Nia Keturah Calhoun is Navigating the World of Art Without Compromise

Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022

The Artist Talks Ketanji Brown Jackson Mural, the D.C. Art Scene and More


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:




Introduce yourself to the people.


My name is Nia Calhoun. I am an artist. I grew up in Maryland. I'm now based in DC. I do a lot of things.I paint paintings, I paint murals, I'm a sculptor; but really I just come up with ideas that I think relate to the black experience and I try to figure out the best way to talk about them.

Okay, we are literally right here in front of your mural of Ketanji Brown Jackson, soon to be the newly appointed Supreme Court Justice. Her appointment was historical for obvious reasons, first black woman to the court. How did this mural come about?


There is this really really incredibly dope and important group of black women for black women who formed this organization called Sister SCOTUS, [Sister on the Supreme Court of the United States]. And for years they've been advocating, lobbying to get a black woman on the court because of a lot of reasons, one, Clarence Thomas has been on the court forever. And then before that we had Thurgood Marshall. But if you think about people who are deeply empathetic, who are really relatable, who will look at things from a lot of different sides, to me that almost embodies a black woman. So they've been advocating for a long time to get a black woman on the court and two years ago they did a mural to lobby and advocate to get a black Supreme Court Justice. When Kentanji Brown Jackson was nominated, they really started being like, okay, we have to do a mural to celebrate this, we've been going so hard for this for such a long time and they linked up with No Kings Collective, which is a great artist collective, they do a lot of things. They do like events in the city, it’s almost hard to tell you what they do. But they linked up with them like we need an artist; and I had been painting with them for about a year on their mural team and before that they had just been mentors for me for a long time. So they suggested me as a black woman who does murals in DC, that felt aligned, so I was very blessed to just be connected to the right folks to be able to do this and then celebrate the nomination and her and what it took for her to get there really.

When looking at the piece, what elements factored into what you included into it. Was watching the actual hearing a big part of it or was it just her nomination in general?


I think it's a little bit of both, right? Because I thought a lot about the history of who she was literally and figuratively. And so the whole style is like my attempt at AfriCOBRA art, which was a black arts movement that came out of Chicago in the sixties and seventies, and that was when she was born. So I thought it was really cool to look at the landscape that she would've stepped into as an American and what would've been black art when she was born. So I thought about her historically in that sense, but even on the mural, there's this little sketch of her and her dad at a kitchen table when he was studying for the bar, she would sit there and be in her coloring books when he would be studying his law journals.


So I just thought that that was really dope. I wanted it to be like her personal narrative, but also a larger narrative of black women in this country, which is why right below her is Constance Baker Motley, who was the first black woman to be a federal judge; and they share a birthday, which I think is crazy.

Oh, wow.


Super cool. And I'm almost embarrassed to say, but I didn't really know a lot about Constance Baker Motley before she mentioned her in her speeches and her confirmation hearing, but she was a baddie. She was the person who filed Brown vs. Board [of Education]. She was a clerk for Thurgood Marshall. She was a civil rights attorney who worked with MLK and just really put a lot on the line. She was the Manhattan Borough President, she was that girl, you know what I mean?


And I was like, wow, she's almost become lost in popular history and narrative which is really messed up. So I wanted to highlight both of those. But also watching the hearing, one of the things that stood out was just how ridiculous they were being and vile to this black woman, because of sexism and racism they felt like they were able to do that; and I realized when I was watching them that it hurts to break a glass ceiling to be the first of anything, like your head will get bloodied. So there's a lot of jagged shapes on here, a lot of sharp angles that represents her breaking through that. And lastly, I wanted to put in my thoughts about it. I think that it's really naive and disingenuous to think that just because we have the first of something that everything has changed because it hasn't. Racism still exists. Sexism still exists. All the systemic oppression that's going on in this country still exists right? Her nomination doesn't change that but it could be a sign for better things to come. Which is why there's a sun rising on this side and it's rising on her. I was like, oh yeah, like the Negro National Anthem, facing the rising sun, a new day's begun, let us march on.... so it's like yeah, it's a new day. Are we going to keep moving and grooving and doing what we can to make where we live and the communities that we live in better?

You mentioned a lot of the elements you pulled from and the symbolism you used within the piece. Was it emotional at all for you as a black woman to be tasked with this? Did you feel apprehensive about taking this on?


