New Routes Deputy Director Travels to Obama Inauguration

http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/433819

Good friends Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, Rissel Sanderson, Fabiola Hamdan and Brenda Gonzalez, all from Madison, pose at the presidential inauguration in Washington, D.C., Tuesday.

...Despite the size of the crowd "people were united," Gonzalez said.

Brenda Gonzalez (New Routes Deputy Director), 40, of Madison, and three close friends yelled "Yes, we can" in Spanish, she said. All four are immigrants, and Gonzalez said she was pleased that Obama mentioned how the country's early citizens had packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life here.

"Making references like that will open the eyes of many that this is a country made of immigrants," she said. "Hopefully, this is a message that will carry over with his voice and his leadership."

Gonzalez said there was a feeling of oneness among spectators despite the crowd's huge size. "In that moment, people were united, and I think this president will unite us."...

Read the full article at the Wisconsin Journal.

Topics: Building Community, Founding American Values, History, Immigration