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Uh, this is Ethan Norris-Weber with the Humanities Truck. Uh, September 8th, 2024. We're at Adams Morgan Day. Uh, do I have permission to record this interview?

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Yes. Uh, could you tell me your name? Freedome Nsoroma Lee-El. Um, Freedome.

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How long? Uh. Or do you live in this area of DC? I do not, I live, um, I live in, in, uh, further over in northwest, near Howard U. Okay. Um, how long have you lived in that area of DC?

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Um. That specific area? About five years. But I was raised in DC, so I was raised in, um, off Madison Street in Missouri Avenue in DC. So I went to Wilson High School

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and RoBo Junior High and, um, you know, every all of my schooling. Was done there in that area. Um, so what brings you to Adams Morgan Day? Well, actually, I made a belly

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dance presentation. Belly dance rites, Rites of passage presentation on the dance stage with Cheryl Hardy, CC. She does a wonderful job of planning the the dance stage.

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And so I worked with her this year to do a belly dance rites of passage presentation. And have you done, uh. Something like that at a festival or Adams Morgan Day in the past?

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Yes. Okay. I have yes. Is that something you've done a

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lot or. Um, I at one point in time, I had done a lot of those kinds of presentations because I was teaching a consistent class in Rites of Passage for women, and I

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think. But I think it's significantly important that I connected reconnected with Cheryl this year, and she asked me to come and do it because we have Kamala Harris

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running, Kamala Harris running for office. And we have so many powerful things that women are doing in the world. And so I felt like, you know,

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belly dance rites of passage is actually a way of empowering women in the world and opening up their chakras and their energy centers so that they can fully bloom, you know. So I thought it was very significant that I got up there

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this year. Mhm. So is Adams. How does Adams-Morgan as a

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neighborhood. Uh, sort of impact your. Your thoughts of community and activism in the D.C. area? You know, it's a funny thing because Adams-morgan has, in my

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opinion, the strongest pulse, you know, because it has so many establishments of various kinds like Bossa and their cultural music and then um, and then, um, Madam's Organ and their rock and roll kind of music.

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And then across the street, Bukom and African music again. And so, I mean, they just have so much going on all the time and then so many different food places

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as well. I think they're one of the strongest cultural hubs in our community. Um, I'd like to see more libraries.

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I'm not aware of where the libraries are, and I'm a library buff, so that's my thing, you know? But, um, other than that, I mean, um, and I'd like to spend more time at Maria Reed, you know, and learn more about what this school

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is about, because it's an integral spot in, in the festival. And I just I've always been here to do this, but I've never really been to the school other than during festival time. So I'd like to see what that energy is like.

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But, um, yeah, I think Adams Morgan has been has been such a, um, you know, a pulse in the city. And so when people come to visit from out of town, they ask me where to go.

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I always say this salsa dancing at the at the at the hut. There used to be a place called The Hut around the corner. Things have changed quite a bit. And you know, the cultural

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diversity here is so great. You know, they used to have the little Pakistani store and, and all of the places that they're just all very interesting.

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There's the African store up the street. They have things coming outside of the, you know, of the doorway to the store, you know, all down

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there. They have an Asian beauty salon, and I've just been to a lot of places here, and everything is quality and cultural and just beautiful.

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So I think it's an important place in DC. Um how. Could you just describe more about, um, you talk about Adams Morgan as a pulse?

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It's got a pulse to it. Mhm. Um, and can you tell me how, how that pulse may, may have changed since growing up in DC to now.

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Has it, has it morphed at all or evolved or anything? Yeah, I think it has. And I think because more businesses opened up with a variety of things before it was not as strong a pulse.

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Um, before it seemed to be more, um. It was always family oriented, but a lot less, um, business. You know, the business aspect really kind of raised the bar to that, you know, um, because I think the shops are inside of,

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like, houses, like, um, you know, the buildings are more like houses than, like, um, they have a lot going on. So there's always something going on upstairs and there's always something going on downstairs, and it gives it more of a, um, a town

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and country feel. You know, I think I, the place I alluded to most is probably in California, like Berkeley or something like that.

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You know, it's got that pulse. It's got that thing going on, you know. Only in California you get skating in the streets and a lot of other things like that too.

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But it is really a great place. And I have seen it change because more businesses have come and some have left and others have come. But it's always an energy of

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culture and of family and of, um, activism. You know, people are always interested in what's going on in the world and what's going on in D.C. so I love that. And it has evolved, but it's always stayed.

