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Dreaming a Bigger Dream

Howard University News Service

For so many, watching the inauguration of America’s first black president live on television just wasn’t sufficient.

So, bearing the cold at 7 a.m., on Inauguration Day, Washington native 6-year-old Ciara Hargrove and her father watched from the streets along with the multitudes that descended on the capital – all the while nurturing a dream of her own.

she was willing, with some urging from her father, to share it as they sought refuge from the cold in a Starbucks on a corner of D.C.’s most famous street – Pennsylvania Avenue.

“No girl has been president,” Ciara said boldly. “I want to be the first girl.”

As for how she would conduct her future administration, Ciara, who earlier had gladly talked about how she danced in a production at nearby Howard University, turned bashful. “I’ll just try to do my best,” the would-be future president said.

Of President-elect Barack Obama, Ciara spoke knowingly. “He’s going to be the 44th president,” she declared, and she was pleased, with occasional glances toward her father for approval, to share her opinions about the man and what he represents. The president-elect is a good man, she asserted, because “he’s trying to stop smoking.”

And then her high-pitched voice rose even higher when she added, perhaps thinking about her own dream, that now “maybe another black person can be president.”