Queen Latifah

QUEEN LATIFAH: This afternoon, we are celebrating not just the inauguration of a new president, but the ongoing journey of America to be America. Through the decades, those looking for the meaning of America have gathered here. In 1939, one of America’s greatest artists, Marian Anderson, was denied permission to sing at Washington’s Constitution Hall by an organization called the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was rejected because of the color of her skin. At the urging of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Ms. Anderson was invited to sing on these steps under the protective gaze of Abraham Lincoln to a gathering of 75,000 people. Ms. Anderson chose as her first song one that expressed her feelings towards her country. She inspired all those who heard her, people who were standing where you are today.