US President-elect Barack Obama joined an estimated 1.5 million-strong crowd at a pre-inauguration celebration staged two days before his inauguration. "Anything is possible in America," declared the man who will confront economic crisis and two wars when he takes office.
"Despite the enormity of the task that lies ahead - I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States of America will endure - that the dream of our founders will live on in our time," the president-elect said in remarks prepared for the conclusion of a musical extravaganza that featured U2, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and other stars.
Mr Obama and his family held the seats of honor at the event near the base of the Lincoln Memorial from where the crowd stretched toward the Washington Monument several blocks away in the cold, gray afternoon of mid-January.
Mr Obama arrived in the capital yesterday evening following an “Obama Express” whistle-stop train journey from Philadelphia.
Before setting off, the President-elect delivered a speech in which he called for a “new declaration of independence” and for people to help him “rebuild” America.
He said: “Only a handful of times in history has a generation been confronted with challenges so vast.
“An economy that is faltering. Two wars, one that needs to be ended responsibility, one that needs to be waged wisely. A planet that is warming from our unsustainable dependence on oil.”
The oration ended positively, with Mr Obama calling on people to join him in efforts to overcome the challenges.
“Let’s build a government that is responsible to the people, and accept our own responsibilities as citizens to hold our government accountable.
“Let’s all of us do our part to rebuild this country.
“Let’s make sure this election is not the end of what we do to change America, but the beginning.
“Join me in this effort. Join one another in this effort. And together, mindful of our proud history, hopeful for the future, let’s seek a better world in out time.”
Among those chosen to speak at today’s free event are Jamie Foxx, Queen Latifah and Denzil Washington.
Martin Luther King III will also give a reading at the site where his father made his famous 1963 address.
The inclusion of Mr Robinson comes after the bishop criticised the decision to have Rev Rick Warren - who backs a ban on same-sex marriage - give the invocation at Mr Obama’s inauguration.
Mr Robinson became bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 causing a running argument between traditionalists and modernists in the Anglican Church.
He described being asked to give the invocation as “a remarkable and humbling thing to have happened”.
Barack Obama will be sworn in on Tuesday as the 44th President of the United States of America.
Agencies