Washington City Paper (December 3, 2021)

CITYPAPER WASHINGTON

SPORTS: SPIRIT’S BIG WIN BRINGS UP BIG QUESTIONS 4 FOOD: BEING A BAR REGULAR IS GOOD FOR THE SPIRIT 22 ARTS: D.C’S SILENT BOOK CLUB IS BACK IN ACTION 24

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TABLE OF CONTENTS COVER STORY 6 Give It Up, D.C.: Learn more about nonprofits changing the region for the better in our annual giving guide, presented in partnership with the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington.

SPORTS 4 Spirits Lifted: An NWSL title brings joy to Washington Spirit fans and players and prompts questions about the team’s future.

FOOD 22 Drink to Your Health: Being a regular at a neighborhood bar can improve your emotional health, whether or not you drink alcohol.

ARTS 24 Quiet, Please!: A silent book club for local readers returns at a new location.

25 So Much of Everything: Local poet Jenn Koiter releases her first book with Day Eight.

26 Women on the Verge: Women protagonists dominate the AFI European Union Film Showcase.

27 Galleries: Robinson on Toyin Ojih Odutola: A Countervailing Theory at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

CITY LIGHTS 28 City Lights: Play theatrical parlor games, check out Van Ness businesses, and tour the recently renovated MLK Library.

DIVERSIONS 21 Crossword 30 Savage Love 31 Classifieds

Darrow Montgomery | 500 block of Upshur Street NW, November 30 Editorial

Advertising and Operations

Interim Editor CAROLINE JONES Managing Editor MITCH RYALS Arts and City Lights Editor SARAH MARLOFF Food Editor LAURA HAYES Sports Editor KELYN SOONG Multimedia Editor WILL WARREN Staff Writers AMBAR CASTILLO, BAILEY VOGT Staff Photographer DARROW MONTGOMERY Creative Director NAYION PERKINS Designer KATY BARRETT-ALLEY Audience Growth and Engagement Editor MICHELLE GOLDCHAIN Copy Editor GAIL O’HARA

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WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM DECEMBER 3, 2021 3

SPORTS SOCCER

Spirits Lifted Xavi Dussaq

The Washington Spirit won an improbable NWSL title. Some of the biggest challenges and questions lie ahead.

Spirit players and staff celebrate winning the NWSL title

By Kelyn Soong @ Kelyn Soong A few days before the NWSL championship match on Nov. 20, Washington Spirit cocaptain Tori Huster received a group text message from her teammate, goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe.

The message, Huster says, contained a list of all the adversity they endured throughout the season: The “home” opener moving to Houston due to construction at Segra Field in Leesburg, the team having to train at a local high school since late October, the news of alleged verbal and emotional abuse from the team’s former head coach, Richie Burke, two forfeited games after a coronavirus outbreak on the team, and an ongoing public ownership battle.

The list was so long it required three GroupMe text messages to fit it all, according to Huster.

The 32-year-old midfielder has been with the Spirit since the beginning. The team drafted Huster in the second round of the 2013 NWSL Supplemental Draft prior to the league’s inaugural season. Although she wasn’t on the field when her team defeated the Chicago Red Stars in overtime to win its first NWSL title (she was recovering from surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon), she’s been a steadying presence on an

often struggling team in a fledgling league. Even with a decade of professional soccer experience, Huster had never gone through anything quite like the 2021 season.

As she reflects on the past year, the most important question for Huster, who is also president of the NWSL Players Association, is what comes next for the Spirit and the league.

“I think it’s great to see that the group was able to adapt in the way and the fashion that we did,” Huster says. “I hope that’s something that we have learned how to do and can keep with us, despite whatever happens next year. And as we look forward to our next step … there’s so many lessons that are going to be learned from this entire season.”

At the forefront of Huster’s mind is the team’s ownership going into next season. Players and fans have called for Steve Baldwin, the Spirit’s controlling owner, to step down. In 2018, Baldwin approved the decision to hire Burke.

This summer, the Washington Post reported that several former Spirit players have accused Burke of verbal and emotional abuse. Baldwin, who resigned as the Spirit’s CEO and managing partner in October, has told investors he plans to sell the club.

On Oct. 5, Spirit players put out a unified

4 DECEMBER 3, 2021 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM

statement on their social media accounts asking Baldwin to sell the team to co-owner Y. Michele Kang, who joined the Spirit’s ownership group last year. Huster tells City Paper that the players continue to stand by that statement.

The Athletic reported earlier this month that the team is in “exclusive sale negotiations” with the St. James, a sports and entertainment complex in Springfield. A Spirit front office spokesperson tells City Paper that the team has “no comment at this time” about the ownership situation.

For Spirit fans such as Douglas ReyesCeron, the co-founder of the supporters’ group Rose Room Collective, Baldwin’s ownership status will determine whether or not he renews his season tickets.

“I would like to renew, obviously, you know, defending champions and all that,” Reyes-Ceron says. “All it comes down to is, what is going to happen with the ownership situation? … That is the giant cloud looming over everything else right now.”

The ownership question also impacts other decisions that will affect the on-field product.

The team still doesn’t have a permanent head coach as Kris Ward has been in an acting role since taking over for Burke. Aside from the two forfeits, Ward finished the season with an

undefeated record. The Post reports that the Spirit has engaged in “preliminary talks” with Ward about becoming its permanent head coach.

Players have credited Ward’s demeanor with helping the group steer through a season that seemed to be going off the rails.

“I think once Kris was put into the driver’s seat, he recognized the need for his position as head coach, for him to take his hands off the wheel and let us put ours on it,” Huster says. “He allowed us to drive, and that was the most empowering thing that he could do for this group of players at that moment.”

As NWSLPA president, Huster’s downtime this season was filled with Zoom calls and meetings. The PA represents about 250 players in the league across its 10 teams and is currently in collective bargaining negotiations for the first time in the league’s history. The NWSL, which just wrapped up its ninth season, does not currently have a CBA in place.

The process, Huster says, began in March when the PA sent the league a comprehensive proposal. She wishes that the agreement was already in place but is hopeful that it will be done before preseason next year. “I would venture to guess that’s probably the goal of the NWSL, too,” Huster says. “I hope that they would echo that.”

Meghann Burke, the NWSLPA’s executive director, was stunned to learn that the NWSL had no anti-harassment policy of its own in place when she joined in late 2020. Meghann Burke (no relation to Richie Burke) tells City Paper the PA had intended to introduce an anti-harassment policy as part of its comprehensive CBA proposal, “but it became apparent the need was far too urgent, far too great.” The league created its first anti-harassment policy in April. The Athletic later reported that U.S. Women’s National Team star and Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan had organized a letter sent to then NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird in March 2021 asking for “nine specific elements to ensure safe and inclusive workplaces.”

Several months later, in September, the Athletic published a report detailing allegations by former NWSL players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim accusing North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley of sexual coercion and emotional abuse. Riley denied the allegations to the Athletic and was subsequently fired.

The story rocked the NWSL. Games were briefly postponed as a result, and Baird later resigned as commissioner. The league also announced early October that it had hired the D.C.-based law firm Covington & Burling to oversee independent investigations of its handling of abuse claims. When play resumed on Oct. 6, players stopped their games during the sixth minute and gathered at midfield to lock arms “in recognition of the six years it took for Mana, Sinead, and all those who fought too long to be heard,” the NWSLPA said in a statement.

“There’s some 250 players in this league— born in different countries, speak different languages, [have] different values, different life experiences—that all came together and created a space for players to voice their feelings, their views, their opinions, but at the end of the day come together around a single idea that we should all be safe,” Meghann Burke says. “I am

SPORTS SOCCER Xavi Dussaq

so inspired by, moved by what the players accomplished in that first week of October.”

Meghann Burke declined to go into specific details of the CBA proposal, but she mentioned three issues that it will address: free agency, a living wage for players, and player health and safety. The NWSLPA launched the #NoMoreSideHustles campaign to spotlight how difficult it can be to make a living wage in the league. The current league minimum annual salary is $22,000.

“We see a day in the NWSL, hopefully soon, where players can singularly focus on being the best at what they do,” Meghann Burke says.

“Our players are really extraordinary, hardworking people with a lot of talents, and so one of the things we hope to achieve in this CBA is a living wage. We’re not looking to retire on what an NWSL income is going to look like, but we do want players to be able to focus on their craft in this limited window of time they got.”

Huster believes this is a pivotal moment for the league. All eyes around the world, she says, will be on what happens with the CBA. “I hope it really starts to change contracts for women in soccer dramatically,” she says.

The difficult and surreal 2021 season may be in the past, but some of the biggest challenges lie ahead.

“We’ve won 2021, and we celebrated that, and we have that trophy on the shelf,” Huster says.

“But what’s next? We want 2022 to be successful, just like this year was successful in so many ways.”

Tori Huster

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WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM DECEMBER 3, 2021 5

Youth Education

Giv e It Up, D.C .

These organizations are making D.C. a more artistic, just, and engaged place to live. And they deserve our support.

Nonprofit organizations are an industry unto themselves in D.C., providing careers for many and directing services to thousands of individuals across the region. Big-budget nonprofits may get a bigger share of the glory (and the donations), but City Paper’s attention often drifts toward smaller organizations doing direct outreach. Perhaps it’s because we share similar underdog qualities.

On any given week, City Paper reporters speak with advocates and nonprofit leaders for stories about everything from homelessness and housing insecurity to education and food access. And once a year, through our partnership with the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington, we direct readers’ attention to nonprofits that deserve special attention and donations as well.

The CFP staff vets each organization to ensure they’re in good standing and won’t take a cut of your donation. Every dollar you give goes directly to the cause you want to support.

The organizations you’ll read about below allow our community to thrive in good times and bum times. Despite the many difficulties in the past two years, they’re still here, offering support to those who need it most. Please consider helping them continue that work.

—Caroline Jones

6 DECEMBER 3, 2021 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM

Live It Learn It cfp-dc.org/liveit Students at DCPS Title I schools rarely experience the enriching, out-of-classroom learning enjoyed by their more affluent peers. Live It Learn It believes this injustice— the “experience gap”—contributes greatly to the achievement gap between students of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. In response, the nonprofit ignites student potential through field trips to D.C.’s historical, cultural, and natural resources.

Students investigate the effects of erosion along the Anacostia River; get inspired while exploring Frederick Douglass’ former home; and analyze the challenges of the Great Migration while contemplating the paintings of Jacob Lawrence. LILI provides materials, arranges transportation, and facilitates instruction, including pre- and post-trip lessons. A professional development program builds teachers’ capacity to lead experiencedriven lessons in the classroom. Your support makes history, science, art, and culture come alive for more than 2,100 children each year—and generates a priceless love of learning.

Community Youth Advance cfp-dc.org/cya Committed to closing the achievement gap for students of color (a gap that grows to 30+ points for children categorized as economically disadvantaged), Community Youth Advance’s weekly tutoring, highquality instruction, hands-on learning, and problem-solving builds strong academic skills for Prince George’s County students.

The curriculum reinforces what students learn in school and exposes them to entirely new topics—health, arts, cooking, entrepreneurship, financial literacy—and to college- and career-preparation programs.

CYA combines education with mentoring to promote interaction, growth, and character building. Weekly group activities include separate boys’ and girls’ groups, and oneon-one mentoring when available. Case management for academically disengaged students, which started in partnership with PGCPS, is a response to the disengagement of thousands of kids during distance learning: increased family support and referral services are all designed to reconnect students with learning and with their futures.

One World Education cfp-dc.org/owe Two-thirds of D.C. students write at a basic or below basic level; college instructors estimate that half are unprepared for collegelevel writing. One World Education leads the District’s largest writing program, annually serving 5,000 students, equipping educators to teach critical thinking, and empowering students to write about issues that matter to them. They learn to create strong hooks, gather and cite hard evidence, and write with clarity and purpose—basics they will need in college and the workplace. Select students get direct support from teachers and performance artists to build essays into persuasive oral presentations for community leaders and family members. Over the next three years, a Pandemic Rebuilding Plan will expand programs to impact 20,000 students and re-engage those set back by the pandemic. OWE is cultivating a generation of critical thinkers, persuasive writers, and social justice advocates. Our world needs them.

accepted into postsecondary institutions and 75 percent into four-year colleges.

Alfred Street Baptist Church Foundation cfp-dc.org/alfredst Founded in 1803 in Old Town Alexandria, the Alfred Street Baptist Church launched a foundation in 2002 to make college scholarships for high-achieving, financially challenged students possible because education may be the great equalizer, but only if it is financially accessible. The predominantly African American board approaches this educational effort with a special sense of purpose. Applicants must have a low expected contribution from their families and high academic achievement. Many recipients attend historically Black colleges or universities. Because the same obstacles also exist in immigrant populations, the Foundation reaches out to diverse ethnic populations as well. Since its inception, it has awarded $1.7 million in scholarships ($1,000 to $20,000) to more than 400 students and offers mentoring to support them on their educational journey. Demand is greater than capacity: your support expands the outreach of this critical effort.

BUILD Metro D.C. After-School All-Stars cfp-dc.org/asas The vision is that children from historically marginalized communities will be prepared to compete in a global economy, grow as leaders, and have a brighter future.

After-School All-Stars brings this vision to life for nearly 500 of the District’s youth, providing free, comprehensive after-school programming at six Title I middle schools: academic support, arts, health and fitness, high school readiness, and career exploration. To address an achievement gap that was accelerated by the pandemic, ASAS has embraced a high-intensity tutoring initiative and expanded basic needs and mental health support for students and families. New workshops keep parents connected too, while cultural conversations and mentoring provide an outlet for student voices in the wake of a challenging year that also included a public reckoning with racial justice. Kids connect with caring adults who represent different cultures, backgrounds, and viewpoints and who believe in their potential for greatness.

