Kavon Martez is Cultivating a Community Through the Game of Basketball

Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022

Basketball has a close relationship with the inner cities across the world. Sports such as tennis, golf, hockey, gymnastics, and so on, are not accessible for many black kids to participate in at an early age. A lot of this can be traced to a lack of access to resources within communities. With basketball, the game is simple. There’s not much equipment that needs to be purchased; all you need is some sneakers, a ball, and a hoop.

In DC culture, basketball’s unique relationship with the city cannot be ignored. To understand it you must look past the mainstream of the NBA, where the Washington Wizards, formerly known as the Bullets, have struggled to maintain success since their last championship in 1978. Basketball is one of the true subcultures of DC. The Goodman League in SE DC, is a great example of that. NBA pros, amateurs and fanatics alike gather to participate or watch games throughout the summer.

While those groups definitely hold impact, the biggest example of DC’s relationship to basketball is on full display with the game of 33. The goal of the game is to be the first to score 33 points, and there is no cap on the amount of people who can participate. What makes this unique to DC is the fact that many across the country play this same game, but they only play it to 21.

33 is a game that has been played on DC basketball courts for decades. No one knows the true origin of the game, but many trace it back to Patrick Ewings tenure at Georgetown University, and how Jon Thompson’s historic teams put DC basketball on the map in the 1980’s. Ewing famously sported the number 33 as a Georgetwon Hoya, and later on in his hall of fame NBA career with the New York Knicks.

Kavon Martez explored this very relationship between basketball and Washington DC, with the debut of his documentary ‘33|DC’s Game’ alongside co directors Llyod Foster and David Ross. The short film explores the rules of the game, its possible origins, its ties to Georgetown, and DC’s love for basketball.

For Kavon, the release of the documentary was a turning point within his life. Kavon is a native Washingtonian who previously dabbled with storytelling through making streetwear clothes. One day he decided to make a hoodie dedicated to the game of 33, and got a response that would propel his outlook on things moving forward.

“So I used to make clothes a lot…that was like my first creative outlet. So the way it started was one of the most organic things in my life…I made like this dope hoodie explaining the rules of 33 and what it meant and then I put it up on my social media, just joking around and I never got a reception like that [before].I never had an organic response like that. I had no expectation that people would like the sweater. l was just like, this is cool, this is just DC, just a game we played. So I put it on my social media and I had like 150 comments of people like, "bro, I need this, this fire”.

He soon connected with a friend of his, Lloyd Foster,a photographer attending NYU who introduced him to fellow filmmaker David Ross. Impressed with Ross’s previous work, a vision soon came to Kavon about what to do next.

“I was just like, people really loving this idea of 33. You think we can make a documentary about 33? And I never went into a magical brainstorm like that before. That one night that I thought about it, I visioned everything that was going to come. And then we created the film and now I have a basketball organization named 33 Hoyas with over 80 kids.”

33 Hoyas is a youth basketball team founded by Kavon in 2020. In the aftermath of the 33 documentary, Kavon developed 33 Community DC, feeling a responsibility to continue what he started. I visited Kavon at Shepard Park Recreation Center in May to talk about this journey, and the outlook of the organization. From the very moment I met him, you could feel his focus and attention to detail in everything he said. You could also feel how much the culture of DC shaped him.

In our conversation, Kavon discussed the pathway from the documentary release to developing a successful youth basketball program; connecting and receiving a donation from Chicago designer JoeFreshGoods; what he works to instill in the kids he mentors, and much more.

Here is an excerpt from our conversation:

How would you describe yourself?

Oh man, I got so many layers in myself, but I'm definitely a founder of a basketball organization. I'm a Washingtonian my whole life. I'm definitely a philanthropist, but I don't really like you know, it's like that word is all action instead of just the title. I think I do pretty good work in the community and I’m a basketball fanatic, to be honest.

So what do you think DC or this area in general's relationship to basketball is? How would you describe DC's love for basketball?

DC,'s love for basketball is amazing.I definitely feel like we're a basketball city. But the one thing is, the fandom of the bigger teams, it's starting to fade a little. People are very into high school basketball, youth basketball, which is okay. They got their fan base of guys that just love everything DC. Georgetown has faded tremendously in the public's eye of DC, but overall just playing a game, a lot of DC dudes play every weekend or every day. It's a big on trash talking, you know, you got [instagram] lives going on. I'm not sure if you watched the Quinn Cook [instagram] lives during the pandemic? It was some of the craziest debates and history of basketball in Washington DC. So it's definitely a basketball city.

You just mentioned how fandom has kind of gone into communities specifically. People aren't as much of a fan of bigger teams, but like Georgetown back in the eighties through the nineties, from the Ewing's to AI's [Allen Iverson]. That was a huge thing. And your basketball team uses imagery, kind of paying homage to that. Talk to me about how important revisiting that history was to you.

