Bringing the distinctive D.C. sound of go-go into the classroom.

Teaching for Change is honored to work with D.C. area schools and the authors of The Beat! Go-Go Music from Washington, D.C. to develop lessons and share teaching ideas for infusing the history and music of go-go in middle and high school social studies, language arts, math, music, and/or D.C. history classes, and to bring renowned go-go performers into D.C. classrooms.

"Go-go has stayed true to time-honored cultural scripts such as live call-and-response, live instrumentation, as well as its locally rooted fashions, slang, dance, distribution and economic systems. Simply put: Go-Go never sold out. There is a grit and texture to the music that gives voice to the communities where it was created." –Natalie Hopkinson

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Oct 30: Swamp Guinee and Uncle Devin Walker at Ida B. Wells MS

October 30, 2021 / Mykella Palmer

Program specialist Matt “Swamp Guinee” Miller and Children’s Drumcussionist “Uncle” Devin Walker teamed up for class visits at Ida B. Wells Middle School. On top of teaching some of the fundamentals of go-go music, Walker and Miller challenged each other and students in creating and imitating improvised beats using whatever hard surfaces they had around them. With an emphasis on percussion, Walker and Miller explained that drumming was long banned in the United States, especially for enslaved people, because it was a form of nonverbal communication and could be used as a tool of resisting white supremacy.

Teacher Alison Rice commented:

The students and I were so impressed with Walker and Miller’s workshop! Their connection to settler colonialism was unplanned but timely!

categories / 2021