MIAMI — Alonzo Mourning had stopped in a Washington pharmacy to pick up a few items when something unusual caught the basketball star’s eye.
For sale: Barack Obama shot glasses.
Back in March 2007, when records show Mourning made his first donation to the Obama campaign, the retired Heat center simply couldn’t imagine such a thing. Then he saw Obama lure a gargantuan crowd for a campaign stop in Berlin, followed by massive turnouts at the Democratic National Convention, and Mourning really began believing that victory could happen.
“Truly amazing,” Mourning said. “I mean, truly amazing the following he had.”
And Tuesday, Mourning will be part of that following.
He’ll be among the 2 million or more in Washington to see Obama become the nation’s 44th president, the first black man to hold the office, a milestone event that generations of minorities in this country probably believed would never come.
“You think of the historical significance behind an African-American leading the free world,” Mourning said Saturday. “I mean, just think of that. It’s truly reason to celebrate.”
Mourning and his family arrived in the nation’s capital Friday.
On Sunday, 50 students and chaperones left Miami on a bus that Mourning — who has spent years working with disadvantaged children in South Florida and has raised millions through his Alonzo Mourning Charities — paid for so they could see the inauguration as well.
“Man, you want all kids to see this,” Mourning said. “You really do. You want them all to see this. You really want all young people to see the significance of this.”
