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City Lights: Draw Autobiographical Comics with Rhizome DC
The past year’s isolation has brought with it a sense of obligation to explore new creative outlets. How many of us have sat at a desk, pencil or paintbrush in hand, staring helplessly at a blank sheet of paper? In an upcoming virtual workshop series, Canadian comics artist Georgia Webber offers us a way out of our uncertainty. […]
Creatives in Need of Funding Say the District Failed Them Twice
At the beginning of 2020, Michelle Busch was focusing on building client relationships and making her company, Event Solutions DC, a go-to for everything from PR to event planning to travel management. Then the coronavirus pandemic shut down the D.C. region in March and nearly all her revenue evaporated. Busch has been getting by on […]
In The White Tiger, an Everyman Is a Scoundrel
Poverty is a common theme in Ramin Bahrani’s films. His debut, Man Push Cart, follows an immigrant street vendor in New York City, while Chop Shop is about a boy eking out a living in a scrapyard. The empathy in these films is unusual; they show people at society’s fringes who rarely get the star […]
City Lights: A Reading by Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman
Amanda Gorman, the youngest poet to ever read at a presidential inauguration, left CNN’s Anderson Cooper speechless. “Wow, you’re awesome,” he told her during a recent interview. “I’m so transfixed.” Much of America feels the same. Gorman, 22, earned universal praise and became an instant star after reading her poem, “The Hill We Climb,” at Joe Biden’s inauguration yesterday. Her message of hope and healing brilliantly captured the historic moment, and it was one shaped by the horror she saw and read about during the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection. […]
City Lights: Exposed DC’s Photo Contest Shows Off a Different D.C.
Exposed DC Photography Contest There is no denying that D.C. looked different in 2020. Many residents swapped crowded morning commutes for isolated walks and weekend brunches and museum visits for virtual events and socially distanced gatherings. However, the businesses, monuments, and buildings of the city remained (mostly) accessible. Now, Exposed DC wants to see how […]
I Came As a Shadow Captures the Lasting Legacy of John Thompson Jr.
In the 1980s, John Thompson Jr. and the Georgetown men’s basketball team left a lasting impression on Jesse Washington. Even though Washington lived more than 300 miles away from D.C., in Poughkeepsie, New York, the Hoyas were “a thousand percent” his team. “Wait, let’s just stop. They were every Black kid’s team,” Washington, a senior […]
City Lights: Royal Height Says Trump “Ain’t Gotta Go Home, Just Gotta Git the Hell Up Outta Here”
When longtime D.C. R&B singer Royal Height heard in November that President Donald Trump was refusing to accept the results of the election, he was reminded of a song he had worked on. “Ain’t Gotta Go Home, Just Gotta Git the Hell Up Outta Here” is a tune that Height, along with musician and producer Ron “Meatball” Reace, had created before the election and even before the pandemic, but had not released. It was a light-hearted piece penned for their club DJ pals, aimed at patrons who would linger past closing time. But offended by Trump’s presidency and especially his November actions, Height re-recorded the tune […]
City Lights: Celebrate The People’s Holiday with Jazz from the NMAAHC
From the moment the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened, it was clearly the go-to venue for the Smithsonian’s jazz initiatives. Even more than many of its jazz events, though, NMAAHC’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrations and Christian McBride’s album The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Icons seem made for each other. The iconic bassist’s work honors King alongside Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali […]
City Lights: Know More of Shenandoah National Park’s Natural History
Shenandoah National Park: Natural History Highlights Shenandoah National Park, located 75 miles from downtown Washington, is a popular daytrip for D.C. residents, especially since we learned outdoor activities are less risky in a pandemic. Its more than 500 trails make it easy to understand why. The park’s landscape is dramatic, marked by jagged outcroppings and […]
Crank Radio Will Give Go-Go a National Platform
More than 40 years after go-go’s first national hit, Chuck Brown’s “Bustin’ Loose,” and more than 30 years after Experience Unlimited’s “Da Butt” topped Billboard’s R&B charts, go-go has finally found a national radio platform. The new hour-long Crank Radio program, which debuts Saturday, Jan. 16 at 9 p.m. on H.U.R. Voices, Sirius XM Satellite […]
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