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It's always had a personal touch that stays the same. So. Um, has the that has that evolution of more businesses coming in and out. Has that changed?

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Uh, the, the sort of variety of people that exist and call Adams-Morgan home over the years? I think it's expanded that rather than changed it. I think it's expanded that because

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once people know a place has a certain vibe, I think they tend to pass that information on and people come and they say, well, we didn't find that place, but we found this place. And they said, oh, okay, let's check out that place, you know.

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So I think it kind of expanded rather than, you know, switched up. Yeah. Yeah.

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And so, um, what do you, how do you feel Adams-morgan might change or I guess in your term expanded. How might that how might it expand or change in the next, say, five years? I hope that it will expand in

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terms of expanding its territory. And it'll go up a couple more blocks and maybe in another direction, and we'll and we'll start to feed that kind of because good business is good for a city.

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You know what I mean? Businesses that people can count on and that people believe in and that people know are not just in it for the money, but they're also in it for the people, you know, and everything is good.

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The food is good, the feeling is good. The music is good. No, no, it's a peace thing, you know, it's a peace and love thing.

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And, um, and I think that's really important. If we could spread that, you know, uh, [singing] now that we have love, what are we gonna do? You know, it's like we have the love of Adams Morgan.

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Now let's expand it to reach out and touch the world. You know we can do it For sure. Yeah, I believe that.

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Anyway. That's beautiful. Um, is there anything else that you'd like to share? Um, at the end, Of the interview

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here? Well, I guess I want to say that, um, The funny thing about DC is that it's gentrified a lot, and that can be unfortunate and fortunate. And I guess I'm not.

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I'm still looking for the fortunate things about it, but because when a city becomes gentrified, a lot of times it's like erasing the color from it and making it more, um.

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Consistently one color. And I don't mean in terms of black and white people as much as I mean one culture, one way of thinking, one mindset. When I come to Adams-Morgan, the beauty of Adams-Morgan is that I'm

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going to meet so many different people, and they don't all have to agree with me. They all can have their own personalities and their own ideals, but there's a place inside

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of all of that where we meet that's on a human level, and it makes, it makes it important to keep that going. But when we gentrify things and we start canceling out different cultures and different people and different colors and different

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everything and everything gets one way, there's a danger to me in that, there's a danger. And, um, and it's like, you know, um, there was a book at one time called A Brave New World, and, and

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there's a danger there was a danger in. Oh, if you've ever seen, um, The Giver, you know, where there's a danger in black and white, white whiting, everything. You know, making everything, uh, in a in a streamlined kind of

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thing. So I, my prayer and I hope that everybody will join in with me in that prayer, is that communities like Adams-Morgan will prosper and flourish and grow to be, um, the

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way it is in the world. You know that my children and my children's children and their children can experience what I'm experiencing in this time.

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And so I want to keep that up. So I'm doing things with my nonprofit. We are, we are like our t shirt. This is our t shirt.

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I don't mean to advertise, but this is our t shirt. And we have at least 20, um, other languages, not colonizing languages, um, or languages of empires, but at least 20 to 30 other languages from from um, from indigenous people and people whose

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languages have been forbidden to be spoken to for them. And so we researched and we did our thing, and we came up with this t shirt and, and we're doing other things like the Peace and Love Project.

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And on the 29th at um, at Fellowship Baptist Church, we're doing a peace, um, um, gathering. I don't want to call it a concert or I want to call it a conference, I want to call it, you know, an opportunity to come together.

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And because I'm an artist and as an artist, my work is all about inspiring hope. That's why I do what I do. I'm not there to entertain you.

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I'm not there to perform like a performing seal. You know? I'm there to inspire you with hope.

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Because hope is the thing that keeps us going. It keeps us believing in what we know is the right way for things. And so I just hope that we just all will continue to do that kind of work where we inspire others and we, um, and we keep the true

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understanding of what the joy of living is all about, which is diversity. You know, I always say that, um, peace is a consequence of unity, and unity is making making peace

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with our differences, you know? That's my quote. You know, it's like because it's important to understand that it's in being different and being able to work together and get along. That makes the world a beautiful place.

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So, you know, just Adams-Morgan, keep up the good work. I probably sound crazy, but anyway, I'm going to just keep on singing that song, you know, singing the song, man. You know.

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If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning. I'd hammer out danger. I'd hammer out the love between my brothers and my sisters.

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Yeah. That's fantastic. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk. It's my pleasure.

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My profound pleasure. Thank you. Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.