Shining Light on the Anacostia River

Check out this film by Expedition Blue about Southeast's Earth Conservation Corps founder, Bob Nixon and the Corps workers in their attempt to clean up the Anacostia River. Finally, we get to see positive representations of Anacostia's youth doing something for themselves and our community at large.

A big wave of indie soaps, documentaries and shorts have hit Anacostia. People around the world are becoming more interested in the creative and exciting yet unfortunate and unjust living conditions for many people in our neighborhood. This documentary shows just the beginning stages on how Anacostia residents are improving the neighborhood. Even the Feds want 600 tons of trash of the Anacostia River.

Look out for the guy with the pet bald eagle that we see all over Southeast DC :)
Watch more free documentaries

Capital Bike Share @ Anacostia Metro

The Capital Bike Share program has arrived in Southeast at 5 locations- Anacostia Metro, MLK Ave, Penn Branch, Minnesota Ave, and Good Hope/Naylor Road.




Capital Bikeshare basically functions like ZipCar except for bikes.

The system is pretty basic. You have options where you can pay as little as $5 or as much as $50/year for unlimited for quick point-to-point stops.But pay close attention because after you exceed your limit, you get charged extra per hour. Worse, if you lose the bike, you get charged $1000!




Helmets are encouraged!


Capital Bikeshare is great for people who need short-term mobility. But I hope we can logically follow these bikeshares up with bike lanes along MLK blvd and Good Hope Road.

For more information:
Captial Bikeshare
http://www.capitalbikeshare.com
Customer Service
Phone: 1-877-430-BIKE (2453)
24 hours / 7 days a week, English, French and Spanish)
Email: customerservice@capitalbikeshare.com
Capital Bikeshare
1812 Half Street SW
Washington D.C. 20024 USA

Ready To Rumble... Anacostia Style?

Tony's Boxing Gym is likely one of the oldest fitness centers in Historic Anacostia. The gym is set up in a warehouse on 2201 Shannon Street SE and tucked behind the Big Chair near MLK Blvd SE.

Mr. Anthony "Tony" Bell Sr. President and CEO made his mark in Anacostia by targeting long time residents with a diverse yet intense boxing fitness regime.


The gym functions as a one-stop shop with treadmills, stationary bikes, weight lifting and basically a safe place for men to release a lot of aggression on each other's faces.









"Tony" and his trainers were very personable and friendly. I tried to slip in a potential yoga class for the buff bodied clientèle only to receive looks of confusion and suspicion.


Tony's Boxing Gym is another bastion of Historic Anacostia that I hope to check out again. But you bet I will stay outside of the ropes next time.

Tony's Boxing Gym aka Metropolitan Fitness Academy
2201 Shannon Place SE
Washington , DC 20020
202-889-5711
tonybellmetrofit@aol.com
tonysgym.net

Sista Yoginis

Clear your calenders on October 23, 2010 for the arrival of the Godmother of Black Yoginis, Maya Breuer, who will host the Fall 2010 Yoga Retreat for Women of Color. Maya Breuer will collaborate with Core Connection Lifestyle's Takeyah Young for a one-day yoga intensive workshop at the Josephine Butler Center in Columbia Heights.



I attended my first yoga retreat back 2006 with Maya Breuer at the Kripalu Yoga Center in the beautiful Berkshire mountains of Western, Massachusetts. The retreat was a great opportunity to get centered and relax.

Maya Breuer's retreats typically attract the most spiritually-centered and loving women across the United States to share, learn, heal and breathe yoga.Maya's teaching style is restorative and focuses on the fundamental principles within the mind and body aspects of yoga.


Maya Breuer's workshops are a perfect balance for those seeking a personal yoga experience and a chance to build a yoga community.


This year's theme is "Body and Soul". So make some time in your schedule for this event, your body and soul are worth it!

Yoga Retreat for Women of Color
Saturday October 23, 2010
7:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Josephine Butler Center
2437 Fifteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009
For more info contact Takeyah Young
http://yrwc.coreconnectionlifestyle.com/

Examples from East Village, New York City

A recent trip to New York's East Village offered up some great ideas on how Anacostia residents and leaders can collaborate for a healthier, locally-driven business community and neighborhood. Even though the East Village has a different demographic than Anacostia, there are so many small and simple ideas that give the the East Village community character and identity while attracting tourist dollars.

The bright and vivid cafe mural for B-Cup Cafe was appropriately housed next door to a simple one room East Village Yoga Studio.







The community gardens tucked in little alley ways are a great contrast to all of the concrete, grit and grime of the city.





The bike lanes over the Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridges made trekking from the East Village to Brooklyn a huge and beautiful adventure. No excuses for tourists to say Brooklyn is too far to visit. I think big bike lanes on the 11th Street, Sousa Bridge, Frederick Douglass Bridge would give Anacostia alot of appeal to the folks who always claim they have no reason to step foot in Anacostia.



I know NYC is light years beyond most cities, but conceptually we could borrow so much from their creativity and propel our neighborhood just a few years ahead in convenience, healthy lifestyles and maybe a little liberty for all.

H Street Festival- Fun, Fitness & Freaky

I love H Street NE for all of its oddities and random concoctions. On one hand you have about 10 hair salons and barbershops within a 5 block radius and on the other you are watching a burlesque performance before you head to a tuba concert.

This year's H Street Festival was no different. Crowds representing DC's unique diversity gathered for line dances, soft serve ice cream, pie contests and boxing matches all along six blocks of H Streets inevitable boom.

Of course, what caught my attention was an awesome fitness and personal trainer Alita Brown who heads up Fitness Together-Capitol Hill, personal training studio on 408 H Street. Alita Brown specializes in one-on-one customized and intense personal training for people seeking to move closer to their fitness goals.


After watching air guitar concerts and arm wrestling contests, things got even stranger at Granville Moore's. My encounter with a woman showcasing her snapping turtle was all the evidence I needed to prove that H Street is a great corridor with a fun and freaky vibe.

H Street is a good example of how DC's diversity and free range creativity make for a more interesting and quirky community.

YES! YES! YES!

Yes Organic! on Penn & Minnesota SE is beautiful, clean and absolutely convenient. Folks in my neighborhood (Hillcrest) are so excited about the reality of walking 10 minutes to buy Bear Naked Granola, Bulk Flax Seeds and Tofu! We just hope that everyone else living East of the River is just as excited.

Yes Organic! speaks to what many residents living East of the River want, but it also raises the question- What other types of health-related services do Southeast DC residents desperately need?

In addition to an organic grocery store, let's rally for a youth-based health clinic that specializes in STD-testing, counseling, and free check ups. While we're at it, tear down the unused, boarded up buildings and let's construct a family-based green playground that rivals the dog parks of NW.

My point is that Yes! Organic is a fantastic addition that I will support as much as I possibly can. But, a healthy lifestyle for Southeast DC must go beyond gourmet cheese. A healthy East of the Anacostia includes a youth and family-centered holistic approach to urban health.

Check out some great photos of YES Organic by other southeast bloggers