The Astrology of the 2026 United States Midterms: Election Chaos, Delays & a Major Turning Point

Susan Lynn Political Predictions  and Astrology by Celeste,  Oct 31, 2026

"The Astrology of the 2026 Midterms: Election Chaos, Delays & a Major Turning Point

What do the stars reveal about the 2026 midterm elections? And could the biggest story unfold AFTER the votes are cast?

Astrologer Celeste Brooks of Astrology by Celeste joins me for a fascinating conversation about the powerful planetary alignments surrounding the November 3rd elections—and what they may reveal about the weeks and months ahead.

Celeste breaks down the extraordinary astrology at play, including Mercury retrograde, the November 4th Mercury cazimi, and the intense Mars–Jupiter–South Node alignment. What she sees lines up remarkably well with messages I've been receiving from my spirit guides.

 In this conversation, we explore:

 -Election Day and beyond: Why Mercury retrograde could coincide with voting complications, disputed results, delays, and confusion after November 3rd.

November 4th: The Mercury cazimi and its potential for revelations, hidden information, and unexpected developments.

November 9–15: Why this could be an especially significant period, with major planetary shifts and possible turning points.

Political power struggles: What Mars, Jupiter, and the South Node in Leo may symbolize about powerful leaders, desperate actions, and the consequences of holding on to power.

Unexpected alliances: Could we see surprising political partnerships in the United States, Israel, and elsewhere?

California's political future: Our intuitive impressions about the governor's race, possible disruptions, and Gavin Newsom's emerging role.

January through April 2027: Why events surrounding the election could have consequences and revelations that extend well into next year.

We also pull oracle cards for additional insight into what lies ahead, including some intriguing messages about devotion, democracy, and the power of collective action.

And in a moment of perfect cosmic timing, Mercury retrograde makes an unexpected appearance in our recording when Celeste's computer crashes! You really can't make this stuff up. 😂

While both of us anticipate a potentially chaotic period, we also share a message of hope. What happens immediately after Election Day may not be the final chapter. Patience, discernment, and taking care of your own energy will be especially important.

Learn more about Celeste Brooks:

Website: https://www.astrologybyceleste.com “…

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post departs from the usual subjects that are presented in this blog.

Instead, this post focuses on the astrology of the 2026 United States midterms elections. 

Click the transcript feature in this video to read what the host (Susan Lynn who is a psychic) and Celeste (who is an astrology teacher) share about " The Astrology of the 2026 United States Midterms: Election Chaos, Delays & a Major Turning Point."

The content of this post is presented for informational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Susan Lynn and Astrology with Celeste for sharing information about this subject.
-snip-

Click this link to that video to read its full transcript and to read its discussion thread. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FB-fk3EaZo

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LINKS TO THREE OTHER PANCOCOJAMS POSTS THAT REFER TO ASTROLOGY:

https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2011/10/six-african-american-records-that.html "Six African American Records That Mention Astrology"

https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/08/two-videos-about-total-eclipse-on.html "Two Videos About The Total Eclipse On August 12, 2026 (with information about the astrological meanings of this eclipse, mundane astrology, & more) ."

and

https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/01/astrology-zodiac-signs-mentioned-in.html "Astrology (Zodiac Signs) Mentioned In African American Girls' Foot Stomping Cheers (complete reprint of Part IV of this series)"

[This is a complete reprint of Part IV of a four part series that provides a compilation of all of the words only examples of foot stomping cheers that mention zodiac (astrological) signs that I have come across (as of the latest edition of this post on November 13, 2024).

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Click the tag below for other pancocojams posts on astrology. 

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Visitor comments are welcome.

Willie Peacock - "Calypso Freedom" (Freedom's Comin & It Won't Be Long) Reprint of 2014 Post

 

Timmy Smith, Published on Apr 3, 2014

Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs 1960-1966

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post is a reprint of  a 2014 post from my  "Civil Rights songs" blog. https://civilrightssongs.blogspot.com/2014/12/willie-peacock-calypso-freedom-freedoms.html 

This post is reprinted with minor formatting changes and some additional content.

Unfortunately that blog does not accept any comments because of spamming. However, visitor comments are welcome on this post and all other pancocojams posts.