Recreation Wish List Committee cfp-dc.org/rwlc Recreation Wish List Committee combines academics, cultural enrichment, technology, and tennis to challenge and inspire young people. Grounded in the principles of project-based learning, its academic support programs offer three and a half hours of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics daily. In partnership with Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, RWLC’s Blacks in Wax Creative Arts program chronicles African American history with a new original stage production each year.

RWLC also sponsors field trips, entrepreneurship opportunities, and tennis tournaments, a rich assortment of community-

enhancing programs. Over the years, it has outfitted tennis courts with ample and safe equipment, provided vans for transporting children to events, resurfaced basketball courts and baseball fields, funded computer labs, renovated outdoor amphitheaters, built playgrounds, supported tennis, mentoring, and education programs, all with the goal of making available to children and families, primarily in Wards 7 and 8, the resources they deserve.

So What Else cfp-dc.org/swe Nearly one in four children in Maryland and D.C. are lost in the after-school-time abyss. So at 18 sites in Maryland and one in D.C., So What Else reaches some 3,500 kids with more than 100 free programs and 24 free summer and school break camps, offering everything from expressive arts and healthy cooking to STEM and sports all interwoven with service learning. In March 2020, together with its partners and teams of volunteers, SWE launched a program to respond to the hunger emergency in historically marginalized communities hit hard by the pandemic. Now a core initiative, it delivers food to affordable housing complexes, homeless shelters, churches, and community spaces. A walk-up food pantry serves thousands of meals each day and stocks baby goods, clothing, books, snacks, toys, and educational materials for children.

Serve kids, serve the community, and help kids serve the community: light the spark.

Mentoring and College Prep Wilderness, Leadership & Learning cfp-dc.org/will For students in Wilderness Leadership & Learning, the natural and cultural worlds of Greater Washington are their holistic,

transformative, positive youth development classrooms. On Saturdays, school holidays, and summer breaks, youth from underserved D.C. neighborhoods learn and explore: day trips on the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers; a scavenger hunt on the National Mall; a seven-day backpacking journey on the Appalachian trail; a forum on college admissions; workshops on inclusion and diversity, financial literacy, resume writing and interview skills—all are designed to develop their inherent strengths, decisionmaking, leadership, goal-setting, and life skills. Service-learning projects teach the critical importance of giving back. Annually, some 40 students make the full 335-hour commitment to explore and grow. The result is that 100 percent of those who complete the program have graduated from high school or are on track to do so. That’s transformation.

BUILD Metro D.C. cfp-dc.org/build “We want to start a business.” These words first inspired BUILD’s founder, who agreed to help four young entrepreneurs on the condition that they finish high school. Now in five locations across the country, including D.C., where more than 300 students participate annually, BUILD runs a comprehensive four-year business and academic program that immerses students in entrepreneurship training, teaches critical thinking and problem solving, and propels them toward college. BUILD Metro D.C. begins in ninth grade with a credit-bearing course at six D.C. schools and then shifts to an afterschool program. Students craft business plans, make pitches for venture capital, build a small business, and “cash out”; in the third year, they focus intensively on college readiness. The profit is clear: 98 percent of students graduate on time; 97 percent are

Collegiate Directions Inc. cfp-dc.org/cdi Low-income and first-generation students face difficult odds on the path to earning a college degree, with a graduation rate of just 16 percent nationwide. Collegiate Directions Inc. provides 270 first-generation high schoolers with the wraparound support they need from 10th grade through college graduation. It provides comprehensive college advising, individualized test prep, support in identifying “best-fit” schools, negotiation of aid packages, and one-on-one assistance through college that includes wellness counseling. When students are ready to graduate, the Career Mentoring Initiative provides coaching, access to workforce opportunities, and connections to accomplished professionals in their chosen fields. Additionally, the School Support program provides coaching that improves college advising for 3,000 students in Maryland and D.C. Each year, 100 percent of CDI scholars are admitted to selective four-year schools with average grants and scholarships of $36,000 and a 97 percent graduation rate.

ScholarCHIPS cfp-dc.org/chips Although she searched for financial aid to support her college education, Yasmine Arrington couldn’t find a scholarship program for a student like her—a teen with an incarcerated parent. Therefore, she created ScholarCHIPS, which today supports some 30 motivated young people each year. High school guidance counselors help identify applicants and selected scholars receive annual support—renewable $2,500 scholarships and $250 book awards for up to four years if they maintain good academic standing. ScholarCHIPS also provides oneon-one mentoring, professional development workshops, and a support network designed to help scholars persist in school and graduate. Remarkably, at least 90 percent of them do, overcoming the financial barriers and social stigma that so many children of incarcerated parents experience. Your support gives these scholars a fighting chance at going to and succeeding in college—and at the lifelong benefits that brings.

WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM DECEMBER 3, 2021 7

Affordable Housing Rainbow Place Shelter cfp-dc.org/rainbowplace Despite broad community commitment to end homelessness in Montgomery County, the cost of housing continues to rise along with the number of working poor. Many who come to Rainbow would otherwise be sleeping in store doorways, parks, bus stations, or cars, and the number is expected to rise.

Rainbow Place provides adult women with extra support during the hypothermia season. They thrive in the small setting: enjoying dinner and conversation, doing laundry, accessing case management services, and relaxing after a long day. A vital part of Montgomery County’s continuum of care, Rainbow collaborates with the county and local providers to eliminate duplication of services and best serve guests. During the pandemic, it expanded from an overnight to a 24-hour shelter, and the hope is to resume this more expansive support next season because every person is worthy of respect.

New Endeavors by Women cfp-dc.org/new New Endeavors by Women provides more than 150 women and children in seven housing programs with a safe place to stay every year. Unhoused for a variety of reasons, the women (single or with families) come to NEW when they are ready to make big changes in their lives. Independent living skills, academic retooling, employment counseling, strategies for obtaining and maintaining affordable housing, support groups, and therapy all help them regain control of their lives. Drug recovery assistance is critical because many residents have a history of substance abuse.

Importantly, they learn how to afford places of their own: many put a portion of their income into an escrow account and work diligently with staff to identify potential housing. NEW women who become self-sufficient stay that way: more than 80 percent of the 3,000 who have completed the program are no longer homeless.

Homestretch cfp-dc.org/homestretch Well over 1,000 individuals (a third are children) experience homelessness in affluent Fairfax County. Most have limited education and work skills, chronic illness or addiction, histories of eviction, and/or language challenges. Many need rigorously tailored services to succeed, which Homestretch provides for 70 families annually: two years of housing, case management, employment assistance, scholarships for training and education, money management and debt reduction, life skills, parenting, computer, and ESOL classes, therapy for survivors of violence, and services for children, including a licensed preschool. Homestretch has a 90 percent retention rate and a full 95 percent of graduates remain permanently housed. Adults who were unhoused and in crisis become nurses, accountants, teachers, plumbers, chefs, social workers, restaurant owners, while many children go on to college. The array of intensive services is costly but has a significant payoff when previously unhoused families begin to see the results.

Community Family Life Services cfp-dc.org/cfls At the intersection of incarceration, poverty,

Calvary Women’s Services homelessness, and trauma, there is much work to be done, so Community Family Life Services addresses the needs of recently released individuals and their families, with a special focus on women. Short-term crisis assistance (food and clothing) provides an emergency safety net, while long-term assistance (housing support, employment services, mentoring and parenting programs, legal aid, financial literacy training) gives families the opportunity to transform their lives. For women returning home after incarceration (many of whom are single mothers), intensive case management begins three to four months before release and continues as they rejoin the community meeting basic needs, helping them secure employment and housing, and offering parenting classes, mentoring, and medical case management, including substance abuse treatment. Some arrive at CFLS with a single plastic bag holding their possessions and leave with a new beginning.

Calvary Women’s Services cfp-dc.org/calvary The women who come to Calvary have always been among the most vulnerable members of the D.C. community—survivors of trauma, in recovery from addiction, living with mental illness, or suffering from chronic health conditions. In the age of COVID, they are more vulnerable than ever. Calvary helps them find comprehensive care: permanent and transitional housing, mental health and addiction recovery services, healthy meals, education, job readiness programs, life skills classes, and a community of support.

But the pandemic has proved challenging: a spike in cases of domestic violence will likely increase homelessness and job loss threatens progress. Looking ahead means keeping housing safe and helping women whose progress was derailed get back on track. With hygiene practices in place,

8 DECEMBER 3, 2021 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM

Calvary continues to provide a safe place for unhoused women.

Hunger Charlie’s Place cfp-dc.org/charlies For 30 years, Charlie’s Place has served breakfast to everyone who walks through its doors, providing more than 350,000 meals to its homeless and working poor neighbors in Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan. To observe social-distancing guidelines, some services, such as art therapy and yoga, were paused on March 17, 2020: sit-down breakfasts became hot meals to go or bagged lunches containing bottled water, fruit, nutritious snacks, masks, personal products, and sanitizer. (Sit-down meals will re-emerge when possible.) Housing, employment, and medical referrals are still available, and a physician is on-site on Wednesdays. Clothing donations are up, and guests have access to restroom facilities and phone charging. Neighbors who have fallen on hard times receive bagged groceries and every Tuesday Charlie’s Place passes out bagged lunches and clothing in Franklin Park. Here, hardship is met with generosity, fellowship, and compassion.

FRESHFARM cfp-dc.org/freshfarm Supporting 200 small family farmers and food producers from the mid-Atlantic region, FRESHFARM educates the public about food and the environment, helps create a sustainable local food economy, and works to ensure access to bread, meat, dairy, and locally grown products. Offering a match for those using federal nutrition benefits such as SNAP, WIC, or Senior Nutrition Coupons, each market also partners with a neighborhood emergency provider to donate leftover food for use in their daily menus.

The FoodPrints program helps students develop a preference for healthier foods by growing, harvesting, cooking, and enjoying seasonal produce in hands-on lessons, and parents and caregivers are invited into the classroom to volunteer and learn with their children. The Pop-Up Food Hub works with nearly 70 community organizations to provide more than 6,000 children, families, and seniors with fresh, local food.

Community Support Systems cfp-dc.org/css In the rural tier of Prince George’s County— home to farms, industrial interests, and families, individuals, and seniors of low and moderate income—there is no public transportation and the nearest supermarket is five to ten miles away. Community Support Systems is the only social service agency in the area. It operates “healthy choice” pantries where clients “shop” for the foods they choose—both high-quality fresh foods and nonperishable foodstuffs. The pantries also provide blood pressure and blood glucose screenings, information on other community services, a Back-to-School book bag and supplies program, and an AdoptAn-Angel holiday gift program for kids. The Client Assistance Program (and its advocacy component) helps stabilize housing as well, providing emergency cash assistance to avert evictions, prevent foreclosures, and halt the termination of utilities. CSS stands with its community because independence and quality of life matter.

Food Recovery Network cfp-dc.org/frn Food Recovery Network was born when several University of Maryland students noticed that campus dining halls were wasting nutritious food while community members were going hungry. So when campuses suddenly closed last spring, the food war-

riors didn’t stop. Recovering surplus food (nationally, more than four million pounds) and donating it to nonprofits is critically important, especially when food insecurity escalates. So FRN began working in other areas of the food system: it contacted farmers to support getting fresh food to those in need—without student leaders as hands on the ground. Companies with canceled events (and there were many) reached out to learn how they could do the right thing and donate unused food to hunger-fighting nonprofits. Pilot programs and partnerships launched in the fall to keep students engaged in the work: There is no wavering passion for food recovery despite the tremendous uncertainty.

DC Greens cfp-dc.org/dcgreens Thousands of Washingtonians living in Wards 5, 7, and 8 have acutely limited access to the resources necessary for daily life—including affordable, healthy food. DC Greens places racial justice and health equity at the center of its mission to create a strong and resilient food system in our city.

It is the lead implementer of Produce Plus, which provides close to 30,000 low-income D.C. residents with healthy farmers market produce annually, and the Produce Prescription program, which enables physicians to write prescriptions for free fresh fruits and vegetables to patients struggling with chronic diseases. A farm-to-school program fosters healthier school environments through school gardens, equips teachers to put food education on the classroom menu, and engages 20,000 District schoolchildren in health and food-system education each year.

Legal Services DC Affordable Law Firm cfp-dc.org/dcalf When it comes to seeking justice, nine out of ten low-income D.C. residents are on their own and one in five are ineligible for free legal aid. Together with Legal Aid and the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, DCALF launched the Family Law Assistance Network to link them with same-day legal advice and shortterm representation in family court. Most live in Wards 5, 7, and 8, and are caregivers and noncustodial parents gravely concerned for children living in unsafe households—a problem greatly intensified by the pandemic.

DC Affordable Law Firm has also seen an increase in demand for wills, immigration protections, and custody agreements (from parents fearing that children may be left behind if they perish), visitation rights (complicated by shelter-in-place orders), and child support (hard to enforce when jobs are in jeopardy). In times of crisis, DCALF’s experts meet the need.

