Exploring Ethiopian Culture on U Street

"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph." Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia

Alright, another Metro Journey underway. So when I first got off of the metro at 9:03 I saw no one and thought, "OH NO THERE'RE GONNA BE LATE AGAIN." So I went in Starbucks and got some hot chocolate because it was 35 degrees outside... 5 minutes later I ran into Jocelyn, Eliza, and Nadia and we ended up waiting for every one else. Next came Ananda who had the wonderful notes about Ethiopian culture so we could go on with our Metro Journey. Next came Gyasi and Kai. So we all waited another 5 minutes and Leslie showed up.  So began our historic journey down the famous U Street in Washington, D.C., home to the largest group of Ethiopians outside of Africa.  According to the Ethiopian Embassy, more than 200, 000 Ethiopians reside in DC.  Ethiopia is unique because it has the proud distinction of being the only African country that was never colonized.  Hailie Selassie I was the last Emperior and the most famous leader of Ethiopia.  He also inspired the Rastafarian Movement in Jamaica.  According to www.religion.com, "followers of the Rastafari movement are known as Rastafarians, Rastafaris, Rastas, or Ras Tafarians. The movement is named for Ras Tafari Makonnen, who was crowned Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia in 1930." To many Rastas, he is God of the Black race.

   

 

Even though our focus was Ethiopia, we had to stop for a group photo at historic Ben's Chili Bowl.  I didn't want to eat chili fries at 10 am in the morning, but I took one for the team. When we realized that everyone couldn't eat beef, such as myself and Ananda, we decided to try a veggie chili.  It was not that great, but we ate it.  My dad has been coming to Ben's Chili Bowl since I was a baby.  So I knew basically everyone there.  A nice waitress gave us bacon and eggs, which I did not know was pork until it was in my stomach.  Uh, oh!


But Ben's Chili Bowl is more than just a place to eat.  It's a part of DC history.  You can tell from the pictures of famous people that line the walls.  The history of Ben's Chili Bowl is so important that a book was written about it.  Here's an excerpt:

"It was the summer of 1958. Eisenhower was president. Federal troops were ordered into Little Rock, Arkansas to aid in the integration of public schools. Explorer I was launched, as was NASA. The first-ever Grammy Awards were given, and Ella Fitzgerald won two of them.  That same year, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. published his first book, Stride Toward Freedom. Griffith Stadium was home to the Washington Senators, and 30% of D.C.'s black population owned homes. Nelson Mandela wed Winnie. And, in 1958, newlyweds Ben and Virginia Ali gave birth to a new enterprise.  Despite a national business failure rate of 55.9%, the Ali’s used $5,000 to begin renovating the building at 1213 U Street. It had high-arched ceilings, character, and plenty of history. Built in 1910, it first housed a silent movie theater called the Minnehaha Theater. Later, Harry Beckley, one of D.C.’s first Black police detectives, converted it into a pool hall.

On Aug. 22, 1958, Ben’s Chili Bowl opened for business.  It was an exciting time on the U Street corridor, which was then known as "Black Broadway." Top performers could be found playing sets in clubs along the corridor, as well as eating and just hanging out at Ben’s. It was not uncommon to see such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Martin  Luther King Jr., Donny Hathaway, Roy Ayers or Bill Cosby at "The Bowl.”  In 1968, the assassination of Dr. King lit a fuse of rage. Riots ensued. Most of the city closed down. Ben’s remained open.  Stokely Carmichael of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which was located across the street, obtained special police permission to allow Ben’s to stay open after curfew to provide food and shelter for activists, firefighters and public servants desperately trying to restore order."  To read more, click here.

Next stop, one of the most famous Ethiopian restaurants in DC - Dukem.  Dukem Restaurant is owned by brothers Tefera and Getachew Zewdie.  Dukem (pronounced DUK-em) is named after a small city found south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital.

This is a sit down Ethiopian restaurant. The food was...interesting. I'm a very picky eater, so I just got a basic chicken wrap. Even that was much spicier than I could handle.