Here's that 2014 post with those content changes as noted:
 
This post showcases a song file of the African American civil rights song "Calypso Freedom" (also known as "Freedom's Comin & It Won't") as sung by Willie Peacock and group. The lyrics to that version of that song are included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unnamed composer of "Freedom's Coming" and thanks to Willie Peacock and his group for these lyrics and for their version of this song that is entitled "Calypso Freedom". Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this song file on YouTube.
-snip- 
Added November 1, 2026: "Calypso Freedom" and other versions of the civil rights song "Freedom" (Freedom's Comin & It Won't Be Long)" is a lyrical adaptation with the same tune and tempo) of the traditional Jamaican work song "Day-O" (The Banana Boat Song). Harry Belafonte popularized this song outside of Jamaica in his 1956 album Calypso.
Note: "Calypso" songs are from Trinidad/Tobago. "Mentos" is the correct term for Folk songs from Jamaica (such as "Day-o" and most of the other folk songs that Harry Belafonte sung.).

 Click http://www.songsforteaching.com/calypsofreedom.htm for the lyrics for another version of this "Calypso Freedom" as sung by Sweet Honey In The Rock..

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LYRICS: CALYPSO FREEDOM (as sung by Willie Peacock and group)

[Introduction]
Freedom, give us freedom
Freedom comin and it won’t be long.
Hey!
Freedom, Freedom
Freedom comin and it won’t be long.
Freedom. Freedom
Freedom comin and it won’t be long.

Verse: Well, come Mr. Kennedy take me out of my misery.
Freedom comin and it won’t be long.
Well, can’t you see what segregation’s doin to me.
Freedom comin and it won’t be long.

Chorus 2x
Everybody, Freedom comin and it won’t be long
Well, can’t you see what segregation’s doin to me.
Freedom comin and it won’t be long.

Verse:
Well, come Jackie Kennedy* take me out of my misery
Freedom comin and it won’t be long
Well, JF Kennedy ain’t doin so much for me.
Freedom comin and it won’t be long.

Chorus 1x

Verse:
Hey, I took a little trip on a Greyhound bus**
Yeah!
Freedom comin and it won’t be long.
Well, To fight segregation this we must.
Yeah, Freedom comin and it won’t be long.

Chorus [1x]
Verses [follow the above pattern]
Well, the Jordan river is ah chilly and cold
Well, it chills the body, ah but not the soul be long.

Well, the Jordan river is ah chilly and ah wide
I’m gonna get my freedom on this here side.

Well I ain’t been to heaven but I think I’m right
Well, the people in heaven are neither black or white

Well I ain’t been to heaven but I’ve been told
Well ah up in heaven is no Jim Crow***

Well, you can hinder me here. You can hinder me there.
Well I’ll go right down on my knees in prayer.

Well I never been to heaven but I know I’m right.
Well the folks in heaven they do not fight.

Come Jackie Kennedy* take me out of my misery.
Well JF Kennedy ain’t doin so much for me.

Well Mr. Kennedy take me out of my misery.
Can’t you see what segregation is doing for me.

Took a little trip on the Greyhound bus.
To end segregation this we must.
I want my freedom and I want it now.
Not gonna just stand here and pull the plow. [I'm not sure about my transcription of this line.]
-snip-
Transcription from the recording by Azizi Powell. Additions and corrections are weclome.

For what it's worth, I recall hearing and singing some version of the verses of this song, and its chorus during the 1960s. The purpose of this uptempo Calypso sounding protest song was to help energize and boost the courage and morale of the freedom fighters who are singing that song. This song combines extemporaneously composed two line rhyming verses with floating verses from African American Spirituals, interjections such as "Well!", "Hey!", and "Yeah!", and the adapted refrain from the Jamaican Mento "Banana Boat Song" (also known as "Daylight Comin And I Wanna Go Home".) Notice that one man in this recording mistakenly sings the "and I wanna go home" refrain from the "Banana Boat" song instead of the revised words "and I want it now".

