Do something better with your time. I am not worth the time you are investing in here. I am not there yet, I am just using what has been given to me and that is a lifetime of experience on both sides of the racial fence. My knowledge of the subject of race is strong it is rooted in my history. There is understanding for both sides of the argument.
What I am trying to do is bring the Church back to the table with the rest of the community and furthermore the rest of the community back with the Church. This issue is much deeper than just a loud mouth talking shit, I play that role. The issue is black people trusting white people and white people following through on their promises.
I am also an artist, here’s what I see when I am looking at my canvas, a community that has an amazing passion for its legacy, one that needs protection and honor. Its reputation among its community is held in the highest regard. This was the business hub of the black community of Anne Arundel County prior to de-segregation and that hallmark is what people feel is at stake here. Its not.
As a person of business I take my artistic vision for this community and attempt to find the best people to fill those bars with prop’s getting rhymes. Here’s a few ideas that I have been attempting to gain traction for:
1. The corner of Clay and West Washington:
-if you are coming north on Clay towards Naval Stadium from Calvert Street you would see several shops in existence on the right hand side most prominently is L&G’s Boutique, which we highlighted their article in the Capital on here a few months ago:
http://www.iliveonclaystreet.com/2008/09/lg-boutique/
I purchased My Barack Obama for President shirt in that shop. Very cool. Now L&G, will be getting the traffic it needs to thrive. This boom will allow them to hire more kids to work and get them more hands on experience. Further it will or could be what Lonnie and Gloria pass along to their next generation, this is how the family businesses begin.
Passing L&G’s Boutique and going over Clay you see the two pinnacles of the neighborhood in terms of commercial real estate. On the left the Church’s building and on the right the building owned by the Sharpes Family. Lets start on the right. Please remember this is just an idea. An idea party people.
In Washington DC there is a restaurant called “Busboy’s and Poets”. Located practically on the corner of 14th and U St, right around the corner from the infamous Ben’s Chili Bowl. Last summer, I reached out to Andy Shallal, the owner of Busboys and Poets, to see if he would have lunch with interested people for the neighborohood. I invited everyone to the meeting, the Mayor and the Church received invites but, both didn’t make it. There were however, significant community and city leaders present at that table that day and people who were capable of moving mountains.
Busboys and Poets is probably the illest lounge cool eat spot that I have been in, in a long time. The food off the top good across the board you can’t go wrong, the vibe tremendous everyone cooling from students to community meeting type people, the amenities: a bookstore full of black history, a performance area where touring jazz, blues, funk, poets, spoken word, is heard on the regular, and a dedication to black culture throughout the shop without screaming “Black Owned”. This place is a melting pot for DC kids. You can hear a diverse group of language but, its all in the same dialect, very cool. Check out www.busboysandpoets.com
Imagine a Busboys and Poets on the corner of Clay and West Washington right side.
Now lets turn our attention to the building that the Church owns. Currently, they would like to place lower income housing on the second floor of the building and I will show you how they can do it and still get the rest of the community on board. First though it is important to remember there are various deadlines that are involved with receiving grants that are closing very fast. There is one that will be due as early as June 1st, maybe delayed to the 30th. There is another coming shortly after, each program could yield tremendous capital needed to get this idea done. Again party people this is just and idea but, there are ways right now to make it happen. Timing is everything.
The church could:
Call it the Bertina Nick or Reverend Bowman Building first of all, reason being that no matter what happens to this neighborhood, that building will stand forever. Thomas Jefferson has how many towns named after him? You need legacy in a community, you need the names of these landmarks to carry the legacy long after they are gone, hence you need a Bertina Nick or Reverend Bowman’s name etched into the side of that stone. Start there.
Next turn the building into a music business incubator. Utilize the 501c3, or tax exempt status of the Bowman CDC and create a non-profit based business focused on all forms of the creation of a musical work from start to finish. You could get the money for this, its sitting on the sidelines waiting to be spent, again timing is everything.