It's important. I come from a Hoya family. All my friends on my dad's side, we all are Georgetown fans, like fanatics. I used to go to a lot of the games before the pandemic hit. So I was a season ticket holder in a way unofficially for Georgetown basketball. I always thought it was so cool. And it was such a privilege to wake up on Saturday morning, get breakfast, and go to a Georgetown game in the afternoon. What's more DC than that?

I love Patrick Ewing, what he's done for our city. He made us a legit basketball city as far as the college landscape. Me being a young African American coach, John Thompson has played a major role in the development of young black kids, coaches, everything! He affected so many.

So it was kind of a no brainer. My team name was 33 community and I didn't have an official mascot [yet]. And I was just like, it feels right to be a Hoya. It feels right to play with those colorways. It feels right to have uniforms inspired by that and travel. I got a new uniform called the John Thompson set. We paying homage to John Thompson so it just makes sense. And it's teaching the next generation about where they come from because they have no clue what Georgetown is. Kids on my team!? They don't. They just like, "oh, this look fire," but whole time they dont know.

So talk to me a little bit about 33 Community DC. How did that come about in the aftermath of the documentary? What went into founding this group

Man, you know what went into the founding of 33 Community? The importance of using the momentum of the documentary.

So when I made 33 the documentary, the film. I don't think in that time, it was anything bigger in DC, as far as impact. Everybody was just standing back watching like wow, this is his moment. This is the moment right here, he's done something. We as the team, we've put together something that will last a lifetime and it was just a moment. I can tell people were just sitting back ike, I want to see this. I want to see where he's going to go with this. So I had my screening. I had three screenings in one day and I had a screening going on in New York at the same time to play off the Patrick Ewing aspect. So for us to do that, and then how the people showed up, like people brought their kids out, people sat back and watched the film, I cried at the screening.

It was just like, I couldn't believe the love and how people received the film. And in that moment I felt it was my responsibility to make this a lifetime thing instead of a moment thing. And there was so many kids I was coaching before that, but I didn't have my own organization. So people kept asking me, "Hey, what are you planning to do after?" "Are you gonna start this, and that?" And I fell in love with the responsibility to provide for DC. And the way I was gonna provide my service was through community, was [through] basketball. That's the best I have to offer and it just happened organically like that. So the night of my screening was the first day that I knew I was going to start a basketball organization on my own. That was the moment, the screening solidified everything.

You mentioned a couple things. One, being a native Washingtonian. You also talked about your kids not even knowing Georgetown's impact. So you have that context of history within this city. What does it mean to you to be a coach and to be able to engage with the future generation of Washingtonians?

It's great but I also feel sorry for the new generation because they missed out on everything that made us who we are. So the new era of kids in Washington DC is not the old kids of Washington, DC. They're much more...I believe that they're better skillfully than us in basketball, but as far as street smarts and stuff like that, they don't have a clue. Not to shade my parents or anything, but I never really got like a ride to practice. Everything was just meet up with your friends, walk to practice, leave practice, go get something to eat. It was just the grind and us being self sufficient. It's not like that, these kids man, they got their own social media.

You got young stars that's like 12 years old that has 30,000 followers, so he's not trying to hear nothing, you know what I mean? Like it's a new kid. We were definitely coached harder. I done got cussed out. I done got yoked up before. I done got smacked upside the head by coaches. We were much tougher kids so with this new generation of kids, I'm learning them. But I'm also kind of just very hesitant on the stuff that I would do and show them because we're not the same. It's a whole new day and age and they don't really have the grit that we had. But you know, that' what God had planned for us. It's a whole new city, it's just not the same I can tell you that.

Absolutely. And I even saw like on the 33 Community DC's IG page, you had kind of like a rules or outlook going into the season in what you wanted kids' mindsets to be. I think it was like, when you leave the court, make sure you dap everyone up. Having a defensive state of mind. Pushing constant hustle and effort. You kind of just spoke to how this generation of kids are different. So are these things you're trying to instill in them?

Yeah. You know the old saying though, you can lead a horse to the river, but you can't make 'em drink. So it's definitely some of my kids have taken on the personality of me and that vintage old DC, like just that gritty. You know, we played basketball outside in 30 degree weather. They not doing that, I don't care. They don't love basketball enough to play in 30 degree weather. But I can only instill the values that I grew up [with] in them and teach 'em. And you know I got a real gritty organization. I feel like we play good defense. I feel like we communicate, but it's still a journey. I can only give them the outline. That's why I gave all of them a player sheet to start the season before they ever practiced with me, like hey, this is what we going for.

This is how we're gonna do it. And I'm big on togetherness. I'm big on you guys FaceTiming each other, you guys playing a game together, you guys spend the night over each other's house. What they don't understand is you will never get this feeling again. You'll never be a 12 year old kid again, you'll never be 13 again. Me as an adult, when you look back on that, you miss it. Like, man, we had sleepovers, we had a game in the morning. You know, waking up in the morning, knocking on your friend's door. Eating toast before games and talking like, "yeah, what you gonna do today, man? "We gonna do it to em". After the game, asking your parents, "You gotta ask her. She going to say yeah, if you say it" you know how it go. So I always just keep them conscious to be in the moment of a kid. They know I want them on kid time.

