IT'S the place where stars are born and legends are made. Since 1914, it had been the platform for African-American artistes, who include such superstars as James Brown, Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson.
That’s the Apollo Theatre, located in the heart of what has been described as the “the capital of black America”, Harlem.
“This is the cornerstone of African-American history and culture,” said Leslie Talbot, an educational consultant, referring to the historic landmark.
When Brown, the Godfather of Soul, died last Christmas, a public memorial took place at the Apollo, bringing together countless admirers who wanted to pay their last respects.
Former president Bill Clinton, a big hit among African-Americans, has kept an office near the Apollo since 2001.
So when Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama made an appearance at the theatre last week, it was a political sales pitch that spoke a thousand words.
Although the 46-year-old Illinois senator has the endorsement of talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, polls so far show that more African-Americans back Hillary Clinton.
His fund-raising event, A Night at the Apollo, was also a peek into the Harlem tradition, where gospel music is the hallmark.
The 10-member Harlem Gospel Choir, which has travelled the world to share its music and faith, gave a rousing performance, delivering such numbers as Amazing Grace and I Believe I Can Fly among others amid shouts of “hallelujah”.
The choir members sure knew how to tease the 1,500 people at the Apollo that night to donate to the Obama campaign.
“It gives me great honour to introduce,” one singer announced, “... the next song,” drawing laughter from those who had expected Obama to come on stage then.
Later, a local pastor walked up to the pulpit and prayed for Obama, invoking God’s blessing on him (Harlem, by Wikipedia’s estimate, has about 400 churches).
And as reminded by the emcee that night, Harlem was also a top entertainment centre. So, even as the Obama crowd was working up a frenzy waiting for their political star, performers of all ilk also took to the stage.
Kersten Stevens, a professional violinist, proved what a talent she was in jazz and classical music. She appeared twice to enthral the crowd. Still, the night has not even begun. Apparently, the organiser had a mystery guest, and he brought down the hall when he emerged from behind the curtain.
Comedian Chris Rock cracked everybody up when he asked them to be on the right side of history, because they would be “real embarrassed” if they had backed Hillary ... and Obama won instead.
“You’d say, ‘I had that white lady! What was I thinking?’,” Rock hollered.
He also poked fun at president George W. Bush, saying that his presidency had not let Americans down, because he was “everything that people thought ... and worse.”
“It was like a horror movie,” he continued.
The audience roared.
It was not just the African-Americans who turned up that night. A large number of non-blacks were there too.
Finally, at 9.22pm, the man whose face will grace the Dec 10 cover of Time magazine made his appearance, and was introduced by Rock as “the next president of the United States”.
Obama, who is sometimes said to be “not black enough”, started off by noting that it was a good thing Bush’s name would not be on the ballot paper when Americans go to the polls next year.
“And, the name of my cousin Dick Cheney won’t be on the ballot either,” he said. “We have been trying hard to hide this for a long time; everybody has a black sheep in the family.”
Oh, how the crowd loved that. Cheney and Obama are distant cousins.
Obama was plainly seeking endorsement from the Apollo crowd. Explaining why he wanted to be a part of the amazing race to the White House, he said: “I don’t want to wake up in four years and see that we still have more black men in prison than in college.”
Studies show that in the United States, more black men are behind bars than have been enrolled in colleges and universities.
Obama said he was tired of seeing young black men languishing on the streets without employment.
“I am in this race also because I am tired of reading about Jena,” he said, referring to a racially-charged case where six black teenagers were accused of beating up a white student in Jena, Louisiana, last year.
Pouring on more rhetoric, Obama declared that he no longer wanted to see a blue state or a red state. “I want a United States.”
Outside the Apollo, traders sold T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Black House” depicting the official residence of the US president.
Harlem-born artist R. Harper said: “I came tonight to hear his message. People want real change now.”
She believes he could grasp issues confronting the country now “as he is a person of mixed race himself”.
That night at the Apollo belonged to Obama, seeking to write history as America’s first black president.