Wow, that's a great question. The answer is yes to those questions because you realize how many people have fought for this. How many women, like Constance Baker Motley, but also a whole lot of unnamed women who wish that they could have ascended to those heights and fought to ascend to those heights. For every law school, there is the first black woman who had to attend that law school, you know what I mean? I felt all that history when I was doing it and I wanted to do something that would specifically make black women proud. I wanted them to stop and take pictures of it. She's a justice for everybody but this mural is for black women and black girls.


It was also the first mural that I got to design by myself. I've worked on collaborative things before, but this is a hundred percent me. I had a great team of people who helped me put it up on the wall, but as far as it being my first mural, it's really my first solo mural. And so that also felt pressure cause I wanted it to be good because it was my first, I wanted black women to be proud of it and sometimes I would be freaking out on the wall. There was this one day, I think it was like the last day I was painting. I was up on the lift 30 feet in the sky and I looked out and there's this really cute black dad walking down the street holding the hand of this little girl who must have been like four and they just stopped. You could see that he was telling her who it was and she was smiling at this black girl who I'm sure looks like a lot of members of her family, myself on this lift, you know what I mean? And I was like, wow, that's who I'm doing it for. I shed a little thug tear but that was really special to me.

You talked about how you had a team of people helping you with this. I imagine you had an idea going into it but did any of your plans change once you started? Did you have to adapt once you started?


No. Making is just like problem solving

So just talk to me about that process of making a mural, working on such a big physical space.


Well, we're at an active construction site, so this awning wasn't here when we started, but it was here when we finished. So you're always trying to figure out safety for one, because you're on these big machines and then you have this sketch that's maybe a foot long in your hand and you're like, okay, I have to make this fit this 80 foot wall. And you're always trying to figure out the best way to make a round shape, or we couldn't physically get over there because there was this structure here. So how do we get 30 feet in the air when there's something right in our way? So there's always these little compromises and team huddles of okay, I think this is the best thing to do. Like, oh, okay, I see that for this, let's try this. But it really feels like one big project which is cool.

Speaking on murals in general, DC I would say, is a very visual city. If you drive through the city you'll see a lot of artwork, a lot of murals, a lot of physical art pieces. It really seems like the city tries to cater to that. What do you think of the overall art space here and how does it feel to be a contributor to that?


There was a huge barrier of entry that I was very blessed to have my hand held coming through it, which was really nice. But I remember being a younger artist and being one, confused, but two, frustrated and thinking I want to paint on walls. I want to put black people on walls around the city. How do I do that? Do I knock on the front door and be like, Hey, can I paint your wall?


I think it's beautiful because I do think public art is good for everybody. So I think the function of all these murals in the city are really, really cool. I'm very blessed to now be in community with a lot of people who are doing it, shout out to of course, No Kings Collectives, my big brothers and sisters. But besides them like Anikon oh my gosh, that man is like, to me, that man is like walking DC legend, black history. Like the fact that he had just put black people, but specifically black women all over this city is like crazy to me. I love his work. I think there's always this tension though, between kids who just have spray cans and muralists who are getting paid to do these walls.

Especially young kids like teenagers, like this kid I was talking to would probably really like to paint a mural as well, but the access points aren't there. So one of the things I really want to do as I grow and climb... I have a lot of young homies and I want to make sure that if they wanna paint a mural, they could figure out ,one, how to do it, but two, get paid for doing it. And then three, have there be a space for them to learn how to do it. Shout outs to Words, Beats and Life, because they have been doing that work for a long time.

Piggybacking on what you just said, can you speak to what it's like to be a young artist trying to navigate their way within this space in the area as well as general advice you would give to someone who's trying to navigate being an artist, getting into murals and things like that.


I think the thing that changed it for me was finding mentors and being like, I'm very serious. I am willing to run spray cans for you. Really kind of apprenticing with folks, but you have to come correct to do that, which is hard. And you have to be willing to put yourself out there, which is also hard. As an introvert, I didn't want do that for a long time, but the other avenues to do it, which is one, you know somebody who owns a building, and in a city that's rapidly gentrifying, and costs are rapidly increasing, the people who own buildings are usually not people who live in the community. So it's hard to just be a kid and know somebody who owns a building and has a wall. Or the other thing you do is you go through the city, but that also has barriers of access because you have to have experience most of the time to get those grants from the DC commission to do them.


