As much as Vernon Jordan was America’s power broker, he was America’s consummate mentor, especially to determined, emerging Black American talent. We are taking a moment to share personal tributes to the legend.

A Tribute to Vernon Jordan From The Dap Project

We’re talking, laughing, and learning this week with poet, educator, and movement worker Tongo Eisen-Martin. At the Dap Project, we believe the personal is political and the personal influences the political. This conversation with Tongo beautifully exemplifies these dynamics. 

Born into a community steeped in the work of Black liberation, he’s always known dap, which is to say, he’s always known the struggle for,  and celebration of “dignity and pride.” Rhonda crossed paths with Tongo for a minute when they were both undergrads at Columbia University. 

Tongo’s published books of poetry include SOMEONE'S DEAD ALREADY, and Heaven is all Goodbyes, which won the American Book Award in 2018. He is currently the poet laureate of San Francisco.  

This episode of the Dap Project is made possible by our friend, fellow Columbia Lion, Antonio Garcia. Thanks, Tone, for putting us in touch. 

BlackFreighterPress.com
"Where the collective determines cultural reality"

OperationGhettoStorm.org
2012 Annual Report on the extrajudicial killing of 313 Black people by police, security guards and vigilantes

Poetry by Tongo Eisen-Martin:

Four Walls
https://youtu.be/h8l1zVxqPA4

Blood On The Fog
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMSovxtB_dP/?igshid=nm9tez1fq88c

The Dap Project Conversation with Tongo Eisen-Martin

Aaron and Rhonda talk with Markus Batchelor, Deputy Director for Leadership Development for People for the American Way. A native son of Washington, DC, Markus is well versed in DC political traditions but has developed a progressive, inclusive political vision.  He joins us for an honest reflection of 2020, including his run for At-Large City Council seat, what statehood means for DC, and how to remain politically engaged when it’s not election season. Oh, and he drops a few songs that bring him life.

SHOWNOTES

On cash bail: 
https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/2021/illinois-criminal-justice-reform-cash-bail-felony-murder/

On ending the death penalty:
https://theintercept.com/2021/04/11/virginia-death-penalty-abolition/

Washington post article on gentrification and displacement:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-the-district-gentrification-means-widespread-displacement-report-says/2019/04/26/950a0c00-6775-11e9-8985-4cf30147bdca_story.html

DC Politics, History and the fight for statehood:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/us/politics/washington-dc-state.html

The Oscar Nominated Short Film, Two Distant Strangers:
https://www.netflix.com/title/81447229?s=i&trkid=13747225

The Dap Project Conversation with Markus Batchelor

This week, we’re bringing to the podcast our April book talk, originally held on Instagram, where we discussed The Marathon Don’t Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle.  Teacher and scholar, Deonte Bridges, joined us for this revealing conversation.

Shop independent bookstores online at... 
Bookshop.org. 

Search for independent bookstores at...
https://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finder.

TDP Be Reading -  Book Talk - The Marathon Don't Stop...

Carter G. Woodson Book Talk - The Mis-Education of the Engro. This week, we’re bringing to the podcast our February book talk, originally held on Instagram, where we discussed The Mis-Education of the Negro.

Show notes: 

Independent Bookstores: 

Loyalty Bookstores
Mahogany Books
Harriett’s Bookshop
East City Bookshop
Solid State Books
Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books

Shop independent bookstores online at Bookshop.org. Search for independent bookstores on https://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finder.

TDP Be Reading  - Book Talk - The Miseducation of The Negro

We’re coming in hot off of Instagram Live, our May book talk on The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin The Great. 

Independent Bookstores: 

Loyalty Bookstores
Mahogany Books
Harriett’s Bookshop
East City Bookshop
Solid State Books
Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books


Shop independent bookstores online at Bookshop.org. Search for independent bookstores on https://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finder.

The Fire Next Time - TDP Be Reading - Book Talk

The Dap Project welcomes author Vernon Gibbs back to the podcast to discuss his latest offering, "I'm Dreaming of A Brown Christmas".  A play on a popular classic that is overdue for some reimagination.  Listen in and contribute to the book's Kickstarter campaign.  Link below...

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/552271/im-dreaming-of-a-brown-christmas

"I'm Dreaming of A Brown Christmas" - Kickstarter Conversation with The Dap Project

C Brian Williams recalls that dap was always part of his life growing up in Houston, Texas. As an Alpha, he learned the sacred dap shared among frat brothers, and noticed similarities in greetings during travels throughout Africa. He also peeped a little boy in gigantic boots doing a dance that beautifully resembled stepping…

Listen to our conversation about the birth of Step Afrika and the resolve you draw on when the bright lights unexpectedly go dark. 