How important do you think sports is to community building and community engagement and kids feeling connected to their area and their peers?

So sports building is major. This is the deep part of the interview. Washington DC inner city kids are last in division one scholarships. We are last. We don't have the nutrition as suburban kids or caucasian kids or asian kids that's more well off. We don't have the resources for training. We don't have the double income households where you can pay for the training. So a program like 33, it's targeted for inner city youth athletes.The elite and beginners. The elite kids that we have, I have to build them a profile. So I have to market this kid the same way a kid from Virginia who lives in a five, six, $700,000 mansion you know, his family makes 300k or better a year, I have to market my kid the same way that that kid is marketed. So if you can imagine, sports is huge because these kids' parents, some of them are struggling to make ends meet. So their kid getting a free education is everything that they're banking on. That would be such a blessing for the inner city kid and the inner city parent to get a scholarship and to go on to play division one basketball, division two basketball, HBCU basketball.

You know, God willing, somebody makes the league out of this organization and they are able to come back and build this up so now we got all these coaches, we got a system, we got nutrition facts for parents. They're playing across the world. That's my vision. That's the biggest thing. If you are going to write anything down, write down the discrepancy of the inner city DC kid compared to suburban Maryland, suburban DC, and suburban Virginia. It's a totally different game and I hope I can soften that journey. There's other guys in the city, good guys that's, welcome to come join me and us to build a powerhouse that serves our community. Until then, it's going to be hard for our kids to make it.

You kind of elaborated on it just now a little bit, but you talked about how, when you released the documentary, you felt a responsibility to continue this, be engaged. What's been the most rewarding part of having this role within the community coaching. Have you just had moments where it's like okay, this has been worth it so far.

Yeah, man. I met my idol, JoeFreshGoods. He donated a lot of money to 33 Community. He gave us our start...

And that was from the New Balance release he did in DC for the Outside Clothes collection?

Yeah. So, he gave us our start. For me to be like a fan of his and just, I was super into street wear, maybe like in 2014, 2015. So when he started out, that's when I was young, like the only dude in DC maybe, buying his clothes, getting everybody hip. One day I was driving down the street and a Chicago number popped up and I was like, man, who the hell is? And I was like, hello? He like, yeah, this Joe man, this JoeFreshGoods, man, what's going on? I was like, whoa, like I had almost crashed. Not to be like I'm geeked up, but I was just like this a full circle moment. And you don't even know I've been fucking with you for a long time. I got old emails when I'm asking to be his intern and stuff like that. So for us to become friends and for him to be helping me with one day possibly joining new balance basketball in the future, my organization being sponsored and stuff like that, that's a full circle moment.

But the day to day stuff I've been featured on the news, I had newspaper write-ups and stuff like that. To be in a Starbucks and an older lady be like, "Hey baby, I seen you on the news yesterday". And then I may be in like the mall or something getting some shoes or I might be out getting some food and a kid might see me and follow me on social media as far as the 33 page and be like, oh you the 33 dude. Oh, I want to play with y'all. Can you, can you call my mother?

They be like, I wanna play with your team. All these kids from DC are starting to identify my organization as the next face of DC, and they wanna be a part of it. And I always, when people catch me out, I always show love. I'm very talkative. I will sit down and have a full conversation with a stranger that has nothing and I will give them that respect and love cause it's power in people, you know what I mean? So the day to day love in the city is the most important, that's the full circleness, like damn.

But when Joe reached out, and him donating and stuff, that was dope. Cause now that's like my friend. Like, we really be chopping it up, checking on each other. That's a homie and we, God willing, can get something done with us coming over.

So you alluded to 33 building up its brand, its culture, its imprint within the city. Kids are able to recognize and identify and grow up with it. Older people within the community recognize you. But being someone who's been in this city, grew up here, it's a very different place even 10 years ago, 20 years ago with gentrification, and a lot of people being displaced. How do you navigate how the city changes and maintain that imprint? How important is it to continue this when those kinds of circumstances are happening?

It's just adapting. It's the honest to God truth man. Just adapting. You gotta adapt. Social media has made it easier to adapt because I'm able to market the program and our vision to parents all over Washington DC. And you know, it's hearsay. You win a couple championships and stuff like that. I'm always getting new jerseys and new merchandise. I always want my program to look like the new it thing cause I know that's one of the first rules in marketing, what you look like. So it's kind of easier to navigate in DC.

It's just more hardship, more people getting pushed out and stuff like that, but it's kind of easier because social media's so fast now. I don't have to ride through neighborhoods like "hey, how old are y'all wanna play basketball."

