Elroy Reed, Waukegan

"Not in my lifetime" is a phrase many suburban blacks have become accustomed to using when asked about the possibility of seeing an African American elected to the highest office in America.

Elroy Reed is happy that myth finally will be shattered Tuesday.

Reed, publisher of the Waukegan monthly the People's Voice, says he's excited he'll be there when history is made by Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the United States.

"This is a historic event and it's happening during my lifetime, which I didn't expect to happen but I'm glad that it did," said the 48-year-old Waukegan resident, who has met Obama on several occasions. "While we do have a black president, there is still racial discrimination. It hasn't gone away. It is something that we need to be ever conscientious of and work to overcome."

Ironically, the only other presidential inauguration Reed has attended was in 1993 of President Bill Clinton, the man often quipped to be the first black president of United States for his sensitivity to the needs and issues African Americans' face.

Reed said while Clinton had a more diverse cabinet than Obama is putting together, he is hopeful Obama's initiatives will bring about a stronger economy and more job opportunities.

Reed will have a front-row seat to Obama's swearing-in ceremony merely 53 years after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat at the front of a bus to a white passenger in Montgomery, Ala., considered one of the turning points of the Civil Rights Movement.

"I hope my life experience is enriched by witnessing this historic occasion," Reed said. "I think that there are a lot of challenges that the new administration will face. I think we're going to have to be patient as a nation."

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