By Lauren Silverman
WASHINGTON, D.C. — At the Latino Inaugural Gala on Sunday night, before Latin fusion band Yerba Buena brought the funk, Representative Hilda Solis of California spoke some words of inspiration from the stage.
Solis was recently appointed by President-elect Obama to be Secretary of Labor (the first woman to hold this powerful position), and she riled up the crowd up with her Spanish rhyme, "Se oye, se siente, las mujeres están presente!"("You hear it, you feel it, the women are here!")
After Solis' speech, Yerba Buena singer Cucu Diamantes kicked off the group's set with a welcome message to the president-elect: "Oye, Obama, bienvenido a Washington!"
Although other guests got plenty of cheers, there was no doubt about who got the crowd to push in their chairs and hit the floor: Marc Anthony.
Even though Anthony, the evening's final performer, began his set almost an hour late, there was not a complaint to be heard. As soon as J-Lo introduced her husband, the ladies went wild and couples began to salsa, and the only sound besides the music was that of hundreds of voices shouting "Sí se puede!"
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Lauren Silverman is a regular contributor to Youth Radio/Youth Media International (YMI), a Peabody Award-winning youth-driven converged media production company that delivers the best youth news and culture and undiscovered talent to a cross section of audiences.
"Be the Change: Live From the Inaugural" will air live on MTV on Tuesday, January 20, at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT. MTV News will have wall-to-wall coverage of the event and of the scenes in Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Kenya in the days leading up to the event and in the days that follow.