DCist
Halim Flowers Was Given Two Life Sentences At 17. Decades Later, His Art Is Shown In Galleries Worldwide - [Winner of the 2022 SPJDC Dateline Award for Best Online Feature] - Flowers and his wife were strolling through Georgetown when they noticed the DTR space. Seeking inspiration, they walked inside to ask the gallery director about how the art was selected and what Flowers would have to do to see his work featured there one day. It was a bold question. At the time, Flowers had only been out of prison for a year and a half, having been released after serving 22 years of two sentences of 40 years and 20 years to life, respectively. Read more
D.C.’s hottest new go-go band is a group of … firefighters? - While their local legend grows, much is yet to be determined about the band, including their name. But the band has agreed that, despite their duties to protect and serve, they will keep on cranking — the term for the nonstop beat at the heart of D.C.’s homegrown music genre. In fact, the band tells DCist/WAMU, cranking goes hand-in-hand with serving the public. Read more
A Forgotten African American Burial Site Could Be Hidden Beneath A Quiet Georgetown Street - The homes along the 3300 block of Q Street NW in Georgetown are known for their history, their prices, and their bones … Human bones, that is. Read more
HR Records Was Cool Before VP Kamala Harris Paid A Visit — But It Just Got Cooler - No one was more surprised by Vice President Kamala Harris’ short-notice visit to HR (Home Rule) Records on Thursday than the Brightwood Park shop’s owner, Charvis Campbell. Read more
The Other Elliots: What I Learned From My Name Doppelgängers In D.C. - My quest for other Elliots, and other Elliots Williams (the plural form, per CNN Elliot), became a quest for meaning. What happens when you look up your name and get all these other options? Read more
‘Stumpy’ The Short Tidal Basin Tree Is Reaching Peak Bloom, Giving Hope To Washingtonians - Jackson Winfrey, a high school senior from Kansas City, was on a school trip to D.C. during our unusually warm February when he noticed a tree at the Tidal Basin a bit different from the others. In fact, “the most unique one” out of all the cherry blossoms, he says. Read more
Meet The ASL Interpreter Who Turns Into A ‘Hype Man’ At D.C. Protests - After two decades as a professional interpreter, Sanders has found himself in a perfect position to provide language access at demonstrations across the region — even ones where he’s unfamiliar with the music. Read more
Smithsonian Curators Are Beginning The Process Of Collecting Signs, Art, And Stories From D.C. Protests - The National Park Service began its removal of the nearly two miles of fencing surrounding the White House complex on Wednesday. The metal barrier has become a symbol of resistance as demonstrators have converted it into a makeshift exhibit of protest art over the past few days — and now, curators are looking to preserve parts of it. Read more
The Lincoln Statue In Capitol Hill Has Become A Monument To Public Debate Itself - Looking at the Lincoln statue, known as the Emancipation Memorial or the Freedmen’s Monument, Arnetta Lee ponders the barely-clothed Black man at Lincoln’s feet, who is looking not exactly heavenward, but perhaps somewhere far in the distance. “Does that man look free?” Read more
WASHINGTON CITY PAPER
Saturday’s Healing Justice Forum Honors The Poppaw Queen - A local filmmaker is sparking conversations about the D.C. region’s ties to slavery with a documentary about his ancestor Mary Queen. Read more
WASHINGTONIAN
The Home Course - Over the past 80 years, DC’s Langston Golf Course has been a sacred space of sorts for generations of black Washingtonians, a place of recreation and life lessons (not to mention celebrity sightings). Today it’s changing along with the city around it, with a young and diverse set of newcomers hitting the links who are unaware of its early history as the only local course open to African Americans. Amid these changes—and some welcome overtures of long awaited improvements—veterans of the course reflect on the first fairways in Washington where black golfers felt like insiders. Read more
Unsettling In: I’m a Black Millennial Who Just Moved to DC. Am I a Gentrifier? - I'm technically all settled into my bedroom on the top floor of a five-person house in Eckington, but I don’t feel settled. Sure, a family of rats lives in the trash cans out back, but something else is keeping me up. Perhaps it started when I opened my phone’s wi-fi options and more than 30 networks appeared—among them, “Gentrification_2.4” and “Gentrification_5G.” Or maybe it’s simply because I’m not sure I can connect to that word: gentrification. Read more
After a Grammy Nod, GoldLink Reflects on the DC Music Scene and Coming Home - GoldLink was fresh off an intense set in front of a sold-out hometown crowd at U Street Music Hall, and after the venue mostly emptied, he was hanging out in front of the stage to greet fans. Still glistening with sweat, he wore a designer tee, skinny pants, and metallic-silver Chelsea boots. Read more
The Locals Behind Navy Yard’s New Streetwear Shop Want to Redefine Men’s Fashion in DC - As a concept, Somewhere is quite simple. “We sell fashion and we sell coffee,” says Will Sharp, one of the three co-founders, all in their thirties, who are behind the new storefront in Navy Yard. But when you discuss the meaning, motivation, and long-term vision for the shop, the owners will tell you it’s much more layered. Read more
The Washington Post
The rapper whose essence is soul - It’s 6 p.m. on a Tuesday, and Kassim Okusaga is ready to leave his job at the Holiday Inn near Capitol Hill — not just for the evening, but for good. The 25-year-old calls his job as a front desk agent a “side gig,” as he pursues a career as a rapper best known by his first name. Read more
NEW YORK TIMES FOR KIDS (Print Only)
A Day in the Life of Washington’s Youth Mayor - On a recent Tuesday afternoon, Lourdes Robinson, 16, left school early for an important appointment: She had to give a speech in front of more than 100 young people at a virtual conference for Black women. ‘‘Don’t break down somebody’s dream or say it’s unrealistic, because you never know,’’ she told the students. ‘‘Somebody in here might be the next president.’’ With the way things are going, that future president might just be Lourdes herself.