As a part of our Metro Journey, we had to interview people from Ethiopia. At Dukem, we interviewed out first Ethiopian, Zizi, our waitress. These were the answers to the questions we asked her:

• She has been living in the US for 4 years. It took her about 5 years to gain citizenship.
• She is an orthodox Christian, always has been. (as are most Ethiopians).
• It is both parents' responsibility to care for the children (as it used to be the woman's).
• The discipline for the son is the same for the daughter.
• She does wear the traditional Gabbi and Netella (type of material) same as church clothes.
• She still celebrates the making of coffee regularly (roasting the beans herself, grinding them, enjoying with family).
• While Eritrea and Ethiopia used to be the same in some ways, the countries are very different now. The food, clothing, languages, are different. You used to be born into what career you would do. Now you can choose your life path.
• She told us about Haili Selassie, the first Ethiopian President/King. Everyone loved him because it was a peaceful time when he ruled. He protected the country, along with the culture. He was mourned when he passed. People still sing about him today.

She didn't want to take a picture with us, but she was very nice and was patient with all our questions and answered them in depth.

Also, as a part of our journey we had to visit another famous U Street destination - Bus Boys and Poet's Book store. But first we had to perform. So we performed for an hour.... everybody was doing something but me. So I improvised.  Since we were not getting any money, I started going up to people telling them about the class and what we were doing and that we were a group of homeschoolers, not bums asking for money.  It worked! We made about $13, just enough to buy coffee.

According to the Busboys and Poet's website, the bookstore is a community place where "racial and cultural connections are consciously uplifted...a place to take a deliberate pause and feed your mind, body and soul...a space for art, culture and politics to intentionally collide."

The founder of  Bus Boys and poets is an Iraqi-American who is now running for Mayor.  His name is Anas "Andy" Shallal and he believes in social justice.  He wants Bus Boys and Poets to be a gathering place for artists, activists, writers, thinkers and dreamers.  He named the bookstore and restaurant after the famous American poet Langston Hughes, who worked as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel in the 1920s.

Inside of the flagship location on 14th Street is painted the giant civil rights movement-themed mural covering one wall of the restauarant, titled Peace in Struggle Wall. Civil Rights icons, such as  Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela are depicted on the mural. It features the words of Langston Hughes, "Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be."

 So now our last stop. Since we did not find the coffee shop we were supposed to visit (it doesn't exist anymore and has been transformed into a house), we found Ethiopian coffee elsewhere. I never liked coffee in the first place, but I tried this coffee. It was VERY STRONG! I couldn't drink more than one sip.  I passed it up, but it still was worth it.


Great job Mrs Anna for another great Metro Journey, keep them coming!!!!!!

Exploring Black Georgetown

It's 7:50 a.m. and I hear my mother banging on my bedroom door saying, "I SLEPT TOO LATE! GET UP!"  In a matter of 10 minutes my mom made breakfast and Amir and I had to get up and get dressed. By the time we got ready, it was 8:00 a.m and my mother was still yelling at us saying things like, "I am tired of you ALWAYS BEING LATE! TAKE SOME INITIATIVE AND SET AN ALARM!" while we were walking out the door eating breakfast. Since I live down the street from a metro, WE SPRINTED TO THE STATION because the train was going to leave in one minute and the next train was not coming for another 12 minutes. So finally we got on the metro headed to Foggy Bottom. Ananda had been there since 7:30 because she didn't want to be late. After waiting for 15 minutes Gyasi and Kai showed up. We thought Eliza, Jocelyn and Nadia was going to be with them. Turns out they're not. So we waited another 15 minutes and Lesley shows up. So we call Eliza, Jocelyn and Nadia to see where they are; they said that they were going to be there in 15 minutes. By this time it's 9:15. So we Wait....Wait...Wait.... Listen to music...... Wait ...... Look Around.... Wait....  So as group we decided to leave and start the Metro Journey (MJ) without them because Jocelyn said in the Google Hangout the day before the MJ that "If you're late, we will leave you."

So That Is How My First MJ STARTED....

