star Spangled Banner. Otherwise, we had to be content with smiling at Senator Sander’s mittens, or comparing the dresses of the first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, former first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama, who won style points with her gold belt, and Vice President Kamala Harris, stunning in purple.
Twitter was awash with comments as to why the new Veep chose purple. It’s a favorite color of mine, but I doubt she thought of Jenny Joseph’s poem, “Warning,” that begins with this classic line: “When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, with a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me . . . and learn to spit!”
Some thought it was because purple historically spoke of royalty, or to honor Shirley Chisholm. Perhaps it was a nod to the suffragettes, generally known to wear white, but also known as the “color of loyalty, constancy to purpose, unswerving steadfastness to a cause,” as the National Woman’s Party of the U.S. wrote in 1913. Or, as former Secretary of State Clinton noted, she saw the purple of her own pant suit as a combination of red and blue, a symbol of unity, the theme of President Biden’s inaugural remarks.
What a quintet of women, each with her own giftedness that far overshadows the color of her inauguration ensemble. Yet it was America’s Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, clothed in brilliant yellow. who captured the attention of a nation this week. Not because of her yellow coat or red hat, but because of the words the twenty-two year old spoke so prophetically to her country. Phrases from “The Hill We Climb” are springing up as internet memes, powerful in their sound-bite nature, but it’s so worth watching her performance in its entirety, available at your favorite on-line site.
She began, “When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade.” Her final words answer her opening question: “We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover in every known nook of our nation in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful, when the day comes we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid, the new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Her grandmother Vill Harmon said, “Such a proud day. Our family – from slavery to the podium of a Presidential Inauguration,” one of many profound takeaways from Inauguration Day 2021. Say it loud. We still live in a land of possibility. A boy with a stutter from Scranton, PA. A girl with brown skin, Indian and Jamaican blood. A skinny black girl, descended from slaves. Indeed, this land was made for you and me.
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