Rev. Lowery Honored to Participate in Inauguration

Jan. 19, 2009— -- Reverend Joseph Lowery, who will give the benediction at President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony Tuesday, said he's excited and nervous, but mostly "humbled to have been asked to play a part."

"There are so many emotions," he told "Nightline" today. "I'm still overwhelmed by, by what has happened. Even though I watched it unfold and played a small role in it, I'm still not sure it's real. But it's not possible for everybody to have the same dream on the same night, so it must be real."

Lowery said he hopes to catch a glimpse of the Lincoln Memorial during the ceremony, and will be thinking of his friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"I think in my mind's eye, I'll see a young 34-year-old preacher calling America to move beyond the, the limitations and restrictions of color to a higher level of character," he said. "And that ceremony Tuesday will be the nation's response to Martin's call because this election is a clear and marvelous example of the nation moving beyond color."

Watch live coverage of the Inauguration all day Tuesday and go to the Inauguration Guide for all of ABC News' coverage details.

Lowery recently underwent back surgery and arrived at the interview in a wheelchair, but his enthusiasm and passion belied his 89 years. In many ways he represents a link between a painful past and a hopeful present.

Born in 1921 in Alabama, in the heart of the segregated south, Lowery still recalls being punched by a white police officer as a young man leaving his father's store. He went on to be instrumental in the creation of the Voting Rights Act, the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s closest advisers. He was also an early supporter of the Obama campaign.

The president-elect calls Lowery part of the Moses generation, those founders of the Civil Rights movement upon whose shoulders this generation can now stand. Lowery says he's proud of his role in the movement, but wants to keep looking toward the future.

Speaking about the famous "I Have a Dream" speech, Lowery said he's troubled that some young people view King "as just a dreamer."

"It's a powerful oration, it's a powerful message," he said. "But I think, sometimes, we may have tucked it away in sentimentality and taken away its, its tragedy, taken away its sadness. It's triumphant, but there are moments in a movement which are sad."