It's more so, they'll find me. So you know, it's cool. I love it. I adapted though. I'm not one of those dinosaur dudes. I bring the authenticity into this new age DC. It's two DC’s. It's the new DC and it's the old DC and I feel like I'm in the middle. Like I got so many cool hipster friends and good professional homies. One of my homies work for the Washington Post. We play ball every Sunday. I got those types of friends that's in higher places and good people that's making stuff happen in DC. But I still got that side man, that dark side that's still trying to figure it out and I'm able to decipher and walk that line between both of them. So it's kind of cool. I love the position I'm in.

Let's say five, not even five, like 10 years from now. What would you like to see from this vision you put together so far?

It's not even where I would like to see. It's what I'm going to see because I'm a determined guy and doer. I'd love to see 33 Hoyas be the biggest program on the east coast. We coming for the top spot. It's going to take manpower. It's going to take dedication. It's going to take losses. It's gonna take failures. It's going to take a lot, but I know in 10 years we'll be the number one program in the east coast, we'll have a big sneaker deal. We'll have a great scholarship program for kids that's not just basketball. We'll have a lot of scholarship athletes. In the next year we're launching our high school division. So everything is planted and calculated in the right way.

Maybe I'll even have some more award winning films, you know. Ten years from now I'd be 40 years old. My locs would be down to my ankle. I'd still be in shape. I probably wouldn't be as hands-on with coaching day to day. I'd more so be like the founder and the behind the scenes and just making sure this engine and this machine that I'm building still has a foundation.

Have you been surprised at all about being able to get people to help? With believing in some of the projects you've done. You mentioned having a team with your documentary, obviously with coaching you need good support. What have you thought of the feedback and support you've gotten so far?

I love it. Not to sound cocky, man, but people want to follow a great leader. Great leaders don't have hard times getting people to follow them. When you're honest, you do stuff the right way, you're transparent, you have a way with words, you're good with people, you're good with adults, you're good with kids, you're a people person, you lead by example, it's not hard for people to follow you. Some people are just born with that it-factor with people. Like maybe when you started your publication, some people didn't have to think twice about being on your team. They just likeI know he gets busy, I know what he is about. And that's the same thing I get for basketball and for community work or film, anything really.

I put my heart into it. I take time. I'm a good planner. I'm organized. And then I'm a no BS type of guy. I don't got a lot of BS on my name or around me. So it's like, when I do pop out to do something, people are just expecting great things. They like man, his track record is flawless, he's just a winner. I'm a winner, you know what I mean? And I don't feel sorry for being a winner. I don't. I am a winner. I don't like losing and I won't accept losing. So it's like, I'll be cocky on winning. I wake up in the morning, I'm waking up to win the day. People can feel that and they wanna be around it, you know? And after a while you get some of those qualities and those traits and you build new winners, and the next winner, and the next winner,like why can't we all be winners if we put it in our mind?

What do you think is the future of sports and specifically basketball culture within DC? Some would say this area has produced good talent and people might not always recognize that or this area's impact in general. But what do you think is the future of that culture here?

The future is what we make it far as the adults, the parents, the coaches and the organizations. We got to close this gap between us and our surrounding areas, New Jersey, New York. We have to get our athletes prepared to be high top tier players. Our kids have to start getting in shape at eight, nine years old.

What do you think have been some of the obstacles there?

The obstacle is ignorance. And when I say ignorance, I don't mean it as putting you down. I mean, the actual definition; a lack of knowledge. Parents, they don't have any clue on their own nutrition. One thing I notice when I see the NBA draft, I always see the son of an NBA player. His father played in the NFL. The mother was a D-1 track star. They understand the body. I don't care what your skill level is. If you do not work on your body, you will not make it in this new world as far as youth sports and sports past that. You will not get a D-1 scholarship if you're not in tip top shape. If you don't have an engine where you can run miles and you're preparing your body for that moment, that will fail. So my job is to bring the knowledge to DC.

Right now we have about 40 kids playing elite basketball and in the whole program we have about 90 kids. My plan in the next couple years is to quadruple that number and have 150 elite kids and 500 kids for recreation. And if we're giving these parents the knowledge to put your kid on this type of diet, your kid needs to wake up on Sundays and run Hills with us. He needs to start lifting weights at 13 years old. He needs to get in shape, he needs to fix his core. We can only provide that information and stress that we follow it. So we got a tall task man.

I can tell a lot just from this conversation, you have a mindset of, 'we're going to get this done'. Like I'm going to plug away at it. Have you seen that rub off on the kids?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, my whole 12u team is honor roll students. So they're starting to get that mentality of just getting it done. No excuse, just get it done. It's just like in life, you know, once you pull back the layers of everything, it's BS people and it's straight up people. When all the layers of you get stripped down. Who are you going to be when you grow up? Are you going to be a BS'er or you going to get stuff done? And most of 'em on that trajectory right now to get stuff done, but there's still some laziness and stuff like that. They not fully as locked in as they could be, but they grow into it.