*"Jackie Kennedy" was the wife of then President John F. Kennedy (JFK). Other renditions of this song may have sung "Come Bobby Kennedy". Robert F. Kennedy, widely known as Bobby Kennedy, was the U.S. Attorney General from 1961 to 1964, who served under his older brother, President John F. Kennedy (and after JFK's assassination, also served as Attorney General under JFK's his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson). And Bobby Kennedy was considered to be a more vocal advocate for civil rights than his brother, JFK.

**As a way of challenging and seeking to change the laws in the South that legalized segregation in public transit, Black people and White people from the Northern region of the United States faced jail, injury, and death by renting Greyhound buses and sitting in an integrated manner on those buses while riding into the Southern states (i.e. a Black person seated next to a White person in the front of the bus and throughout the bus.) These men and women were known as "freedom riders".

*** Jim Crow laws - laws that legalized segregation of White and non-White people (People of Color)

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Seven Examples Of "Jumbie Jamboree" (also known as "Zombie Jamboree" & "Back To Back, Belly To Belly") 2026 Reprint

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post is a complete reprint with an update of an October 30, 2015 post that can still be found in this blog. 

That 2015 post includes two visitor comments and my replies. One visitor comment thanks me for that post and one comment is this link to Noel Anthony's rendition of "Zombie Jamboree".

Here's the link to that song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf9p792joms&ab_channel=calypzombie85 .

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That reprint begins here:  

This pancocojams post showcases seven examples of the Caribbean song "Jumbie Jamboree" (also known as "Zombie Jamboree" and "Back To Back, Belly To Belly"). Information about this song is included in this post along with the lyrics to Laurel Aitken's Ska version of this song, and selected viewer comments.

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

Thanks to Conrad Eugene Mauge, Jr, the first person to have performed (if not composed) "Jumbie Jamboree". Thanks also to all the vocalists who are featured in this post and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "JUMBIE JAMBOREE" ("ZOMBIE JAMBOREE")
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumbie_Jamberee
"Jumbie Jamberee" is a calypso song credited to Conrad Eugene Mauge, Jr.[1] In 1953 Lord Intruder released the song as the B-side to "Disaster With Police".[2] The song is also known as "Zombie Jamboree" and "Back to Back". In the introduction to the Kingston Trio's version "Lord Invader and his Twelve Penetrators" are incorrectly credited with the song instead of Lord Intruder.

The oldest versions of the song refer to a jumbee jamboree. Jumbies are evil spirits who were thought to cause wild dancing in their victims. The song's references to Carnival also suggest a connection to the Moko jumbie, a protecting spirit figure represented during Carnival on Trinidad by stilt walkers and dancers. The switch to "Zombie Jamboree" occurred very early with King Flash's version with those lyrics coming out in 1956, only three years after "Jumbie Jamboree" first appeared.

Like many "folk" songs, there is unclear copyright in the song and many lines are variable between versions. While many versions set the song in a New York, Long Island or Woodlawn Cemetery, some place it in Kingston or an island cemetery. The third verse is the most variable with The Charmer's version discussing the local food at a previous jumbie carnival parade while Rockapella's version discusses zombies invading various New York City landmarks. The third verse of King Flash's 1956 version further discusses the female zombie's romantic pursuit of the singer.

Notable cover versions
• Back to Back, Belly to Belly" by The Charmer (Louis Farrakhan) with Johnny McCleverty Calypso Boys recorded in 1954.

• King Flash and Calypso Carnival recorded a version of "Zombie Jamboree" in 1956.

 • Jamaican mento singer Lord Foodoos recorded "Back to Back" for his 1957 Elektra album Calypso, an early production by Jac Holzman, who later produced The Doors, Nico and The Stooges among others.

• A version of "Jumbee Jamboree" appears in the 1957 movie "Calypso Joe".

 • Jamaican mento group The Wrigglers recorded "Back to Back" for their 1958 album At The Arawak featuring Ernest Ranglin on guitar.

 • The Kingston Trio recorded "Zombie Jamboree" on their Stereo Concert album in 1958 and on their ...from the Hungry i album in 1959.

 • Harry Belafonte recorded five versions of the song (in 1962, 1964, 1966, 1972 and 1974). It first appeared on Belafonte's The Many Moods of Belafonte and later became one of his signature songs.

