Keyonna Jones knows the Soufside has something to say in the Arts

Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022

The D.C. Native has worked on Murals such as Black Lives Matter Plaza, but her true goal is to reshape the art community in the forgotten part of D.C.


The Southside of DC, affectionately referred to by many as Soufside, is often misunderstood. Many think of the violence that takes place in Wards 7 and 8, and the discrepancies in the amount of grocery stores and hospitals this area has in comparison to other parts of the city. While many attribute negative connotations to the Soufside, many see it as home to some of the most personable and resilient people you will ever meet. They see a place where the talent is unlimited in terms of sports, art, music, food and much more.

Keyonna Jones has long been one of the people who has seen the potential for the Soufside. Jones is a creative in all facets of the term. She is the executive director of the Congress Height Arts and Culture Center, and touts herself as a one woman band who will get whatever needs to be done to advance the space of art within her part of the city. Keyonna has pushed initiatives forward such as SoufsideCreates, and since 2015, the CHACC has been a creative hub that artists can have exhibitions at, small businesses can vend, and people of all ages are exposed to new ways of interacting with their artistry.

In 2020, during the heart of the pandemic and racial justice protests within DC, Keyonna was approached with a tall task. She and other artists in the city were approached by the Mayor to paint the yellow Black Lives Matter mural, located now at what is known as Black Lives Matter plaza in downtown DC. When Keyonna was recognized as one of the lead artists, and pulled from anonymity, she used the press she was receiving as an opportunity to continue her mission, push forward the creative arts space in southeast DC.

I visited Keyonna at the Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center on MLK Ave in SE, to pick her brain on the past few years, and her mission of making art accessible in Southeast DC. Here is an excerpt from our conversation:




Who are you, how would you describe yourself and what you do?


I am Keyonna Jones. I'm the founder and executive director of Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center. I'm a full-time artist as well, and a mother of two, born and raised Southside.

Tell me about what the center offers to people and your role here.


So the center is a safe hub. Like literally we have been named under Mayor Bowser as a safe place here east of the river, but we're a multitude of things. We're an art gallery first and foremost that supports black and brown artists. We offer programs and workshops of all kinds, health and wellness, art included. We collaborate with other nonprofits that have great programming but need space. Then we triple as rental space for small businesses, artist studios, and for the community.

As a nonprofit do you face many challenges or issues with funding or going from month to month? Can you speak to that a little bit?


Absolutely. So one, just being an art gallery and a nonprofit in Southeast is hard, right? Being in Southeast as people know, we have been historically left behind, historically forgotten about, historically underserved and underprivileged. So everything over here is a struggle. Getting funding is very hard, being a one woman band and having to manage all the things that is here and adding grant writing to my hat is hard, but thankfully we have a Mayor that understands the value and power of art and has a lot of different support and resources that can help artists and art spaces like ourselves. We have the DC Commission of Art and Humanities that is our bread and butter of how we are able to program and move. We just do our best. The work that we are here for is more about healing through art. Not just the whole art expression, but also teaching economic stability through art, demystifying that whole thought process of a starving artist. So I think with that passion and that mission in mind, we just keep doing the best that we can, with what we have.

Seems like you're very passionate about this place and art in DC. How important is it to you to be cultivating an art space in Southeast?


It means everything to me honestly, and I think, just now we opened our doors in 2015, but I think I'm just now really understanding the gratitude of how much we've done and how much we've changed the neighborhood and the appreciation of art. For me it's real personal. Like I said, I was born and raised in Southeast. I was raised in this area and I tell people all the time, I kind of grew up as a weirdo because there was nothing over here that nurtured the spirit of a creative, like nothing when I was young. So I was fortunate enough to leave east of the river and be able to go to the other side of the city, and went to private schools where they had art classes and art resources and saw it there, and grew up as an art kid.


But as I went through life, kind of just got removed from it. So until 2015, it was never a thought for me to create an art gallery ever. I was going to be a journalist and mind my business, but when I came back home...I tell people this all the time as well, the center self manifested itself, it was what I needed and what the community needed, period. One, for the creatives and the other weirdos that were growing up with no creative spirit to be nurtured. And then two, just for what we deal with in the hood, we need a way to express and to release, right? For the things that we see in the hood, we needed art to beautify our neighborhoods and to make us feel better about what's going on here.


And then finally, we needed a space for makers and small businesses to be able to push who they are and what they are. So now being able to do all of that and then some, as development comes and we're fighting against gentrification, we've gotten big partnerships with the people that are coming in our neighborhood and able to safely keep our narrative going and it be from us. So honestly, I'm really proud of myself. It's really an honor to be a tangible example and reflection of what can be and what can come out of Southeast because people just don't believe it's possible and I'm sitting right in front of you.


