Busboys & Poets

On September 7, 2005, Busboys and Poets at the corner of 14^th and V Streets, NW, Washington, DC officiallyopened its doors to the general public! Believe it or not, Busboys and Poets has only been here for a little over 1,800 days. Then and now we are humbled and honored by the reception we receive from our supporters, patrons and friends.  

We sponsored a trip to West Africa. We joined with community members and celebrated the election (and inauguration) of the first African American President of these United States. We hosted dignitaries and freedom fighters such as Howard Zinn, Alice Walker, Amy Goodman and Cornell West (to name a few). We started Busboys and Poets Press – to publish works by important authors. We hosted literary giants like George Pelecanos, Marita Golden, Ethelbert Miller, Naomi Klein, and Octavia Butler. We became the sponsoring organization for the DC Slam Poetry team. We hosted poetic giants including: Dennis Brutus, Nikki Giovanni, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez and Martin Espada. We got V Street in North West Washington, re-named to LANGSTON HUGHES WAY. we have demonstrated a commitment to green initiatives including food sourcing using only fair trade coffees and teas, we converted our spaces to use 100% wind energy, we are rapidly moving to match our food sourcing with our values and have recently created a partnership with grayson farms–using free-range, all natural, hormone/antibiotic free beef.

We couldn’t have done any of these things without an amazing staff (hosts, servers, cooks, dishwashers, office staff, managers and YES…busboys) and the many people that grace us every day with their continued presence and support.

In the short five, we have added 2 new Busboys and Poets locations to the family (Shirlington Village in 2007 and 5^th & K, NW in 2008). As we continue to expand we don’t  ever want to forget our core values and our neighborhood focus.  Therefore, we continue to work hard to ensure that all locations are welcoming and stay true to our commitment to social justice and peace – while serving good food at affordable prices.

With your help, our plans for the next five include new, exciting adventures and continued expansion (a Busboys and Poets in Hyattsville, MD is currently under construction, and we are excited about possible opportunities in Harlem).

To show our appreciation for your support and patronage we have planned a week of (mostly) free events.  Please come celebrate with us at any Busboys and Poets location between September 5^th and 12^th…

We couldn’t have done it without you. Thanks!

This weekend, on the 47th anniversary of the March on Washington, the right wing talk show host Glenn Beck will lead a rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Right! The same place where Rev. Martin Luther King delivered his landmark “I Have a Dream” speech. Beck says the purpose of the rally is to celebrate “upstanding citizens who embody our nation’s founding principles of integrity, truth and honor,” and “to take back America.” Many may recognize this rhetoric as the familiar right wing crap that America is only for a select few whites and everyone else should just get out. AlterNet writer Devona Walker called Beck’s decision to co-opt King symbolism the Fox News host’s “most vindictive and spiteful move yet.”

Let’s meet Beck on Saturday and stand strong against this right wing affront to King’s memory.

See the article below for more information about Beck’s anti-march.

A Dishonor to the Legacy of Dr. King

By Dedrick Muhammad, Research Associate for the Institute for Policy Studies

This year’s anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington promises to be one of the more memorable in quite some time. The 47th anniversary of an event is usually not one organizers focus on for a big commemoration but in a few weeks thousands will be in the streets this August 28th commemorating the March on Washington and others will be advancing their own social agenda and publications.

Glenn Beck has called for a national rally on the anniversary of the March on Washington at the exact same location as the historic protest — the Lincoln memorial. The theme of Beck’s rally is “Restoring Honor.” According to Beck’s website this” celebration of America” is supposed to be non-political but has as its primary guest speaker Sarah Palin and has recently been endorsed by the National Rifle Association. From what I can gather America can restore its honor by strengthening individual virtue, come to Washington DC to listen to Beck and Palin, and pick up a copy of Beck’s new book The Plan which is to be launched at this honorable event.

(to read the entire article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dedrick-muhammad/a-dishonor-to-the-legacy_b_692208.html?ref=fb&src=sp#sb=831355,b=facebook )

The furor over the building of a community center in Lower Manhattan has been leading news reports for the past week. Never mind that the proposed building is not a Mosque… it’s an Islamic cultural center which, although it would include a mosque for prayer, it would be 15 stories tall with a swimming pool, an auditorium and other amenities.  The center would be more like a YMCA than a traditional house of worship.  Also never mind that the proposed building is 2 blocks away and around the corner from the site of the world trade center bombings.

One has to wonder if framing this construction project as: “the Mosque at Ground Zero” is only meant to inflame passions and generate anti-Muslim sentiment– To well up hatred and prejudice against innocent American citizens because they happen to be followers of Islam.

While President Barak Obama has supported the Muslim community’s right to build the center as a matter of religious freedom, every major potential 2012 GOP White House contender has expressed strong opposition to the project. A prominent GOP pollster has said “It’s a political plus for Republicans if they frame it as an issue with security implications. “This will be one more point in a long litany of points about how the president and the Democratic leadership are out of step with the thinking of most Americans.”

It is clear that Republicans – and some Democrats have made the political calculation that beating up on Islam and Muslims is a winning issue for them in the upcoming elections. All major, mainstream media outlets are now conducting polls and using their so-called results to justify their reports that “the majority of the American people are against building the center.”

Join Busboys and Poets owner Andy Shallal in conversation with Prof. Akbar Ahmed for a discussion about Ahmed’s new book: Journey Into America– The Challenge of Islam. The book is said to be the most comprehensive study ever done on the American Muslim community. Hear from an expert on the Muslim experience in the U.S. and what he has to say about the current debate surrounding the cultural center. (Thursday, 8/19,2010, 14^th Street, 6:00 PM, Langston Room)