FLINT, Michigan --Â As buses carrying hundreds of local people embark on a journey to witness Barack Obama's historic inaugural address, Flint resident Willa Hawkins reflects on a similar bus ride --Â one that ended with her captivated by Martin Luther King Jr.'s soaring "I Have a Dream Speech" more than 45 years ago.
"I never thought I would live to see the day when a black would be seated as president of the United States," said Hawkins, a former county commissioner. "Martin Luther King alluded to this in his speech and we're getting there."We're touching the hem of the garment that he laid out for us."
An estimated 500 people or more from Genesee County are traveling by bus, plane or car to the nation's capital for Obama's inauguration -- when he will be sworn in as the 44th president the day after the King holiday.
All told, millions of people are expected to crowd the National Mall to hear his historic speech.
Hawkins, 73, imagines that the crowd on those inauguration-bound buses will be just as exhilarated as the one she traveled with that sweltering summer in 1963. The movement against racial justice was sweeping the United States and Hawkins, in her 20s at the time, yearned to get caught up in the excitement.
Just like she yearns to witness Obama's swearing in.
Her voice aches with sadness at the thought of missing this moment in history, but she said her husband's health prevents her from hopping on a bus to D.C.
"I would love it," she said. "This is how America ought to be. I imagine the speech is going to be just as great and I can't be there."
Locally, people are celebrating the King holiday by carrying on his legacy of fellowship and benevolence. Several youth programs will carry out service projects and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Flint will hold its third annual Inspiration Breakfast, which will pair more than 20 little sisters and brothers with adults for the day.
King's speech was the crowning glory of his March on Washington, which drew more than 250,000 people --Â a fraction of what is expected at the Capitol on Tuesday when Obama becomes the first black U.S. president.
Hawkins remembers winding her way through the crowd to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where King delivered those uplifting words:
"I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"
Decades later, it still gives Hawkins goosebumps.
"It was a sea of humanity and everybody was playing the same note. Everybody was on the same page," said Hawkins, a past president of the county Democratic party. "It was an exuberant and energized and upbeat kind of experience. It changed my life."
Many local people headed for Obama's inauguration expect it to be a life-shaping experience. Cheryl Jackson, 45, is traveling with her husband, children and members of her extended family.
"We all live in different states, but we're going to come together and witness this as a family," she said. "I'm most excited about being in the atmosphere and having everyone come together regardless of race or color --Â having everyone there in unity, coming together of one accord."
Like Hawkins with her memories of King's famous speech, 17-year-old Alec Falkenhagen said he's looking forward to being able to look back on the experience. He's traveling with a group of students from Lapeer East High School.
"I'll be able to say that I was there," he said. "I'm witnessing this point in history that's going to be talked about for generations and generations and hundreds of years."
In the intervening years since Hawkins' bus ride, she has seen race riots in her home state, King's assassination and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. She's also witnessed the integration of Genesee County's predominantly all-white neighborhoods and the passage of a Fair Housing ordinance in Flint.
"I remember making signs that said 'What color is your money?' and marching outside the loan offices," she said. "We've come a long way since then.
"There is still a ways to go, but it's there on the horizon
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