You just talked a lot about how you can see that this area needed a space for people to have a creative outlet to be expressive, to give them different options or expose people to different things. You talked about your experience of how you had to go across town to get certain things regarding art. With your work so far, how has the connections you've made with artists changed your outlook on the art scene here? Has that inspired you anymore?


It definitely inspired me, because like I said before, I had completely got away from art and I was just doing journalism, and then after I left the radio station I was working part-time with my dad doing property management, and that's kind of how this space came about. My father actually used to live in this house. My siblings grew up in this house. My father changed it into a business space for himself, and then let me transform it in 2015.

So this is a personal space.


Yeah this is very personal and I think again, it speaks to, we're also a reflection of legacy, and what it means to keep property, own property, and be able to transform it over and over again and evolve with the times and be able to reap the benefits. Like I said before, kind of fight against the negative spaces of what gentrification can bring. But when I opened the doors, it was literally about all the things that I said and supporting black and brown artists. And at that point, I had completely forgot about the fact that I was an artist, because I was so deeply removed from it. I mean decades of not doing anything with art, but helping all the other artists and teaching them things, it brought me back to my art.


It brought me back to full time artistry. Now I'm doing tattoos and I'm doing my own murals and graphic designing and connecting with the same artists that I supported before. Now I'm in the streets with them. So definitely an inspiration in that way, just getting back to my personal artistry. Definitely inspired by other artists and collaborating with them. I guess I'm inspired by creating inspiration for other people too. When I see somebody come to the space and they're blown away by the fields or somebody leaves one of our events or our programming, or people have their first solo exhibition; it's just like the feels that they have, it inspires me to keep doing what I'm doing, even though we're fighting all these unfair things or the things that are really hard being a one woman band. I definitely get inspired and motivated to keep doing what I'm doing because clearly I'm doing something right.

Speaking of gentrification, you being a native of the city then having an art space on this side, how have you seen things change within Southeast in the last 10 years?


I'm fortunate to have all these perspectives. Being a native, being an artist, being east of the river. But I also have the perspective of being the daughter of a man whose been very influential in the city, my father, Mr. Phinas Jones. My parents met in the council and I was born in 88, so basically I'm a council baby. I grew up around Marion Barry being my uncle. Mrs. Barry is my godmother, and just around big city legends that are no longer here. So one, seeing all the things that they were fighting for growing up and hearing my dad's meetings and hearing what Marion was fighting for and now kind of seeing it be reality. But the other thing that you also see is the things that were being missed in those speeches about telling people that all this development would come at some point, and to start owning some things, starting to get ownership.


So it's unfortunate to see a lot of people that have been here for years and can't afford to be here or have been displaced for whatever reasons. But it's also on the other side, there's duality and everything, good and bad, light and dark. There's good things that have come from gentrification, which is the new development that comes here. And the people that did listen to all that advice or did have ownership, we get to sit here and reap those benefits or partner with those benefits. An example of that is right down in St. Eve's a couple blocks away from the entertainment sports arena where the Mystics practice. And we got Washington Go-Go games down here. Now they're building housing and parcel 15 and food and hospitals and all types of stuff. It takes time. So we have to be patient, but now it's finally coming around and it's cool to see. We got restaurants, we got Busboys Anacostia, we got different eateries. We're known to be a food desert so it's important for these developments to happen, but it's up to us to be able to be here to reap the benefits. So it's just been interesting to watch things move.


Talking about growing up being around council members and influential people from DC, do you feel an obligation to continue to serve the community?


Do I feel an obligation? I think it's just really in me, I was having this conversation with somebody else the other day because I have siblings. I have a brother that literally has my father's name and they're older. So they were around the same things, if not longer. But it's just about drive. Everybody has a different drive. Everybody has a different mission. Everybody has a different intention. I don't think I ever felt I had an obligation to do what I'm doing, it was just in me. I cannot help it. Sometimes I wish I could. I say all the time I wish I was just a regular old person that had 9 to 5, mind my business ,go to happy hour afterwards, got a weekend and I do my thing, but that's just not how I'm set up.


I've gotten a little bit better in terms of balance and boundaries with myself, because it can be very stressful. It can be very emotionally painful. I'm an empath, so I'm very energy sensitive.

Talk about your artistry a little bit. What mediums do you like to use for your art?


I'm a tattoo artist. I do large scale murals in the city now. I get on canvas a little bit. If I'm on canvas, I prefer acrylic markers. If I'm gonna use acrylic paint, then I need to be going wide scale. Digital art, definitely. I am a published fashion stylist, so I definitely love working with fashion. I also do photography. I sew a little bit. Literally wherever spirit leads me, I'm going to try it.

