“This is our heartbeat. This is a message from our ancestors.”
—D.C. elder, speaking at a #DontMuteDC rally “The pocket” is the drumbeat that survived the hellish transatlantic slave trade and continues to be used to communicate in many of the District of Columbia’s black neighborhoods. In the “Royal Pocket,” three legendary go-go conga players will perform a special selection celebrating black resilience and strength—400 years since the first enslaved Africans landed in Jamestown, Virginia. Hosted by Ronald Moten and Natalie Hopkinson on the National Mall across from the Freer Gallery of Art. |