Ahead of today’s inauguration of Barack Obama, he was the subject of many comments at Saturday night’s Rebel Salute 16, which was billed as a pre-inauguration party.
Over and over again there was rejoicing that there would be a Black man in the White House. One of the early performers, David M, said “the White House no white again”, before dedicating an entire song to a progression of history up to that point. However, his singing was woefully substandard.
The Informative History Man reminded all of John Hanson, claiming that “Obama is the first Black President under the constitution” and did a poem naming all the US presidents to date, concluding that “Barack Obama is the 44th one” as the crowd cheered.
“The white man out of the White House. The black man step up,” Tony Rebel said. “Me no sey him come fe make the world better, but him change how we look pon things.”
Unbelievable
MC Denise Miller said “I never believed I would see this day when a black man is in the White House. We are witness to it”, going on to note the effect that he will have as a role model to our children.
Later in Rebel Salute 2009, in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, Cherine Anderson told the crowd that she will be going to Washington to perform at two Obama inauguration events. “I promise I will keep the flag flying high in Jamaica this weekend,” she said.
MC Mutabaruka (the only person that night to mention the invasion of Gaza, noting that people should not confuse Israelis and Israelites), said “look how dem get rid a Saddam Hussein and dem have a nex’ Hussein as dem president. Who did know a man name Barack Hussein Obama would be President of the United States?”
Mutabaruka gave a word of caution, saying “me no know wha him can do.”
Tiad a bush
In his closing, a capella, long lyric, Capleton addressed the departure (“dem tiad a George Bush an’ him done”) and the arrival (“dem kill Martin Luther King with a big long gun, dem ago waan kill Obama too.”
Strangley enough, though, Tony Rebel and Queen Ifrica did not perform their remake of Blackman Redemption, which was tailor-made for the occasion.
Source: JamaicaStar
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