National Visionary Leadership Project: An Evening with Chuck Brown

It feels like it’s been a long time since my last post. While I was working, running around town, and basically doing everything but blogging, I thought back to the interview I did with Jun Loayza for Awesome Bloggers.

In that interview, I said that I would work on a few things in terms of this blog. One involved making a schedule…still need to get to that point, but I am making some progress on another front – integrating music (something I couldn’t live without!) into my posts.

Given the time that’s gone by, I felt like Bob Marley’s “Nice Time” would work.

“Long time we no have no nice time:
You-you doo-doo-doo, yeah: think about that!”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYSFEhk1nWg]

As much I love listening to some old time reggae from him and the Wailers, today’s post is about another great musician, the Godfather of Go-Go Chuck Brown. Before I came to DC, I had no clue what Go-Go was, but I think I was here for a sum total of 18hrs before I figured it out.

Over the last six years, I have come to love Go-Go not just because of its addictive rhythm but also because of the joy I see spread the minute anyone from the District hears it.

When I found out that Chuck was being honored by the National Visionary Leadership Project, I knew I had to attend.

Co-founded in 2001 by Camille O. Cosby, Ed.D. and Renee Poussaint, the National Visionary Leadership Project (NVLP) “unites generations to create tomorrow’s leaders by recording, preserving, and distributing through various media, the wisdom of extraordinary African American elders – Visionaries – who have shaped American history.”

All of the photos, videos and podcasts featuring legends of our time are available on the NVLP website, and permanently archived at the Library of Congress with the goal of allowing students, scholars and the public to gain a new understanding of America’s past, the roles so many have played in shaping what it is today and the lessons to be learned from it.

I was lucky to attend the great event with PR mover and shaker Amanda Miller Littlejohn and we teamed up to live tweet the event. For a play by play and some interesting perspective, check out the #NVLP tweets.

I strongly encourage you to check out NVLP’s website, but in the meantime, I leave you with one of my favorites from Chucky B.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRHFmVv4R1M&feature=related]