Inclusion was crammed into Mayor Rahm Emanuel's inauguration to a second term held at the Chicago Theatre May 18. The invocation, prayer for guidance, prayer for peace, blessing and benediction were provided by Monsignor Kenneth Velo, Pastor John Hannah, Professor Inamul Haq, Pastor Lynette Santiago and Rabbi David Wolkenfeld, respectively.
Former Mayor Richard M. Daley, former President Bill Clinton and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin were included on the guest list. Chicago poet Harold Green III provided a stirring rendition of his piece Something to Live For, Lyric Opera Creative Consultant Renee Fleming sang "America the Beautiful," and the Apostolic Church of God Praise Team and Chicago Children's Choir lent their energetic music to the program.
The Chicago Gay Men's Chorus were also incorporated into the agenda as prelude entertainment for people while they were taking their seats in the packed auditorium.
City Clerk Susana A. Mendoza administered the oath of office to the 50 incoming and returning adermen—10 percent of whom identify as LGBT.
Emanuel's inaugural address centered upon the inclusion of what he termed a "lost generation of our city's youth."
"We all know who they are," he said, "although it is easier and sometimes more convenient to ignore them. Many are born into poverty. Many come from broken homes. And many have been on their own from early on."
While extoling the invaluable need of youth programs such as Becoming a Man ( BAM ) and Working on Womanhood ( WOW ), Emanuel asserted that they only reach a fraction of the city's disaffected youth who remain invisible "until we see them in a mug shot as the victim or perpetrator of a senseless crime."
"Their existence is avoided rather than confronted," Emanuel added. "They live in the shadows of our cities—and in the recesses of our minds. But we must make them ever-present in our conversation. They may have been born in poverty, but poverty was not born in them."
In an acknowledgement of forgotten neighborhoods on the South and West sides, Emanuel noted that "years of silence and inaction have walled off a portion of our city. It is time for each of us to start breaking down those walls."
After vowing that over the next four years "I will do everything in my power to spark hope in the eyes of every Chicagoan" through increased wages, employment opportunities, safer streets and stringer schools, Emanuel challenged the city to "be a role model for the young people in your life. Give an adolescent who was born without a prayer his first prayer at getting ahead."
"A generation of children needs our city to stand up for them," Emanuel concluded. "For those children, and for our city, let us today answer that call."
