Recent Visit to Washington D.C.
Read MoreTravel - Washington D.C.
June 23, two days after my sister Phoebe birthday. We were suppose to be on a plane heading to Las Vegas for a day trip. As there was a blunder with the tickets, the trip was a bust. Fast forward June 26, now we are up early finally going on our day trip. It's not to Las Vegas though, we were flying to Washington D.C. for some cultural learning.
So we arrived at Reagan International airport, like always I searched ahead for transportation and the railway was the best way around.
Smile
Heading to National Mall
Department of Agriculture
When we arrived at the National Mall, the first thing we needed was food!! We asked and was directed to the agriculture federal building to the USDA cafeteria. We had just missed breakfast so we had to wait til lunch was ready. After lunch we were ready for our adventure around the National Mall. While there we are on a time limit on what to see and how long to spend at each museum. Our first stop was the Smithsonian Castle and S Dillion Ripley Center (even thought she got it confused with the Ripley Believe it or not museum).
While making our way thru the Ripley Center we enter the National Museum of African Art, and seen a lot of great conversational pieces from a mask and jewelry to a vision art called "Invocations" by Jim Chuchu.
After getting lost a little then finally coming back to the exit we started to head to the Air and Space Museum but was quickly deterred because of the long line to enter the build. So we began to head towards the National Gallery of Art and Museum of Natural History for some bones. While in the gallery of art I was able to study the lighting of Rembrandt a lot better than copies on the internet. Over at the Natural Museum we looked at the history of mankind, animals and a few dinosaurs, as the dinosaur exhibit was still under construction.
After all the walk we have been doing, we had a few more sites to visit, we made the decision to take the bus to the last stops. The last few sites was the MLK Memorial, WWII Memorial, Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial.
As this trip was a fun one I was ready to make a return trip with family and friends. Only down side was that the African American Museum is sold out until October 2017. I highly recommend this for it's educational value that you will receive.
Mahogany @ the Museum V
A few weeks ago I attended my first poetry event that took place in Midtown Detroit at the Charles H. Wright Museum. The event was brought about by Joel Fluent Greene, who wanted to keep the feel of the Mahogany Cafe where many poets and performers showcased their talents.
I found out about this event through a Phillly that I've been following for years. She is part of Idle Warship with Talib Kweli, she goes by the name Res. From the her twitter account, I discover she was coming to Detroit to perform.
As the shoe started a little late, Joel Fluent Greene (Fluent) did a great job a host as well as perform some of his poetry from the book that he was selling. Along with his poetry, he did few freestyle raps with some of the other performers that was there as well.
The first to perform was saxophoist Mike Monford. Instead of having his sons perform, he performed with students from a Detroit school of Performing Arts. The students ranged from 10th to 12th grade. The instruments they played were the saxophone, drums. keyboard, and guitar. They all did a wonder job and played well in front of the crowd.
Next up was Thomas Williams, who was very soulful and deliverant in the words he spoke to uplift those around him. He had a very soulful voice to to match as well. Thomas said he was nervous, but you can never tell that he was.
Something that was different for me was when African percussionist Sowande A. Keita. What he did was a little different he involved the audience to pronounce certain Afican words that went along with names of the drums he was playing. He was telling everyone that the drums worked in conjuction with each other.
Fresh of the Steve Harvey show, we had Dr. Eddie M. Conner Jr. He was telling us his life story of how he over came adversity of being diagnosed with a deadly disease before the age of 20. Along with his life story, he spoke with audience about overcoming life problems and how to accept love amongst other things. Before he finished he gave a quick poem from his new book that is for that ladies to help them to mend a broken heart.
Next to the stage was LaShaun Phoenix Moore. She blessed us wih the way she aritistly delivers the poems she writes as so much emotion is delivered from the words she speaks. Also, one of her poems was dedicated to her and Fluent's close friend and poet, as well, who recently had passed some time before the event. In the poem you can how much she will be missed by those in the poetry community.
My mistake on the order. The act before Phoenix was singer/guitarist Kenny Watson. From the way he performed you can easily tell he was a soulful brother. A lot of his songs were for the ladies but they were songs that the brothers can sing to their ladies to tell them how much they love their ladies. An impromptu act was with Sowande made such a masterpiece. Being able to do something together without any rehersal takes true talent.
Last but not least is the beautiful songstress Res, who was the show closer. She performed some of her greatest hits that her fans will recongize. Songs such as Ice King had the crowd moving and singing along with her word for word. After giving a great show, she stayed longer to meet with fans, sign autographs, take pictures, and sale merch for those looking to buy something. For that reason, I became a bigger fan of Res. Also, Dr. Eddie Conner was selling his new book for people there, as well as Fluent whose book was filled with poems that he wrote and had published.