As a longtime attendee of Open Streets DC, Southeast resident Sara Jean beamed at the opportunity to engage in the beloved tradition in her own backyard for the first time, as Open Streets Capitol Hill made its historic debut on Saturday, June 28.
“This feels extra special,” Jean told The Informer. “Other Open Streets, we get to view other neighborhoods and those vibes, which we love, but…[this year] it’s with our neighbors. We get to enjoy our streets in a whole new way.”
With more than a mile of open roadway and several dozen vendors and activities on site, the Southeast corridors of North Carolina Avenue, East Capitol Street, and 6th to 17th Street of Massachusetts Avenue transformed into a car-free cultural hub of sustainability, economic empowerment, and educational benefit.
Organized by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office, in tandem with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the local tradition, with the first in Capitol Hill, offered community engagement, with an emphasis on betterment, wellness, and propelling a thriving District.
“We are excited to bring the community together to experience our streets in a fun and safe way as we take over Capitol Hill for the first time in Open Streets DC history,” said Sharon Kershbaum, director of DDOT, ahead of the festival. “We are thankful for Mayor Bowser’s support in this initiative as we engage local businesses, educate about transportation safety and get moving together across the community.”
Moving Toward a Healthier District
Since its inaugural celebration in 2019, the global phenomenon of Open Streets has brought the District an accessible exploration of local businesses, community organizations and District agencies, fun-filled with designated zones for live entertainment, children at play, and the core lens of revitalizing transportation.
With past events extending as far as three miles of road closures, Open Streets DC is fueled on the notion of “No Cars. Just People!,” establishing a precedent of reformed practices that present long-term benefits to the nation’s capital and beyond.
“Our effort to get people to try new modes is like part of our North Star. Getting people out of single occupancy vehicles and using things like bikes, walking or promoting transit, those are all ways that we really push to reduce fossil fuel usage,” Kershbaum told The Informer.
After noting the environmental impact of alternative transportation as “well-proven and important,” Kershbaum also highlighted the event’s “natural blend” of promoting exercise and physical wellness while encouraging residents to step out of their comfort zones with commute methods like Lime and Capital Bikeshare DC, whose booths were nearby for hands-on app support.
Other booths encouraging community wellness included DC Health, DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU), the Sierra Club, Urban Forestry Division. Plus Jean touted discounts to Capital Bikeshare and utility rates, and appreciated learning information about student Metro card resources.
Meanwhile, business owners like Shevonne Monk leaned into the intergenerational prowess of “intuitive movement” to address a deeper issue targeting various communities, particularly women.
“A lot of women sit down at desks and things like that a lot…[and] get hip replacements as they age, but that’s because we’re not moving it,” Monk explained. “Today I was out here doing some intuitive movement – focusing on keeping the hips active, on keeping the spine young…and then I did what came intuitively to me, which is line dancing from the culture.”
Amid laughter and synchronized dancing, Monk, children and young adults alike set the tone for the day by getting their “Boots on the Ground” atop the grass behind Lincoln Park, joining in on other popular dance anthems like V.I.C.’s “Wobble” (2008) and Strafe’s “Set It Off” (1984).
As owner of Safe for Motherhood and Lifestyle Hood, Monk told The Informer line dancing can be as fun as it is imperative to lifelong mobility and “strengthening the pelvic floor,” something the womb worker notes is critical for women who urinate when laughing, coughing or sneezing.
“Movement is medicine. You don’t have to be a yogi, you don’t have to be a professional just to move your body, just to listen to your body,” Monk said, likening body movement to a sacred “prayer or offering” within.
The entrepreneur further commended Open Streets DC as a space of prosperity for the businesses lining the streets just as much as the families partaking in the celebratory afternoon, noting her own excitement to champion physical health and togetherness in the process.
“[I’m getting] the community involved, to let the kids see, the elders, the young, everyone…that it’s a family thing. You can do it together,” Monk told The Informer. “Just take five minutes to move your body.”
Vendors Strive to Shape Lifelong Wellness At Open Streets
As the street festival immersed through Eastern Market on 225 7th St SE, businesses like Monte’s Sweet Sorrels and Grace Filled Cup helped consumers commit to a lifestyle change that starts with consumer intake.
A regular at the weekend Eastern Market District, Monte’s Sweet Sorrels made its Open Streets Capitol Hill debut as a family-owned hibiscus company rooted in sharing healthy alternatives for dietary wellness, particularly leveraging sorrel, or Jamaican hibiscus tea derived from the plant.
Among the benefits of hibiscus noted by co-owner Rashai Lee include aiding inflammation, weight loss, cold and flu, and serving as a natural diuretic.
“It’s just an all-natural powerhouse, and we sell it here at Eastern Market,” Lee told The Informer, further lauding the benefits of exposure in the Southeast event. “A lot of people aren’t knowledgeable about the healthier alternatives that are out there, so [this is] spreading awareness and letting [them] know that there are options for you.”
Down the street, Grace Filled Cup offered palm-size coffee pouches boosting the same impact of a regular cup of caffeine, except fueled by whole ingredients as opposed to artificial flavors and sugar.
“Here’s our motto: We brew premium beverages for the active, for the mindful and for the wellness-driven,” said Sable “Java Joe” Howard, owner of Grace Filled Cup. “If people care about what they’re consuming…we want to start that idea in your brain that I need to look on the back of my products and see what the ingredient list is.”
On the back of the coffee pouches lined along the booth included ingredients of whole cinnamon, vanilla bean extract and unrefined pure cane sugar, with the owner adding how the average coffee shop might leverage the use of cream and other dairy products to induce sleepiness after a set amount of hours, thus forcing customers to come back for more.
With 60 milligrams of caffeine, “just enough to hold you four, five hours,” Howard highlighted Grace Filled Cup as an impetus to restructure the culture of caffeine intake, promising a solution that will make consumers alert, focused, and “help you get the job done.”
“We just want to change the culture to where…there’s another option available,” the entrepreneur said. “It’s a healthier option, and it’s a faster option.”
Kershbaum told The Informer she hopes to see the annual festival continue to thrive locally and globally, while reminding that Open Streets DC is a bridge for missions that exceed the annual tradition itself.
While the D.C. Council anticipates a vote on the mayor’s budget, which will determine the funds allocated for next year’s event, the DDOT director looks forward to pursuing a goal to increase pedestrian environments throughout the city, “independent of Open Streets.”
“Open Streets was always about getting people excited about closing off streets for other purposes, and it is one really visible way that we can do that, but…this isn’t the end of the road for us,” said Kershbaum. “If we don’t have Open Streets, we still have other ways that we can expand closures.”