MEDIUM
(For Human Parts:) How Do You Report on a Pandemic That Hits Home? - Putting the Covid-19 pandemic into words hasn’t been easy, even for someone who writes words for a living. Read more.
The Beautiful Pain of a Long-Distance Relationship - My brain and heart were out of sync, like one was preparing for a sprint while the other was training for a marathon. Read more
900 Words About Being the “Black Friend” - I am the black friend. The one who helps with diversity statistics at universities and offices. I was raised in the suburbs and went to private schools. I am the black man rarely depicted in media. I smile. I’m safe. And I don’t cause too much trouble. And yet, I feel the pain of my brothers. Read more
SYRACUSE.COM / NYUP.COM
Early signs suggest it was a bad winter for Upstate NY beekeepers - It appears to have been a rough winter for New York state beekeepers. Early estimates suggest many beekeepers have lost at least half of their hives, with some reporting all of their honey bee colonies died. Read more
How to study brewing in Upstate NY: Seven places to get a beer degree or certificate - Craft breweries are on the rise in New York State. And with that comes a need for and increased interest in studying the business of brewing craft beer. Colleges across the state offer programs, certificates and diplomas for those interested in taking their craft to the professional level. Read more
For General Brown Lions, football is all about family (24 Hours of HS Football) - On a Thursday night at General Brown, just west of Watertown, young men sat on either side of a long table eating spaghetti and meatballs. Children played in the hall nearby while parents laughed and caught up on community news. Read more
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF MUSIC
As the founder and editor-in-chief, I implored our writers to "humanize the hype" and ask "why" of the music industry. For instance, Why J.Cole Needs Features, or Why Music Criticism (Still) Matters. I managed the team of 15 writers and editors through Slack, Google Hangout, and WordPress, maintaining a weekly editorial schedule and social media engagement. Our writers stayed up to date on the latest music trends and reviewed new releases every week. It was a fun environment, managed like a digital newsroom, with writers all across the U.S. and Canada.
MEDLEY MAGAZINE
One-Man Show - Mickey Mahan, more commonly known as the Flying Busman, offers a new take on storytelling. Read more
Another Round - A local boxer, Bosnian refugee, and survivor of three open-heart surgeries takes up one more fight. Read more
Collin's Corner - Collins Barber & Beauty Shop is a second home for a community that has been loyal to the family for almost half a century. Read more
Newhouse Capstone Project - As editor in chief of Re-enact, I ran daily meetings and led our newsroom in connecting with an audience of living history enthusiasts. I also wrote about where George Washington slept during the Revolutionary War and contributed to a travel guide for historic Philadelphia. Read more
THE ATLANTIC
Why Snapchat Cares Where You Are - The service is fixated on the concept of 'everywhere,' with the addition of location-based filters and other geotagging practices that indicate at an increasing interest in where its users are. Read more
THE NEWSHOUSE
Congolese refugee becomes church leader - Such joy was hard to find where Amani came from, he said. Papy Amani is the unofficial leader of the rapidly growing Congolese refugee community in Syracuse. Read more
Tai Chi Revolution encourages positivity through movement - Everyone in the room feels a peaceful energy flowing through the studio as they move in synchronized pushes and pulls. This is the revolution. Read more
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
The Pope Up Close - Since arriving at the Vatican to begin my internship at Catholic News Service many a friend from home has asked the same question sarcastically, “So, did you meet the pope yet?” Read more
Changing Locations: An intern's final reflections on his time in Rome - This is my last post for CNS — at least for the time being — so I’m going to get sentimental. I want to compare the first time I attended Pope Francis’ general audience in March to my most recent attendance, which was yesterday. Read more
THE VILLANOVAN
Sabrina's Cafe, a great neighborhood brunch spot - Villanova students are passionate about many of life’s joys. Basketball, community service, academics and of course, brunch. If you haven’t already discovered Sabrina’s Café, you are in for quite the treat. Read more
Nothing Wrong with a Black Bond, namely Idris Elba - Although the newest installment of the James Bond series, titled “Spectre,” is set to be released this November, it is hardly the biggest 007 news. Read more