Funky Obama: "Yes We Can" Tour hits the Independent
Solrak of B-Side Players
"Yes We Can" Tour/Afrofunk Festival
The Independent
July 24, 2008
Notes and Photos by Alex Brant-Zawadzki
Thursday night was a wonderful night to support Barack Obama.
First, the San Francisco for Obama Meetup.com group held a get-together at Crossroads. Then, for the less-coffee-more-dancing set, the Afrofunk Festival came to town, complete with the "Yes We Can" pro-Obama tour.
Crossroads was a great time for those looking to get to know fellow Obama volunteers in an intimate setting. Old-school campaign veterans sat next to bright-eyes novices who were not just working on their first campaign, but attending their first political meeting ever. Desperate, cynical hope and naive, youthful vigor collided over coffee. Meanwhile members of the San Francisco for Obama volunteer committee, headed by Angelica Jongco, made short-but-sweet presentations, after which everyone introduced themselves. Half the point of the meeting was to be able to spot each other in crowds later.
Paul Hogarth from Beyond Chron
Once the coffees and tapas were gone, the crowd dispersed. Yet some stalwart Obama loyalists found their way to The Independent, where Victor Mutungi has brought Afrofunk back to town for the 4th Annual Afrofunk Festival, now through Saturday at The Independent.
Jay Jonah Cash, Organizer for the Meetup Group
Mutungi, being bloody brilliant, marketed the event on my.barackobama.com as the "Yes We Can" Tour, leading naive Obama supporters to believe theirs was the sole cause in play. Grinning moronic grins, Obamamites lurched onto the dance-floor only to discover that, lo and behold, the ACTUAL beneficiary of the event is the unbelievably-worthy World Action For Humanity (specifically House of Hope), which literally works to care for starving children in Uganda under the motto, "If others can, we can." Yes we can. Aimee and Heather were kind enough to let the Obamamites huddle close to them near the merch' table for prime visibility, which was no chore for the Obamamites as Aimee and Heather were totally charming and more photogenic than certain Obamamites. (Full Disclosure - I am an Obama Organizing Fellow and Asst. Organizer for the San Francisco for Obama Meetup.com group)
Aimee and Heather
The coup of the night, when Solrak of the B-Side Players gave a major shout-out to Obama, was lost on the sole Obama volunteer manning the sign/button/sticker table, as he had stepped outside for a smoke. Incidentally, the streets of San Francisco can be a very interesting place to have a smoke. Sometimes you might stumble across a fellow like local author Darryl Mixon, Sr., who sells you then signs a copy of his book, "Once Upon a Time...in Fillmore" while ordering you to take rips off his bottle of unfiltered sake. Be sure to catch Mr. Mixon at a book signing at that bookstore just down the street from The Independent - more specificity is impossible as Mr. Mixon's given e-mail address is coming back as erroneous - obviously an error in dictation, Mr. Mixon, and our apologies.
Mr. Mixon
Meanwhile, back in the show - Solrak was good enough to oblige both the author and the good ladies at World Action For Humanity by sending peace to all our readers, not to mention starving Ugandan kids, which made for a fitting coda to a funknificent evening. Funknificent, that is, if you support Barack Obama. If you didn't, you're probably that McCain-supporting lass in the v-neck top who knocked over the Obama donation jar, then kicked it back to us. Thanks.
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