That is usually how it is for creatives.


Yeah, and most of 'em are hobbies. And if I put it to the public and it's they’re like, oh, I need that, I want that...I work out the expenses and get a price. That's how all my services have come around.


But art has really been my saving grace. Just in transparency, probably about two or three years ago, I fell into one of the darkest spaces of my life. It was literally just my kids, my art and my therapist, is what saved me. And so I see art as a complete healing tool. It's like a universal language. You can look at art anywhere, everywhere and it's something that you can understand in your own right. Also it's just a catalyst for stronger conversations. Two people can look at a piece and see all sorts of things. So it's just my life. That's what I do.

You talked about how art can be a catalyst for conversation, can invoke and inspire thought. I would say DC has a very unique art landscape across the city in terms of the murals you'll see on certain walls, the sculptures, and how they kind of reach out to different artists within communities to work on these different types of projects. How do you think art ties into DC's identity?


It's really important. Some of the art that you see, especially if it's in a historic place, is telling you about the history of that place. Especially the sculptures and the parks that have murals...the figures that they're putting in, it's telling you about the history of DC. That's why I think it's really important, especially for black artists and black natives to be a part of that process, to be able to control the narrative and make it real. But then also there's this space, especially because I'm in that space with doing murals... there's politics tied to everything in the city. So sometimes it's really hard to get around those things or the things that they want you to do. But also DC is a hype beast city too, which is really annoying if you are not popular, right?

Explain that a little bit more.

Hype beast for me is like... people get hyped behind you, and then there's just a beast that pushes it, and pushes you and pushes your brand. And if you are popular it's no problem. All you gotta do is say one thing and then people are going to show up right? But if you're not in that lane, or you're not popular, it is really hard to get some traction here. Then you keep seeing the same artists, you keep seeing the same thing. I think I struggled for a long time because I wasn't part of the hype beast. My name wasn't popular. The only reason why now my name is getting popular is because I help paint the Black Lives Matter Mural down at the white house.


With that, I was able to get a lot of traction and really leverage it. If you talking about me, you're going to talk about the center. So now it's like, "oh, you got an art gallery in Southeast?' And then all you gotta do is walk in this space and you're gonna feel it. So it's just like, it's unfortunate because we have vast talent here, like crazy talent. But again, with the politics, you know the right people, you know the right names, they going to push you up. And then those people, if you're not connected, you struggle a little bit or never get seen. So I think if anything, when you was asking me about an obligation, that's my obligation, to push the black and brown artists of DC, specifically Southeast.


To push them and let them be seen. That's where I am. There's a lot of gigs that I could take, but I'm not doing that. Because I know there's a lot of other things that's for me. I tell people all the time,what's for me won't miss me and what's not for me won't catch me. The more that I give, I got to be ready to receive because my hands are open because I'm steady giving. So that means something's going to come back to me. So now I'm putting other artists on. Other artists that I know are professional and they can show up and do their thing. Now I'm giving them gigs so that they can be seen and they can start getting on the map of this stuff because it's just not fair for the same people to just get the opportunities over and over again. That's weak. That sucks.

So it seems like that perspective ties into here and opening your space to different artists.


Yeah because I can give you opportunities. And we do things where I can give several people opportunities. Like Art All Night here is wild. I have probably over 200 artists that we support just out of here only. Then it's thousands of artists on the corridor that we bring. And if you look at our mission, that's it, to expose, inspire, educate, and heal all through art.

You mentioned the Black Lives Matter mural and how you got a lot of press surrounding that. Talk to me about art’s connection to activism within the city. It seems like that's something eventually artists can't really avoid. I mean, I'm sure they can choose to, but I see a connection between artwork and political messaging or statements.


So that was a crazy experience and I actually really couldn't help it because I was out there in my own brand and my gear, and somebody saw me on TV and that was the only reason why I got pulled out of anonymity. Everybody else decided to remain anonymous. I was still deciding whether I was going to be anonymous or not. But once I went out there, I was wearing my brand and people saw me and were like, "yeah, we just seen you on TV." So that's kind of how that popped out, I couldn't really go back once that happened.


