Authors, Entertainers and Citizens Sound Off
Jan 20 2009: True Stories, Real People, One Day
NEW YORK, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- WEbook (www.webook.com), a Web-enabled community-sourced publishing company, announced today the publication of Jan 20 2009: True Stories, Real People, One Day, an on-the-ground account of Barack Obama's inauguration as the 44th president of the United States. The essay collection is available beginning President's Day, February 16, which also falls in the heart of perhaps the most historic Black History Month of our time.
Jan 20, 2009 is a commemorative collection of essays and accounts written by a mix of 58 citizen journalists and a number of bestselling authors. Contributors include American Book Award-winner and 2009 NAACP Image Award-winner Tananarive Due, Washington Wizards' NBA player/poet Etan Thomas, Malinda Williams, a star of Showtime's hit series Soul Food, a Ugandan journalist, a volunteer who spearheaded an important, grassroots Obama campaign office in the critical state of Florida, and a 15-year-old high school student and star debater from Maryland.
Jan 20, 2009 is a collection of writing as immediate as the moment it chronicles--it is history written by the real people who make it. Leveraging the speed and agility of the internet, the printed book is available less than a month after the inauguration, making it the first published book capturing this historic moment in American history.
"It's just a wonderfully varied and poignant eyewitness chronicle of a watershed day in American history," said WEbook President Sue Heilbronner. "We were astonished to see the breadth of the submissions; from high-school students to senior citizens, well-known people to everyday people, Americans to Africans, Europeans and Central Americans--a variety representative of not just the American experience but the global spirit."
Jan 20, 2009 is available now for $9.99 at WEbook.com (http://www.webook.com/Store/jan20-book) and Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Jan-20-2009-Stories-Inauguration/dp/1935003062/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234565459&sr=8-1)
Excerpts:
Monday, on Martin Luther King Day, my sister and I walked along that same Mall with my father and saw excerpts from a Barack Obama speech on Jumbotrons with other eager attendees. Obama's voice rang from end to end, but we could all hear Dr. King beneath him. In the crowd around us, race had vanished in the wonder-filled eyes and shining faces.
Home. It felt like coming Home.
-Tananarive Due, American Book Award winner, co-author of Freedom in the Family and NAACP Image Award winning author of Blood Colony.
In my lifetime, the walls of separatism, racism and hatred have slowly begun to tumble. This is by no means a post-racial America; it is, however, a progressive America. It is a country that has opened its heart to change.
-Victoria Christopher Murray, best-selling novelist, author of JOY, Truth be Told, and Grown Folks Business.
I never imagined it could happen in my lifetime
As my mind turns back the hands of crimes to a time when we were rattled in chains
Captured in segregation's pain
But we've climbed our way up the mountainside and claimed our prize
Our eyes refused to lose focus
-Etan Thomas, published poet and the center for the NBA's Washington Wizards. He was extremely active in the Obama campaign.
I think about the New Deal that helped my great grandfather pave highways. I wonder if Mr. Obama has something bold in store for us. But even if he doesn't have that New Deal spirit, it doesn't matter. Ultimately, change has to be inside of each of us.
-Dave Malone, poet, vegetarian, and aspiring marathoner.
Our eyes expressed a spirit of determination, energy, and light. We were a varied group with faces that were wrinkled and smooth, multi-hued, work-weary, and even a few stress-free. Initially strangers, we bonded with the shared belief that the ship of our union was in peril.
- Susan Skolfield, who funded and ran a grassroots Obama campaign office in Winter Park, Florida.
At about 5 p.m., my 18-year-old son Cory called in a panic. "It's been five hours, and there's been no change. Where's the change? I expected rocket jet packs and robot maids. But I still have to walk three blocks to the grocery store to buy my macaroni and cheese, and I had to cook it myself."
-Larry King, postal worker from Montana.
About WEbook
WEbook hopes to do for publishing what Linux did for software, what American Idol did for music, and what Wikipedia did for information. WEbook is leading the convergence between the Internet and publishing by creating a new category, Community-Sourced Books. WEbook was founded by Itai Kohavi and is backed by Greylock Partners Israel, and Vertex. The company is based in New York City. For more information on WEbook, visit http://www.WEbook.com.