You mentioned you're looking to get a high school program going. But talk to me about the age group that you work with now and what it's like working with kids that young.

So right now I work with five years old to 13 years old. I got beginners, I got intermediate, I got elite. To be honest, it's like a blank canvas and they don't know anything about this canvas and I'm showing them step by step how to paint, how to do this, this goes first. I'm teaching you this because of that. I'm teaching confidence. I've been training kids for the last two years and they are so much better than they were the first time I got 'em. And it's teaching them patience. Like when you first couldn't make a layup, then two months later you're making 10 layups in a row. Then the parents start to believe in what you're teaching your kid, their kid. Then it's just a lot of family atmosphere. We make it fun. We cracking jokes. We learn and we get better. But it's rewarding, man. I go to sleep happy.

Talk to me about the parents' reception of the program. Cause I'm sure, just trying to remember back to when I played sports, some parents might be apprehensive or not as engaged at first with certain stuff. Have you seen any change in their attitude?

Yeah they're really good people as far as believing in the program a lot. So the 12u team that I have, I had them since they were eight years old. So I had them for the last four years. So we have become family. And they've seen their kid go from being an okay player to a great player. And mostly all of those (Kavon motions above to a huge row of basketball trophies in his office) are their trophies. So it's just like, we became family during the process. It's great, man. I love them. I love the parents, man, we became friends. They call me just off the regular you know what I mean? It's great.

If someone asked you what 33 DC is, what would you tell them? How would you describe the program?

33 Community basketball is a branch of 33 Community. Basketball is a big part, but it's just a part. This is a life enhancement program when it comes down to it. If someone asks me, it's life enhancement, because you're learning about your diet, you're learning about how to be a teammate. You're learning people skills. I think just putting basketball on us will be selling us short. We are doing so much in the midst of teaching basketball that I just came to grips that this is a life enhancement program. They learning style, they learning so much from 33 because I introduced them to so much. Like history on why we wear black socks from Michigan Fab Five and stuff like that, so it's a life enhancement. We out of sight, we out of mind. We ain't in the streets. We not out robbing people, throwing eggs, throwing rocks, we are doing something positive. We in the gymnasium five days a week. We travel. Basketball tournaments. So it's life enhancement.

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Ty Hobson-Powell doesn't believe in respectability politics

By Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022

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By Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022

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By Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022

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Nia Keturah Calhoun is Navigating the World of Art Without Compromise

By Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022

DC is one of the most unique cities in the country in terms of its arts scene. You will see everything from street graffiti, and political art to fine art exhibitions and installations. Throughout each street, you will likely see a mural or sculpture of some kind, paying homage to history or just celebrating the rich culture of the city. Nia Keturah Calhoun, is one of the constant contributors to this very scene. Nia is a multidisciplinary hailing from Maryland, who is constantly creating art that celebrates Black culture in America. If you have been in DC within the past few years, it's possible you have passed by her art without even knowing. She has recently created a cherry blossom sculpture that was acquired by the Mayor’s office, and sits within SE DC. She created visual artwork for Rare Essence’s Overnight Scenario detailing the famous scene the song plays out, and also painted some street dividers with a nice question on them, “What do they call math in DC? AD+MO.” Recently, Nia was tasked with her first full mural. The subject? Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. By the time Nia finished the mural, the Senate officially voted to confirm Jackson and send her to join the court. I caught up with Nia at the corner of 14th and S Street NW, in front of the mural to pick her brain about the mural making process, and how she approaches her art:

Generational Equity Movement is changing the conversation around marijuana and black business ownership in Washington, D.C.

By Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022

On March 31st, 2022, DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson called for a vote on emergency legislation that would give the city the ability to close down any marijuana gifting business in DC. The bill would implement these changes as soon as May, and many I-71 gifting shops would have been subject to closure. For Generational Equity Movement, this breaking news caused shock for a few reasons. Not only were many of the members workers within the gifting community, they were hours away from releasing a documentary at the Angelika Pop-Up Theater at Union Market, that covered the very subject. GEM felt a conflicting feeling of fear of the unknown, but also power in knowing that they would soon have a movie theater sized audience that was ready to hear their input. Culturally speaking, weed has always played a role within the city. DC has their own customary smoking rituals such as using sheets and funnel. Since 2014, DC has been living in a gray area when it comes to weed. It was now decriminalized to where MPD could now give out tickets for smoking in public instead of jail time, all the while still being federally illegal. You could now walk around with up to an ounce of weed on you, as long as you showed no intent to sell it. Residents are even allowed to grow a limited number of marijauna plants in their homes. Businesses however, would face the most drastic and complex changes. Selling weed was still illegal, but simply gifting it to someone was now decriminalized.This law created the gifting industry. As a loophole, businesses often sell art, books, pencils, stickers or other items, and accompany that purchase with a selection of weed. Since the weed is in addition to the initial purchase, it is considered a gift, and by law, legal. Most of these dealings are done in cash. For eight years this trend has continued with many black residents starting lucrative businesses within the marijuana space. Many of them couple as creative businesses, often serving as incubator hubs for the arts. Within the past few years, this gray area had been in constant threat, with various legislation proposals to strike this status down, despite the fact that in 2014, DC residents voted overwhelmingly to have weed legalized in their city. Because DC is not a state, Republican Congressman from Maryland Andy Harris was able to insert a rider that prohibits local lawmakers from moving forward on legalizing marijuana sales. Generational Equity Movement saw how entrepreneurship in this space gave a new wave of young Black Washingtonians an opportunity to provide for themselves and insulate their communities. They also saw how the uncertainty of the marijuana laws in DC put many black entrepreneurs in danger of no longer being able to provide for themselves in a legal manner. So they decided to put together the documentary titled Young Gifting and Black, which explores DC’s relationship with weed, the positive things business owners have been able to provide for their communities, and how the issue of marijuana also goes into civil rights, and the politics of being denied agency without having DC statehood. I chatted with members of Generational Equity Movement, including their documentarian, to pick their brains about the state of the marijuana industry in DC, and what went into making their documentary Young Gifting and Black. Here is an excerpt from our conversation:

An Interview with Frontline Women: Advocating on behalf of the people of Washington D.C.

By Nayion Perkins • November 18, 2020

Activism is inspired by a call to action. People observe a need that is often neglected and ignored; and that neglect elicits action. This has been a constant theme for the year 2020, which has been plagued with the COVID-19 pandemic and racial strife in the country, especially within the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. Frontline Women DC, a group of young black women who are advocating for the needs of Washingtonians are one of the best examples of recognizing areas of neglect, and organizing to address them head on. In early June, they came together in reaction to the death of George Floyd, a definitive last straw for many black people who were tired of hearing about police encounters ending with the same deadly result. “The inspiration was definitely through the George Floyd protests. That’s when we came together right at the beginning of June. We really just wanted to make an impact and we didn’t know exactly how we were going to do that, but we just wanted to be a part of this special moment in history. It was like a really weird time and it’s just like, I want to do something. I can’t sit home and watch this on social media and on TV and not be a part of the movement.” The need to participate in the overall movement for justice translated into the formation of Frontline Women. Subsequently, the group organized resources from district residents across the city to provide protestors with food, water, and general financial support to help protests spread their messages. Though their advocacy started with a desire to support protestors of racial injustice, Frontline Women’s mission has expanded into many areas that directly addressed problems DC residents are facing, especially when it comes to black women. “We wanted to center black woman because we felt like in the movement in general and also in DC, we don’t really see the focus of a lot of the movements and activism here being black woman. So we wanted to create the space for ourselves. A lot of black are black women are abused, killed, violated by the police and just by the system in general, that gets overlooked. I think when you have an organization that is founded by black women, we’re always going to put those issues first. For example two girls back in June, were murdered in DC. It wasn’t by the police, but we are still victims of violence within our community and outside our community. We really made an effort to donate to their go fund me’s and spread awareness to violence against black women in DC. I think it’s important to have things that are for us by us when it involves black women, because we’re always going to champion us.” Saige Ballard and Zymia Joyner are the young women referenced. They were two black teenagers who were murdered due to the rampant gun violence that has taken place in DC this year, especially during the summer. When Frontline Women heard of their stories, they immediately used the profile they built aiding protestors in order to funnel aid and support to those two families. Since the summer, Frontline Women DC have organized a series of events to give DC residents resources. Grocery giveaways to Wards 7,8, which are areas that have been historically disenfranchised due to their demographics and location. School drives to provide supplies, as many children went back to school in September without the same familiar infrastructure present. As election season approached, they mobilized to register people to vote, as well as sharing important information with their communicates about how and where to vote. Though they have been able to organize and provide resources to support many communities in DC, members of Frontline Women DC sounded off on a number of issues that are on their radar moving forward: “I think one of the biggest issues is definitely the lack of access to healthy food across the city, food insecurity in general. As DC has become more gentrified those neighborhoods before that didn’t have access to grocery stores, maybe only have like a corner store, now have grocery stores and things like that only because white people have moved in the neighborhood. You can see that these places where white people haven’t moved yet still don’t have access to groceries. Someone should be able to walk down the street and get food because everyone doesn’t have access to cars.” “I also think, to be a little more black women specific, DC is one of the most high risk places to have children in the country, especially if you live east of the river because there aren’t any hospitals, and the hospitals that are in DC right now outside of Howard, you can’t really go to most of them if you don’t have insurance or it’s going to be extremely expensive. That’s something that alarms me. That’s also a huge issue since we’re in the middle of a public health crisis; that there’s just not access to medical care, especially for black women, like there should be in a major city like DC.” “A big thing is cultural and social awareness, just coming back to DC and seeing how gentrifiers, even black people who are new to DC, not understanding the culture. We would like to see more emphasis on teaching people about black DC culture. I just felt like a lot of people are just not culturally sensitive or aware of how inspirational DC’s culture has been and how it’s being taken away through gentrification.” “DC has always been violent, but I feel like this summer in the past couple of years, it’s been super evident. We know that a lot of that is the effect of gentrification. People are being pushed together, but also there’s not a shared community responsibility just to keep everyone safe and alive anymore and that’s just stressful and kind of alarming to think about, especially as we get older and we’re going to start having kids and wanting to raise families here, it’s just not safe and we don’t feel safe when the police come. They don’t necessarily give the care and the proper attention to a lot of these cases like they should, the mayor doesn’t; It’s like us as activists and as community members are the only one who cares.We’re the ones supporting the families when they need help after they lost loved ones.” “It kind of goes back to gentrification. I know growing up here, there were a lot more resources for homelessness. A lot of homeless people had a lot more shelters that they could go to. A lot of addicts had drug treatment programs that they could get into, and now it’s little to none. That’s extremely frustrating, especially with drugs being exposed to younger kids. A lot more people are on the street and there’s a pandemic on top of all of this. Homelessness is at such an alarming rate and then people are already being pushed out from some of the places that they are staying. It’s very concerning.” You can follow Frontline Women DC on Instagram @FrontlineWomenDC in order to keep up with their community events, as well as receiving information on how to donate or volunteer.

