Friday, February 20, 2009

Anacostia Gets R.E.E.L.

This past Thursday I had an opportunity to experience something quite exciting, and something that frankly I'd like to see more of around the city. Real community activism. Fifteen individuals brought together with a single cause. To not just improve their surroundings, but to make of them a destination.

Out of that desire has emerged R.E.E.L. (which stands for River East Emerging Leaders). Billing itself as 'a progressive network created to enlighten, engage and empower our River East Community', R.E.E.L. hopes to bring attention, community involvement, and ultimately investment to some of the more neglected areas of the city. The event took place at the progressive Honfleur Gallery (more on this great art space in a future post, but in the meanwhile be sure to check out their website or stop by).

The overall take from Thursday's event was a pleasant mix of community pride and a desire for positive change. The anticipation and excitement was truly tangible, and those of us from other wards may have even found ourselves a little envious, perhaps wondering if we couldn't get the same sort of thing started in our own neighborhoods.

So forget what you think you know about Anacostia, and stay tuned. If last week's event is any indication, the area east of the river has a bright future ahead.

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For more on R.E.E.L., please attend their next event on Wednesday, March 18th.
6:30-8:30 PM
Honfleur Gallery
1241 Good Hope Rd., SE
Washington, DC 20020

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the post!!! We worked so hard on that event and are working even harder to ensure that our next event is even better! :)

    We were soooooo happy with the turnout especailly from guests from different wards.

    We hope you can make it out to our next event - bring some friends! :)

    -Nikki
    r.e.e.l. Steering Committee

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for coming to the event! Love the blog! Hope to see you on the 18th!

    Jamilah
    r.e.e.l. Steering Committee

    ReplyDelete