Hail to the Anacostans

Our distinguished guests help us honor the first people to inhabit the land and river where the Go-Go Museum & Café stands. We explore ways to strengthen Black and Native American connections and combat cultural erasure. ​

Among the key digital artifacts in the Go-Go Museum & Café is the 2018 video for the “Ghosts of Anacostia,” by Crank LuKongo, the DC musician of many genres including go-go, and vocals by Sebi Medina-Tayac, a member of the Piscataway Indian Nation. The artist described the work as a “compelling song-story of 17th and 21st century displacement of the Indigenous American Indian and the Native African Americans residing East of the River, Washington, DC.”​

Seven years since the song debuted, trending topics are, again, historic erasure, displacement and Washington football logos. More people are incorporating Native Land Acknowledgments and supporting initiatives such as renaming Maryland’s Indian Head Highway. ​

This Conversation & Crank series takes place during the museum’s Grand Opening Week celebration in collaboration with the Traditional Arts DC Project/National Folklife Network. ​

Conversation Moderator: Phillip Kulubya ​

Crank by DJ Supa Dan

Curator: Dr. Natalie Hopkinson​

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Panelists:

Jessi Swann, member of the Piscataway-Conoy Tribe​

Camila Bryce-Laporte, author of “Black in Piscataway Land” ​

Jay Winter Knightwolf, host of “The American Indian Truth: The Most Dangerous Show on Radio” on WOL ​

Armand Lione, Ph.D., author of Native American History of Washington, D.C.

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