Hope for nation and family

When Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States today, North Hollywood blues singer Latrice West will be thinking about family. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The granddaughter of sharecroppers, West will take her place among hundreds of thousands of others on the two-mile-long National Mall. But she'll be surrounded by 17 of her relatives, ages 5 to 62, who also flew into Washington, D.C., from all corners of the country.

"There will be a lot of hugs and a lot of tears," said the grandmother, who spent her childhood in Texas, as she fought back tears.

"My grandmother saw slavery," West said. "I've seen lynchings and segregation. This is about our family's struggle."