Open City Advocates cfp-dc.org/opencity Open City Advocates works with youth whom the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services has removed from their families: most have been in the child welfare system, and 100 percent are youth of color at risk of being jailed, harmed, or killed by street violence. Trapped and often lost in the system, these kids rarely receive the trauma-informed care and reentry services they deserve. Open City is their zealous advocate. Working with youth in the deepest end of the juvenile system, staff and mentor-advocates visit weekly, develop a relationship of trust and goals for reentry,

DC Greens

and represent clients in disciplinary hearings. Open City also spearheads systemic reform efforts to end the revolving door of the juvenile and criminal legal systems, safeguards and expands due process protections, and encourages the individualized, trauma-responsive services that courtinvolved youth both need and deserve.

Advocates for Justice and Education cfp-dc.org/aje More than 14,000 children in the District require special education and related services, and while federal law requires states to provide a free and appropriate public education, the District has struggled to do so.

These children, often students of color, face unfair discipline and exclusion from school and unacceptable delay or denial of services. A parent-led organization, Advocates for Justice and Education works to ensure that they receive what they need. The focus is on families who live in poverty, have limited English proficiency, experience homelessness, and have children with disabilities and special health care needs. Advice, counsel, and direct legal representation address families’ immediate issues while training programs educate parents about their rights and empower them to advocate for their children and be peer advocates who can support other parents. Building community power to advocate for children is something we all can support.

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless cfp-dc.org/wlch When the 2021 Point-in-Time Count survey lists 5,111 D.C. residents as homeless, there is work to be done. Staff lawyers and 150 legal intake, litigation, and outreach volunteers at Washington Legal Clincic for the Homeless meet, both in person and virtually, with individuals and families experiencing homelessness or severe housing instability, offering

Advocates for Justice and Education direct legal representation at no cost and helping them achieve permanent, affordable housing. WLCH also strives to ensure that housing agencies respect clients’ rights, shelters are well-maintained and accessible to people with disabilities, homeless services provide a safety net during financial crises, and shelter residents are educated

about their rights under the law. WLCH typically serves 900+ individuals and, though numbers were lower during the pandemic (thanks to a moratorium on evictions), they are expected to surge. You can amplify the call for housing justice in court and in the community.

WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM DECEMBER 3, 2021 9

Tzedek DC cfp-dc.org/tzedek In 2017, the total U.S. household debt hit an all-time high. Countless families are struggling, but when it comes to predatory lenders and debt collectors, communities of color are disproportionately targeted. Tzedek addresses the injustice, safeguarding the rights of low-income and working-class D.C. residents, primarily African American and Latino households, facing debt-related crises. Staff and partner lawyers provide free legal counsel and direct representation, helping to negotiate affordable payment plans, secure debt forgiveness, and obtain dismissals in cases of identity theft. Preventative education encourages residents to address financial problems head-on instead of fearing the system. And in partnership with legal aid and anti-poverty groups, Tzedek fights systemic injustice, working to reform local policy. A worthy investment indeed.

making but across our shared public life.

Tenants and Workers United cfp-dc.rg/twu Tenants and Workers United first organized in the mid-1980s in response to the scheduled evictions of thousands of renters in the Arlandria/Chirilagua neighborhood of Alexandria. Developers assumed residents would simply make way for gentrification but instead they stayed, studied, and organized. A nearly decade-long campaign succeeded: the limited-equity ArlandriaChirilagua Housing Cooperative is owned and democratically controlled by residents, most with low incomes. Organizing work includes housing justice, health equity (increasing access to culturally sensitive health care), education justice (ending the schoolto-prison pipeline), immigrants’ rights (ending local collaboration with authorities), and police accountability. The goal is to advance social and racial justice through community power building. When the pandemic hit, TWU worked overtime to meet the dire needs of its community, and in partnership with others expanded its work to include direct services that will continue long after the pandemic ends.

Community Engagement Turning the Page cfp-dc.org/ttp Turning the Page recruits public school parents from under-resourced schools and helps them become active and effective participants in their children’s education.

Community Nights bring everyone together for parent workshops, student mentoring, book giveaways, and visits from popular authors who make reading come alive.

New workshops and online educational resources designed to address pandemicrelated learning slides provide parents with concrete steps to support learning at home, foster collaboration with teachers, and identify valuable community resources. Sessions that focus on reading (selecting high-quality books, effectively reading at home, supporting reading progress) and social-emotional learning have been adapted to be most relevant during the difficult transition back to school. Sponsoring a summer program, more than 100 trips, 125,000 books, and 1,000 Community Nights: What’s more gratifying than seeing families develop their love of learning?

First Shift Justice Project cfp-dc.org/1stshift Lack of respect for caregivers in the workplace often leads to job loss and extended periods of unemployment. It affects caregivers across all income levels but has a disproportionate impact on women of color in low-wage jobs, the majority of whom are primary breadwinners for their families. First Shift works with them to assert their rights, stay employed, and maintain their health by fighting discrimination, obtaining workplace accommodations, accessing job-protected leave and D.C. paid-leave insurance. From Know Your Rights workshops and legal representation to training and advice for medical providers about employment laws relevant to patient care and legislative advocacy, First Shift is at ground zero for COVID recovery in D.C., supporting mothers in exercising workplace rights that help them meet both work and caregiving obligations as they return to employment and get their families back on track to economic stability.

DC Justice Lab cfp-dc.org/justicelab Nearly every facet of the criminal legal system reveals the impact of racial bias: 93 percent of people sentenced in D.C. are Black; more than 90 percent of searches

Girls Rock! DC

ONE DC cfp-dc.org/onedc Black working-class residents have been disproportionately affected by chronic unemployment, gentrification, displacement, and poor public health services. ONE DC is fighting to change this. Its flagship Black Workers & Wellness Center incubates worker cooperatives, advocates for labor-friendly policy reforms, and champions structural solutions to the city’s Black unemployment crisis. The Right to Income Committee fights for D.C. residents’ right to good work and stable income: Through work-sharing programs and in collaboration with DC Mutual Aid, the goal during the pandemic was to see that people didn’t lose their jobs.

The Right to Housing Committee focuses on building a strong citywide tenant organizing movement and combating displacement.

Rent cancellation has been a key focus and remains the only solution for survival.

Affordable housing, sustaining work, and wellness are critical to a fair and healthy D.C., and must be available to all.

The Arts

are for Black people; child and adult corrections facilities are almost entirely Black.

Locally, the ripple effects from decades of aggressive policing and mass incarceration, social oppression, erosion of constitutional rights, stagnation or decline in economic mobility, dissolution of family structure, neighborhood decay, and multigenerational trauma have largely been borne by D.C.’s

10 DECEMBER 3, 2021 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM

Black residents. So DC Justice Lab takes a forward-thinking approach, focusing on writing model laws that will create fair and racially balanced reforms in policing, prisons, and the judicial process. Forging policies that center the interests, concerns, and capacities of native Black Washingtonians also creates opportunities for residents to participate meaningfully, not just in policy-

DC Strings Workshop cfp-dc.org/strings DC Strings regularly performs its diverse repertoire in spaces and communities where live music is rarely heard—at museums and libraries, on riverbanks and street corners.

In a typical year, it hosts eight orchestra concerts, 20 community events, and dozens of workshops, classes, and master classes.

Teaching artists serve more than 300 schoolchildren annually at little or no cost.

Programs prominently feature women and BIPOC community members and are powerful ways for students of color to see people who look like them excelling and being passionate about music and performance.

While live and online programming during the pandemic was robust (and included a group therapy element for students who experienced trauma), the new year brings new possibilities. The Workshop showcases the great talent of community members who are rarely heard and shares music with youth and families who deserve full access to great music.

Story District cfp-dc.org/story In the polarized climate in which we live, with levels of discrimination and vilification of “the other” on the rise, autobiographical storytelling is a powerful reminder that we are all human. Story District creates the platform and provides the tools for everyday Washingtonians to reflect on their life experiences and tell their stories in meaningful and memorable ways. Rigorous coaching helps participants identify and craft their narratives and connect authentically with an audience. The process can be transformative, requiring self-reflection, promoting self-awareness, and helping people find meaning in their lives. And Story District creates an environment that is welcoming to all ages, races, cultures, abilities, and sexual and gender identities. Performances are opportunities to speak and to share. It’s hard to dehumanize someone or disregard the reality of our common humanity when we hear a personal story that is told with power.

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation cfp-dc.org/penfaulkner Working with teachers to identify texts that feature diverse characters and relevant narratives, PEN/Faulkner’s flagship Writers in Schools program connects young people with authors (and their books) for dynamic conversations. Writing Workshops deepen the work as teaching artists help students learn about and practice their own writing through engaging skill-building sessions.

In a new long-term residency, students will work directly with an expert writer to develop a sustained relationship and writing project. Together We Read brings authors and students from different schools into cross-cultural dialogue about books, while Nuestras Voces offers Latinx- and Hispaniccentric education programs that address systemic diversity challenges. Finally, Literary Conversations bring together highly acclaimed writers from across the country to discuss the urgent issues that surround their work and let literature serve as a springboard for much-needed civil discourse.

Girls Rock! DC cfp-dc.org/girlsrock Girls Rock! DC was founded by D.C. musicians and music fans who didn’t see themselves—women, nonbinary, transgender, and gender-expansive folks—represented in the music they loved. They set out to create a supportive and inclusive program where kids could learn about music and culture that is relevant to them from role models who come from their own community. Participants represent a wide range of economic experiences, ethnic and gender identities, and neighborhoods. Youth of color make up the majority and more than half of participants receive financial aid (no one is turned away). They enjoy private concerts from local musicians and workshops from local educators. After school and in summer camps, they receive instrument instruction, form bands, and compose original music. Every year, Girls Rock! serves more than 100 youth (and 20 adults) who rise up and rock out!

Critical Exposure cfp-dc.org/ce Critical Exposure trains historically marginalized D.C. youth of color to harness the power of photography and their own voices. It develops their capacity to shape narratives

The Safe Sisters Circle about themselves and their communities and to drive concrete changes in school environments by mounting youth-led campaigns that work toward education equity and that close the opportunity gap. Since 2004, CE has provided experiential learning and leadership opportunities to more than 2,700 Black and Brown youth (140 a year), who have used their photos and narratives to fight for restorative justice programs, find solutions to the school-to-prison pipeline, protect visual and performing arts requirements, advocate for financial literacy education standards, and win funding for new school facilities. Elevating the voices of youth and developing their leadership skills means they control the narrative and create meaningful spaces where they can shape decisions that impact them and their worlds.

Power-Based Violence Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse cfp-dc.org/jcada For 18 years, the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse has educated the Greater Washington community about power-based violence, while providing life-changing support to more than 1,800 survivors of trauma and abuse. Programs are free, culturally and faith-sensitive, and available to all–regardless of faith, race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. Wraparound services (a confidential help line, counseling and therapy, safety planning) and legal support empower victims to live safely. An education program equips community members, particularly lay leaders, with the knowledge and tools to spot the warning signs of abuse within their networks and respond appropriately. And AWARE, JCADA’s prevention initiative, gives youth the language and skills to help themselves or assist a friend who may be affected by abuse, breaking the cycle of

Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Violence violence for future generations. Today, more victims are coming forward than ever before, and JCADA helps their voices get heard.

The Safe Sisters Circle cfp-dc.org/safesisters The Safe Sisters Circle was founded by a Black woman who saw a cultural disconnect between those providing and those receiving services for domestic violence and sexual abuse. The only organization that focuses on the needs of Black women survivors in Wards 7 and 8, Safe Sisters provides culturally specific, trauma-informed legal representation in civil protection, family law, and criminal court cases. It also explores non-carceral alternatives for survivors who want safety but favor help and accountability, not jail, for their

loved ones. Education is key, with a special focus on young girls and the importance of healthy relationships and the meaning of consent. Embedded in the community, Safe Sisters arranges referrals for therapeutic services, educational/career assistance, and even clothing and food needs. The long-term vision is to change the culture of intimate violence in Wards 7 and 8 through culturally specific representation and prevention.

FAIR Girls cfp-dc.org/fair FAIR Girls’ Vida Home is the first-ever safe, empowering, transitional home in D.C. exclusively for 18- to 28-year-old femaleidentifying survivors of human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation. Clients have

WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM DECEMBER 3, 2021 11

Working with the Hispanic community, ecoLatinos encourages members to enjoy nature while keeping waterways free of trash. Its green career-training program offers an early introduction to best management practices.

The vision is social and environmental justice through engagement, education, and activism across the Chesapeake Bay. Potomac Conservancy cfp-dc.org/potomac For centuries, the Potomac has been an anchor for our region’s identity and the source of 90 percent of its drinking water. The wildest river running through an urban area, it is home to more than 200 rare species and natural communities. But rapid population growth and associated urban sprawl has led to an increase in river and stream pollution. Potomac Conservancy provides effective, long-term conservation solutions: permanently protecting land from development (thereby preventing future pollution), and building a coalition of advocates for smart urban growth and riverfriendly policies. Thousands of volunteers in its Community Conservation program engage in hands-on restoration, raise awareness, inspire action, and encourage their friends and family to get involved. Tree plantings, river cleanups, seed collections, and other hands-on activities improve the local environment and empower individuals to leave a healthier, cleaner legacy for generations to come.

City Blossoms access to food, clothing, and other essentials, case management, structured programming and support, and resource materials to work on their goals. FAIR Girls also addresses the cycle of youth victimization, criminalization, and incarceration by intervening when youth first become engaged in the juvenile justice system. Prevention education and advocacy efforts (both local and national) are key. In the wake of the pandemic, FAIR Girls expects increased demand as the impact of economic instability, social isolation, and the increased presence of youth online comes to light. No one wants to think that human trafficking is a problem here; FAIR Girls faces it head-on, centering the needs of survivors in everything it does.