TheDapProject.com
@the.dap.project

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StepAfrikaHQ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stepafrika1994  
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stepafrika/ 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/StepAfrikaInfo 
Website: www.stepafrika.org
Hashtag:  #StepAfrika

Step Afrika's C. Brian Williams - A Conversation with The Dap Project

The weekend is here and I know you plan to make the most of it👊🏾 TDP is cooking up our next batch of podcast conversations and keeping up that good #TDPBeReading energy!  Thank you for rockin' with us👊🏾⁣
⁣
⁣
#keepgoing #resilience #food #sovereignty #read #books #summer #weekend #breaking #chains #chocolatecity #parableofthesower

TDP Friday: What's on deck...

Rev. Dr. Heber M. Brown - A Conversation with The Dap Project

Enjoy listening to our reflections on Octavia Butler’s prophetic Parable of the Sower. With guest Brandan Wilburn Herbert, we discuss poignant characters and their relationships, symbolism, and the meaning of Earthseed. 

Reading has the power to change the reader. We discuss how reading the Parable of the Sower changed us.

Parable Of The Sower - TDP Be Reading - Book Talk

What does it take to cycle 3000 miles across America? Skai Shadow’s legs have finally recovered from completing the world’s toughest bike race, Race Across America. Fascinated, we asked him all the questions.  Apparently there were months of intense training, sleep deprivation on the journey, and lots of uptown body funk.  But there was that one night where Skai felt inspired to leap out of the moving car to cheer on his team mate as they cycled up a steep hill.  

The night before Skai embarked on the race, he sat on the balcony of an AirBnB and meditated. “It was just so powerful,” he told us, “thinking of my journey, from where I started to where I am. I said, ‘Wow, my God. This cycling thing can really take you far, if you let it.’ ”

Race Across America - The Dap Project Conversation with Skai Shadow

Nife Olufosoye approached middle school basketball tryouts confidently. Dribbling looked easy, and he had a Vince Carter poster hung in his bedroom for good luck. Nife’s earning a spot on the B team -- not the A team he coveted -- was his first lesson in resilience. Off the court, he learned resilience as he and his mother, recent immigrants to the United States, pursued citizenship to the United States. Soon, he was politically engaged and applying the skills learned in sports to the task of building political power.  

Nife is the Organizing Director for the Black Futures Lab. He tells us if we’re winning under the Biden Administration, and what would be his win of a lifetime.

Nife Olufosoye of Black Futures Lab - A Conversation with The Dap Project

To celebrate Back to School after an unprecedented 18 months away, we are reposting our conversation with Myron Long and Brandon Johnson, founding leaders of the DC-based Social Justice School. We explore the lessons they learned as students that inform their philosophy as educators. The principles are appropriate for this moment: respect for the past, courage to design a just future.

Myron Long & Brandon Johnson of The Social Justice School - A Conversation with The Dap Project

Over the past 10 years, 44% of firefighters who died in the line of duty suffered from a cardiac event. The life expectancy of firefighters is 10-15 years lower than other public servants. Jonathan Tate was unaware of these statistics when he joined the department nine years ago, or when he began Food on the Stove (@foodonthestove) four years ago. 

What did he know? Jonathan knew that three heart attacks and cancer had taken his father’s life just nine years into retirement. He knew that changing his own diet could prevent this fate. He then felt called to share what he learned with his crew. 

But who was he, a rookie, to tell his colleagues what to eat? He wasn’t even eating with the station, having chosen to stick with the health-conscious diet he’d developed instead of the tasty-but-unhealthy meals the company typically ate. Further, what money did he even have to buy these steaks, broccolini, and sweet potatoes? 

Tate’s definition of resilience doesn’t call for him to have all the answers, he explained, but to lean hard on his faith. In our next conversation on resilience, he tells us how he went from happy party promoter to passionate health advocate and non-profit leader of Food on the Stove.

Jonathan Tate of Food On The Stove - The Dap Project Conversation

Experienced educator and school leader Julian Hipkins III organized the first annual Tour de Roosevelt, a community bike ride through the neighborhoods where Roosevelt students live. 

The Tour was not just a great event to support the high school, but also a personal triumph for Hipkins. During the pandemic, his young daughter learned to ride a bike, and he found it increasingly harder to walk alongside her as her distance and speed increased. 

After years away from the bike, he hopped back on, and soon began regular solo rides to clear his head. These rides connected to his earlier reading about biking infrastructure and community building, and sparked the idea for a community ride. The collective joy of a good ride helped to restore what the months of stress and isolation had broken. 

The Dap Project chatted with Julian about what the ride meant to him, the influence of his Morehouse education, and the music that brings him joy.

