Kaliq Crosby in front of the Go-Go City Mural (Courtesy of Murals DC)
Washington D.C.’s MuralsDC program displayed 15 more murals in September to celebrate its 15th anniversary. Murals have been growing as a part of D.C. culture in the past decade. One very unique mural is the Go-Go City mural, created by Kaliq Crosby.
Crosby says that the purpose of the mural is to bring joy and tell the story of people who turned nothing into something. This vibrant mural consists of a young joyful Black boy tapping plastic buckets with drumsticks and the D.C. flag with three stars and the words “Go-Go City” marking the two stripes.
Go-go is a type of music native to Washington D.C. which was created in the mid- 1970s by guitarist Chuck Brown. He is remembered as the Godfather of Go-Go. Go-Go is a heavily percussion-based, improvisational music style that was officially accepted as a type of jazz in the United States.
In 2019, The Don’t Mute DC movement blossomed as an organization during a between Go-Go music and the residents of apartments across the street from the MetroPCS store on 7th Street. The Metro PCS on the “Sacred Corner”, as an official calls it, has been playing Go-Go music on a speaker outside the storefront for nearly 30 years. However, due to nearby residents’ complaints, Metro PCS store owner Donald Campbell was told by T-Mobile authorities to “get rid of the music.” A petition to reinstate the music received more than 60,000 signatures; the music began playing again and the storefront compromised on the volume.
As an artform, GO-GO has become a talent, a hobby, a message, a story, a career, and even a small business or job. Other art forms have been enjoyed, including painting, sketching, drawing.
Art can help with one’s mental health and expression of feelings or emotions. It has been proven that art reduces stress hormones in the body. Artistic expression has existed since the beginning of human civilization. Examples include Egyptian paintings and statues, face masks and face paintings in other parts of Africa, and Asian ceramic and jade dishes. Art expression has helped archaeologists and historians uncover the stories of ancient peoples. There are many different forms of art including: wood working, story telling, poetry, painting, sketching, sculpting, doodling, coloring, and multimedia.
Art can also be in the form of dance, music, song, nail art, hair/braiding and fashion. Language is a form of art. Art can also be seen in many careers such as architecture, design, fashion design and car design. Taking time to free your mind of the stresses of life and focusing on a hobby, or doing something that you enjoy is very important
Creating art is a great way for youth to make money. They can sell art online, to friends or family, and vending. Young Black teens used to play go-go beats on buckets on the street to earn money, but these days the hair braiding has slso grown in popularity as a business among teens. Selling art promotes entrepreneurial thinking. It is healthy for young Black people to know how to make their own money successfully.
Many young people may doubt themselves too much. Teenagers may not feel confident enough to make art, and feel like they are not artists. As an art teacher once told the author of this piece, there are no mistakes in art. Art can be anything someone makes it to be.
The Go-Go city mural can be interpreted as a message for people to preserve their cultural practices and not sacrifice their creativity. Public murals that are on display to the world make statements like this. The Go-Go city mural expresses how Go-Go is a part of D.C. culture and cannot be silenced. It gives a voice to native Washingtonians who are expressing their culture.
The Watoto Speak! 