Intellectual Cafe

In the neighborhood where Mark and I are staying is a place called Busboys and Poets. It seemed to be the cradle for African-American intellectualism. The cafe has open mike nights, poetry readings, etc. What strikes you about the place is its diversity and inclusiveness on the same relative block as the center of the 1968 riots. We are told that this where the neighborhood Obama team met during the campaign. Here are photos inside and shot of an interesting portrait composed of newspaper articles about Obama.

1968 Riots

Today our hosts we took a walk to a restaurant called Annie's. Along the way, we walked through the area where the 1968 riots occurred in Washington, D.C. The Washington, D.C. riots of April 4–8, 1968 erupted with the April 4, 1968 assassination of Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

You can learn more here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Washington,_D.C._riots

To show how times have changed, Ed and John told us joyous residents flooded the streets for peaceful celebrations when Obama was declared the winner on election night.



Here's video and a photo of Mark and me outside the Marion Barry Center on the corner.