Washington D.C. on Track for Highest Murder Total in 15 Years

By Norbert Klusmann • November 18, 2020

Amidst the most chaotic year in recent history… during a pandemic, during a social revolution regarding this country’s past, present and future racial transgressions, with a paradigm shifting Presidential election looming, Washington D.C. is facing a heartbreaking and familiar epidemic that it knows all too well: gun violence. Whether at the hands of the people sworn to protect and serve us or as a by-product of poverty, the lack of opportunities in our communities and displacement, murder has run rampant in the District in a way we haven’t seen for 15 some odd years. With 150+ murders in early October of 2020 (compared to 166 total murders in 2019), Washington, D.C. is on track for topping 200 murders for the first time since 2004. History of Murder Capital D.C.’s Mayor for Life, Marion Barry, once said ”It’s been like a frenzy. Once you start a name, it just becomes a name. You can’t get rid of it,” in respect to the city’s ‘Murder Capital’ tag. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Washington, D.C. did more than earn enough to earn the grim title. From 1988 to 1995, the homicide rate rested comfortably in the 400s, a frightening number for any city, but especially a city as small and compact as D.C. There were many contributing factors to this traumatic time period. First and foremost, we’d be remiss in not recognizing the profound effect the crack epidemic had on this area. Crack’s introduction in 1986 is the most obvious precursor to the ‘Murder Capital’, with D.C. also essentially becoming the ‘Crack Capital’ as well, with the largest crack-dealing organizations making as much as $8 million a month ($18 million in 2020, with inflation). This much street traffic, money and the murder that followed garnered a lot of attention - all the way to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Newly elected President George Bush made it a point to “restart” the War on Drugs because of the drug trade in Washington, D.C., using crack sold in a park across the street from the White House as an example. The subsequent policing and attention caused more harm than good, as the murder rate rose in the following years, but this clearly outlines the landscape this nickname was given in. Factors in Violence: (gentrification, poverty, lack of opportunity) Gun violence is not an issue that exists in a vacuum. It is the culmination of a number of things, ending in the perfect cocktail of circumstances needed for someone to be injured, sometimes fatally. When citizens are asked, they bring up the following as contributing factors: D.C. natives struggle with a lack of opportunity in an economically booming city, rising rent costs forcing residents into unfamiliar (sometimes even warring) neighborhoods, on top of an already irreparable relationship with the black community and the Metropolitan Police Department. This creates a deadly atmosphere, a hotbed for gun violence. Residents don’t feel safe and it is obvious how some may feel that carrying a weapon for your own self-defense is better than potentially losing your life, falling victim to this new landscape they have been put into. On the other hand, when it comes to individuals that may not have any opportunity, any way to feed themselves or their families, relying on less than savory methods of making money become necessary. This puts an unavoidable target on your back - either with other individuals in the streets, the police or both. The powers that be in Washington, D.C. have a responsibility to its citizens, to ensure that they are never put between a rock and a hard place, in this way. The cross-section of economics and public safety can be seen plainly here and real steps need to bee made to ensure the progress of all Washingtonians. 34th N EAT Party Shooting More recently, there has been two captivating stories: a celebration turned mass shooting and another young life taken too soon by America’s over-militarized police force. In the days leading up to August 9th, near the apex of a somewhat dormant and stifled summer as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, a video went viral on social media. Hundreds of bottles of liquor advertising an annual cookout branded the ‘34th & EAT Cookout’, featuring the popular D.C. brand EAT, prompted hundreds of people to take to the streets. A little past midnight, shots rung out. 22 people were shot. 21 individuals were adults, including 12 of which are women, 9 male victims and 16 people between the ages of 20-29 years old. Heartbreakingly, a 17 year old young man, a father to an infant, lost his life. No one has been charged for these murderous actions and no explanations have been produced. The event was a perfect cocktail for mayhem, with alcohol amounting to thousands of dollars, the common violent occurrences of dice games and other cash-based gambling at parties and cookouts, ontop of the reality of warring neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. DEON KAY Deon Kay was similarly young. 18 years old with years of life ahead of him, his journey was cut short in a way that is all too familiar to young black men in this country: by a gun in the hands of a police officer. Police responded that a tip that Kay and two others were in their neighborhood brandishing guns and officers actively went looking for them. Upon being discovered, Kay fled, trying his best to escape capture. Officer Alexander Alvarez runs ahead of Kay, trying to cut him off. As we can only guess at this point, Deon realizes his capture is inevitable and he tries to best to toss his weapon. While doing so, Alvarez shoots and kills Deon Kay. The weapon in question was found nearly 100 feet away from Deon Kay’s lifeless body. Police shootings happen everyday in America. Rarely are we, the people, given the information to truly discern whether or not justice was truly served. Do I believe Deon Kay could have been apprehended without loss of life? I do. But at the end of the day, we can only truly focus on how to stop these situations and circumstances from being common occurrences in our communities.