Network for Victim Recovery of DC cfp-dc.org/nvrdc In the aftermath of a crime, victims often feel helpless—unsure of who to trust and where to turn. Network for Victim Recovery of DC answers the call, offering free, holistic case management, advocacy, and legal support to victims of all types of crimes. It runs the advocacy portion of D.C.’s Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program, supporting a coordinated community response for survivors including hotline services, transportation to and from the hospital, entry into therapeutic services, hospital advocacy, and referrals to legal services. Staff attorneys provide legal advice and representation for survivors in criminal cases, civil protection orders, and Title IX and Clery Act (campus violence) cases. Focused on survivor-defined justice, NVRDC has walked alongside more than 5,000 crime victims since 2012, empowering them to pursue their goals for recovery and redress.

As one survivor put it, “NVRDC has been, and continues to be, my saving grace.”

Safe Shores cfp-dc.org/safeshores For more than 26 years, Safe Shores’ child-

friendly approach has ensured that children traumatized by abuse have a safe and welcoming space where their voices are heard and their needs come first. It provides a compassionate, comprehensive approach to child victims: sensitive forensic interviews and evaluations, a supervised playroom for kids awaiting interviews, new clothes and toiletries, meals, and funds for emergency needs. The model also includes training for partner agencies and volunteers, prevention training for adults, and mental health assessment and treatment. During the pandemic, an untold number of children spent months in isolation with their abusers. While reports of suspected abuse fell dramatically, parental stress and economic instability increased the risk factors. Now, Safe Shores anticipates a spike in reports of youth who have experienced long-term exposure to abuse and may require longer, more intensive support. No child should go through this alone.

shed issues for marginalized communities, and ensuring that the health of the river works for the health of its communities.

EcoLatinos cfp-dc.org/ecolatinos From its inception, ecoLatinos was designed to encourage more members of the region’s fast-growing Hispanic community to take action to protect the environment and improve local green spaces. It specializes in effective, culturally sensitive work with the Spanish-speaking residents of the Chesapeake Bay region and builds a bridge that unites Hispanics with other environmentalists. Latino consulting services, customized Spanish educational campaigns, culturally appropriate bilingual field outreach teams, and access to a vast network of Latino-led organizations, businesses, churches, and community leaders forge a powerful alliance for environmental justice and stewardship.

Local Environment Anacostia Riverkeeper cfp-dc.org/anacostia An 8.5-mile-long tidal river within a 176-square-mile watershed, the Anacostia River is home to nearly one million people who live either directly on it or on one of its many connected streams. Working toward a clean, healthy, swimmable, fishable river means enforcing existing environmental laws, working on better ones, building public awareness of environmental and health issues, and creating programs that focus on pollution prevention and cleanup. Friday Night Fishing, educational boat tours, service opportunities that foster ownership in the river for watershed residents, citizen water quality monitoring, and opportunities for residents to weigh in on important policy matters that will impact the future—all are framed around questions of equitable access to the river, equal representation in water-

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Potomac Conservancy

City Blossoms cfp-dc.org/blossoms City Blossoms cultivates the well-being of local communities through creative programming in kid-driven gardens. It collaborates with schools, early childhood centers, neighborhood groups, and community-based organizations to connect underserved communities to safe green space and garden-based programming, taking unused or underused land and creating urban gardens where children and youth use their creativity, intellect, and energy in new ways. Offering free and affordable in-school, after-school, and summer programming at 32 active sites for children (toddlers to teens) who would otherwise have little access to green spaces, the focus is healthy living skills, artistic expression, environmental stewardship, and community development. Dozens of neighborhood organizations, thousands of volunteers, and more than 100 schools are part of the greening effort, fostering healthy communities by developing creative, kid-driven green spaces and innovative resources. Green thumb or not, you can help them grow.

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Experience outdoor holiday shopping in the heart of Downtown F Street between 7th & 9th Streets NW

Nov.19 Thru Dec. 23, 2021

12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

( Closed Thanksgiving Day and Monday, Dec 6 )

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an downtownholidaymarket.com

@DtwnHolidayMkt

DowntownHolidayMarket

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#DowntownHolidayMarket

D.C.’s One-Stop Winter Wonderland Shop Returns to Heart of Downtown November 19 – December 23 | 12PM-8PM F Street, NW between 7th & 9th (Gallery Place Metro Station) Closed Thanksgiving Day, and Monday Dec. 6 Note: The market will operate daily, regardless of rain or snow.

OVER $1 MILLION IN TOTAL CASH PRIZES!

Operated by the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) and Diverse Markets Management, the 17th Annual Downtown Holiday Market, Washington D.C.’s outdoor shopping village, kicks off the holiday season Friday, November 19. The beloved outdoor market returns to downtown Penn Quarter, transforming two city blocks on F Street into a one-stop shop, open-air winter wonderland. Guests can make the most of their holiday shopping experience this winter supporting local businesses and finding unique, festive treasures in the heart of the District through December 23. Whether you’re shopping for friends, family or yourself, the Downtown Holiday Market is your onestop shop for unique gifts.

Here’s what you can find: • More than 70 vendors from the region will showcase unique and handmade crafts, clothing, glasswork, jewelry, paintings, photographs, woodworking and so much more at the market.

• Shoppers can support small business creatives including the new Macy’s STORY, a curated, narrative-driven retail experience, and enjoy overnight accommodations at one of D.C. ‘s landmark hotels through the Downtown Holiday Market’s official hotel partner Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington D.C. • Food, festivities, and your favorite local entertainment at the mainstage is back while you shop. Guests can also enjoy festive and holiday-themed XR (virtual reality) technology from ARTECHOUSE. In 2005, the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) in collaboration with Diverse Markets Management (DMM) created an outdoor holiday shopping marketplace for the DowntownDC community. Today, DowntownDC is a retail and tourist destination, and The Downtown Holiday Market is at the heart of it all. The Market is committed to environmental sustainability and many Market exhibitors offer fair-trade imports and gifts made from recycled and sustainable resources. The Market is conveniently accessible by public transportation including Metrorail, Metrobus and Capital Bikeshare.

Enter non–winning holiday tickets at dclottery.com for a chance to win over $50,000 in total cash prizes!

For more information on daily performances and vendors, visit DowntownHolidayMarket.com. Vendors rotate daily, so we look forward to seeing you throughout this holiday season again and again!

Follow us on Twitter @DtwnHolidayMkt and on Facebook and Instagram @DowntownHolidayMarket (#DowntownDCHolidayMarket).

valid 11.3.21 – 1.19.22 DC Scratcher games may continue to be sold even when all the top prizes have been claimed.

Neil Albert President & CEO DowntownDC Business Improvement District

Mike Berman President Diverse Markets Management

Washington City Paper | 1/2 pg V | 4.8542” x 11.25” | 4c | New | Holiday Scratchders

2021 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 19 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

EXHIBITORS Find unique and wonderful items offered by over 70 exhibitors.

Please note, exhibitors are scheduled for either the First Half of the show (Friday, November19 - Sunday, December 5), the Second Half of the show (Tuesday, December 7 - Thursday, December 23) or for the Whole show.

Scan here to get all the info on your mobile device at

See the Exhibitor Categories for the participant list, booth numbers, and days of participation.

See the SITE MAP for booth locations.

Downtown HolidayMarket.com

View detailed description of exhibitors and a link to their business at DowntownHolidayMarket.com.

CERAMICS Kerri Henry Pottery #49 Second Half kerrihenrypottery.com Sarah Nickel Ceramics #35 First Half sarahnickelceramics.com

CORPORATE

GIFT FOODS

STORY at Macy’s

Little Tibet Boutique #24, 25 Whole Show instagram.com/ littletibetboutique

instagram.com/macys

Chouquette Chocolates #4 Whole Show chouquette.us

#32 Whole Show

BannerBee Co #31 First Half bannerbees.com

CRAFT Because Science

Maison Soleil #50 Second Half www.maisonsoleil.com

CLOTHES & ACCESSORIES

#54 Whole Show BecauseScienceDC.com

Fuzzy Ink #28 Whole Show fuzzy-ink.com

COLLECTIBLES

#1 First Half

FarEast Antiques #60 Whole Show

Hope’s Journals

Mondepice Spices and Teas #33, 34 Whole Show mondepice.com

getcanimals.com #37 First Half

Indigo Moon #55 First Half

iconsDC #20 First Half iconsDC.com

Jon Wye #29 Whole Show jonwye.com

Jentz Prints #6 Whole Show instagram.com/jentz_prints

CHOCOIDEA #48 Whole Show chocoidea.com H3O Farms #30 Whole Show

Canimals

Art Inca Native #9, 10 Whole Show

SITE MAP

Kiwi Exquisite #35 Second Half fb -> Kiwi-Exquisite

New York Puzzle Company #47 Whole Show newyorkpuzzlecompany.com Rebound Design #55 Second Half

The Capital Candy Jar #F5 Whole Show thecapitalcandyjar.com The Taste of Germany #F2 Whole Show thetasteofgermany.com

The Downtown Holiday Market is centrally located in the heart of Downtown DC, centered at 8th and F Street, NW. It is easily accessible by foot, bike, and Metro (Gallery Pl-Chinatown).

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2021 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 19 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

Food 6

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ENTRANCE Stage

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GLASS Cecil Art Glass #46 Whole Show Glitzyglass #43 Whole Show Glitzy-glass.com Joy of Glass #23 First Half joyofglass.com New World Glass #23 Second Half newworldglass.com

IMPORTED CRAFTS Baby Alpaca #45 Whole Show From Egypt With Love #53 Whole Show fromegyptwithlove-epy.com IndiBlossom by Anuradha Mehra #31 Second Half indiblossom.com KVZ Designs #8 Whole Show kvzdesigns.com Mundo Handmade #11 Whole Show mundohandmade.com

Tunisian Touch #59 Whole Show tunisiantouch.com Veroka Distributers #516 Whole Show

JEWELRY ARTICLE22 #20 First Half article22.com D Collections #1 Second Half Deco Etc. #39 Whole Show deco-jewelry.com Ethic Goods #21 First Half ethicgoods.com Leah Sturgis Jewelry #37 Second Half leahsturgis.com Lost & Forged #41 Whole Show lostandforged.com Southwest Expressions #26 Whole Show nativecraftsworld.com

Souvenir Arts #15 Whole Show

Stio Designs #17 Whole Show ancientcoindesigns.com

Toro Mata #7 Whole Show toromata.com

Turtles Webb #51 First Half instagram.com/turtleswebb

PAINTING Art by Zachary Sasim #19 Whole Show zacharysasim.com Green Blanky Studio #51 Second Half greenblankystudio.com Joel Traylor Art #52 Second Half joeltraylor.com Jonathan Blum #40 Second Half Jonathanblumportraits.com Marcella Kriebel Art & Illustration #44 Whole Show marcellakriebel.com Painted Palettes #58 Whole Show paintedpalettes.com Rayhart #22 Whole Show rayhart.com Tsolmon-Art #2 Whole Show tsolmonart.com

PHOTOGRAPHY Avner Ofer Photography #42 Whole Show AvnerOfer.com Chandler Art and Images #21 Second Half chandlerartandimages.weebly.com

THE ANNUAL HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA RETURNS!

Joe Shymanski Photography #38 Whole Show joeshymanski.com Tom Wachs Photography #18 First Half tomwachs.com

PRINTMAKING Female Power Project #3 Whole Show FemalePowerProject.com Pyramid Atlantic Art Center #50 Second Half pyramidatlanticartcenter.com Terratorie Maps + Goods #57 Whole Show terratorie.com Treksalot #27 First Half etsy.com/shop/Treksalot

SOAPS & CANDLES Banner Bee Co #31 First Half bannerbees.com Coastal HoBo #13, 14 Whole Show coastalhobo.com Joyful Bath Co. #36 Whole Show joyfulbathco.com Kin & Care #18 Second Half kinandcare.com Raw Blossom #40 First Half raw-blossom.com

Smell of Love Candles #52 First Half smelloflovecandles.com

TEXTILES Naked Decor #27 Second Half nakeddecor.com The Neighborgoods #56 Whole Show theneighborgoods.com

WOOD Godet Woodworking #58 Whole Show godetfurniture.com Mistura Timepieces #5 Whole Show woodcoholics.com

G R A N T U S C E L E B R AT I O N

WINNER! CITY PAPER BEST OF DC 2021 BEST LOCAL CHORAL GROUP!

DECEMBER 4, 11, & 12 LINCOLN THEATRE 1215 U ST NW

For more info or tickets: Visit GMCW.org or call 202-888-0050.

ASL tickets & groups of 10 or more, call 202-293-1548.

* Shows subject to change

A T W E L F T H N I G H T CO N C E R T January 9, 2022 | 4:00 p.m.

Saint Luke Catholic Church, McLean, Virginia Celebrate the holiday season with the City Choir of Washington and enter the new year in a festive spirit with our annual Twelfth Night concert, featuring Maestro Shafer’s favorite Christmas music for choir, brass, and organ by Gabrieli, Handel, Pinkham and Dirksen.

Purchase Tickets at TheCityChoirOfWashington.org 2021 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 19 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

MUSIC SCHEDULE

The Market Screen presents a musical feast of more than 40 performers by some of the area’s best blues, rock, jazz, soul, country, world, and contemporary artists. And of course, it wouldn’t be a “holiday” market without some of your favorite seasonal standards. Check the performer list below, and find more information about all of the performers in the Musical Entertainment section of DowntownHolidayMarket.com.