 • Lord Jellicoe and His Calypso Monarchs recorded a version of "Zombie Jamboree" in 1962.
• Peter Tosh recorded "Jumbee Jamboree" with The Wailers in 1965. It used the original lyrics of the song (not the Zombie ones), and also added a new chorus based on "De River Ben Come Dung" by Edric Connor (a traditional Jamaican mento song). It released as a 7-inch single and was included on the 1996 CD compilation The Toughest"...
-snip-
Italics are added to highlight the fact that in Caribbean culture "jumbies" are quite different from "zombies". In contrast, a "zombie" is a corpse that has been reanimated, especially by means of a supernatural power or spell.

The summary statement given for Example #5 provides information about the history of "kaiso" (calypso) as well as information about Lord Intruder's 1953 record, the first known recording of this song.

**
From http://www.mtvhive.com/2013/03/20/walking-dead-soundtrack-zombie-jamboree/
"In Caribbean folklore, jumbies, or jumbees, are evil spirits that can possess people. Sometime around 1953, a calypso singer from Tobago known as Lord Intruder (real name: Winston O’Conner) reportedly performed — and may or may not have recorded — a song called “Jumbie Jamberee,” about finding himself surrounded by dancing jumbies. Note that that’s Lord Intruder, not the earlier, more famous calypso star Lord Invader, who’s occasionally gotten credit for it. (The latter was responsible for writing one of the biggest calypso hits ever, “Rum and Coca-Cola,” an acerbic song about profiting from American G.I.s; here’s his original version.)"

**
SONG LYRICS: JUMBIE JAMBOREE
(as sung by Laurel Aitken)

Oh what a jumbie jamboree took place in a Kingston cemetry
Oh what a jumbie jamboree took place in a Kingston cemetry
Jumbies from up north of the island
Some of them are great calypsonians
Since the season was carnival
They ska together in Bakanal
And what they singing
And what they singing

Back to back, belly to belly. I dont care a damn
I dun dead already
Back to back, belly to belly that a jumbie jamboree

One female jumbie wouldn't behave
Look how she jumping on the grave
In one hand'e holding a qwart of rum
The next hand shes beating congo drum
The lead singer starts to make his rhyme
while othe jambies rock their bones in time
One bystander started to say
It was a sight to see jumbie break away

And what they singing

Back to back...

Left to right things was getting sweet
A bystander mash a jumbie feet
One jumbie raise his finger to one
He said mister take care you mashing me corn
The funniest thing I have ever seen
To see jumbie eating salt fish and ackee
I never see more marpy or gingerbeer
That took place at a jumbie parade last year

What they singing

Back to back...


Source: http://www.ska-talk.org/forum/index.php?topic=12714.0;wap2

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
These examples are given in chronological order according to their publishing dates on YouTube with the oldest dated example given first.

Example #1: LAUREL AITKEN-Jumbie Jamboree




therotatingchinmen, Uploaded on Apr 23, 2009
1966.

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Example #2: - Zombie Jamboree ala Harry Belafonte (Jamaica Bob)

JamaicaBobTV, Oct 28, 2009
-snip-
This video replaces one by another artist. That video is no longer available on YouTube.

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Example #3: Jumbie Jamboree



King Selewa and his Calypsonians, Oct. 6, 2016
-snip-
This examples replaces a sound file that is no longer available.

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Example #4: THE WAILERS - JUMBIE JAMBOREE



いちイチ, Aug 26, 2015

Hot Ska vocal

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Example #5: Jumbie Jamberee Calypso Performed by Antigua Joe



acoustcarchive, Uploaded on Aug 24, 2011

Heres Calypsonian Antigua Joe performing "Jumbie Jamberee" Jumbie Jamberee is a calypso song credited to Conrad Eugene Mauge Jr.[1] In 1953 Lord Intruder released the song as the B-side to Disaster With Police.[2] The song is also known as Zombie Jamboree and Back to Back. In the introduction to the Kingston Trio's version "Lord Invader and his Twelve Penetrators" are credited with the song instead of Lord Intruder.

Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of African slaves, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song. This forged a sense of community among the Africans, who saw their colonial masters change rapidly, bringing French, Spanish and British music styles to the island of Trinidad.

