THERE WERE no tears on Saturday night at Braeton's memorial dance for the seven yougsters who were killed there three years ago.
There were no long faces, no full black suits, no bible reading, no sermons. All there was, were hundreds of people from several different Portmore communities cramming into the Ferdie Neita Park to 'get Jiggy' in remembrance of the youngsters.
The session was symbolically called 'Seven Inna One', and featured the Metro Media and Stereo Passion sound systems. They were the ones who paid the tributes.
Every now and then the Metro Media selectors asked patrons to raise their hands or flicker lighters in remembrance of the killings, and the tunes did the rest. They played tunes like Puff Daddy's 1997 tribute to The Notorious BIG, I'll Be Missing You, Sizzla's Solid As A Rock and a few more which reflected a theme of resilience.
TORCHES
Outside of that, 'Seven Inna One' was a fiery Portmore dance-literally. The torches blazed high into the night sky for the selections, and patrons lit hundreds of candles and laid them on the ground.
The torches soaked the night air with fire, giving the air an overpowering smell of insecticide. The only smell which was stronger was the heavy dose of perfume worn by the women. The women went all out with their dressing for the session, and were quick to show it to the video crew that was patrolling.
Children were not to be left out of the memorial either. Dozens of them romped right through the night, not paying much mind to the obviously adult tunes which blasted through the speakers.
At one point, a boy and a girl went on the stage which was set aside for the artistes, and danced to the crowd's delight. With adult-like experience, they easily shifted from position to position with the crowd's shouts of approval, and did not stop until the selectors told them to.
The promoters say that 'Seven Inna One' will be an annual event, and judging by Saturday night's support, they may well have a calendar event.
