Well, this was pretty cool. I attended an MLK Day/Call to Service at Oyster-Adams Bilingual Elementary School this morning. I can see why so many folks want to send their children here. We probably waited an hour and a half (some folks even longer) for the main attraction to arrive and the children were incredibly well behaved and patient sitting in the auditorium.

There were many songs (of course in English and Spanish) and everybody genuinely seemed to be having a good time. There were also student presentations about what it means to be an American (in English and Spanish) that was also quite nice. And then, try to imagine 100+ elementary school students screaming at Shakira’s arrival. Quite a scene, man. I nearly fainted. Of course that may have more to do with the bars being open until 4am and not eating enough… Anyway, the unbelievably good looking Shakira said a few words and then read a children’s story. The event had another nice touch:

“Shakira, Oyster Principal Monica Liang-Aguirre and the students will also announce a sister-school relationship with a Colombian elementary school, Escuela Gabriel García Márquez, located outside of Bogota. Shakira’s Barefoot Foundation works with the school, which is largely attended by children who have been displaced by Colombian civil war.

For a little background, Shakira founded the Barefoot Foundation in 1995 at age 18 and is devoted to universal education and early childhood development around the world. Shakira is the Chair of the Global Campaign for Education and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.”


You never know who is going to show up. First it was WJLA Anchor, Maureen Bunyan.

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And and now it’s Mario Van Peebles who may be one of the coolest people I’ve ever met.

I was fortunate enough to attend a meet and greet before the official 5th bloom of bloom, last Saturday, featuring “African Diaspora for Obama” to help get out the vote. From their Web site:

In the “Fifth Bloom of Bloom,” BloomBars has joined forces with African Diaspora for Obama for a night of Music, Art & Inspiration to GET OUT THE VOTE. Mario Van Peebles was our featured speaker along with musical performances by Yvette Benjamin, Kuku, Vicky Leyva, Mbuutu, Anna Mwalagho, Ssuuna and many more.”

Point is, you don’t want to miss the next event at Bloombars located at 3222 11th St NW near Wonderland. You can find upcoming events here.


From the Women & Politics Institute Web site:

Women & Politics Institute
Proudly Presents

Hayden Panettiere

Saturday, October 25, 2008
5:00pm ● Ward 1

This event is free and open to the public. For reserved seating with the Women & Politics Institute please RSVP to [email protected] by Friday, October 24, at 5:00pm. Be sure to include “Hayden Panettiere” in the subject line.

Star of NBC’s hit TV show Heroes Hayden Panettiere will be discussing her work with the Save the Whales Again! Campaign and her Get Out the Vote (GOTV) efforts.


Thanks to the many, many folks who sent me the Washington Business Journal article about Magic Johnson investing in Petworth. These are the condos going up above the Petworth metro. Above is a photo of Magic at the groundbreaking of the Park Place condos from 2007.

The article says: “The project, to be called Park Place, will include 161 residential units, both condominiums and rental apartments, 16,000 square feet of retail and an underground parking garage. The developers say 20 percent of the units will be dedicated as affordable units. The one and two bedroom apartments will average 860 square feet.”

Interesting that it says “both condominium and rental apartments”. Had anyone else heard about that? Anyway, great to have Magic Johnson involved with Petworth!