So it's like when you apply for a job and they say you need work experience. You're like, how am I going to get work experience unless someone hires me. That's what it feels like trying to do your first mural in the city. But I think it's really figuring out who you like in the city and then sending them an email, or sending them a DM and being like hey, can I assist you on a mural one time, I would really love to learn how to do this. I'm really interested in getting into murals. What I've learned is people like Anikon, people like Keyonna from Congress Heights Art Center, they're so giving of themselves and the way that they really want to reach back and pull up, you know a high tide rises all ships, that love is in the city. You just got to work past feeling like everything isn't set up against you because I was definitely there for a long time. It was just like the barrier of entry is too high, I don't know how to do this.



So what is it like being a black artist and making very black culture specific pieces within a space that is as you mentioned, is rapidly gentrifying. Do you find more purpose in what you're doing because of those circumstances? Does it make you feel a certain type of way? How do you feel when you're producing art in a space like that?


It's really interesting because I'll get commission requests to do something where I feel like I would have to compromise on blackness and it's like, wow, like money is nice but I have to make art because I think it's so important. My dad is from East Capitol street and my mom is from Cherry Hill and Baltimore. Very black. Both of those places are very black and they made it a point having very black kids, to surround us in black art. And I'm still unpacking all the ways in which that was amazing for me growing up. But when I was working with young people in the city, I realized a lot of them hadn't had the same exposure to black visual artists that I had growing up. I mean my exposure was really, my parents had all the hood classics just hanging up. But I was just like, that's important. And I was used to seeing black people painted and how beautiful that was.

We've always been into art.


Always, black people have always been making art arguably better than anyone else, but I know that that's still important. So if I can be like how my parents were to me and put black people around this city… you know, 14th street five years ago did not look like us. Do you know what I mean? It didn't feel like this. And so sometimes I think it's an important reminder to just be like, we're here and we've always been here, and a lot of my art is reaching back to those connection points. I paint my former students a lot because I want to remind them always, I want them to be bold and audacious. This is your city and don't let anybody tell you different or make you feel like you don't belong where you belong, period. And that's for my kids who were at Ballou and that's for my kids who went to Duke. Both instances. These are your cities.


Being a multidisciplinary artist, you have different mediums that you work with. You mentioned sculpture work, painting, graphic and digital. How do you cater to all of those mediums? Do you feel a certain way and you'll lean towards one medium? When you're inspired by some art, how do you determine which avenue you'll take to explore or express that?


I think it's like what gets the idea across best? So for a few years I was doing this project when I was trying to make a fake FUBU alternate reality. Like what if FUBU made everything for black people? Like cell phones by FUBU, and products that would like... spray that got rid of Karen's, like FUBU you could really do anything with. And I'm like, what's the best way for me to talk about this; there should be a helpline. So I made a helpline where you could call this 1-877 number and there was an audio recording. And just figuring out different ways to make art that is so fun. So sometimes it's like a painting and I'm like, yeah that shows enough. But a lot of times it's just like no, I have to make this move, so I'll do an animation for it instead. But the best projects are the projects that I can do a little bit of everything with. But it's really just about what I think will best represent the idea.

Is there usually a different approach when you do something bigger versus like this mural, versus doing something that's smaller in size, such as the cherry blossom sculpture or the ADMO painting?


The approaches are really the same. Everything just starts with a sketch. When I started doing this mural it was a real quick turnaround. I had maybe a week to get this design done. Usually you have months when you're just planning a mural to figure it out and you go back and forth with the client. But because I had a week, it was like, okay, I had to do it. So at one point I was just sitting with my big brother, Brandon Hill, one half of the founders of No Kings Collectives in the middle of The Line Hotel. It was just us with sketchbooks, just like okay, think about this, think about that. And that's how everything starts. Animations will start that way. Sculptures will start that way, which I think is really beautiful because you realize that leven the biggest things start with just this little idea and anybody is capable of that first step. With Google, you can figure out the rest of the steps.


When I was teaching, a lot of my kids would get so intimidated because they would have these big ideas in their head. I'm like, it doesn't matter how big the idea is, you just need a little piece of blank paper and that's where every idea is going to start. So the process is really similar for all the projects.