A Tour de Roosevelt chat with Julian Hipkins - A Dap Project Conversation

Investors and entrepreneurs Mitch Brooks and Tristan Wilkerson co-founded High Street Equity Partners to close the racial and gender wealth gap, and support small businesses that can make a big impact.  Undaunted by but well-aware of the fact that only two percent of venture capitalists are Black men, the pair are clear that this is their life’s work. 

Our conversation between these two friends is reflective, instructive, and funny. Pull up and learn who taught Mitch resilience, how Tristan responded to advice that he would have to cut his locs to succeed professionally, and what music is allowed in the whip.

High Street Equity Partners - Mitch Brooks & Tristan Wilkerson - A Dap Project Conversation

𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀’ father, an Alpha, taught him the basic dap when the younger Harris was five years old. This lesson was emblematic of how his father wanted Harris and his siblings to grasp the fundamentals to be set up for success in life. 

With that sense of great expectation, Harris attended Alabama A & M University and discovered that the foundation of his father's lesson, and exposure to inequities in America, gave him a critical understanding for the disparities in and around his college town.  Alabama A & M had been historically underfunded, and it showed. Harris observed the imparity between A & M and neighboring University of Alabama Huntsville, and he was driven to understand why. The answer became his book, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦: 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢'𝘴 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘜𝘯𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭 -- 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘦𝘵 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

The State Must Provide - TDP Be Reading Book Talk With Adam Harris

The intimate Art of Noize art gallery and event space reflects owner Adrian Ferguson’s childhood of Saturday evenings listening to choir practice, aesthetic appreciation for Marvin Gaye’s album covers, and determination to showcase locally created art. 

In our ongoing series about resilience, he tells us about his formative years at Morehouse college (despite a naysaying guidance counselor), and the perseverance it took to become a cultural destination in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington, DC. 

Listen to the Dap Project on Apple podcasts. 

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for additional TDP content at www.thedapproject.com.

Art Of Noize

Listen In!  Our book talk on We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin.  Our new favorite New Orleans author evokes a humor packed review of a book that reflects on a world that is far from funny. 

Demelanization, racism, work and family relationships weave themselves together to provide a chilling look at how a tainted sense of self can haunt a family in ways we never imagined.

We Cast A Shadow

When we asked saxophonist Marshall Keys about resilience from a musician’s perspective, he had to pause. Playing music has always been a joy, he said, and he could not imagine doing anything else. And playing in Washington, DC, in his early years was especially magical. You could play music every night of the week, and make a living, he told us. 

However, he still offered a nuanced discussion about resilience, surviving and thriving as a musician, and the song that brings him joy. 

Did Keys also record a song with Chuck Brown, the Godfather of DC’s authentic sound, go-go? Listen to find out.

Marshall Keys - A DC Legend Defines Resilience

After months of talking with folks about resilience, and hearing powerful testimonies of persisting through adversity and disappointment, staying on the path to excellence, we thought we should talk with an expert. 

Phillip Reynolds is a behavior and mental health professional who brought wisdom, jokes, and practical advice to the Dap Project podcast. 

And of course, we talked about dap. You know that feeling of a solid dap? Reynolds says that’s good for the spirit. When Reynold’s closes a session with a client, they dap it up. Yes, get you a therapist who will dap you up! But, unfortunately, it can’t be Phillip because, in his words, “he’s full as a tick.” 

Listen to our episode on Apple podcasts and Spotify. 

Tag a brother who’s in your corner when you’re going 12 rounds with something challenging

Resilience is using HEALTHY ways to cope with adversity. Gym? Cooking? Watching sports? What’s an outlet to reduce stress, and help you endure the hard stuff?

Resilience & Our Mental Health - A Conversation with Phillip Reynolds

The Dap Project discusses the award winning book from Clint Smith.  "How The Word is Passed" is a necessary read.  Aaron and Rhonda point out a few reasons why.

Intro music: "What We've Come From" by Wes Felton

"How The Word Is Passed" by Clint Smith: The Book Talk

This is our very first interview, and it sounds like our very first interview! We sat down with TDP Family for this one.  David is Rhonda's younger brother and Darnell aka Cuzzo is, of course, Rhonda's cousin.  We had some brief introductions, proceeded to pour a little wine and a little Uncle Nearest, then we sat around Rhonda's dining room table to begin our first dig into some of the fundamentals of Dap.

The 1st Dap Project Conversation featuring David & Darnell

Nearly every cool point Rhonda earned was courtesy of my Skai's instruction. Rhonda and Skai have talked about a lot of things, but this was a special conversation. Skai shares how dap appears in multiple spaces: DC coffee shops, work at Shell Oil, and with his in-laws. Listen for the touching conversation between Skai and Aaron about giving dap to their children.

