Inauguration Of New Hope

By Dennis Edwards
Editorial Page Columnist

The simplicity was touching. The goodwill quietly evident from the beginning. The return of harmony, kindness and a new kind of hope to the Virginia State Capitol came gently, like a misty rain, during the Inauguration of Governor Abigail Spanberger. But this was no random celebration. It was backed by strategic and swift action as the new Governor moved on several fronts to erase and wipe away the meanness of Former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s  Republican Administration.

The Ceremony itself was done with a program steeped in the joy of the return of a welcoming sense of inclusivity. The kind of “Quality of Mercy” so very much like what Shakespeare described as “not strained.” It dropped on a chilly day “as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blest, blessed of those who give and him that takes.”

The hope is that what we take away from the start of this new administration is the beginning of a return to the dignity and grace of life and living Virginia stands for. A government that rejects President Donald Trump’s lawlessness to re-embrace Thomas Jefferson’s self evident truths “that all men (and women) are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence.

After her Inauguration Governor Spanberger signed 10 executive orders with directives on affordability charged with identifying cost savings for families. There’s a much needed focus on which state-facilitated services are threatened by new federal policies. A directive to seek out housing regulations that may be cut in order to spur new home and apartment construction. An order shining the spotlight on housing, health care, energy, education, child care and living expenses are of particular concern. The list, as they say, goes on.

In her speech she said “We are setting the tone for what Virginians can expect over the next four years: pragmatic leadership focused on lowering costs and delivering results.”

But under the shadow of these and more executive actions rests the particulars of a simple and most inclusive inauguration led by the Speaker of the House Don Scott. It was a warm display of diversity on a chilly day reflecting Virginia’s rich and rugged history.

Virginia State University’s Concert Choir, Gospel Chorale and Step Team,  The Virginia National Guard, NSU’s Marching Band, Girl Scouts, Park Rangers, Mascots and a host of diverse community organizations took part.

I was moved, quite frankly, by the Native American Tribal Dance performed by 11 federally recognized Indian tribe members from Virginia. They performed what’s called a traditional “Blessing of the Ground” ceremony at the south Portico. This was not just a blessing of the grounds but more so a spiritual affirmation of the return to state government, of a respect for inclusivity and equality by an administration determined to be a bulwark, an inclusive defensive wall, against the escalating tyranny emanating from the most dangerous White House our nation’s ever known.

Dennis Edwards is a Major Market Emmy and Virginia AP Press Broadcasters Award Winning Television and Radio News Anchor, Investigative  Reporter, Editorial Page Columnist and Pastor. A graduate of Virginia Union University and its Samuel Dewitt Proctor School of Theology, Copyright January 2025.

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