Big thanks to Alex Priest (@alexpriest) for letting us cross-post his writeup on #chispadc, an event organized  by Potomac Group, LLC and Spark Creativity.

From the Chispa DC web site:

Chispa is an opportunity for cultural creatives to connect with each other and share what they love both in and outside of their own circles – theater, organization development, community organizing, etc.

Here is Alex’s  write up on Chispa’s first event:

Chispa is the spanish word for “spark” and rest assured, there was nothing but sparks flying at the Fridge in DC tonight. The Fridge is a bar/art gallery/event space in D.C. and by far one of the coolest that I’ve seen since I’ve lived here.

Passion poured out in the form of ten completely different presentations, all united around a single purpose: to share what they’re thinking, dreaming and doing. This was Chispa D.C.

At first, I was on the fence about attending. I’ve got lots of schoolwork, I’m clearly behind on my blogging, I’ve got enough reading to do to keep me engrossed for 48 hours straight… but this was well worth it. Never again will I question going to an event in D.C. like this–these don’t happen every day, and each one is another chance to learn and to grow. Check below the cut for a quick summary and some of the photos I shot tonight.

The event kicked off with Jared Ball, presenting his views on “mixtape radio, emancipatory journalism and anti-colonial media.” Was it a bit radical? Of course–he argued that capitalism is equal to commoditization, and that we’re witnessing neoslavery in the prison system of the United States. My views certainly differ from his in many ways, but it’s always fascinating to hear different viewpoints, no matter how “radical” they may seem to some.

The first half of the event was mostly speaking presentations. But boy were they good.

Regina Holliday was fired up as always!

We heard from Kristy Li Puma Herrera about her fascinating life bouncing back and forth between living in the U.S. and visiting her family back in Lima, Peru. ”Packing a suitcase is like an act of subversion,” she said, saying that really, the different parts of the world aren’t as backwards, as different, or as far apart as they may seem.

Adam Eig showed us some absolutely incredible photographs of his cross-country motorcycle trip and spoke about the lessons he learned along the way.

“Sometimes you have to drive on the wrong side of the road… to get a good shot,” he said.

“This is a journey you can have walking down the street.”

“There’s a lot of reasons to smile,” said Adam, as we go about the world we live in.

All incredibly valuable lessons. Most importantly though, he wrapped up with some of the best advice I think I’ve ever heard: “Live, smile, enjoy, appreciate.” Love it.

Loryn Wilson told us about why “black girls rule the Twitter world.” Charlie Seashore gave us an awesome presentation relating the challenge of diversity to a wide variety of chickens. “Being adult is hard work,” he said, “It involves speaking out and pushing back.” We should look at being adult as a moment in time, not a stage of life. You can choose to “act like an adult” or let our your childish side–that’s ok too.

The second half of the event kicked off with a bang after a quick intermission. Tiik with G.U.T.S., a local indie band, kicked off the fun with three of their songs. Binahkaye Joy followed them up with a lesson in “booty” that ended up with the entire room on their feet, dancing around and shaking their booties. “A liberated booty is a liberated being,” was her mantra.

“The Holy Grail Gone Wild” was Zaccai Free’s wild presentation that, I’m pretty sure, just about blew everyone’s mind. Relating sex and religion in some no doubt controversial ways, it was fascinating to watch and certainly an attention-getter. The HollabackDC crew gave an awesome presentation with the brilliant Regina Holliday and Josef Palermo of CHarts, the Columbia Heights Arts Foundation.

And finally, the event wrapped up with a great presentation by the Potomac Group, LLC, about “The Dream and the Drama”–power, conflict and structure within social justice organizations, possibly the more incredibly relevant and important topic of the night for all us activists in the room.

For more info on the presenters tonight, check out their bios on the ChispaDC blog.

I could literally talk for hours about how much fun the event was, how great it was to see friends, meet new people, and hear new and fascinating ideas. But I’ll stop here and instead ask you: why weren’t you there? Follow me on Twitter and rest assured I’ll let you know when the next ChispaDC is coming up. I dare you, come out and see what all the fuss is about–it was well worth it.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out my photos from the event on Flickr here, or just by scrolling through the slideshow below.

Tagged: art, Causes, CHarts, chispa, chispadc, DC, dcevents, hollabackdc, presentations, reginaholliday, socialjustice, thefridge

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To see what others are saying about Chispa DC, check out the #chispadc hashtag!

Congrats & thanks to Ann & Jess for putting on a fantastic & inspiring event!

It was great, as always, to see several sojuca campers!  Were you there? Tell us about your Chispa experience — comment here, on Alex’s blog, on the Chispa blog, or all three!

Two presentations last night were given by sojuca campers. Be sure & check out Loryn Wilson’s blog. Regina Holliday & Holla Back DC talked about meeting at Social Justice Camp & joining forces.

Thanks Alex! You always provide great recaps!

Follow Aaron (@ninjaclectic) and Jason (@jsnsndr) on Twitter…

Hi everyone,

After speaking with many of you individually about Hub DC, we’re excited to invite you all to the first Hub DC community meeting this Sunday!

