"We always knew one day we'd have a black president," Lowery said. "We just didn't know the date. Frankly, I never dreamed that I would live to see the day."
Reverend Lowery spoke at Duke Chapel, remembering his time of struggle for civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sunday afternoon.
"His deep and radical commitment to the common good is indelibly stamped on history," Lowery said.
He didn't say what he would pray for at Tuesday's inauguration, but he did say Obama's place in history was stamped in his mind the day he won our state.
"I spent several days in this state working with the Obama campaign and nobody was more overjoyed than I when North Carolina came in that night on the right side of history," Lowery said.
With all the attention surrounding Obama, Lowery said we should never forget Dr. Martin Luther King.