What is Police Abolition?

By Camara Stokes Hudson • November 18, 2020

Why don't you like cops - All people have inherent worth and dignity - and people are not their jobs. When people say ACAB or Fuck 12 they are attacking the institution of the police and people who uphold and defend that system, many of those people are current or former law enforcement. The fact is policing is rooted in anti-blackness and racism. The origins of American policing come from pre-civil war slave catching forces and has throughout its history created and perpetuated a criminal justice system that actively kills Black people and holds Black communities back.

Yaytunde Speaks: Expressing Artistry in Tumultuous Times

By Nayion Perkins • November 18, 2020

On May 25th, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by police officer Derek Chauvin, when he held his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and forty-six seconds. Video of Floyd’s last moments were recorded, and ultimately went viral through social media, sparking instant outrage. Subsequently, protests began nationwide, and the conversation on race and injustice in America was sparked once again. For many young Black Americans, Floyd’s death was the last straw. The tragic cases of Ahmaud Arbery as well as Breonna Taylor were already weighing on the minds of many. This was insult to injury. It was also nothing new. Each year, the list of black people who are murdered at the hands of the police grows. Many of those cases conclude with officers not being held accountable for their actions. In June 2020, we saw a boiling point nationwide. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic prompting the shutdown of business and life as we know it, protestors of all ages took to the streets. Many, looking for an outlet. A way to grieve and sort through the familiar pain of losing life to a system that does not care whether you live or die. Protest across the country have brought light to issues when many mainstream media outlets have failed to feel the pulse of the people who are demanding change. During protests, many are inclined to carry a sign to convey a message or share something they feel needs to be addressed. Within the new generation of protesters, art has become an important medium to convey messages to the masses. Coupled with protest, the lockdowns put in place due to COVID-19 presented challenges for many. In a world where technology rules and everyone is now working from home or attending school remotely, it was hard to ignore the movement for social justice taking place outside. Social media would ensure that was the case. And though it was good that a lot more people were forced to pay attention because of the surrounding circumstances of the world, for those who are all too familiar with the pain of being black in America, it was hard to take in all of the news without it taking a mental toll. For DC born and raised artist Yaytunde, art has been a major outlet during this tumulus year. A true chance to make a statement, while also addressing the many emotions that the death of black people wakens.

What does the rise of Muriel Bowser to the national stage mean for DC Natives?

By Camara Stokes Hudson • November 18, 2020

Mayor Muriel Bowser seems to be getting a lot of national attention in the past few months. She has appeared on MSNBC, CNN and ABC to speak on racial justice and the pandemic. She has been offered a Leadership Award by the National Newspaper Publishers Association. Mayor Bowser even had a speaking role at the 2020 DNC. Often alongside other Black woman mayors like Keisha Lance Bottoms, London Breed, and Lori Lightfoote, Muriel has been cast clearly in the national discussion as a local savior, holding the line against the public health and political threats posed by the Trump Administration and its followers. Most notably, Mayor Bowser has received high praise for her decision to paint “Black Lives Matter” large enough it could be seen from space on the portion of 16th street running up to White House, renaming it “Black Lives Matter Plaza”. A response, of sorts, to the still ongoing nation-wide protests to end racist policing practices and seek accountability for police who commit murder.