Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor
(From left), the Hon. John Issa, Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan and Muna Issa, before the start of the ball in honour of Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, on March 30.- CONTRIBUTED
IT WAS billed as the first inaugural ball of the new political dispensation and in theory boasted all the trappings of an upper class smasheroni. And, with tickets going for a cool thousand United States dollars per person, one would hardly expect any less. And so the tickets were all sold like hot Tastee Patties within hours of them being made available.
There was one problem, however, the inauguration ball, was for the 'People's Prime Minister' and the notion of a thousand U.S. dollars per ticket and all the excesses the notion of such a ball envisaged, did not sit well with the Prime Minister
and/or her handlers. So the decision was taken not only to tone down the high-profile nature of the ball, but also to make it more amenable if not accessible to the 'people'.
It was intended to be a totally high-brow affair, in the end, however, it was modified to be a more representational affair and, for my word, what a night it proved!
Honeychiles, it was steaming social scorcher and then some!
To begin with my dears, (just in case y'all missed it), Kingston has long been the capital of the Caribbean and the cultural, artistic and fashion centre of the region. But last Thursday it was the centre of all international attention, with the swearing-in of our first female Prime Minister.
POLITICAL TAROT CARDS
Luvs, not only was the world looking on with more than mere polite interest, but it was also trying to read the political tarot cards in an effort to determine if, like in Central America, we too here in this island in the sun had installed a leftist leader and, consequentially, a thorn in the side of the would-be leaders of the 'free-world'.
And so, while those in doubt opted to keep their polite distance form the actual proceedings, save and except being represented at the Ambassadorial/High Commissioner level, nevertheless the city of Kingston was awash in the throes of high-profile regional representation and celebrity hoopla. And pumpkins, it was hot like that and buzzing like the centre of the known universe!
Dovecakes, the city was happening, and aam-a-telling-yuh, like everybody's business and then some! Oh, my word, dears, I do declare that there has never been a day and/or night in the annals of our history akin to March 30.
Dearhearts, it was a celebration of the changing of the political guard, the end of an era, and the beginning of another. But above all else the celebration of Portia Simpson Miller and her long and arduous journey to the pinnacle of political power.
Well, dovecakes, the Mayor of Kingston did not declare March 30 Portia Simpson Miller Day, and he did not give her the key to the city, but there was no escaping the fact that last Thursday, it was all about Mrs. Simpson Miller.
Doves, the venue was smack in the middle of the city's business and commercial district, at the landmark to fabulous living the Jamaica Pegasus hotel's Grand Independence Ballroom, and the starting time was 9:30 p.m. and honeys, it being a date with destiny, no one wanted to miss it. Guests began pouring into the hotel from as early as 8:00 p.m. and luvs, by 9:00 p.m. Knutsford Boulevard was a zoo.
VANTAGE POINT
Now, there's nothing, absolutely nothing like a vantage point to sit quietly and observe those at play. For this little exercise the chosen observation deck was the tres chic Columbus Restaurant. From here, you could see the world and his wife make their entrance. And, dressed to the nines they were too!
Pumpkins, no Elizabethan waltzes here, and Chopin, Mozart, Brahms and others of this ilk were totally out of the question. There was, however, a feast of Jamaican music and performers on parade, and sweet-things, they rocked like a house on fire!
Oh, what a night! Cinderella never had it so good at her ball, no glass slippers here but stilettos there were aplenty and dancing music to boot as a host of performers saw to that. And in the spirit of celebration, Prime Minister Simpson Miller not only felt no pain, but she and her special guests partied up one fabulous storm.
Luvs, we are talking reggae conga line here, headed by the Prime Minister; and some really fancy-free footwork on the dance floor, as every-which-where one looked there was the fabulous, the chic, the well-to-do and the dancehall-massive.
Luvs, it was all that and then some! From a choice of premium brands of champagne, the delicious array of fab food and one must mention the gushing bar stations and the august body of regional and international personalities in attendance, pumpkins it made for one very happening affair.
And my dears, they came from every which corner of the globe and the diaspora! Sharing in the momentous occasion were: Governor General His Excellency the Most Hounorable Professor Kenneth Hall and Her Excellency the Most Hon Mrs. Hall; The Most Hon. Edward and Carla Seaga; party chairman MP Bobby Pickersgill; MPs Roger Clarke, Phillip Paulwell, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, Victor Cummings, Andrew Holness and Verna Parchment, looking fabulous and then some, American Ambassador HE Brenda LaGrange-Johnson and her hubby Howard Johnson; Head of the EU Delegation HE Ambassador Gerd and Mara Jarchow; German Ambassador HE Volker Schlegel; U.S. Congresswoman from Florida Sheila Jackson-Lee; U.S. Congressman Darrel Issa, from California; Bahamian contingent led by Deputy Prime Minister Mother Pratt, President of the Senate Sharon Wilson and Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell; Minister of Local Government and Consumer Affairs Alfred Gray; Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan; Professor Karen Dunkley from Colombia University; Essence Magazine Editor-in-Chief Susan Taylor; Justice Michael Tulloch High Court Justice from Toronto; BET's Ray Goulbourne; Prakash Vaswani and his fabulous wife Anita Vaswani; the charmingly lovely Michelle Rollins; Janet Panton; Steve and Betty Ashley; Laurie and Ruth Hussey; the very fabulous looking Sonia Rickards.
Digicel's Colm Delves and David Hall; Sameer and Lila Younis; the ever charming Marilyn Bennett; Nadine Willis; Anthony and Angelie Harris and their fabulous daughter Chrystelle Harris, she looking positively flawless; Robert Stephenson and his companion Melsah Riley; Janet Farrow; Mrs. Victoria Stokes; Carole Guntley; Dr. Robert Chen and Asha Vaswani; Kimani Robinson and his fab companion; Pamela Redwood; noted Attorney At Law, the tres fab Valerie Gray; Martin St. Pierre of Bear-Stearns New York; Michelle Stephenson; Carl Ross; Tom Blier all out of New York; Sandals International's Gary Sadler; and kudos to Gary Foster of Team Portia (New York), who was the force behind the ball, and a fine one it was too.