But it was also really important because... when you talk about activism, it was really important for black people all over the world to see that there was another black woman out there doing that, for queer people to know that there was a black woman out there doing that. Representation is just important, period. And for that to be such a big thing at the time during protest, when Trump was acting crazy, when the mayor was fighting with Trump, that was something serious. People ask me all the time, do you consider yourself an activist? I would never put that on myself, ever. Now does my art do activism? Absolutely. I think all art does activism. Like we said before, it starts a bigger conversation. Art just does that by itself, especially if you going to be public with it. If you're going to be outside painting, you are doing activism work, period. And I don't know if you want to call yourself an activist or not, but that is the work of activism. That day really affirmed and confirmed for me the power of art. Literally 24 hours later, you saw that thing being replicated around the world


And so it was just like that it is a domino effect and I think it just speaks for itself. It became replicated around the world and it started conversations around the world that everybody was dealing with this one thing, which is the fact that black lives matter and people need to respect them, especially the police. It was just amazing to be a part of that.

Talk about that a little bit. During that time everyone was in the house. It seemed like everything was so magnified and as you say, that piece of artwork traveled throughout the country, people were doing replicas of it. There was a lot of support, but with that comes drawback and criticism as well. What did you see on that end, and what was your perspective on it?


So I'm not a politics girl, even though I'm a council baby and I understand politics and I grew up around council members. Politics is not my thing. I just understand politics and I know how to leverage politics. But I always show up as myself, which is an artist, and I call myself a healing teacher in the sense that I'm healing to teach, and I'm teaching a heal. All of that is through art, so I showed up for the art part, you know what I'm saying? That was my job. I feel like everybody has a role in this world. Some people got to make phone calls. Some people got to make sandwiches. Some people got to make art, and that's me. And it was conversations afterwards where people was just like, this is performative. Just because you painted black lives matter on the street, that doesn't mean anything, what else? We need you to defund the police...

What did you think of the Defund the Police addition people added to the mural?


That same night...and I know a whole bunch of people that did that.They came out there and added the defund police part, and people were calling me and sending me pics saying you see what they did to your stuff? And I was just like they didn't do nothing to my stuff. They left it there, and then they put up their sign beside it, and I thought it was very creative. And if we're allowed to do that, why can't they do that? Again, it sparks another conversation right? It creates more conversations and its public art, that is exactly the point of public art. So I absolutely loved it. And like I said, it started more conversations that needed to be had, so I love it.

So what would you say is the most fulfilling aspect of your work here at the center?


Just seeing people feeling good off of being black, feeling good off their own culture. Raising southside, showing people that there's a high caliber in southside. I think that's just really my favorite part, how we represent Southeast. We just lit as hell. And I think just representing Southeast, that's an honor for me, because I've been to a lot of places. And I can hold my own and represent Southeast the right way, I can be in those rooms and those conversations. I can hold my anger, I can check somebody when they are saying stuff. I'm just capable to represent here, so I love it. It's basically like I'm a council member, but not, because I would never do that!

Ten years from now, where do you see the center and how do you see art developing in Southeast?


By 10 years the center will definitely have its own artist housing. Like we will have our own building. I'm thinking of probably six units that will house artists to live and make their art in, and then we'll funnel them back in here so they can do their exhibitions and their programming workshops. We'll have more space. Ten years we should have two buildings with artist housing honestly and everything filtering and into here.


As far as art on the south side, it's going to be everywhere. It's going to be murals. It's going to be sculptures. I'm talking about metal sculptures, bronze sculptures...We're planning on putting a wooden sculpture out here from a tree bark. You're going to see all types of art. You're going to see stuff hanging off people's gates. You're going to see some of our biggest figures on corners as statues and so on. The schools are going to be covered with murals inside and out.


There's going to be public art. There's going to be art back in schools, probably full time.There's going to be retail spaces where you're going to see local makers and local brands popping. We're going to have more professional artists, more artists that know what a W-9 is. It's going to look real pretty. It's going to be bright. It's going to feel good. It's going to be good.

Throughout this you've spoken on facing certain hurdles or obstacles. When you face that adversity, what keeps you going?


It just ain't no damn way I'm going to stop. I started 2015, I've been doing this thing by myself since then and made it through a pandemic. And I mean, we made it through a pandemic without opening our doors, but we were able to renovate, we came out of the pandemic better than we went into the pandemic. And just what I know we've been able to do in this time so far. The things that people have said to me, people have gotten emotional with me as well talking about how much they love this space. The other nonprofits that we work with and the programming that we bring in here. The mothers that we touch, the kids that we touch, the elders that we touch. I say we work with people from ages 5 to 105 just because that's how universal art is. It's for everybody. Just the fact that I was a kid and didn't have something like the center here. It's imperative now that we're here, there's no way that we cannot be here.

What do you love most about DC? And it could be Southeast specific.