What is Hub DC?
Hub DC will be a space for people who want to change our world for the better. It will provide a platform for social innovators to meet, collaborate, and scale their ideas for maximum impact, whether they’re working on green energy initiatives, healthcare systems in developing countries or anywhere in between. Hub DC will do this by serving as a co-working space and social business incubator, by hosting events, and by facilitating collaborations between people and organizations. While many member projects will have a national or international focus, Hub DC as an organization will remain committed to channeling that creativity towards addressing the most serious problems affecting DC residents and communities.

Who is Hub DC?
Hub DC is a part of the global Hub network, a web of 24 spaces (with 60 more in development!) that all share a mission of social justice, grassroots innovation and collaboration. As a member of a Hub, you’re connected to a community that extends from Toronto to Johannesburg.

Community Meeting
The central concept behind Hub DC is that it’s driven by the community – it provides the resources that members need to have their greatest impact. Because of this, we want to reach out to each of you to join us in the co-creation of Hub DC.

At the first community meeting, it’s our chance to think big … how can Hub DC incubate social innovation, strengthen the local economy, and unify segmented groups? How can we build a culture and a momentum that encourages others to join? What do we want the space to look like?

Sunday, March 14th
3:30pm – 5:00pm
St. Stephen’s Church Dining Room
1525 Newton St. NW

Please RSVP by Friday by sending me an email: alex.denny@the-hub.net. Also, please feel free to invite anyone else who you think would be interested in co-creating Hub DC.

See you Sunday!

-Alex and Allison
@HubDC
http://hubdc.wordpress.com/

You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benmerrion1

Whoops.

We had to be out of the library at 2pm and I realized at the last minute that leaving the GW campus at 12:45 as stated on the schedule wasn’t going to work.  There was no way we could start serving about 100 people at 1pm and be out by that time.

Except we did.

And I really wanted to thank everyone at the camp, but things were a little nuts, so I didn’t get a chance to. But I wanted to thank you now.

How Social Justice Campers Were Awesome:

1) When I told people about our time constraints with the library,  campers embraced the idea of altering the schedule to include a lunch session.

2) When I realized that we would need people to help navigate campers through the maze that is West End, we had 6 people step up.

3) And not only did we have 2 servers come forward, but when  I stepped away from serving to keep the flow going, another person took my place.

4) When I did direct traffic – forming lines around the meat, no meat and vegan portions, people were cool with me pulling them to the right line. (At least they didn’t complain :))

5) People stepped up to unfold chairs and get more when we needed them.

Because of this, everyone had food by 1pm!

6) People were cool with only having 30 minutes to be in their session instead of the alloted 45.

7) Everyone started to leave at 1:30.

8) Many people helped out with folding up the chairs and putting them back as well as clean-up.

Because of this, we were out of the library by 1:45!

So, you all rock! We did the impossible. It just shows how much we can do when we do it together. That’s what this is all about!

Peace,

Ben (@benmerrion1)
Social Justice Camp DC Organizer

I just heard of them while reading “Legal graffiti artists create murals around Washington, D.C. as past of MuralsDC” (very interesting WAPO story) and they sound great.

Here is a video from Ablus Cavus’ youtube channel featuring “14-year-old Dana Lopez who helped paint the new Sherman Avenue mural“:

Albus Cavus: Youtube Channel – Classroom Project

For more information:

Shared Hope International

Shared Hope International’s prevention programs examine the conditions that allow women and children to be bought and sold and document the marketplaces of victimization around the world. We work to enhance awareness of modern day sexual slavery and we build international alliances to combat sex trafficking.

Courtney’s House

Courtney’s House is committed to providing a safe space and loving home environment – in a therapeutic and emotionally healing atmosphere – for domestic sex trafficked girls between the ages of 12 and 17 years. Courtney’s House is dedicated to the mission of ending domestic sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of all children. We focus our efforts on providing long-term group home and providing direct services.

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If you’re not familiar with Tina Frundt’s story or sex trafficking issues in the DC area, definitely check out these links:

Working to Shed Light on Very Dark Practices (WAPO, 10/8/09)

Ex-prostitute fights sex trafficking in D.C. (Washington Times, 7/15/09)

X RATED: DC’s Underground Sex Industry (Washingtonian, 11/5/05)

Wanted to make sure folks got a chance to watch Obama’s MLK speech from Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in DC.

Dug this MLK quote that Obama referenced A TON:

“We know that there is a great camp meeting in the promised land of freedom and justice.” -MLK

Excerpted from Vermont Avenue Baptist Church’s history page:

In 1866, seven freedmen gathered for the purpose of forming a church. Receiving the necessary certification from the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, these former slaves set themselves apart and formed the Fifth Baptist Church of Washington, DC. They called as their pastor the Reverend John Henry Brooks, a former Union army wagon driver.

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For MLK Day, the Obama’s were at @SOME_DC. SOME’s flickr photostream has some pics.