Thursday Dec 2 12:00 PM The Sweater Set Folk Pop 5:00 PM Seth Kibel & The Kleztet Klezmer, Jazz, World

5:00 PM Afro Nuevo Latin Jazz, Jazz

Friday Dec 3 12:00 PM Tritone Jazz Trio Jazz 2:30 PM Bump ‘n Grind Groove 5:00 PM Ian Walters & Friends Updated Classics

2:30 PM Ruthie & the Wranglers Rockin’ Americana

Saturday Dec 4 12:00 PM DC Mudd Old School Blues 2:30 PM Miss Tess Americana, Roots 5:00 PM The Gayle Harrod Band Blues, Soul, Motown Sunday Dec 5 12:00 PM Blue Panamuse Blues, Swing 2:30 PM Alpha Dog Blues Ensemble Acoustic. Blues 5:00 PM De Sanguashington Latin Folk, Cumbia, Vellenato Tuesday Dec 7 12:00 PM Seth Kibel & Sean Lane Jazzy Holiday 5:00 PM Jazz Trotters Traditional Jazz Wednesday Dec 8 12:00 PM Billy Coulter Duo Acoustic Rock, Americana 5:00 PM The Lovejoy Group Jazz, Holiday Thursday Dec 9 12:00 PM The 19th Street Band Folk Rock, Americana 5:00 PM Janine Wilson & Scott McKnight Acoustic Rock Friday Dec 10 12:00 PM Maureen Andary Jazz, Pop 2:30 PM Leon City Sounds Latin and Island Grooves

Saturday Dec 11 12:00 PM Ian Walters & Matt Kelley Blues & More

5:00 PM Stacy Brooks Band Blues, Jazz Sunday Dec 12 12:00 PM Low Water Bridge Band Bluegrass, Country 2:30 PM Djangolaya Gypsy Jazz 5:00 PM Common Ground R&B, Jazz Monday Dec 13 12:00 PM Flo Anito & Seth Kibel Jazzy Holiday Classics 5:00 PM The Honey Larks Roots, Blues Tuesday Dec 14 12:00 PM Painted Trillium Celtic 5:00 PM Angel Bethea Quartet Jazz Wednesday Dec 15 12:00 PM Nina Casey Trio American Standards, Blues 5:00 PM Surf Jaguars Surf Rock Thursday Dec 16 12:00 PM Dave Chappell Duo Guitar Roots 2:30 PM Elsa Riveros Spanish Rock 5:00 PM Swangbang Swing & Ragtime Guitar Friday Dec 17 12:00 PM Ruthie’s Acoustic Trio Americana 2:30 PM DJ Crown Vic Global Grooves 5:00 PM Fast Eddie & the Slowpokes Blue-Eyed Soul Saturday Dec 18

WOLF TRAP’S ANNUAL HOLIDAY SING-A-LONG FROM HOME WITH SPECIAL GUESTS STARTS DECEMBER 4 WOLFTRAP.ORG/HOLIDAY-SING

12:00 PM Karen Collins & Backroads Band Honky Tonk, Country 2:30 PM Kentucky Avenue Modern Americana 5:00 PM Qilatse Project Ethio Jazz Sunday Dec 19 12:00 PM The Capital Hearings A Cappella 2:30 PM Lilt Irish, Step Dancers 5:00 PM Carly Harvey & The Experience Jazz, Blues Monday Dec 20 12:00 PM Stefan Sullivan Vintage Pop/Honky Tonk Piano 2:30 PM All New Genetically Altered Jug Band Jug Band 5:00 PM Ian Walter & Friends Updated Classics

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Tuesday Dec 21 12:00 PM Billy Coulter Duo Acoustic Rock, Americana 2:30 PM Snakehead Run Acoustic Blues 5:00 PM Los Caribbeat Caribbean Wednesday Dec 22 12:00 PM Driveway Jam Band Jazz 2:30 PM Hula Monsters Hawaiian Swing 5:00 PM The Lovejoy Group Jazz, Holiday Thursday Dec 23 12:00 PM Smokin’ Lounge Pop, Rock, Jazz 2:30 PM Alpha Dog Blues Ensemble Acoustic. Blues 5:00 PM Kiss and Ride Blues, Jazz, Soul

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2021 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 19 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

FOOD & DRINK

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Schedule: For Entire Market run Hotel Monaco and Dirty Habit are the official hotel and restaurant partners of the Downtown Holiday Market. Kimpton Hotel Monaco DC will bring the yuletide magic into their courtyard with a tented celebration full of holiday décor, outdoor fire pits, blankets, string lights to set the city festival aglow, and an outdoor pop-up bar with festive cocktail specials provided by Dirty Habit.

ARTECHOUSE DC XR Installation Schedule: For Entire Market run ARTECHOUSE and the Downtown Holiday Market have partnered to celebrate the district’s most joyful season of the year with an all-new immersive extended reality (XR) experience for guests. For a second annual activation, the collaborators are allowing visitors the chance to uncover a hidden layer of XR art at the holiday market to explore limitless creative possibilities whether visiting the market or at ARTECHOUSE’s recently extended exhibition, Life of a Neuron.

To activate the experience this holiday season, Washingtonians and tourists alike can download the free ARTECHOUSE XR mobile app on the Apple and Google Play stores. For more information visit https://www.artechouse.com/xr/.

2021 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 19 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

MAKE MEMORIES

DISCOVER & GIFT LOCAL in MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD

Photo Credit: Adam Brockett

HOLIDAY LIGHTS

TASTEMAKERS TRAIL

LOCAL SHOPPING

Discover pure joy in Montgomery County, Maryland this holiday season. Explore magical winter lights, find a new brewery along the Tastemakers Trail and catch a world-class performance. Whether near or far, celebrate the magic of the holidays in a place the feels like home – with classic Maryland flavor.

MUSICAL PERFOMANCES

VisitMontgomery.com/Holiday 2021 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 19 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

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2021 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 19 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

DIVERSIONS CROSSWORD

SPORTSCENTER

By Brendan Emmett Quigley

Across 1. Bigger than big 5. Nob Hill squad 9. Biting snakes 13. Sports center 15. Cookie that comes in a gingerbread flavor for the holidays 16. Light carriage 17. Leftovers in a Jamba Juice compost bin 18. Ingredient in some muffins 20. Classic dog name 21. Here, in Amiens 23. 1954 Bogart role 24. Where you might roast peppers 28. Crowned?

30. Thing to be sold 31. Group going back to Temple 33. ___ doble 34. Intention 36. Paycheck deduction that goes toward Medicare 38. Mayhem exemplified 39. Grunge outfit 43. “ZOMG! BEQ just made a grunge reference!”

44. Russian city on the Oka

immunologist ___ von Behring 29. Head in the Tube 32. Having three unequal sides 35. Midori in skates 37. Even a little bit 39. Tropical hardwood of Central America 40. Doddering fools 41. Beginner, in slang 42. With 65 across, musical collaborator with Eric Idle on The Rutles and Monty Python 43. Internet problem 47. Is unable to 49. More like some memes and basements 51. Burmese intoxicant 52. Anita of La Dolce Vita 53. Body of water bordered by six countries 55. Clipping caller 57. Law that allows access to govt. documents 59. Liquid spill 62. Tillis in the Grand Ole Opry 63. Paul’s The Shrink Next Door character 64. Org. that helped popularize abstract art during the Cold War 66. Sports league that’s in the center of this puzzle’s theme answers

45. Caustic cleaner 46. Rock group with slash as a member?

48. Gothenburg guy, e.g.

50. Great British Baking Show contestant, at times 54. Succeed 56. Healthy morsel in breakfast cereal 58. Bêtes noires 60. Prefix used with many schools of thought 61. [We’re not sure, check back later] 62. It features busy people 65. See 42 down 67. Voice in the choir 68. The Grapes of Wrath drifter 69. Burning 70. 99 percent, say 71. Still-life fruit 72. Swingers grp. for women Down 1. Meat of the bone 2. City that’s a 90-minute drive from Buffalo, New York 3. One who grew up making mixtapes 4. “Before I forget ...”

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FOOD YOUNG & HUNGRY

Drink To Your Health Darrow Montgomery

Research suggests that being a regular at a neighborhood bar can be as good for your emotional well-being as it is for your social life.

Kojo Nnamdi enjoys a drink at the Hitching Post

By Matthew Stoss Contributing Writer Even on the nights he’s not drinking, Kojo Nnamdi still likes to visit the Hitching Post.

“I’ll drink lemonade or some other nonalcoholic beverage,” says the longtime host of WAMU’s The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi.

He’s been a regular at the hallowed Petworth hub for about 25 of the 54 years it’s been in business. He goes to relieve stress, sometimes several times a week. “It’s the comfort level,” he says. “It’s what it does for my brain.”

“I can relax immediately and have a pleasant, often joke-filled conversation among people I associate with on a regular basis,” Nnamdi adds. “I wouldn’t say everybody at the Hitching Post is somebody I would consider a friend, but they are certainly associates that I enjoy spending time with. It helps me come down from thinking about serious things. Even though serious things may come up at the Hitching Post, it’s in a completely different environment.”

According to research dating back to the 1970s, this is the psychological allure and benefit of being a regular at a neighborhood bar. The practice can help us manage emotions, make friends, maintain relationships, and expose us to new ideas and people. “[Those relationships] put us in a good mood,” says Gillian Sandstrom, a psychologist at the University of Essex in England.

“They help us feel connected to other people, which is this fundamental need we have as human beings.”

A 2016 study conducted in bars around Oxford, England, examined these relationships in-depth. Led by Oxford psychologist Robin Dunbar and commissioned by the U.K. consumer organization Campaign for Real Ale, “Friends on Tap: The Role of Pubs at the Heart of the Community” suggests that local bars are among the best venues to meet like-minded people, even comparing them to places of worship, and that moderate drinking can improve a person’s social skills, mental health, and overall well-being.

22 DECEMBER 3, 2021 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM

The report implores us to get off our phones and suggests that people who frequent a neighborhood bar have more friends from different cultures and social classes, are more involved with their communities, more trusting of others, and less lonely than those whose social circles are limited to work and home.

The report also finds that regulars tend to drink less per outing than people drinking on their own or at big downtown bars, citing a group-moderation effect. According to the study, “People are likely to drink less if those around them are behaving in a more measured way, and are, as a result, likely to be less tolerant of socially inappropriate or excessive behavior.”

For a big group out for a night, drinking can be an objective, but for regulars at their neighborhood spot, drinking often is secondary to the fellowship—as it is for Nnamdi at the Hitching Post.

Nnamdi says he first popped in because he found the plain-looking building on Upshur Street NW intriguing. He couldn’t tell if it was

a residence or a business. The Hitching Post’s communal confines compelled him to stick around and return ad infinitum.

“I probably ordered some fried chicken— their fried chicken was always very good— and started striking up conversations with the people at the bar,” he says, referring to his first visit. “I enjoyed it and went back again, and to my surprise, some of the same people who were there the first time I went there were there again.” Nnamdi made a habit of returning and knew he could count on engaging in a good conversation.

When the “Friends on Tap” researchers compared small community bars to their big downtown counterparts—those that tend to be less intimate and have more transient clientele—they found that people typically visit the downtown bars in bigger groups, often on their way to somewhere else, like a club. The interactions within those groups tended to be shorter and not so intimate—and with a lot more phone-checking.

The opposite happens at local bars.

“I always say, ‘Hey, this is cheaper than therapy,’” says Herman Lutz, an IT guy who’s been a regular at Georgetown’s Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place for six years. “You’re in a relaxed environment, and little by little you start saying things. You’re basically venting stuff, but you’re laughing. Laughter’s important. It’s just like you’re communicating more. … With this group of people, you can open up and let loose and walk away.”

In a seminal and oft-cited 1973 paper that helped create this field of study, Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter examined the sorts of relationships and interactions Lutz and Nnamdi are describing.

Called “weak ties,” these seemingly frivolous or non-intensive relationships are low investment and potentially high reward. Take for example the barista you see every morning, making small talk with a work colleague on a serendipitously shared elevator ride, or idly confabulating with two strangers over beers in a pub.

Sandstrom studies this sort of rapport, also known as minimal social interactions. She became interested in the subject while getting her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. A woman working at a hot dog stand on campus inspired her.

“Every time I walked past her, I’d smile and wave, and she’d smile and wave back,” Sandstrom says. “It took me a while, but I realized how good it made me feel, and then I started wondering: Maybe lots of people have people like this hot dog lady in our lives—people who make us feel good and make us feel grounded and part of the social fabric and who we don’t really pay attention to.”

Sandstrom doesn’t consider the hot dog vendor a stranger, even though they’ve never spoken or exchanged names. The delineation is mutual recognition, and from there, the relationship can escalate or ebb. Weak ties exist on a spectrum and are predicated on common ground. For Sandstrom and the hot dog vendor, the common ground was simple proximity. At the Hitching Post, it’s something

FOOD YOUNG & HUNGRY more.

“Back in the day, this business was known as a spot for minorities to hang out,” says owner Barry Dindyal. He bought the business from founders Al and Adrienne Carter in 2012. “This is the one place that they could come and feel like home. We build on that and just keep it going, and we try to build and strive to have our new customers come in and feel the same way. This place should be a home away from home.”

At the more intimate end of the “tie” spectrum are strong ties, which are what we have, notably, with dear friends and family. Both can be naturally cultivated and easily nurtured in local bars, in part, because being a regular renders scheduling all but superfluous. If people are going to the bar anyway, there’s no need to make plans. This guarantees face-to-face contact, with minimal effort.

