Black Tie Lounge

This is my first post of 2013! This isn't really the post that I want to start the year off with so let's play catch up. For New Years I went to church, shot my first gun and drank champagne with my cousins. I was pretty excited to get back to work for the Spring semester. One reason being because each semester serves as a fresh start. Another reason being because I had a class that wouldn't start until February, so my load this time around is much lighter. I enrolled into an acting class. Our first assignment, and the reason for this post, is to pick a poem that could be delivered in a minimum of 2 minutes in length. I don't follow poetry too much so I chose the first long poem in Black Voices. It's called The Death of Nick Charles by Everett LeRoi Jones, who I later found out is Amiri Baraka. I heard of the author but never heard of the poem.  Not having a clue who Nick Charles was I did a search and found out that he was a sportscaster that died recently. This...

I got inspired to encourage my students today. One thing that I love about my job is that I can do what I want. I also love it when the ideas that I have actually work. My lesson, or better yet my theme for today's class was inspired by the a Ted Talk done by Candy Chang. In summary the death of a family member encouraged her to turn a public space into a place of reflection. Since today was the last day of class before our final I wanted to encourage my students and get them to reflect on their greater purpose beyond being a student. On the board I wrote "Before I die I want to" and I let my students fill in the blank.  Here is what they said: It's moments like this that make my role what it was really meant to be.

In case you didn't catch JudahLYFE's debut on BET's Bobby Jones Gospel , someone graciously recorded it  on an iPad from as the show premiered. Bootleg you may call it, but it serves the same purpose none the less. You can also catch the full episode at bet.com. Thanks to everyone who recorded it, e-mailed, and texted to show support for the ministry .  Follow us on Twitter @DJJUDAH:YFE  Like our Facebook page here

To celebrate two years of reaching the masses through prayer, praise, and the preached word the JudahLYFE team hosted its first edition of JudahLYFE Unplugged, a night of uninhibited worship. Saturday night October 27th people gathered at Real Life Church & Ministries just outside the nations capital to celebrate with D. Jakolby & JudahLYFE in and intimate atmosphere.  Special guests included Psalmist Iris Lewis, Rob Mercer, Darnell Moore & Company, Martina Green, and a spoken word from Pastor Willie Thompson. Lives were touched and people walked away encouraged. JudahLYFE Unplugged served as a great segue into the exciting things ahead for the month of November. This is going to be a month of major exposure through media, outreach, and travel.  First on the agenda is JudahLYFE's premier on BET's Bobby Jones gospel.  Back in August the team was featured on BET's Bobby Jones Gospel in the New Artist Spotlight. JudahLYFE performed the hit singl...

I want to take an acting class. My goal for the spring is to do so. I figure, I might as well tap into my professional development funds and take advantage of the opportunity.  I think it will boost my teaching and help me be more artistic. It will also be good because I can connect my role as a speech teacher to the theater, which I'm excited about. I'm going to do it. As always so much has happened since my last post. D. Jakolby Washington & JudahLYFE have been nominated for a DMV Christian Music Award. So go to this link and vote:  http://dmvcma.wix.com/ dvmawards I'm sure I told you all about our appearance on Bobby Jones Gospel. Well the show airs on November 4th at 9 am. Hopefully I'll be able to see it. I don't have cable. Speaking of cable, I'm moving out of DC this weekend.  It's been bitter sweet. My roomate has been gone for two weeks now. I guess I got used to it because the whole summer I had the apartment to myself, which was dangerou...

I, like so many non engaged Americans need to WAKE UP.  Another election season is upon us and it's time to be an informed voter and exercise the right that so many of those before us have fought for. I'm not going to get on my soap box concerning the election because to be honest, until the conventions I've been laboring in my own world of education and grading and not paying a lick of attention to anything that has been taking place.  To be honest, facebook and twitter have kept me up to date more than me reading and searching for information myself. Did any of you hear about the CNN cameraperson , who happened to be a black woman, that got peanuts thrown at her during the Republic National Convention?  What's worst is that CNN didn't make too many comments on it and almost tried to sweep it under the rug. Maybe not that exact phrasing, but a new station that has been so liberal in its views on civil rights and inclusion spoke very little when it came to the wel...