From closing Guantanamo to lifting the gag rule Bush era policies are coming to an end. But is it a new era of progressive government?

Dr. Deepak Chopra, founder of the Alliance For a New Humanity, says that we've seen the death of an old order but not yet the birth of a new one. Chopra wrote a letter to Barack Obama advocating the creation of a peace based economy, a reduction in defense spending, and the dismantling of the military industrial complex.

On his first day in office Barack Obama made a round of phone calls to key players in the Middle East. At the same time, Israel and Hamas have declared unilateral ceasefires and Israel has agreed to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. GRITtv spoke to Phyllis Bennis, Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, in Washington, DC about US policy in the Middle East under Obama.

Documentary filmmaker Yoruba Richen traveled to Washington for the inauguration with her mother Aishah Rahman, a playwright and professor at Brown University. From the March on Washington to the inauguration of Barack Obama Rahman, in her work and politics, has followed the arc of American history.

GRITtv with Laura Flanders broadcast live from Busboys and Poets cafe in Washington, DC during inauguration week. Dedrick Muhammad, Senior Organizer at the Institute for Policy Studies, Nicole Lee, Executive Director of the TransAfrica Forum, and Steve Cobble, Co-Founder of Progressive Democrats of America discuss Obama's rise.

Code Pink is committed to bringing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to an end and holding Barack Obama accountable. Their goal: turn this country from a war making country into a peace making country. Celebrating the inauguration in DC, they were also reminding people of the US policy in the Middle East, the suffering Gaza, and the importance of making a change in US diplomacy.

On his first couple of days in office, Barack Obama has put an emphasis on transparency and the freedom of information. Indeed, one of his first acts was a directive to all government agencies urging them to "adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure." A good first step? Yes. But what does it mean in terms of policy?

Would Dr. King have endorsed Obama? The people of Washington DC, and the many visitors who traveled their for the inauguration reflect on the King holiday and the inauguration of Barack Obama.

What will it take to expand the reach of our economy? GRITtv speaks to political scientists David Korten, Benjamin Barber, and Elizabeth Reynoso. Then, one mother's story about coming to DC for the Inauguration and the crisis in Gaza.

GRITtv looks at what organizers will be up to in the days after the inauguration.