“Everyone is there for, maybe not the exact same reason, but everyone’s there with lowered inhibitions,” says Mark Menard, who owns Trusty’s, a dive bar in Southeast D.C. “They don’t really have great expectations if they’re hanging out in a dive bar or a neighborhood bar. … Some of them want to be engaged with you. There are those who don’t want to be engaged—just have a drink, no hassle. It totally allows for the level of engagement that you want.”

When Denizens Brewing Co. opened in

Silver Spring in 2014, it created a so-called “regulars club” because founders Emily Bruno, Jeff Ramirez, and Julie Verratti wanted to both ensure their new business had

Like Nnamdi, Susannah Cernojevich pops into the Hitching Post to find conversation, even if she’s not drinking. She first went to the Hitching Post about 15 years ago, not long

“You see families grow, people meet other people and get married. It’s just a nice place to go and touch base.” repeat customers and create a social locus, just like the owner of the Hitching Post.

“I can’t think of a significant time in my life I don’t associate with some sort of neighborhood place,” says Verratti, who now works for the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“I challenge anyone to think about getting together with family and friends over the years and not think about bars and restaurants.”

after moving to Petworth from Capitol Hill.

She says an older married couple—veteran regulars—essentially sponsored her incorporation into the Hitching Post’s ecosystem. “[The wife] would tell me when they were coming, and I would go and sit with them, and they would start introducing me to other people,” says Cernojevich, who has used the bar’s network to return a lost dog and find

reasonably priced roofers. “You see families grow, people meet other people and get married. It’s just a nice place to go and touch base.”

Some of those people are now gone. The couple that smoothed Cernojevich’s assimilation died years ago. The husband, a civil rights attorney, is still remembered as the bar’s “resident sage” as well as for his frequent and inflamed debates with another late regular, a career federal employee. Nnamdi says the two often sparred over who knew more about the government, among other issues.

“They would get into fierce arguments using raised voices about the same things over and over again,” Nnamdi says, laughing. “We would look forward to these arguments. I, for one, knew what each one would say almost before they said it, and I knew that they would end up becoming very angry at one another, and then the next night I’d go there and they’d be sitting there again as good friends.”

They never settled the debate.

“That was the whole point,” Nnamdi says.

“One of the things about relationships in a place that’s a neighborhood establishment, regardless of how upset people may be on one occasion or another, they are almost certainly going to return, especially if they live in the neighborhood. But also because a neighborhood is more than a building. A neighborhood is really a place where people find companionship.”

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WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM DECEMBER 3, 2021 23

Quiet, Please!

What club members are reading

DC Silent Book Club

ARTS OPENER

D.C.’s Silent Book Club for bibliophiles returns to a new location after a long pandemic-fueled hiatus.

By: Josh Axelrod Contributing Writer Nestled in a crook of the Petworth Citizen, silent readers once gathered. Sitting with books in their laps, readers would stay perfectly still until a hotel bell pierced the silence. As if lifted from a trance, they would shut their books and conversation would commence, following an hour of independent reading time.

While it may seem odd to the naked eye, these D.C. bibliophiles were members of a club known the world over, with chapters in cities like Bangalore, São Paulo, and Johannesburg. The concept, revolutionary in its simplicity, is Silent Book Club or, as it’s affectionately referred to: “Introvert Happy Hour.”

The concept is simple—free from the shackles of stuffy nonfiction or Russian classics, participants bring whatever reading material they desire and then regale others with literary recommendations once the hour of silent reading time is up. No shelf-righteousness permitted.

The D.C. chapter started in earnest during the summer of 2019, soon growing from four attendees to 32 at its peak, with members spanning the District’s professional gamut, including teachers, lawyers, and government employees. Then the pandemic struck and readers dispersed, forced out of common spaces and into isolation. “I was thinking, We’ll be back in a couple months max,” Erin Sells, founder and coordinator of the D.C. chapter, says. “I didn’t think we would not see each other for 18 months.”

But now, the D.C. chapter has made its triumphant return, after a gloomy year and a half of solitude. And that sense of side-by-side camaraderie and connection has never been more vital.

“Even for the most introverted among us, even for people who often would rather spend more time with books than with human beings, there is something really important that happens when people come together,” Sells, whose day job is director of institutional giving for NPR, says.

“Even if they’re just sitting to read silently.”

Public health experts agree, urging individuals to find ways to unwind and connect with community as year two of the pandemic stretches on. While the physical dangers of the coronavirus may finally be receding, more variants seem to be on the horizon and doctors caution that a mental health crisis looms, pointing to skyrocketing rates of depression and anxiety since COVID-19 took hold in 2020.

Leo F. Flanagan Jr., a psychologist and trauma expert, heartily endorsed activities such as Silent Book Club as a way to start socializing again and ease back into society. “We’re social people—that’s essential for us and for our well-being,” Flanagan says. “We have to get back to whatever the new way of socializing will be,” he adds.

For months though, communal reading time

wasn’t an option for D.C. residents.

Back in March of 2020, the global Silent Book Club team saw the writing on the wall. With more than 20 chapters spanning Italy from top to boot, impending shutdowns were rolled out across the country—hinting at what was about to happen in the United States. The team, led by co-founder Guinevere de la Mare, began preparing the various chapters to take heed of public health measures and the likely cancellation of future meetings.

“We had an early view into what eventually happened here,” says de la Mare, who created Silent Book Club back in 2012 after grumbling with a friend about a book club’s assigned reading.

She now oversees 295 clubs in 41 countries. “Even having that two-week head start gave us a little bit of an indicator that really big changes were coming,” she says. “Of course, none of us knew how long it was going to last or what we were in for.”

About half of the chapters worldwide went on indefinite hiatus, while others opted for some form of virtual offering. Locally, Sells was adamant from the beginning that she did not want to move the club online.

“I just didn’t see how it would work, or how it would be very much fun,” Sells says. “Part of that was probably just the way I was living my life at the time,” Sells says. “I worked online, I worked out online, I went to doctors appointments online, and I saw my family online, and there was just no break from it. So it was really hard for me to imagine having a Zoom Silent Book Club that would feel like the fun that it was when we were in person.”

While members were disappointed, they largely concurred.

“The last thing I wanted to do was sit on Zoom for an hour with people,” AnneStandley, Sells’ former colleague at NPR and a founding D.C. chapter member, says. “That just didn’t seem fun to me.”

From there, the months crept on, with no end in sight. A number of other chapters started back up over the past few months, but each was operating case-by-case based on their regions’ public health situations. Since the start of the pandemic, 57 chapters have shut down permanently, according to de la Mare, whereas 48 new ones were created.

More than anything, Sells wanted to bring back meetings, but fear of turning a hallowed meeting ground into a super-spreader event held her back each time. “Every month that we postponed, my heart broke a little bit,” she says. “But it was a very pragmatic decision. It wasn’t worth risking anyone’s health to bring us all back together.”

Finally, summer of 2021 rolled around. As mask mandates were lifted and the White House kicked off Fourth of July declaring independence from the virus, it seemed like in-person gatherings were officially back.

At the same time, book sales were continuing to explode, lending new meaning and purpose to literary meetups.

Between the summer of 2020’s racial

24 DECEMBER 3, 2021 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM

reckoning, which took the literary world by storm and ignited interest in books on race and pop-up author talks, and the general boost to at-home reading time during the height of the pandemic, reading habits have changed dramatically.

“People are reading, still, at an amazing pace,” says Ramunda Young, owner of the Black bookfocused Mahogany Books in Anacostia and National Harbor.

From May, following the murder of George Floyd, to October of 2020, Young shipped more than 100,000 books across the country. At author talks and virtual book events, people tuned in by the hundreds, eager for a platform to discuss what they were reading and convene with the community. “They were looking to have an outlet to discuss things that may have been on their mind, on their heart, [or] had them confused,” Young says.

And yet D.C.’s Silent Book Club remained shuttered. Then the Delta variant complicated reopening plans. Biding her time, Sells cautiously plotted for a fall relaunch.

But first she needed a new location because the Petworth Citizen closed for good last year (unrelated to the pandemic).

She set out with Standley to canvas different locations, finally settling on Sonny’s Pizza in Parkview. Standley calls it “the Goldilocks fit,” for its spacious outdoor seating, fans and heaters, public transit accessibility, ADA compliance, affordable prices, absence of televisions, and relative lack of happy hour din.

Sonny’s Pizza immediately agreed, charmed by the concept. “Normally, you have to be really close to somebody to be able to just sit on your couch and chill with them, but these were people who maybe don’t know each other that well, and now they have an environment where they feel comfortable just relaxing and hanging out,” Sonny’s General Manager Lauren Reed says. “I think that’s really special.”

The group plans to meet at Sonny’s on the last Wednesday of the month from 6 to 8 p.m. They’ll aim to stay outdoors, even through the winter months, thanks to Sonny’s ample outdoor heating setup.

“We’re really thrilled to see chapters emerge again after this hibernation,” de la Mare says.

“It’s like all these little cocoons are cracking open again.”

With reopening, however, comes new public health considerations—factors Sells never “considered in the before-times.” Vaccines will be required for members, though she’s decided not to check cards at the door and to instead rely on the honor system for attendance.

Seven people turned out to the October relaunch, though the D.C. Silent Book Club Facebook page has more than 300 members.

More are sure to start trickling in as word of the return spreads.

It’s likely that the concept will only become more popular, de la Mare suspects, as the need for human connection and an escape from the despair of the 24-hour news cycle remains an everpresent force, going into a third year of the pandemic with the Delta variant and others retaining COVID’s grip on the nation.

“Being able to turn off for, even if it’s just for a half hour, taking that time out of your day when you’re not doom-scrolling, and you’re not getting inundated by headlines and you’re just losing yourself in a book but surrounded by a support system of other people who are sharing in that same moment with you—it makes you feel less alone,” she says. “It makes you feel more hopeful, and it gives you a very welcome escape from the incredible turmoil and darkness and state of hopelessness and disconnection.”

Sells says that the D.C. contingent is especially happy to be back. The Capitol insurrection and perennial election cycles provided a localized need to block out the dread. Now, after a turbulent 20 months of solitude, D.C. readers can finally unwind again with a slice of pizza, a cocktail and, most importantly, a book.

“It felt a little bit more special, for both the people who had been before and for the new people, because one of the things that a lot of us learned during the pandemic was how important and precious being able to come together even with people you don’t know terribly well, even with strangers, can be,” Sells says of October’s event.

“There was a sense that we weren’t going to be taking even something as simple as being able to read together at a restaurant for granted.”

ARTS FEATURE

So Much of Everything Local artist Jenn Koiter receives funding from Day Eight’s DC Poet Project to release her first book of poetry.

Imagine reading your poetry in front of 130 faces on your computer screen—the largest audience you’ve ever stood, or sat, in front of.

Imagine competing with established poets, round after round of speaking your words, and the nervewracking wait for votes from strangers. Then imagine winning and being chosen to publish your first full poetry collection, as Jenn Koiter did just this year, with Day Eight’s DC Poet Project.

Day Eight is a young, exciting nonprofit that began with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The small arts organization was founded in 2007 and is responsible for publishing a literary magazine, anthologies, and poetry chapbooks. It’s a diverse organization that offers a variety of programming to the writers and readers of our city, including the DC Poet Project, which is both an annual open mic competition and local reading series. The project, founded in 2017, is designed to support local poets, and it results in publication of a new book of poetry each year by the winning author.

Koiter won 2021’s competition, and her resulting collection, So Much of Everything, was published on Oct. 31 by Day Eight. Koiter, a 44-year-old Edgewood resident, learned about the DC Poet Project from a friend, and decided on a whim to enter. She advanced to the finals, competing with four other finalists, and was voted the winner on May 22 by the large virtual audience.

She was awarded $1,000 and a book contract.

So Much of Everything explores the complicated grief and loss that Koiter experienced after her ex-boyfriend died by suicide nine days after their breakup. She spent a decade writing the poems, but had only a month to put the collection together after winning the competition. “[The collection] was written over a period of more than 10 years, so it’s a crazy quilt of a book!” Koiter says. “It’s got found poems made from mid-century women’s beauty literature, poems about travel, poems about religion, persona poems, a long sequence of elegies— and that’s not even a comprehensive list. In a weird way, though, it definitely hangs together.”

Koiter’s poems are compelling and modern, and she surprises readers at first with a delicate mixture of vulnerability and humor. In “AFTER THANKSGIVING,” she writes: I am eating leftover brandied cranberries mixed into plain yogurt not because I particularly like them but because my mother does & I feel closer to her when I eat them than I do when we talk…

Danny Sax of Brink

Hannah Grieco Contributing Writer

Jenn Koiter

Koiter is right at home where whimsy meets sadness. Voices and characters thread through the collection, offering us an unusual narrative feeling for a work of poetry. It’s as if she’s whispering to us: “I have a story to tell.” In “THE MESSY GIRL FORGETS HER DREAMS,” Koiter writes as a young schoolgirl: You dreamed you were falling? You know, if you hit the ground, you won’t wake up.

Later in the collection, Koiter hits hard. “THE SURVIVOR” lets readers begin to see where the collection is headed—into the deeply personal journey of someone who has been through the unthinkable.

The detective shut your front door behind him and walked calmly toward us across the lawn. He did not hurry because he had no reason to hurry.

This collection is crushingly honest, daring in its proximity to ugliness, yet still so beautifully

and skillfully rendered. Koiter’s words linger, her voice clear and strong. She fits right in with the other DC Poet Project winners, including Kevin Wiggins, John Johnson, and Susan Meehan, all of whom wrote and published distinctive collections for Day Eight.