It is thought that the name "calypso" was originally "kaiso," which is now believed to come from Efik "ka isu" 'go on!' and Ibibio "kaa iso" 'continue, go on,' used in urging someone on or in backing a contestant.[2] There is also a Trinidadian term, "cariso" which is used to refer to "old-time" calypsos.[3] The term "calypso" is recorded from the 1930s onwards. The word was bastardized into "Calypso" when the early European settlers put the word into print. (Best known from Homer's epic, the Odyssey, Calypso was a nymph who enticed Odysseus into a cave for seven years.)

Kind Regards

Jim Clark
All rights are reserved on this video sound recording copyright Jim Clark 2011

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Example #6: Back to Back, Belly to Belly [10 inch] - The Charmer with the Johnny McCleverty Calypso Boys



TheRealDJGIBS Published on May 8, 2012

Digital archive of Monogram / Rhythm 78RPM single M-930 B;
Back To Back, Belly To Belly by The Charmer with the Johnny McCleverty Calypso Boys

℗1954 Monogram Records Inc. (USA) / Phonodisc Ltd. (Jamaica)
-snip-
Selected comments from this sound file's discussion thread:
TheRealDJGIBS, 2012
""Jumbie Jamboree" (aka Zombie Jamboree) was first performed by Lord Intruder at the 1953 Carnival in Port-of-Span, Trinidad. This is the first recorded version I am aware of. It was later covered by such artists as Lord Foodoos, The Wigglers, Kingston Trio, Harry Belafonte and others..."

**
Bikey Hendricks, 2013
"Big man chune...Louis Farakhan dis meh boy."

**
silverderf, 2013
"The Charmer was Louis Farrakhan ! True. Look it up."

**
TheRealDJGIBS
in reply to silverderf
"Ya that's a pretty well know fact, at least those who knew him as The Charmer. He was born Louis Wolcott and joined the NOI in 1955. He was later appointed the Muslim surname Farrakhan by Elijah Muhammad himself."
-snip-
Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is the leader of the Nation Of Islam, an African American religious group. Here's the summary statement from another sound file of this same record:
"Lord Charmer (Louis Farrakhan): The Charmer Back to Back, Belly to Belly Louis Farrakhan mento", vinyhilist, Uploaded on Sep 10, 2011 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SDoHciRlok
"Louis Farrakhan was born Louis Eugene Walcott in the Bronx and was raised in Boston's Roxbury West Indian community. His mother immigrated from St Kitts in the Twenties. His father was a New York Jamaican cab driver. Louis showed musical talent from an early age, became an accomplished violinist and performed on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. And here is Mr Farrakhan, tearing it up on violin. http://youtu.be/7xvJlxqHh28

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Example #7: Harry Belafonte - Zombie Jamboree (Back to Back)



Harry Belafonte, May 19, 2026
-snip-
Artist: Harry Belafonte
Album: The Essential Harry Belafonte
Release: October 4, 2005
-snip-
This YouTube sound file replaces the one that was originally published in this post but is no longer available.  

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How Former President Obama Changed His Use Of The 2012 "Fired Up! Ready To Go" Chant In His Speech In Atlanta, Georgia During The 2026 Midterm Elections

LIVE: Barack Obama speaks at a rally with Jon Ossoff in Atlanta, Georgia

Associated Press, Streamed live on Oct 28, 2026

Watch live as former President Barack Obama attends a rally in Atlanta, Georgia, with Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post documents the change in Barack Obama's use of the words "Fired up! Ready to go” in some of his speeches during rallies for Democratic candidates in the United States 2026 midterm elections.

Instead of his previous use of  those words as a call & response chant, in his October 28, 2026 midterm speech in Atlanta, Georgia (and possibly at midterm rallies in other cities), former President Obama used those words as a question ("Are you fired up? Are you ready to go?") The rally attendees then responded to those questions with shouts of "Yes!" along with loud, enthusiastic applause.

The content of this post is presented for historical, political, and socio-cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to former President Obama for his political and socio-cultural legacy. Thanks to Edith S. Childs for creating the "Fired up! Ready to go" chant. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this video on YouTube.  