Imagine this a moment “Clay Street Records” on the doors when you walk through, but very Motown Records 21st century revamped stylized. From here you will walk in and be greeted by a receptionist, a young person from the neighborhood learning administrative skills. This receptionist will have a computer, a phone, and hands on experience with managing communications from the outside in, very very important first line of communication in any business. Personally I would swap evenly between man and woman, college aged type and taking business courses at Anne Arundel College. There are kids like that on Clay. They have been to the Supper Club.
There will be two chairs in the reception area which will be filled with musical memorabilia from the neighborhood and video screens showing some of the works being created behind close doors.
Stepping behind those doors on the first floor right hand side on the wall facing Clay Street you would have your business development areas focused on: marketing, photography, videography, public relations, management, booking, and legal. Now not every season will there be all of these in those spaces instead it will follow the time line of preparing a record for the public. So, in the beginning of the creative process to marketing a record you won’t need management, booking and legal therefore they would come in the second half of the year. Of course vice versa. You see the non-profit would be run very similar to a record label, taking kids who want to learn these things and teach them hands on how to take advantage of the wide open field that is now present for the music business.
There will be mentors for each station of the record, these mentors would be scheduled to be meeting regularly with the students to guide them with experiences. Powerful for building confidence.
Next there will be a recording area, not a massive studio space, a small one that is more focused towards, RnB, Hip Hop, and Spoken Word. Great equipment and mentors again, without mentors here it will be very difficult to get things rolling it is very intensive in terms of the equipment know how. There are a few cats that I have in mind already grinding at Boys and Girls Club in Annapolis.
Past the recording area you will have a small performance space and not for having shows but, rather for working on their stage performance, their movements, crowd interactions, their overall public speaking type confidence.
Oh, and the video and audio labs would create websites like ILiveOnClayStreet.com for the artists where they could showcase their musical creations, videos, and stories. This would allow them to speak about what was on their minds and communicate their creativity in other ways. Blogs are a powerful tool nowadays and musicians are increasingly learning this fact.
Further, radio and video Clay St would return and emerge as kids learn how to mix music and beam it out to the world in both MP3 and MP4 stylee…youtube and vimeo, facebook, twitter, and wordpress. Stepping to the A.M. ladies and gentlemen. We are 21st century with this game now. Lets even the playing field there is no reason the next S.Carter or Gee Roberson cannot emerge from Clay Street.
Now upstairs? That’s where your lower income housing comes in, each of the mentors would stay up there for a minimal outlay which would be deducted from the paycheck they received from the non-profit. They would be working on their album with the kids. The kids would be providing labor as well as gaining “hospital residency” type learning.
Being that the entire building is geared towards arts it would get AN ENORMOUS amount of publicity on an international level (notice I said International, this will be groundbreaking). There would be tax breaks for the renovations made dating 10 years from the completion of the project so the increase in the value of the building will be dramatically reduced. Further, the artist mentors would have the ability to sell their works without a state tax. Saving 7% of their sales paychecks. Now, 7 may not sound like a lot to you but, think about the rule of 72. For those that don’t know the rule of 72 is the number that any number divided into it gives you the number of years for that number to double. So, in this case the 7 would take 8 years to double. So, if an artist sold $5,000 worth of music they would save 350 and that 7 percent savings in 8 years would be worth 700. Teach kids and their mentors how to make their money make money for them.
Lastly, the mentors who produce works with the kids, and the kids themselves could book performances across the street at “Busboys and Poets”, and give them a place to shop for clothing.
“Suede Tims on my feet makes my cypher complete”.
I think we cover everything that says great start here but, I am sure I am missing some points but, that is my idea. That is my ULTERIOR MOTIVE. I know I have a lot to learn in terms of my communicating with others but, there also comes a time when you got to let the kid get out of the kids table and sit with the adults.
I’m Audi 5000
Timmy Grins
51 Clay Street
LOVE…..UNDERSTANDING…..TRUST…..ACCEPTANCE…..A NEIGHBORHOOD WITHOUT BORDERS
Clay is so Good.
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This was started for those that live and breathe on or around Clay Street in Annapolis, Maryland but, we invite everyone who has an interest, would like to help, or wants to learn more about Clay Street to come on in and get involved..