The Swamp logo

January 20th 2021: Welcome back America.

Why Joe Biden’s inauguration felt like a call from an old friend

By Leo Dis VinciPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
1
Words matter, portrait of Joe Biden with Joe

In the last few hours, the tears have rolled down my face as I watched the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.

Maybe it's the lockdown.

Maybe it's because the last four years of my life have been punctuated with heart-breaking personal losses, like my 's suicide.

Or maybe it was because I vividly remember watching Trump win the 2016 US election with a best friend who passed away unexpectedly, aged 35, only a few weeks later

Whatever the reason for my waterworks, watching a man who's come through so much personal loss speak with such humility, such hope, and without the hatred that was so familiar to his predecessor, moved me to tears.

It felt like for the first time in four years; I had heard the calm, peaceful, loving voice of my Dad or the supportive words of my best friend.

We've missed you America. I've missed you. I've missed hearing about the dream that you have, that we all have. The aim to be better and to do better. The ideals of equality, unity and most of all love. We believe in the American Story, we do.

As a child of the 1980s, growing up in an industrial town in the North of England, I was raised on a wholesome diet of Americana and its ideals through TV and VHS. Every movie I watched, every hero I wanted to be, every dream I had revolved around being in or going to America. You were a magical place. Well, into my teens, I lived under the belief that kids in America already had hoverboards. Mythical, magic, unique – that's how I viewed you.

Yes, the older and wiser I got the more I realised you weren't perfect. You had flaws. Some pretty significant flaws to be honest, but you were still a friend with a backstory I believed in and was willing to support. We had a real connection.

We had been through stuff together. After a year travelling, I remember, aged 18, flying home from your shores on September 11th 2001. A day both our worlds changed. Or the last family holiday together in NYC with my Dad - you really meant something to me.

But then, in the last four years, you changed. You really changed. You got mean. You got nasty. You weren't a friend; you were a bully. You were embarrassing to be around. You let yourself go. Obesity and fake tan; you were a different shade of who you were meant to be.

And in the last few weeks, you sunk to an all-time low, you regressed to being a big baby - a petulant sore loser. A nasty screaming baby who was sulking because you hadn't got what it wanted. I began to hate you. We all did.

For a brief moment, you looked like you were willing to throw away everything you had and once stood for. You looked like you were willing to give up on your own story. For a moment, you looked like, well hell, you looked like you were going to stop being American. Everything we loved about you, to be thrown away and for what? All for a name?

America is more than any one name. America is not one person; it's a people. It's not ideology; its an ideal. It's not a nightmare; it's a dream. You're a place of unity, not division.

But today, today I heard, we all heard those words again—unity, hope, love, freedom, peace. The chapters of your story, of who you are, were spoken with heart and soul once more.

Once again, you promised, "to lead not by the example of power but the power of example." Like Rocky, like John McClain, like Marty McFly, like all the American heroes I loved as a kid – you were back and fighting. And it felt good just like an 80's movie. Just like the Goonies never say die, America never says die too - right?

As Joe Biden spoke, as Amanda Gorman recited, as Silvester Beaman prayed and as my tears fell to the floor, for the first time in four years I heard the voice of the America I loved. The voice that says deep down, we are all the same and we all love. A country, a friend, built on the dream and ideal that humans can be the best we can be.

Joe said it. Silvester said it. But perhaps, Amanda Gorman, the girl who once had the same kind of speech impediment that I had as a kid, said it best that when we have a friend like you who dares to dream and imagine the impossible then "there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it."

I need that light in my life again. Right now, we all do. Happy to have you back old friend, time to shine as bright as fifty stars in the dark night.

humanityhistorypolitics
1

About the Creator

Leo Dis Vinci

UK-based creative, filmmaker, artist and writer. 80s' Geek, Star Wars fan and cinephile.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.