Koiter’s win—and book—however, charted a lesser known path due to the realities of the pandemic. As Day Eight board member and literary arts editor Gregory Luce explains, “The major impact [of the pandemic] was that we had to hold the Poet Project virtually this year, and we have just published a very fine book by the amazing winner, Jenn Koiter!”

Luce co-founded the project with Day Eight’s Executive Director Robert Bettmann and has continued through the past 18 months to edit the anthologies and literary journal that Day Eight is known for. He expects the organization to continue to grow and evolve in the coming year.

“We are currently in the planning stages for moving poetry publishing into its own journal and launching a twice-yearly print version.

We’re hoping to have this project completed early next year,” says Luce.

Bettmann has worked hard to expand Day Eight’s impact over the past 14 years, though the organization has struggled, like most arts nonprofits, to push through and continue providing programming during the pandemic.

“It’s really hard for us to stay connected to donors when we don’t see people in person,” Bettmann says. “Theaters are going through the same thing. It’s not just ticket sales, but the fact that people who attend an event are the same people who end up donating.”

Bettmann worries about the ability to fundraise (and thus provide programming) as a small nonprofit stuck, for now, in the virtual arts world. In addition to the poetry competition and reading series that the DC Poet Project offers, Day Eight works as a creative team to develop and get funding for programs such as the Eco Arts Project, dance performances, and even a publishing collaboration with the new Anacostia Swim Club.

The organization relies primarily on private funding to develop its arts programs and to publish books, and is overseen by an active board of directors that includes Luce along with noted D.C. writers Grace Cavalieri, Ori Z Soltes, E. Ethelbert Miller, among others.

Both Bettmann and Luce are thrilled with Koiter’s So Much of Everything, as well as the upcoming anthology The Great World of Days, due out in March 2022. The two are also hopeful that the D.C. literary scene will be back to in-person events sooner than later, so Day Eight can keep doing what it’s always done: support and elevate the city’s arts and artists.

Jenn Koiter reads from So Much of Everything at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 30, 2022, at Reston Readings, at Reston’s Used Book Shop, 1623 Washington Plaza, Reston.

WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM DECEMBER 3, 2021 25

ARTS FILM Film stills courtesy of AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center

Women on the Verge Starting this week, AFI’s European Union Film Showcase offers a slate of provocative films that delve into the lives of women protagonists.

By Alan Zilberman Contributing Writer What do a French nun from the 17th century, a modern Lithuanian waitress, and a post-revolution Iranian expat living in the Netherlands have in common? At first, their sensibilities and values could not seem more different. In one simple example, the nun wears clothes that are deliberately uncomfortable, while the waitress dresses to show off her impressive tattoos. Quiet frustration, however, is their common bond, one that is borne out of a society that claims to liberate women yet ultimately stifles them in ways they dare not articulate. These women are also the protagonists in three different films at this year’s AFI European Union Film Showcase, and the commonalities among them can only be realized at a festival—seeing a series of provocative films in a short period.

The showcase, which takes place from Dec. 1 to 19, is offering in-person screenings (as of Dec. 1) for its 34th year. The lineup features more than 50 films from the 27 EU states, including Academy Award contenders, indie darlings, and up-and-coming talent, as well as a dozen North American premieres.

Benedetta, the story of the French nun, is easily the best known film among these three.

After a splashy premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, director Paul Verhoeven courted controversy by depicting sex scenes between two nuns (the film has already been protested by Catholics). The irony—one that is probably not lost on Verhoeven—is that the sex scenes are not the most transgressive acts in the movie.

What is more subversive, why Benedetta (Virginie Efira) is ultimately a threat to the status quo, is that she has her own thoughts about religious devotion. Sometimes she clashes with the authorities at the covenant where she lives, while she also indulges in fantasies where a sword-wielding Jesus Christ severs heads to protect her purity. This is Verhoeven, director of Starship Troopers and

Runner (top), Mitra (left), and Benedetta (right) Showgirls, so he dives headlong into bad taste, daring the audience not to laugh at each outrageous plot twist. If you’re on his wavelength, this film is frequently a riot. Žygimantė Elena Jakštaitė plays Marija, the hero of the Lithuanian Runner, who is a more immediately sympathetic figure than Benedetta.

Her boyfriend, Vytas (Marius Repsys), escapes their apartment in the midst of a manic episode, and Marija correctly worries he will be a danger to himself and others. Vytas does not answer his phone, so Marija pursues him on foot, even as her body starts to fail her. At first, Runner seems like it could be a riff on Run Lola Run, another film where a desperate woman tries to save her boyfriend before it is too late.

Director and co-screenwriter Andrius Blazevicius is more ambitious than that: In her singular pursuit, he shows Marija deal with one indignity after another—whether it’s her judgmental parents, an indifferent health-care system, or bystanders that are more annoyed than concerned. Ultimately, the film becomes an expression of the woman’s pure will; the tension focuses on whether she will collapse before finally convincing Vytas he needs help.

Parts of the film are frustrating, and downright

26 DECEMBER 3, 2021 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM

suspenseful, because Marija earns our respect while no one else gives her any. Thanks to Jakštaitė’s bracing performance, we know she also internalizes this hard-earned truth.

While Benedetta and Marija have immediate concerns about their present, the past haunts the hero of Mitra, a complex drama from writer-director Kaweh Modiri. It follows Haleh (Jasmin Tabatabai), an aging Iranian woman living in the Netherlands who lectures about the history of the 1978 Islamic revolution. But a voice she recognizes upends her life: Haleh hears Leyla, the woman she believes betrayed her daughter Mitra to the government—leading to her death—so Haleh decides to take justice into her own hands. It’s a thorny form of vengeance, since Haleh ingratiates herself into this woman’s life before she can spring an accusation on her.

Modiri bases this film on the experiences of his actual mother, and he does not supply her any easy answers. What right does the vigilante have? If this woman is who Haleh believes she is, what can she do about her young daughter?

Mitra explores these ethically thorny questions with a slow-burn thriller that takes its time.

Dialogue scenes have an edge to them, though

the characters are all soft-spoken, and the film develops an unlikely kidnapping plot where everyone, even the perpetrators, are scared and confused. Like Benedetta and Runner, this is a film where a frustrated protagonist is shown again and again—either through subjugation or difference—that self-determination is the only chance to find what she desires.

None of these films are strictly didactic, or pure genre entertainment. They are something in between extremes, or maybe more than the sum of their parts. They are angry, deeply felt films by directors who understand empathy alone is not enough to make audiences care about something outside their comfort zone. The fights and negotiations among Benedetta, Marija, and Haleh are part of a European ecosystem where institutional “fairness” leaves no room for the individual, and all the frustrations that can bring.

The AFI EU Showcase takes place at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring, Dec. 1–19. Benedetta opens Dec. 2 at 7 p.m., Runner screens Dec. 14 and 15 at 9:30 p.m., and Mitra screens Dec. 5 at 4:30 p.m. and Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. (filmmaker Kaweh Modiri will be at both screenings for a Q&A). afisilver.afi.com. $13–$250.

ARTS GALLERIES

Closer to Truth

Photo by Matailong Du

Toyin Ojih Odutola: A Countervailing Theory creates a mythology to better understand injustice.

COMPOSED BY

LIBRETTO BY

Wayne Shorter

esperanza spalding

... (Iphigenia) December 10 & 11 | Eisenhower Theater Toyin Ojih Odutola with installation view from the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden presentation of Toyin Ojih Odutola: A Countervailing Theory, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 2021.

Toyin Ojih Odutola: A Countervailing Theory is a dark narrative exhibited as such in an ominously lit, circular gallery space on the second floor of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Visitors are fully immersed in 40 individual artworks that, together, shape a mythology created by Nigerian-born artist Toyin Ojih Odutola. The pieces in A Countervailing Theory are strikingly detailed.

Using charcoal, pastel, and chalk on board, the artist uses light and dark to depict a society fraught with issues that ought to be familiar to all of us. Accompanying the exhibition is a musical soundscape created by Ghanaian British sound artist Peter Adjaye that sets the tone for a dark, twisted mythology—unfolding like a film as each frame tells a part of the story.

Mythologies offer insight into the world’s origins, giving us some rationale for how things came to be despite how unrealistic the narratives seem. Using the form of a myth, Ojih Odutola offers an understanding of oppression and its consequences. In her story, women warriors, known as Eshu, have created a subservient class of men (the Koba) to serve them, mine, and cultivate food, but the two groups are prohibited from comingling. The story parallels the reality that people from Africa faced when they were brought by Europeans to the western hemisphere to cultivate agriculture, and, for many years, were forbidden from intermixing with White people.

Ojih Odutola’s myth provides an explanation on how injustice prevails in a society where the ruling class can break the laws they’ve created and not be held accountable for their actions while the oppressed are punished. The theory under consideration here is that vulnerable populations are held responsible for the offenses

of their oppressors: When the Eshu and Koba interact, it is not the Eshu who is put on trial, but the Koba who receive the consequences.

Ojih Odutola is a Black woman telling a creation story. Considering that Africa is the cradle of humanity, it seems valid for the artist to depict Black women as creators.

A Countervailing Theory offers viewers an alternative perspective on oppressions we know as consequences of colonialism and slavery. If Ojih Odutola’s mythology does anything, it allows viewers to escape the narrative we live in and observe one that seems far-fetched in order to assess our current state of existence.

It raises the question: When the oppressed are coerced by their oppressor into troubling situations, should they really be held totally responsible for their actions?

Ojih Odutola’s project is an extremely ambitious one: 40 separate artworks coming together to tell the story of a people is masterful work. The movement on the canvases is contained within individual frames that, when viewed together, depict a grand narrative whose goal is to move us closer to a tolerance for justice. Due to the exhibit’s epic tale of oppression that highlights how laws work in favor of those who create them, it seems impossible that the total works were created in 2019, yet here they are. This exhibition is a must-see for the skillfulness employed by Ojih Odutola, but also for its narrative: A Countervailing Theory allows us to detach ourselves when we look at a world that seems impossible to consider the possibilities.

—Shantay Robinson Toyin Ojih Odutola: A Countervailing Theory will be on view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden through April 3, 2022.

Witness the new operatic collaboration between two of the most visionary and daring musical voices of our time: 11-time Grammy Award®-winning composer, saxophonist, and Kennedy Center Honoree Wayne Shorter, and four-time Grammy Award®-winning bassist, composer, and vocalist esperanza spalding.

Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600

Groups call (202) 416-8400

Support provided by the Buffy and William Cafritz Family Foundation

For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540

...(Iphigenia) is commissioned by Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley; The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC.; The Broad Stage, Santa Monica, CA; ArtsEmerson, Boston, MA; MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA; and Carolina Performing Arts, Chapel Hill, NC.

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CITY LIGHTS City Lights

Cina Nguyen

Color Palette at Pie Shop

City Lights

BETTY at City Winery

Gene Reed

“Music makes life better,” Elizabeth Ziff tells City Paper about the slow return of live shows. She makes up one-third of the queer indie band BETTY—best known to a generation of queer women for their “talking, laughing, loving, breathing, fighting, f**king, crying, drinking, riding, winning, losing, cheating, kissing, thinking, dreaming,” lyrics that opened nearly every episode of The L Word.

But there’s more to BETTY than The L Word. Fronted by Alyson Palmer and sisters Elizabeth and Amy Ziff, BETTY formed in D.C. 35 years ago. Though they relocated to New York in 1989, the sisters describe the city as near and dear to their hearts. “It’s our formative years,” says Amy. “When we first started playing in D.C., our friends were dying from AIDS and nobody knew what was happening, nobody could talk about it. Certainly the government wasn’t talking about it.” That’s when BETTY began to understand what Amy describes as a musician’s commitment to community. “We have to be on the front lines to take people away from what’s happening, and to inform them, and also to be able to get out there and sing.” Elizabeth adds, “We’ve always been a part of that march on, laugh, have sex, and do fun things [ethos] because you have to.” Elizabeth can’t help but compare current politics—targeting abortion rights, trans student athlete bans, a global pandemic— with AIDS decimating the queer community under the Reagan administration in the ’80s. Back then, performing live with their friend, acclaimed D.C. poet Essex Hemphill, Elizabeth says, “made us not feel crazy.” Once again, Elizabeth and Amy believe the need for music, community, laughter, and a safe place to escape is needed. And that’s exactly what they promise to deliver at BETTY’s holiday show at City Winery on Dec. 5. Aside from new music, Elizabeth promises entertainment, while Amy guarantees humor: “It’s always been important. There’s a lot of humor in our shows— and I’ve never been happier than when I make somebody laugh on stage.” Betty’s Holly Jollypocalypse starts at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 at City Winery, 1350 Okie St. NE. citywinery.com. $30–$45. —Sarah Marloff

Just in time for the holidays, Color Palette is releasing its latest EP, Shooting Stars. The collection of songs—the result of a new collaboration for the local indie dream-pop band—offers an escape during a hectic time. In fact, as principal songwriter and vocalist Jay Nemeyer tells it, engineer Kyle Downes excels at giving music a “lush” and “otherworldly” quality. Those sounds shine throughout Shooting Stars, especially on “Porcelain” and “Clear Water Blue.” While these songs tackle complex topics like the fragility of life, they do so while whisking listeners away into a bright, happy place.

