After Wharton's speech, Emily Shipman-Lennon was bouncing her 10-month old son Ilan to the music. ("Celebration" again, by Kool and the Gang, this time by a live band on stage.)
"It's motivating and inspiring and pushes us to be better contributors to the city of Memphis and be part of the change," said Shipman-Lennon, a 25-year-old grad student at the University of Memphis.
"It's a much-needed new beginning for Memphis," said her sister, Abby Shipman, 22, a student at University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Both women are white and from East Memphis.
People were gathering around a stage in the middle of the hall to watch Wharton do a series of TV interviews. Myron Lowery is here too.
People walk up to take photos of Wharton with cell phone cameras.
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