When I was a student at Howard University, I didn’t fully embrace Washington D.C. as my home away from home. However, as an older adult I have developed a deep appreciation for the District’s diverse arts and cultural offerings, and now when I visit it feels like a sort of homecoming.
My most recent trip was during Labor Day weekend’s annual DC JazzFest, where I saw great performances by Cecile McClorin Salvant at Arena Stage and Lalah Hathaway at The Anthem, reminisced with a Lyft driver about dancing at The Ritz back in the day, and discovered several new Black-owned businesses. And despite the tyrannical politics of the day, it was refreshing to see there are still plenty of upwardly mobile Black folks thriving and stylishly moving and shaking in “Chocolate City.”
Following my lead, here are a few highlights of where to soak up the culture and to see and be seen on your next trip to Washington, D.C.
One nation under a groove
Across the street from The Go-Go Museum & Cafe (gogomuseumcafe.com) in the historic community of Anacostia, there’s a captivating mural of a young girl by internationally renowned artist El Mac (Miles McGregor) entitled, “Unique: The Light Within.” While walking in the neighborhood, I also spotted a sticker on a lamppost that read, “DC Proud: The people of DC are joyful, powerful and we deserve the right to govern ourselves.”
Anacostia is where Frederick Douglas — nicknamed “the lion of Anacostia” — purchased his final home Cedar Hill in 1877 and lived his final years. And the resilient and hopeful spirit Douglas imbued is still flourishing.
Founded by local activist and music producer Ronald Moten, The Go-Go Museum & Cafe doubles as a community hub that provides a safe haven for disenfranchised youth.
“It’s like a living museum. It’s not just about music. It’s about using our superpower in our culture and our history to move us forward,” says Moten, whose ancestors walked across the 11th street Bridge across the Anacostia River in 1862 during Freedom’s Crossing, when enslaved people fled Maryland.
Inside, the museum pays homage to the homegrown percussive and polyrhythmic hybrid of soul and funk. There’s a large portrait of singer and guitarist Chuck Brown, “the godfather of go-go,” who gained national prominence on the strength of his 1979 R&B hit “Bustin’ Loose.” Experience Unlimited (E.U.), the group that further popularized go-go with their platinum single “Da Butt” from the 1988 School Daze soundtrack, also has a significant presence.
In addition to several interactive educational exhibits, the museum hosts live music performances and has a cafe with diaspora-inspired street food.
“Most people who come here don’t believe what we’ve done, because of the before and after. The [co-curator] of the museum, Professor Natalie Hopkinson, helped me take 16 exhibits I had in my head and turn it into a reality.”
Although there have been overt attempts to suppress and criminalize go-go culture — including a 1987 law that curbed young people’s access to go-go venues and a 2019 noise complaint against a corner store playing go-go music that sparked the #DontMuteDC movement — in 2020 Mayor Muriel Bowser signed a bill that officially designated go-go music as the official music of the District of Columbia.
“Go-go is D.C.’s superpower. It’s one of the only forms of music that hasn’t been colonized,” explains Moten.
“Hip-hop was a great thing and still is. But because of its colonization, young people coming out aren’t incentivized to make [positive] music like Common. [Instead], they use it to tear our community down by talking about drugs and killing. With go-go, you aren’t going to play anywhere with that kind of music. That’s only because we have some sort of control over it.”
The museum is free for DC Residents ($10 suggested donation) and $15 for non-DC residents.
Where to stay
Close to Union Station in the vibrant NoMa nabe (short for north of Massachusetts Avenue), The Morrow (themorrowhotel.com/) is a sleek Curio Collection by Hilton hotel with 203 cozy guest rooms and an inviting living room-style lobby. Although I didn’t get a chance to participate during my two-night stay, The Morrow hosts spiritual pilates classes on Saturday mornings and “Trap & RnB” yoga classes on Sunday mornings (fee based and registration required).
What I did experience, however, was top notch happy hour with a panoramic view at Sly Rooftop, one of two food concepts currently offered at the hotel by celebrated chef and restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson. The perfect setting for a girls’ night out or date night, I savored shrimp cocktail, truffle fries and blue cornbread paired with an ample pour of sparkling wine. Marcus DC is the hotel’s other coveted culinary hot spot that blends modern American cooking with Black culinary traditions. My observation, from the outside looking in, is that it draws a handsome crowd nightly.
More nearby nosh options include a Trader Joe’s for wine and snacks and chef-driven concepts in the foodie haven Union Market District (unionmarketdc.com/eat-drink/).
On the waterfront
Overlooking the southwest waterfront Wharf, Chef Jeffery Williams helms the kitchen at Willowsong (willowsongdc.com) at the Intercontinental Washington DC. In a prime space that formerly housed Chef Kwame Onuwachi’s shuttered Kith/Kin (his current restaurant is Dōgon at the Salamander DC), Williams offers a seasonal American menu that utilizes locally sourced products. The service is excellent, the food is fresh and well seasoned, and dinner appetizers like crispy prawn and calamari, Brussel sprouts, and a baby gem Caesar salad are hearty.
After dinner, catch a rising star at the Wharf’s Arena Stage (arenastage.org), a pioneer of the regional theater movement that showcases diverse and innovative works from around the country and nurtures new plays like Fremont Ave. (October 8 through November 23, 2025) written by Reggie D. White and directed by Lili-Anne Brown.
More must-see sights
Now more than ever, it’s vital to visit and support D.C.’s free Smithsonian museums, including the always illuminating National Museum of African American History and Culture and the grassroots Anacostia Community Museum.
Plus, check out “Photography and the Black Arts Movement, 1955–1985” at the National Gallery of Art (September 21 through January 11, 2026). The first-of-its-kind exhibit explores the work of American and Afro-Atlantic diaspora photographers, including Gordon Parks, Lorna Simpson, Jamel Shabazz and Carrie Mae Weems, in developing and fostering a distinctly Black visual culture and identity.