It is definitely Southeast. T Cloud from Mystics, I was on her live and she kept on saying she loves being an underdog. She loves the fact that people count her out. And I think that's a part of it. I love soufside, that's why I created the brand Soufside Creative. Our tagline is, we are a different kind of creative. I think that's why people feel the way they feel about us. That's why they have the fear, because we're just so different, we're unknown. And when you go anywhere, any soufside, it could be soufside Detroit, soufside Chicago, any soufside, you going to know you in soufside and you got people repping it.


I have immense pride about being from soufside. I know how special it is over here. We got the best views of the city. I mean you can't see the rest of DC the way you can see it from coming over here. And it's a reason why there's a bridge that separates us. It's a reason why you gotta crawl some waters to get to us. It's also the reason why we were the last spot to be gentrified. We just super special. So my favorite part about DC is definitely soufside.


Kavon Martez is Cultivating a Community Through the Game of Basketball

By 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:

Ty Hobson-Powell doesn't believe in respectability politics

By Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022
Ty Hobson Powell is one of the dynamic voices in DC advocacy. It’s hard not to be impressed with his resume. Ty finished high school at age 13, graduated college with his bachelor’s degree at age 15, and received his masters at age 17. It would be easy for Ty to be defined by these academic achievements, but his reach and influence go far beyond them. He is an activist that has been critically engaged with all issues relating to the well being of Black people in DC, especially within the last few years. In 2020, after seeing the frustration of his peers during the many racial justice demonstrations of 2020, Ty co founded Concerned Citizens to help organize the thoughts and voices of DC. Concerned Citizens started with marches, and soon moved into a place of advocacy through mutual aid drives and providing communal resources for residents of DC from turkey drives all the way to feminine care products. Ty’s advocacy has also crossed over into making sure DC Statehood has a future. He has been a partner with 51 for 51, a group that mobilizes to ensure legislation making DC a state has a future to be passed. Though Ty Hobson Powell wears many hats, he is one of the most approachable individuals you will ever meet. I met him on the corner of 14th and Crittenden St in Uptown DC, right across the street from Highlands. A random bystander probably wouldn’t guess that this 6’1 black dude posted on the corner arguing about how good Luka Doncic has been in the playoffs so far, is one of the leading advocacy voices in DC. But that’s the point. Civil engagement should not be gatekept, or have a certain look. That premise is what's kept the average person from feeling like they have a voice that can participate in the larger discussions. The politicians that represent us are not seen as real people who live the same lives as us, or people that we can just walk up to on a random street corner and talk to. Ty and I talked outside for about an hour. Here is an excerpt from our conversation:

In Conversation with Yaddiya: Three years of Moechella, D.C. vs. GoGo, and the future of the Genre moving forward

By Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022
“If you have a black-tie event, you don’t have any problem. But if you bring go-go in, you’re going to have problems.” This quote from 2005 was stated by retired DC Police Commander Larry McCoy. It captures the sentiment that many police officers and some government officials had toward DC’s native genre. In the early 2010’s gogo stood on its last leg as a cultural giant within the city, as many venues were shut down or reported, citing either violence or loud noise complaints from new neighbors. Many bands were often surveilled by police, and in 2010, MPD’s GoGo report was discovered, where officers passed around a list of weekly shows and performances, in the hopes of “intervening in violence” In 2010 Former Prince George's County Police chief referenced TCB gogo shows as , “violence masqueraded as entertainment”. Ten years later, on February 19th 2020, DC Mayor Muriel Bower signed a bill into law that designated GoGo Music as the official music of DC. This hillturn of the city's acceptance of gogo has a lot to do with the work of Justin “Yaddiya'' Johnson, and the mobile gogo movement he founded with Moechella. If you have been in DC the past 3 years, it would be very hard for you to not be familiar with the gogo event that often doubles as a form of protest. In 2019 Yaddiya put together years of experience in the gogo circuit and organizing protest against actions of the federal government during the Trump administration, to respond to a local incident involving gogo. The moment is pretty well known and infamous by now. A white newcomer to DC made a complaint about the gogo music being played out of the Metro PCS store on the corner of 7th and Florida Ave, a tradition that is beloved my DC residents. When the store stopped playing the music, this hit the nerve of Natives across the city, who were already dealing with the circumatsnces of gentrification in many other ways, now it was extending to the music!? The DOnt Mute DC Movement began and the gogo event of all gogo events was created, Moechella. Yaddiya and Moechella celebrated their three year anniversary on May 21st, 2022 with a concert at the Howard Theater featuring special guests, TCB, New Impressionz, Comedian and DC mayoral candidate Red Grant, DJ and EAT Founder AllHomage, DJ NahFr, and many more. I caught up with Yaddiya a few weeks before the event, in the midst of his promotion run. We sat on Wisconsin Ave near the National Zoo, and our conversation went as follows:

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.
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