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE "FIRED UP! READY TO GO" CHANT
SOURCE #1
From http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/04/the-story-of-fired-up-ready-to-go-119612.html
"The story of 'Fired up! Ready to go' by Byron Tau, April 4, 2012
"Late in the evening of November 5, 2012, towards the end of his final campaign speech of the 2012 Presidential campaign in Des Moines, Iowa, President Barack Obama re-told the story of the fired up/ready to go chant. He then told the crowd of 20,000 persons in attendance at that speech that he had invited the creator of that chant Edith S. Childs to join him & his wife Michelle in Iowa for that last campaign speech. However, President Obama said that Ms. Childs thanked him but said that she wouldn't be able to come to Iowa because she was going to be knocking on doors and helping to get people out to vote in North Carolina on election day November the 6th. President Obama said that showed that she was still fired up. He then led the people in the rally in that now iconic call & response chant:

"Fired up!"
(Fired up!")

"Ready to go!"
("Ready to go!")...

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SOURCE #2
From AI Overview
"Former President Barack Obama used his signature "fired up, ready to go" chant during late-October 2026 midterm campaign rallies to energize crowds for Democratic candidates.

Context of the Slogan in 2026

Campaign Trail Appearances: Obama revived the classic call-and-response chant during rallies ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections, appearing alongside candidates in key battleground areas like Detroit, Michigan and Georgia.”…
-snip-
This write-up continues with information about the origin of this “Fire Up! Ready to go” chant and Barack Obama’s past use of that chant. That information is covered in this 2026 pancocojams post https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/10/the-fired-up-ready-to-go-chant-comments.html  "The "Fired Up! Ready To Go!" Chant (Comments & Video) Complete reprint of a 2012 pancocojams post".

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THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE PORTION OF THE VIDEO THAT IS SHOWCASED AT THE TOP OF THIS POST  WHEN FORMER PRESIDENT OBAMA USES THE WORDS "FIRED UP. READY TO GO"

[The time stamps for this portion of that video are from 42.16 to the end of that video.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAII15aXfUE

"But Georgia, I also know this.

This election can be a start because if we're willing to be turn out in big numbers across this state across

this country, if we're willing to vote for change up and down the ballot, then this election

might just mark the moment when we begin to leave our worst impulses behind and start aligning our politics with our highest ideals.

*So, I'm asking you right now, are you fired up? Are you ready to go?

Let's go make Keisha Lance Bottoms the next governor of Georgia.

Let's go re-elect your outstanding senator, John Ossoff.

Let's go get on the path to making this country everything that it can be.

Thank you and God bless you.

And may God bless the United States of America.

Come on."
-snip-
This transcription includes my correction of how these candidates' names were spelled in that video's transcript.

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
It occurs to me that former President Obama's use of the words "Fire up! Ready to go" as questions to the rally attendees rather than as a call & response chant may be an example of how Americans have come to view political rallies as spectator/theater much more than as participatory experiences. 

"Call and response" chants, by their definition, mean that the group is expected to participate in that vocalization. That participation is near equal if not exactly equal in importance to the vocalization of the caller (the person who leads that chant).

In contrast, rally attendees who respond with affirmations including applause to a question that is directed to them doesn't have the same measure of importance and energy output as as rally attendees being the respondents of a call & response chant.

And, with regard to my earlier use of the word "theater", it seems to me that -much more than in the past-attending political rallies is a form of entertainment more than a way that attendees get informed, re-energized, and motivated to take a political action or actions (or- to use the words of that chant- to get "fired up" and ready to go".)

Another-much less important- example of this change from active participant to spectator/audience is the way that sport cheers occur/ed in standard American cheerleading in contrast to the way that sport cheers occur in African American stomp & shake cheerleading. In what I sometimes refer to as "Go Team Go!" standard cheerleading, the cheerleaders spell or say a word, and on cue, the crowd repeats that letter or word. In contrast, in stomp and shake cheerleading, the cheerleaders perform their cheer routines with no expectation or requirement that the crowd does anything more than respond with claps or yells at the end of that performance.

I'm not pontificating here on which way of cheering is better or worse. I'm just offering my reflections about the differences just as I'm thinking about the differences between the use or non-use of participatory call & response chants. I'll leave it to another pancocojams post or to others to speculate about what these differences and changes mean.

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