There Will Be An ‘Alternative’ Inaugural Ball Called the Peace Ball on January 19
If you’re not a big fan of President-elect Donald Trump but you still want to party for America, there’s hope for you. You don’t need to go to a pro-Trump event or inaugural ball because there are anti-Trump events and balls!
According to DCist, an organization called Busboys and Poets is having a Peace Ball on January 19 to “to celebrate the accomplishments and successes of the past 4 years and the vow to continue to be the change we want to see in the world.”
A few of the amazing humans who will be joining us for the #PeaceBall. Join us: https://t.co/cP8VW0SzM5 pic.twitter.com/RtghQYQJFp
— Busboys and Poets (@busboysandpoets) November 20, 2016
Busboys and Poets owner Andy Shallal said this:
It’s not really an inaugural ball, it’s more of a gathering of folks to have some joy and camaraderie and get energized for, I think, a very long and arduous road ahead of us.
The Peace Ball will be held in the Smithsonian’s new museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Shallal said that by having the event in the museum, where all of the exhibits will be open for viewing, attendees can be reminded of the “incredible amount progress despite some of the bumps that we currently see and have seen.”
More information can be found here, but just check out this list of guests and hosts for a second:
Angela Davis
Alice Walker
Danny Glover
Van Jones
Ben Jealous
Melissa Harris-Perry
Alicia Garza
Cheryl Strayed
Gina Dent
Naomi Klein
Esperanza Spalding
Amy Goodman
Ai-jen Poo
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Sonia Sanchez
Medea Benjamin
Laura Flanders
José Andrés
Eve Ensler
Zainab Salbi
Phyllis Bennis
Kieran Suckling
Peter Galvin
There will, of course, be the standard events in honor of the new President, too, although if reports are to be believed, the guest list for the Peace Ball is already more star-studded than that for the real inauguration.
[image: screengrab]
