WASHINGTON (AP) – The main attraction, Solange Knowles, didn’t hit the stage until close to midnight, but the 3,000 or so enthusiastic guests packed into the National Museum of African American History and Culture weren’t going anywhere.
It was an energetic crowd at Thursday’s “Peace Ball,” an evening organized by progressive activist Andy Shallal, and part of the so-called “alternative” programming surrounding the inauguration. The evening, which also featured jazz singer Esperanza Spalding and a dance party, was quite different from the official pre-inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial, which was heavy on country music.
Guests at the Peace Ball included actors Danny Glover and Fran Drescher. Glover addressed the fact that although the event was described as a nonpartisan celebration of successes in recent years in areas such as health care, climate change and marriage equality, the room was filled with people unhappy with the results of the election.
“We can’t just sit and lick our wounds,” Glover said. “Our work is cut out for us. We have to make some hard choices.”
One guest, Lucinda Ziesing of Camden, Maine, expressed her own alarm over the state of the nation in a particularly colorful way: She wore a gown made of red plastic strips, all emblazoned with the word “DANGER.” On her head was a laurel wreath of black plastic.