GET YOUR REVOLUTION ON: Inauguration ’09 far south side style

April Lawson, NBC Chicago Street Team

If you’re like me, sometimes the best way to get your revelry on is in a small intimate gathering, not with hordes of strangers in excessive temperatures. Somewhere safe, controlled and semi private. I found an inconspicuous storefront on 83^rd Street with a couple dozen African American babyboomers chillin in front of a large flat screen watching history unfold.

It was a realty office turned makeshift store called Obama44 . Inside were colorful painted walls with an array of Obama paraphernalia from the usual t-shirts to unique items like coasters and handmade jewelry. Just 9 weeks ago real estate brokers Marvis Hardy and Ruby Davis were just ladies collecting memorabilia. How did they start selling it?

“I began making a lot of things, and when people started asking for them, we began taking orders from as far away as Texas. We realized we had a good thing going on here!”

Obama44 is located on 738 E. 83^rd Street just a block west of Cottage Grove. They will be open for business until the end of February after which they hope to be exclusively online.