You've mentioned teaching a few times, how much does working with students inspire you?


I miss it. I stopped doing it at the end of 2020 and just started doing art full time. But I was just telling my homegirl the other day I need to find young people again because I think my favorite artists have always been phenomenal because they've surrounded themselves with young people.


I have this great friend, Monie Shade. Genius girl. And she has this book called Things We Found so far, and one of the things she says in the book is sometimes your mentors will be younger than you. And I think teaching, yeah I'm able to put them onto things that I know, but they do the same thing for me. They're like, you need to listen to this or the way they think about the world even, because their generation is different from mine and more progressive. And they've had access to all of the answers since they were kids with Google. I remember learning about Google. These niggas have always known that you could ask the internet questions and it will give you,maybe not the answer, but an answer, which is crazy.


I mean my favorite artists surround themselves with younger people. If you look at 3k (Andre 3,000) and Erykah (Erykah Badu), I think they've had long careers where they've been so relevant for so long because they were always showing love to younger artists and being like, that's dope I'm going to see how that hits and I'm going to try that too. Erykah has a song with SZA you know what I mean? Before SZA was SZA she had a song with Erykah. So I think all that is really fire and I think everyone who's interested in mentorship should figure out a way to get into it.

So are you optimistic about the art scene in DC from your experiences with working with younger people or what you see or witness being in the art community?


I'm cautiously optimistic because DC as a city just has a really great culture and a super crazy history of art, period. Furthermore, to zoom out the District of Columbia, the DMV in general, like the first black art show was at the University of Maryland. So there's this crazy history of black arts in this city and in the surrounding areas and that's not going away no matter who comes in or how high the rent is, the city will have amazing black art in it because Washingtonians are just mad resilient, and they'll figure out a way to make their art.


I'm cautiously optimistic because it is becoming harder to do certain things, right? One of those things is maintaining art spaces. You keep calling me a young artist, but I'm not that young, but that's okay.


**laughs**


But when I first came home from Spelman 10 years ago there would be all these underground hip hop shows. Like Bombay Nas and I mean, before that growing up, there was always a go-go that was Metro accessible that you could get to; and the disappearance of those things are really concerning. It's such a big part of our history, our culture and our joy that I think there has to be a focus on maintaining it and preserving it and celebrating it for sure. Shout out to Yaddiya and Moechella right? But we got to make sure we hold space for young people to come through and do art, and feel free and not have a lot of parameters and those spaces dried up. If I was 20 something and I wanted to do an art show, I don't know where I would go do it.


I don't know where that would be and that's a problem because when I was 20, there were a whole bunch of kids who were like, yeah there's this yoga studio and we're going to go take it over. And I want there to be more spaces like that in the city. And there are certainly people who are doing that work, once again shoutout to Keyonna, Congress Heights Center, Black Swan Academy, the way that they lift up young black artists, young black students, they're definitely doing that work. But even certain institutions like Eaton hotel have really partnered with a lot of orgs. There are definitely people doing the work and we got to put our support behind them and get them more support financially and otherwise so they can keep doing that.

I have this notion or theory that DC as of recently now loves black art, the aesthetic of it. They love to sell that to people without actually putting support into the actual artists or the actual people who create that culture that they then sell to people. Do you agree with that sentiment? I don't think there are alot of physical art spaces that people can go to, yet I still see a lot of art initiatives in the city. What do you think about that contradiction?


Oh man.


**laughs**


I mean it's bullshit, right? The black aesthetic I think is people something that people really like. I was recently told, 'Hey, we really like your mural, it's super black. Could you do that, plus like maybe more white.' And I was like, what? What does that mean?


I mean the rent is too high. I do all my work in the city and I still can't really afford to be here, which is crazy, and I'm doing okay you know? So to think about younger people who are trying to come here and once again, younger people will always drive culture so if there's not a space for them to be, places where they can even hang out and eat for a reasonable price. If we're not cultivating spaces where artists can come to chill and connect with.... like I remember being younger and the Durkle store was just the spot. You would just go in there, meet so many people. Same thing with Commonwealth.

That's a throwback.


