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Fly guy (literally) Marquis Wright, 28, is a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines who got stuck on the fringes of Grant Park Nov. 4, 2008, and found a memorable experience.

Marquis Wright and his twin, Marquita, are the youngest of five children of Pamela Frazier.

The 28-year-old has been employed with Southwest Airlines since 2001, working his way up from ramp agent to operations staff to flight attendant.

A graduate of Kenwood Academy, he attended Northern Illinois University for a year before transferring to Harold Washington Community College. He attended Harold Washington a year and a half when Southwest participated in a job fair at the school.

He applied, was hired, and left school for a dream job with good pay and benefits.

As a flight attendant, he flies for free with his airline, so he flew into Washington, D.C. Friday with friends who also work for Southwest. (No other seats were available as flights were booked solid after Friday).

Like others already in D.C., Marquis and his friends have been celebrating since arrival.

Here, he recounts his experience on that historic Nov. 4 night -- an experience that inspired him and a lot of other Generation Xers to attend the inauguration.

Where were you on election night?

Michael Frazier, Jr. never thought he'd live to see a black president.
Inset: His brother, Marquis Wright, a flight attendant, is taking a week off to attend the inauguration.

Michael Frazier Jr. describes himself as so many other Americans -- living
paycheck to paycheck.

So the 36-year-old South Sider says he can't afford time off from his Museum
of Science & Industry job to join his family on their "Road Trip to the
White House."

His mother, Pamela Frazier of Marquette Park, is taking nine family members
on the three-day bus trip to the Capitol.

Going are Michael's two sons, Michael III, 16, and Mylon, 13, who he
believes need to witness the inauguration of a black president.

"I love my boys to death," says the father, struggling to keep them in an
apartment in upwardly mobile Beverly with his wife of 15 years.

"I'm grateful they'll be there to witness history -- a president sworn in
that looks like them. I never thought I'd see it," he says.

See editorial by Black Star Project founder Phillip Jackson on state of young black males

Email your answer to his question