Spotting the REAL celebrities in town for the Inauguration

We all know that the inauguration of any new president is historic and steeped in a special measure of symbolism and pride in our country--regardless of whether you voted for the guy or not.

But we also know that the inauguration of Barack Obama as our nation's 44th president was more historic, more symbolic and more exciting than any previous inauguration. My friends and family who could not make the trip down to DC to share in the experience firsthand sent me text messages, e-mails and the occasional phone call to find out what it was like to be here in the "thick of it," as my mother said. Though many of their messages included words like "hope," "change" and "inspiring" others asked the question that people have probably been asking since the days of George Washington's inauguration: "See any good celebrities?"

And I did--from Sting, to Forest Whitaker, Susan Sarandon, Ashley Judd, Glenn Close and many others--all of whom I dutifully kept track of for the benefit of my girlfriends back in Houston and New York, right alongside the "prom pictures" from various balls my mom asked me to take so she could see the fun, festive and in some cases elaborate gowns everyone wore.

But truth be told these were not the celebrities that I came to see. While Barack Obama was clearly the belle of the ball, so to speak, the celebrities who made me go speechless and weak in the knees were the ones who made this moment possible for him and for me.

In his inaugural speech Obama paid homage to the historic nature of his election as the nation's first African-American president by noting that it is a testament to our country's greatness that he could take the oath of office as president in a place where his father may not have been able to be served a meal less than sixty years ago. But Obama could have gone even further. He could have noted that during our nation's first inauguration more than two centuries ago, it is possible that the only way his father--an African immigrant--could have entered the country of which his son his now Commander-in-Chief would have been as cargo. He could have also said that during many of our country's earliest inaugurations, the only way African-Americans were likely to be in attendance would have been as property. But to his credit Obama kept the speech largely uplifting and inspiring and looking ahead, not back.

But the fact that our country has been able to come so far and accomplish so much in the last few decades in regards to race relations is why in spite of multiple A-list celebrity sightings and interactions, I practically knocked over two people to get to Julian Bond. Bond was one of the founders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, better known as (SNCC) which was the driving force behind some of the most famous and influential activism of the civil rights movement, including sit-ins, freedom rides as well as the famous March on Washington. Bond actually co-founded the organization as a college student. (Talk about making those of us in our late twenties feel like underachievers...)

Without Julian Bond, and others like him, there would be no Barack Obama. There would also be no me, or any other young African-American living, succeeding and pursuing Dr. King's dream in an integrated, diverse America. I believe this inauguration was just as much his moment, and the moment of others like him, as it was Obama's.

There is a famous photo the legendary Richard Avedon took of Bond and other members of SNCC in the 1960's, which has long served as the screensaver on my laptop. It will now be replaced with the photo I have with Bond from this inauguration.