Busboy and poets baltimore5/17/2023 ![]() With seven distinctive locations including 14 th and V (DC), Shirlington (VA), 450K (DC), Hyattesville (MD), Brookland (DC), Takoma (DC) and Anacostia (DC), Busboys and Poets has become a set of cultural hubs for artists, activists, writers, thinkers, and dreamers.Ī restaurant, bookstore, and event space in one, Busboys and Poets showcases the work of DMV creators, whether it’s a piece of art hanging in the restaurant or a novel written by a local author. Where everyone could feel casual, comfortable, and welcomed. Where different races could eat and spend time together. The next day, Hughes’ poetry was published in the newspaper, thus being forever dubbed the “busboy poet.” Shallal sought to bring this bold creativity to his gathering spaces, designing a place where people could come together while being conscious of their differences. The name is an ode to Langston Hughes, who, while working as a busboy at Washington DC’s Wardman Park Hotel in 1925, jotted down a few poems on napkins one evening and slipped them under the plate of poet and critic, Vachel Lindsay. Innovative in its merging of restaurant and bookstore in one space, it creates an enthralling environment for people to thrive a place where arts, politics, and culture compile while preserving the community with great intention. We are a community 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… we believe that by creating such a space we can inspire social change and begin to transform our community and the world.”īusboys and Poets is a group of community gathering places located within the DMV ( Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia) area that were founded by artist and activist, Andy Shallal in 2005. ![]() Minnesota Senator, Al Franken spoke in Busboys and Poets' Langston Room, Howard Zinn, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her daughter, actor Matt Dillon, modern hip hop artist Keri Hilson and others have either eaten or hosted an event.“We believe that building community around shared beliefs and dialogue over food and drinks creates connections that are meaningful and lasting. Additionally, onetime Washington Wizards center Etan Thomas has performed his poetry at Busboys. Louis Cardinals linebacker who quit the NFL in protest of the Vietnam War. Sheila Jackson-Lee, Anthony Shadid and Dave Meggyesy, a former St. The Busboys clientele has included Alice Walker, Angela Davis, Danny Glover, Cheryl Strayed, Amy Goodman, singer Nick Jonas, Common, Cindy Sheehan, Tom Hayden, Harry Belafonte, Amiri Baraka, Rep. It definitely has a progressive feel to it it's in the 'hood, not disjointed from the community like the National Press Club and Capitol Hill are." Shallal said of the restaurant's popularity, "I've opened many restaurants, this is the first time that people came in and got it right away." Kevin Zeese, spokesperson for Ralph Nader's 2004 presidential campaign and director of Democracy Rising, related to The Hill, "Boom! It just became an incredibly important landmark for the community. C-SPAN, NBC News and ABC's " Good Morning America" all filmed segments inside the restaurant within the restaurant's first few months. Shallal had said he would keep Busboys running even if just broke even, but it proved a success from the beginning, even without committing an advertising budget. It features the words of Langston Hughes, "Let America be America again / Let it be the dream it used to be." Reception The collage depicts civil rights icons including the Rev. He refuses to sign the mural, saying this would be a "final gesture" that would preclude him from making revisions later. Shallal painted the giant civil rights movement-themed mural covering one wall of the restaurant, titled Peace in Struggle Wall. ![]() Rejected ideas for the restaurant's name include Writers Block Cafe, Broken Bread Cafe and White Rabbit Cafe, the latter inspired by The Matrix. The name refers to American poet Langston Hughes, who worked as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel in the 1930s, prior to gaining recognition as a poet. Shallal obtained a loan from black-owned Industrial Bank, located at 11th and U streets. Concerned that his creation of a trendy artistic space would clash with U Street's traditional identity, Shallal reached out for support from community leaders, neighborhood groups, church organizations, schools and radio stations prior to opening the location. ![]() The first Busboys and Poets lies two blocks from U Street, a commercial corridor in Northwest Washington, known as "Black Broadway" in its heyday. ![]() Locations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area ![]()
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