So I had the pleasure of spotting the back of Al Sharpton‘s head last night—-unmistakable!—-at The African American Church Inaugural Ball at the Grand Hyatt at 1000 H Street. The event was to honor twenty five “Keepers of the Flame,” who have been influential in the fight for civil rights over the years. Among the honorees were Dr. Maya Angelou, Donna Brazile, General Colin Powell, and Della Reese-Lett. I’m not sure how many of these people were actually in attendance. As you can imagine, it was a very long program, complete with choir performances and impassioned speeches. The event started at 6 p.m., I believe. I arrived around 10 p.m., and the ballroom was still packed.

A slow trickle of guests were leaving the building as I arrived though. Before I even reached the ballroom, I was immediately struck by the preponderance of fur coats draped over peoples’ arms and shoulders. I have never, ever, ever seen so much fur in my entire life. Thank god PETA or the Humane Society were not holding events next door. Their nights would have been ruined.

Image by Echoforsberg, Flickr Creative Commons