Now we took a little trip to Saint John's Church where we were supposed to meet the rest of our group,  but they took a little walk to Dean and Deluca. But back to what we were talking about.  This photo is from the wrong church.  We were supposed to get a photo of MT. ZION UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, located at 1334 29TH STREET, NW in Washington, DC. It is considered the oldest black congregation in the District of Columbia. Dissatisfied with their segregation status in the Dumbarton Avenue United Methodist Church, blacks organized this church in 1816. This church established one of the earliest schools for black children and was an active stop on the Underground Railroad. Fleeing slaves were hidden in the nearby Mt. Zion Cemetery. The present site of the church was purchased in 1875. The construction of the building was performed by black workers and church members. The house around the corner was purchased in 1920 by the church and used for meetings and for the city’s first black library. It was restored in 1982 by the church, and is the last standing English-style brick cottage in the district. Also, the FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF GEORGETOWN, located at 27TH AND DUMBARTON AVENUE, NW was founded by a former slave, the Reverend Sandy Alexander, in 1862. First Baptist Church is the earliest known Baptist Church in Georgetown. The congregation worshiped in a building located at 21st & O Streets, NW, before relocating to its present location at 27th and Dumbarton Avenue, NW. Later, in 1870, a sister church, the JERUSALEM BAPTIST CHURCH (formerly known as the Seventh Baptist Church), located at 2600 P STREET, NW, was founded by Reverend Alexander of the First Baptist Church. In 1903, the present red brick building with two magnificent stained glass windows facing P Street was completed and the church was renamed Jerusalem Baptist. (Source ~ The National Park Service).

  

 We finally met up with the rest of the Group at Dean and Deluca where they sell $65.00 chocolates.  Now this building use to be a Slave Market where they used to BUY, SELL, and TRADE slaves. This was a horrible Place Back In the day. According to the Georgetown Metropolitan, the building where Dean and Deluca now stands was a produce market and at other times it was a slave auction house. Eventually it was torn down and replaced in 1865 with the building that stands today. From 1945 until the 1970′s it housed Southern Distributors, an auto parts wholesaler.  By the mid 1970′s it sat empty.  In 1979, Western Development signed a lease with the city to run a farmers market in the building. After about 5 years of struggling, the market closed. It sat empty until 1992 when Dean and Deluca moved in.

 Chipotle..Chipotle... Chipotle.... how much I love you.  Now at this time I was hungry and frustrated about the thing with the group. BUT NOW I WAS AT THE BEST LUNCH SPOT EVER. I got a bowl and devoured it. I tried to savor it in my mouth but I was too hungry.  But the weird thing is that it was not a long line. Normally, the line is out of the building.  But over all, it was fun at Chipotle.  

After the mouth watering Chipotle, we went to the City Tavern.  According to the U.S. History.org,  the City Tavern, also called the Merchant's Coffee House, was the political, social, and business center of the new United States. Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and Paul Revere all ate here...very Historical Place.

Now we are at the one of the top five longest bridges in DC, the Key Bridge. At First I thought it was going to be nothing walking across this bridge... Piece of Cake.  But half way there, I realized that I also had to walk back to the other side. I told Amir that I forgot we had to walk back, and he said "How else will we get back FLY?"  We had to take a picture on each side of the bridge.

I tried to entertain myself, but I realized that i just had to make the best of the walk.

 

Finally, we got to the other side, so we took the picture.  There is a line that marks the beginning of DC and Virginia, so I could literally jump from one state to the next.  .....now I'm in DC, Now I'm in VA... Now I'm in D.C., Now I'm in VA....Lol!

Finally we get to our last stop (or so we thought).  Long story short, we walked to the top and took a picture. We almost died trying to get to the top.  There was a weird looking man at the bottom of the steps saying "Trust me no one dies.. it's a myth you can make it."  As Amir tried to climb up the rock on the side of the steps, the "Weird Looking Man" said, "Your shoes don't have enough traction." But we did it.

While we were contemplating on what we could do here, we realized that this was one of the house that John F. Kennedy rented, but not the original house.

Finally, we got to foggy bottom station. We are on are way home.  Despite the late start, I had a good time.  I'll remember the words of  Mrs. Anna next time, "Unity Is Key."