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Obama lets NCCU band down on inaugural
http://heraldsun.southern....com/durham/4-1064981.cfm

By Gregory Childress : The Herald-Sun
gchildress@heraldsun.com

Jan 8, 2009
http://NCCUsmbc.tripod.com

DURHAM -- With only 12 days left before Barack Obama's historic ascension to the presidency, N.C. Central University's marching band still hasn't heard whether it will be among those invited to march in the inaugural parade on Jan. 20.

And some NCCU band members believe the president-elect has broken a promise he made during a November 2007 visit to the campus when the band was used as a backdrop for Obama's speech.

"Morale is low," NCCU band director Jorim Reid said on Wednesday.

In a letter Reid sent to the armed forces along with an application and request to march in the parade, he noted that students were told by the president-elect that the band would be invited to march in the parade if he were elected president.

"Students often speak of shaking the President-elect's hand and his statement that the group would be in the parade should he be elected," Reid wrote.

In the letter, Reid also noted that the band, nicknamed the Sound Machine, was featured prominently throughout the Obama's campaign.

"After the band performed during his November 2007 North Carolina visit, many Web sites and YouTube ads featured the band and its music," Reid wrote.

Reid said he and members of the band are trying to remain optimistic, but realize that time is quickly running out.

"I have to be [optimistic]," Reid said. "All I can do is to pray for something to happen."

In November, Reid said the sooner the band knew whether it would be invited the better because the band would need time to raise money and plan the trip.

But even at this late date, Reid said the band would graciously make the trip if asked to march in the parade.

"If we get the call, it would be a day trip," Reid said. "We would find a way to pull it off."

Already this month the Sound Machine will travel to Atlanta where it will be one of 10 historically black colleges and universities chosen to participate in the prestigious Honda Battle of the Bands. The event takes place Jan. 24 in the Georgia Dome.

For Reid, a trip to D.C. to march in the inaugural parade would mark the third time he's participated in the event. He did so twice for President Bill Clinton's inaugural parades while a student at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Fla.

He said it's an experience he desperately wants to share with students, many of who are from rural parts of the state and traveled out-of-state for the first time as a member of the band.

"My only hope is that this once in a lifetime performance can show these students that they are appreciated for their consistent service and stellar representation of North Carolina and America," Reid wrote. "I hope that hard work, sacrifice and commitment is recognized and rewarded with an opportunity."

© 2009 by The Durham Herald Company. All rights reserved.