CHICAGO – From barber shops and restaurants to college halls and churches, thousands of Illinoisans paused to witness the inauguration of Chicagoan Barack Obama as the nation’s first black president.

Cheers erupted and tears flowed as Obama took the oath of office Tuesday.

Dozens gathered at the Mellow Yellow restaurant in Obama’s Hyde Park neighborhood to share a moment most only had dreamed about.

They stood out of respect as he took the oath.

Sixty-five-year-old Laverne Mangum repeatedly yelled “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Mangum says she never believed in a million years that she would see an African-American become president.