Zora Says: A Proposal for the 2009 Inaugural Celebration

So, Zora has been back in Chicago looking for a way to slip into the Obama tide that is sweeping the nation. I’m anticipating that the waves won’t retreat before the arrival of election day. Respectable white folks won’t lose heart when they enter the polling booths, right? They really will find the courage and good sense to vote for a candidate who happens to be black, won’t they? Anyway, as Obama’s biggest fan says, “Keep hope alive!”

Chauncey and Gordon both know that I’m the biggest and best party planner around. My mother, part of that old class of Negro strivers who were always concerned with respectability, definitely raised me to pay attention to details and appearances. When I arrived as a freshman to Princeton, my mother was proud to say that I was better dressed than all of the white girls she saw that day – the problem was that I looked like an only slightly updated version of Coretta Scott King. Forgive me, I digress.

Acting on a tip that an Inaugural Committee is already being formed, I plan to put my party skills in service to our future President, Barack Obama. An old friend of mine who now works for David Axelrod, Obama’s media consultant, has agreed to push forward my proposal for the 2009 Inaugural Celebration. Here’s a glance ….

2009 Barack Obama Inaugural Celebration Schedule

• 10 a.m. -- Tribute to Great American Athletes, with Michelle Obama, at Constitution Hall – including Mohammed Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.


• Noon -- Mwenzangu Obama luncheon at the Kenyan Embassy, with international leaders, including Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.


• 2 p.m. -- Salute to Liberal Organizations, with the Vice President-elect Joseph Biden, at the Blackburn Ballroom at Howard University.


• 4 p.m. -- Concert celebrating America's youth at the MCI Center with Gnarls Barkley and Lil' Wayne.


• 6 p.m. -- Ball of the Delaware State Society honoring the Vice-President elect, at the Chamber of Commerce Building.


• 8 p.m. – The South Side Chicago Society "Black Tie Steppers" Ball at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, with Oprah Winfrey as Mistress of Ceremonies.


• 9 p.m. -- Hispanic Presidential Inaugural Gala, ''Si Se Puede'' (Yes, We Can''), at the Omni Shoreham (supported by Gov. Bill Richardson and the Service Employees International Union).

I've been working particularly hard on the details of the The South Side Chicago Society "Black Tie Steppers" Ball:

1. MC: Oprah Winfrey.


2. Guest Performers: Chaka Khan and R. Kelly.
3. Buffet Menu: as appetizers -- Deviled Eggs, Fried Oysters, Candied Bacon; main dishes -- roast turkey with giblet gravy and corn bread pecan dressing, baked pork chops with peaches, brazed beef short ribs; side dishes -- white rice, lemon glazed sweet potatoes, "poll" beans simmered in pork stock, potato salad, field peas, macaroni and cheese; desserts -- banana pudding, pineapple upside down cake, pound cake with lemon butter glaze, watermelon ice; drinks -- fresh fruit punch, champagne, iced peach sweet tea.


4. Music Playlist: Nina Simone's "Young, Gifted and Black," Bob Marley's "Get up, Stand up," Black Uhuru's "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," Barry White's "My first, My last, My everything," Prince's "I Would Die 4 U" and "Let's go crazy," Snoop Dogg's "What's my name," Jay Z's "roc boys" and "99 problems," Diana Ross's "Love Child," Frank Sinatra's "I did it my way," Notorious BIG's "Hypnotize," Miriam Makeba's "Malaika," Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross," Curtis Mayfield's "Touch the Sky," Theme song to The Jefferson's, Nina Simone's "Mr. Bojangles," Marcia Griffith's "Electric Slide," Mr. C the Slide Man's "cha cha slide," John Legend's "Ordinary People," The Temptations' "Papa was a Rolling Stone," Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing," Queen's "No," Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," Stevie Wonder's "Superstition," Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire," James Brown's "Black and Proud" and "Soul Power," Public Enemy's "Fight the Power," KRS-One's "The Bridge is Over," George Clinton's "Flashlight," ...


5. Special Honored Guests: The Brothers from Wali's Barber Shop, Bobby Rush, Halle Berry, Nelson Mandela, Muhammed Ali, Hugo Chavez, Danny Glover, the High Imam of Indonesia, Stephen Carter, Jesse Jackson Sr., Jesse Jackson Jr., Iyanda Nkanga, Will Burns, Toni Preckwinkle, Colin Powell, Stedman, Tom Joyner, Tavis Smiley, Armstrong Williams, Lani Guinier, Cornel West, bell hooks, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Morgan Freeman, Toni Morrison, Puff Daddy, Ludacris, Jay Z, Denzel Washington, Russell Simmons, Snoop Dogg, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Sonia Sanchez and Harry Belafonte.

I should receive feedback from the Obama camp later today. I'll keep you posted. I'm so excited!!!!!! President Barack Obama!!!!