The album also marks a greater endeavor by Color Palette to collaborate. Nemeyer and other band members Joshua Hunter, Matt Hartenau, Rogerio Naressi, and Maryjo Mattea worked closely with Downes on the EP. They also collaborated with other musicians on Color Palette songs, including Abby Sevcik of Mystery Friends and Greenland’s Mike Tasevoli. The end result of Shooting Stars combines the traditional, beautifully mixed music of Color Palette with the added benefit of outside influence. As the band continues to evolve since its 2015 founding, Nemeyer says everyone remains “buds” first. That means not only is Shooting Stars a musical present for whoever listens, Color Palette’s upcoming show at Pie Shop will also surely make you feel good this winter. Color Palette’s show starts at 8 p.m. on Dec. 4 at Pie Shop, 1339 H St. NE. pieshopdc.com. $12. —Sarah Smith

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Van Ness Main Street Pop-Up After canceling last year’s event, the Van Ness Main Street Pop-Up Market returns to Connecticut Avenue for its sixth year with more than 30 local artisans, including All Very Goods, Wild Places Prints, and Viera Naturals. This year’s event will also feature a pop-up at Politics and Prose (5015 Connecticut Ave.), where attendees can peruse books and other holiday gifts in a tent outside the bookstore. Although no food vendors are participating—a conscious decision to avoid competition with local eateries—restaurants on the corridor will offer various specials and happy hours. This promotion of neighborhood businesses is a key part of Van Ness Main Street’s goals. “Our mission is to make Van Ness, Forest Hills, and Wakefield a walkable, livable, sustainable, and economically thriving community,” says Van Ness Main Street Executive Director Gloria Garcia. “We hope people come to Van Ness and see what a great neighborhood it is. I hope the businesses have an uptick in foot traffic, and that people know Van Ness for more than just a metro stop.” The holiday pop-up runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m on Dec. 11 at 4340 Connecticut Ave. NW and Rosemary Bistro Cafe, 5010 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free. —Hannah Docter-Loeb

City Lights

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library Josh Axelrod

City Lights

City Lights

setitoff.tv

Lex Marie’s Remember? Remember.

Don Miller’s 1986 mural was cleaned, restored, and brightened during the renovation After a decade, D.C. finally has a flagship library branch befitting its bookish residents. The $211 million Herculean undertaking to overhaul the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library is finished and the modernized space, complete with a rooftop reading terrace and even a children’s department slide, reopened to the public last year. Visitors interested in learning about the project, which began in 2011 and broke ground in 2017, can take an hour-long tour with a library docent twice a week. The tour takes you from the building’s brand-new fifth floor all the way down to its basement fabrication lab, where library cardholders can reserve 3D printers and laser cutters. Over the project’s years of planning and three and a half years of construction, library officials had to walk a narrow line, navigating three different regulatory agencies and the input of community members at more than 60 stakeholder meetings. The project had to maintain both the character of the building, designated a historic landmark in 2007, while breathing fresh new life into the Penn Quarter space. The result includes stunning new art from community creator Nekisha Durrett, juxtaposing the building’s namesake icon with a likeness of student protesters—the work flanks visitors as they enter the vestibule. The space also includes a José Andrés-sponsored workforce development cafe, a 290-seat auditorium, an open-air reading room, and a conference center, as well as go-go and punk music archives. The basement labs also feature a recording studio for burgeoning podcasters and a memory lab to digitize old home videos. Tours run Tuesdays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G St. NW. dclibrary.org. Free. —Josh Axelrod

City Lights

4615 Theatre Company’s Housewarming Theatre Festival

Local artist Lex Marie primarily works in oil paint on canvas. But for her first solo exhibit, Remember?

Remember., she uses a new medium: old school documents. Remember? Remember. consists of two installations and 15 paintings with collages of old report cards, certificates, and other childhood mementos. As Lex explains, this unique combination of materials has allowed her to explore her own childhood memories—the exhibit features various self-portraits of her as a child. But she also hopes it will inspire similar reactions in viewers, as evident in the exhibit’s title. “It’s called Remember?

Remember. because it’s asking people, or asking myself, or others asking me if I remember and making the statement that we should remember these things,” Lex Marie tells City Paper. The artist also hopes her latest work will inspire Black children to see themselves in her paintings, an opportunity she did not have growing up. “When I was a child, the exposure I got to the arts, especially in this area, was going to the Smithsonian and seeing art of people who don’t look like me,” explains Lex. “It was after college that I was exposed to Black artists who were successful for doing what they love and staying true to the art they have on their hearts. I want kids to see themselves on this wall.

This exhibition, in particular, touches a lot on education and I wanted to make school cool again.”

Remember? Remember. is split between two locations: Arena Social Arts Club, 507 8th St. SE, and Thaddeus Stevens School, 1050 21st St. NW, and will be up through Jan. 2, 2022. Free. —Hannah Docter-Loeb

“We want the audience to experience being welcomed back to live theater,” says producing stage manager Aria Velz, when describing 4615 Theatre Company’s Housewarming Theatre Festival, which takes over Bethesda’s Writer’s Center for two weekends this month. In its multi-room format—the fest will take place in the Center’s Black Box theater, a conference room dubbed “the Annex,” and a marketplace for vendors and live music—the Housewarming Festival echoes 4615’s origins in the house where artistic director Jordan Friend grew up and where, while on break from school, he produced a site-specific processional show that roamed from room to room in 2013.

Designer Jennifer Hiyama says the plays are “quite different from one another.” Tasked with creating a scenic design for the entire festival, Hiyama sees her role as creating “the opportunity for the variety of directors to have freedom. I am a firm believer in playing in the space and making discoveries!” The festival includes Caridad Svich’s Blue (directed by Friend), in which a marathon swimmer’s stream-of-consciousness monologue assesses a recent health scare, age, and a lifetime of unconventional choices, which provoke as much anxiety as a jellyfish’s venomous tentacles; Britt A. Willis’ two-hander, Paper Backs, about the relationship between a writer and a painter imagining many possible lives together and apart; Amanda Zeitler’s Neverlanding, a retelling of Peter Pan from the perspective of a discharged Air Force pilot who’s traumatized by his sister Wendy’s mental illness and the loss of his wingman and lover during a tour of Afghanistan; and Patrick Flynn’s No, But, in which an improv comedy troupe implodes during a gig at a corporate retreat. Theatrical parlor games, devised by Charlotte La Nasa, will move between the two performance spaces. A digital segment of the festival will feature a streaming presentation of Saviana Stanescu’s Alien With Extraordinary Skills, and Gregory Keng Strasser and Sara Eskandari’s solar-punk noir video game Dark City, which 4615 presented earlier this year during their alldigital season. The Housewarming Theatre Festival runs December 4-5 and 11-12 at the Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethesda. 4615theatre.com. $20. Masks, vaccinations required. —Ian Thal WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM DECEMBER 3, 2021 29

DIVERSIONS SAVAGE LOVE

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My husband (42-year-old straight male) and I (38-year-old bi female) have had a closed relationship so far, but we have an active fantasy life.

We’ve been together for about four years, and we both had our fair share of partners (casual and serious) before that. We like to talk about fantasies involving other people during sex, be they actual (past partners) or imagined (my beautiful surfing instructor on a trip). Once while he ate my pussy, I asked him about all the pussies he’s enjoyed in the past and he brought up one of his exes—a relationship that ended 10 years before we met—and he said he sometimes thought about her when he went down on and/or fucked subsequent partners, including me. This turned me on. A lot. I started bringing her up every now and then while we fucked, I asked him more about her, and I fantasized about meeting her and eating the pussy he enjoyed so much. Like other past partners, she became part of the mental/verbal porn reel we sometimes enjoy during sex.

Then one day, in an unrelated conversation, it came out that he had been engaged to her, that the reason they broke up was because they couldn’t make a long-distance relationship work after he moved to the country where we live, and that it took him years to get over her. This killed it for me.

Not only that, but I also now feel weird about all of the times we fantasized about her in the past. It’s not like he did anything wrong—I never specifically asked how serious the relationship was or why it ended—but I can’t shake the irrational feeling there was an omission. I sometimes think about past experiences during masturbation or sex, but never about serious partners—never about men I’ve lived with, been married to, or had a child with. Those experiences are too emotionally loaded to mix in with my current sex life in a healthy, detached way.

I know my husband may process/feel things differently, but I can’t help but equate what he was doing to me fantasizing about my ex-husband during sex, which I haven’t done and would feel weird as fuck even contemplating. I don’t see her as a threat— they’re not in touch and she lives in another hemisphere—and I believe him when he says he has no significant baggage about any of his exes, including her. But knowing she was one of the most significant relationships in his life makes fantasizing about her—out loud, with me—feel “off.” I don’t just have this feeling just about her now, but about his past overall. How do I shake this? Thoughts?

—Turned On Turns Into Turnoff If thinking and talking about your husband’s past doesn’t turn you on anymore, TOTIT, stop thinking and talking about your husband’s past. But if you want to get back to enjoying these fantasies with your husband—dirty talk about your previous sex partners—you’re going to need to reason with yourself.

Let’s give it a whirl …

So, your husband was engaged to this woman and presumably lived with her for a time, but your husband’s relationship with this woman nevertheless meets just one of your three somewhat arbitrary criteria for “pussy it’s not okay to think about during sex with a current partner.” Yes, it was a serious relationship, but they never married or had kids. And if they had wanted to be together, they would have found a way to make it work

30 DECEMBER 3, 2021 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM

despite the distance. If she had wanted to be with your husband more than she wanted to remain where she was living when they broke it off, she could have married him and emigrated. Likewise, if your husband had wanted to be with this woman more than he wanted to remain where he was living when they broke it off, he could have married her and emigrated.

Neither made that choice, TOTIT, and I’m guessing that’s because it wasn’t as serious as the “engaged” thing makes it sound. Yeah, yeah: Someone proposed (most likely your husband), someone said yes (most likely his

I’m supposed to tell you not to sleep with co-workers—it’s right here in my dog-eared copy of the Writing Advice Columns for Dummies—but I’m going to set that aside, seeing as that ship has already sailed, struck an iceberg, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean. ex). But words are cheap and “engaged” is just a word. It’s a promise and a serious one, TOTIT, but in the end it’s just air.

And now, since I’m feeling daring, I’m going to risk doing some math …

You say you’ve been with your 42-year-old husband for four years. His relationship with his former fiancée ended 10 years before you two met. So, that means your husband was at most 28 years old when he broke off his engagement with his ex and, assuming they had been dating for a few years, he was what? In his mid20s when they met? That means his prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain involved in executive functions like decision making, long-term planning, and higher reasoning, wasn’t even fully formed when he proposed to this woman.

So, you have a choice. You can attach a lot of significance to the fact that they were engaged

or you can look at the other facts in evidence— that they both chose the place where they lived over the relationship, how old they were at the time they got engaged—and see the relationship as far less significant than the “engaged” label makes it sound.

All that said, if hearing about the pussies in your husband’s past isn’t doing anything for your pussy right now, tell your husband you don’t want to hear about them for the moment.

If you miss dirty talk during sex, instead of talking about hot sex you’ve both had in the past, TOTIT, try talking about all the hot sex you’re going to have in the future.

—Dan Savage For the past few months, I’ve been hooking up a lot with my co-worker (I’m a bi woman, he’s a straight man). Things are going well, we really like each other (we’ve even said “I love you” to each other), but there are a couple of problems. First, I’m 23 and he’s 40. The age difference doesn’t really bother me if I don’t think about it too much, but it matters to a lot of my loved ones. Second, I’m not looking for a serious relationship, as I haven’t been single in a while and am kind of going through my “ho phase,” but it seems like he wants to be exclusive.

I’ve tried to break things off or slow things down, but he’s going through horrible shit right now and needs me. I have improved his life, and he has improved my mental state, but he’s also kind of a bad influence and has gotten me back into bad habits. To make matters worse, the new guy at our work seems to be into me and he’s cute and way closer to my age, and we get along really well, so I might want to give that a shot. I don’t know whether to end things, or even how to end it if I wanted to. Any advice on how to get out of this gracefully?

—Pretty Horrible At Something Easy When you say you want to get out of this “gracefully,” what you mean is you want the impossible from me. You want me to tell you how to end this relationship so subtly that the guy you dumped doesn’t even notice or get upset. Sorry, PHASE, but there’s no way to end things with the co-worker you’re currently fucking so you can start fucking the co-worker you would rather be fucking without the co-worker you’re currently fucking finding out you dumped him so you could start fucking a different co-worker. If it was just your family that objected to the relationship because of the age difference, I would urge you to stay in it. But you want out, and the relationship isn’t healthy. (You don’t mention the bad habits he’s gotten you back into, PHASE, but I’m going to assume it’s not double parking and public grooming.) You can’t stay just because he needs you. —DS P.S. I’m supposed to tell you not to sleep with co-workers—it’s right here in my dogeared copy of the Writing Advice Columns for Dummies—but I’m going to set that aside, seeing as that ship has already sailed, struck an iceberg, and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

Email your Savage Love questions to questions@savagelove.org.

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REMEMBERING JAMES James Earl Jones, passed away from Cronovirius on May 16, 2020 in Washington DC at the young age of 83. He was survived at this time by his daughter Brenda Marie Jones and Janice Morgan.

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Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 solicits proposals for vendors to provide the following services for SY21.22: * HR Support Services * Bilingual Instructional Coaching and Consulting Support Services * Staff PD - Operations Proposal Submission A Portable Document Format (pdf ) election version of your proposal must be received by the school no later than 4:00 p.m. EST on December 14, 2021. Proposals and full RFP request should be emailed to bids@dcbilingual.org No phone call submission or late responses please.

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