The Dap Project Conversation with Skai Shadow

Over the years, we’ve had really deep conversations with Lael and Winfred, and I knew these two would be fascinating guests. But they totally exceeded expectations! From Winfred riffing on his Uncle Anderson, to Lael talking truth about giving dap in the halls of power, this was such a great talk. You can really feel the deep friendship between these guys.

The Dap Project Conversation with Lael & Winfred

Aaron remembers the first dap with friends George Ashton and Keir Gumbs at their investment club meeting. We invited them to the Dap Project to relive the moment, talk about the  “privilege” of giving dap as a corporate leader, and ponder the resurgence of dap in a post-COVID world.

The Dap Project Conversation with George Ashton & Keir Gumbs

The conversation with friends Jason and Malachi, both recent graduates of Princeton University, was an unexpected gift to the Dap Project.  They share their experience at the storied institution, “where giving dap felt like a revolutionary act.”  We also hear what Jason said to Malachi that radically changed his perception of what black men can do to change the world.

The Dap Project Conversation with Malachi & Jason

Today, twin brothers Kristopher and Keagoe Stith are, respectively, a graphic designer based in Washington, DC, and a visual arts teacher in Brooklyn, New York. But in 2004, when Rhonda happened to be their summer camp director, they were your typical middle school boys growing up in the nation’s capital: curious, savvy, and obsessed with drawing. Our conversation picks up from there...

Show Notes:

Outtake of Kris & Keogoe's take on women getting dap.  Yes or no?
https://soundcloud.com/user-882642710/outtake-season-2-episode-4-kris-and-keagoe-dap-with-women/s-d34QKGNC5DS

About Duke Ellington School of the Arts
https://www.ellingtonschool.org/

Diversity at Cooper Union
https://cooper.edu/about/initiatives/diversity-task-force 

History and Evolution of Barry Farms
https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/barry-farm-anacostia-history/

Dap and Gentrification:
To many Black men, dap means “I see you.” When DC was Chocolate City, that meant seeing mostly Black people in your daily life. In 1970, 70.1% of the population identified as black. Now, half a century and sustained urban redevelopment later, only 48% of the population identifies as black. In 2019, the National Community Reinvestment Study reported DC had the highest intensity of gentrification of any US city from the year 2000 to 2013, where 20,000 Black people were displaced from their neighborhoods mostly by affluent white people. (https://ncrc.org/gentrification/). So in an environment where you might feel increasingly invisible, do you put a little more into the dap when you’re finally seen? Or is it even that black and white?

The Dap Project Conversation with Kris Stith & Keagoe Stith

The subject of music emerges in every dap conversation, possibly because dap itself is rhythmic: the beat of coming in, the sounds of hands clasping, then snapping, the step back and smile (or nah, depending). DJs and long-term friends Jamil Hamilton and Adrian Loving know music well, and that we need it now more than ever. Our conversation begins in Far Northeast DC — “over by the Shrimp Boat” — blossoms at The Mecca (Howard University), and lands on the turntables in perfect time.

SHOW NOTES

Washington Ghosts: Former Record Stores of Georgetown
https://dcist.com/story/14/01/29/washington-ghosts-former-record-sto/

BEATS, RECORD BINS, AND RETAIL LIFE: A TOWER RECORDS APPRECIATION
https://nmbx.newmusicusa.org/beats-record-bins-and-retail-life-a-tower-records-appreciation/
 
Hadiya Williams’ World of Expressive Ceramics and Deft Design
https://www.printmag.com/post/hadiya-williams-world-of-expressive-ceramics-and-deft-design

Sam “the Man” Burns: Tribute
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/176046/sam-the-man-burns-19572020/

Vogue Enlists Black Artists Kerry James Marshall and Jordan Casteel to Paint History-Making September Covers
https://theglowup.theroot.com/vogue-enlists-black-artists-kerry-james-marshall-and-jo-1844846319

How ‘Bloods’ Brought the Stories of Black Vietnam Veterans Out of the Darkness
https://www.theringer.com/2020/6/11/21287158/bloods-wallace-terry-da-5-bloods-book-dead-presidents

“Resurrection,” Common
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmOd0GKuztE

“Wildfires,” Sault
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRC4Ac6IB1w

“Dancing into the Stars,” Leroy Burgess
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wf3eSxxmd8

The Dap Project Conversation with Adrian Loving  & Jamil Hamilton

This week, we have a wide ranging conversation with Vincent Southerland, former public defender and current Executive Director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU. He discusses how he experienced the summer of 2020, and critiques the current investment in policing over people.

Popular tracks by The Dap Project