President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle visited the White House yesterday in a symbolic moment in the transition of power. President Bush and Obama sat in the Oval Office with no aides or note-takers and discussed the economic crisis, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and other challenges facing the incoming administration. It was Obama’s first time inside the storied office that has come to symbolize American power around the world. Meanwhile, first lady Laura Bush led Michelle Obama inside the White House residence for a tour of what will soon be her family"s new home.
The visit marked yet another first for the nation, as an African American came to tour the White House as president-elect. Last week we spoke with Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, one of the most celebrated writers from Latin America. This is what he had to say of Obama entering the White House.

Eduardo Galeano.

We turn now to Alice Walker, the celebrated author, poet and activist, speaking from Berkeley, California.

Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet and activist. In 1983, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her book The Color Purple. She has written many other bestselling books, including In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens and Possessing the Secret of Joy. Her most recent is We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: Inner Light in a Time of Darkness. She recently wrote an open letter to Barack Obama posted online at “TheRoot.com.” http://www.theroot.com/id/48726

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