Come on for real. Like that's where I first met, like Scooty and Modi, you know what I mean? And people who I really still to this day look up to. But we were able to meet because there were these places... and there are definitely things like SOMEWHERE, shoutout to Dom, and Maketto definitely exists, right? And they definitely do work to make those spaces feel homey. But I definitely used to take my students in certain spaces and they felt like they didn't belong there. I'm like once again, this your city, you belong in these spaces. Don't let people tell you otherwise. So I really would love to see people putting more money into that.

You know what it's giving, do you watch Atlanta?


What's it giving? I do watch Atlanta.


Did you see that episode? It wasn't the most recent, but it was the one before that, with the fashion house?

Yeah, when the white fashion house accidentally made a t-shirt referencing the Central Park Five and had the fake initiatives to give back in order to ‘make up’ for that.


That's what it's giving. I'm like, where is this money going? What are we doing with this?


We got to do some thoughtful planning because what I don't want to happen here is.... what happened to San Francisco when they really became a tech hub... San Francisco has a lot of great culture. The bay area is where the Panthers got started, psychedelic movement, think about Jimmy Hendrx, it just has this crazy rich history. But the normal person can't live in San Francisco anymore. So the reason why people wanted to flock there, this wonderful culture is now like a copy and paste young white millennial city because those are the people who can afford to live there. So I don't want that to happen to DC where it's just like, yeah people want to come here because we have this great culture. We have this great music in Gogo. We have this amazing history and flavors. I mean, we've been here for how many seconds and we've met so many characters just shouting across the street. I want generations to come and to feel like this, and that takes thoughtful planning, that takes a mayoral office that really cares.

Actually cares.


Yeah, actually cares. So yeah man, I definitely don't have the answer, just a lot of questions.

You mentioned people will reach out to you and they'll love the work you do because it's very black. But some people might come to you and want you to do something that's more vanilla or compromises the things you believe in. How do you as an artist navigate that?


I just be ghosting people. I'm still working on the power of no and being like absolutely not.

So you don't compromise.


No. What I will do is, I will collaborate. So if someone has a legitimate thing and the people who I'm about to work with, they're like yeah we want it to reflect the whole community. I'm like you know that's supposed to be black. They're like, hey but maybe a couple other folks? I'm like, all right, maybe, you know what I mean? I love collaboration and I love creative abrasion where we're fighting to make our ideas happen in the best way that they can happen. I'm always down for that. But compromising who I am, what I believe in, like that's the hard no.


So recently, you know Nelly's went through it because they thought it was a good idea to drag a black woman down a set of stairs. Like wow, how dumb are you? To be honest, as a black woman, I just always never really fucked with Nelly's to begin with so it was never really a thing for me. But the artist who has the mural on the side of Nelly's, the ducks, it got defaced and now it's smudgy. She was like, will you redo it with me? I feel like it's just so important. I'm like, you know, I'm gay and sometimes I date girls and you're trying to use me and my blackness right? You want me to redo this mural with you so it can be a getaway pass for you to do it.

Like in Atlanta.


Like in Atlanta. **laughs** I told her absolutely not and I directed her to some organization she needed to talk to about why maybe she shouldn't redo it either. And then the same thing, another white artist came to me recently and said "hey, we should collaborate on this black lives matter project." I'm like what do you have to say about that? Do you have an interesting view? What I love and what I really fuck with No Kings for, this organization collected, founded by a black man and an Asian man is they know when to throw the alley oop to someone else, which I really love. That's very important.

So when they did the night market, they found Asian artists to do the art. I'm like, that makes sense, it's an Asian event, y'all should find Asian artists. And when they needed someone to do the Ketanji Brown mural, they're like, it needs to be a black woman. They’re like it shouldn't be us, but a lot of people don't wanna throw that alley oop. I'm like why would I collaborate with you for black lives matter? That's not making sense. Throw the oop. So a lot of times it's just like no, and you don't really care about black lives mattering, you just care about a bag and the perception of you caring.

You're always on alert to bullshit?


You got to keep your third eye open, they will really play you in these streets and have you looking crazy. I'm very blessed to have very thorough group chats, a lot of real niggas surround me and because a lot of real niggas surround me, I think there's this barometer of no. Because if my friends knew the situation, they would drag me and a lot of times when we see people mess up, it's like damn you don't have any real niggas around you, I can tell because you're out here wildin. Shoutout to Kanye, who I just feel like needs four real niggas around him, shoutout to him somehow.

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:

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

By Nayion Perkins • July 7, 2022
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:

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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