Gary L Alston , Native Washingtonian,  Husband, Father, Grandfather
Author of Dreams, Poems and Short Stories
Poet, Writer, Actor, Lifestyle Model
Martial Arts Instructor, Homeless Ministry Worker

Dr. Courtney Davis has been an avid reader since she was a young girl. As the daughter of parents who valued reading, she was surrounded with books, magazines and opportunities to create stories. She has devoted her professional life to students and schools in urban communities, engaged as a practitioner and advocate for children and youth with disabilities and their families. Dr. Davis is primarily focused on changing the perception of inner-city children and to tell a different story—one book and one block at a time. Her first picture book, A is for Anacostia, highlighted the students and popular places in a vibrant community in Washington, DC. S is for South Side is her second picture book. Visit her online at www.drcourtneydavis.com.

Mel Harper coordinates interpretive projects for the National Gallery of Art by day and helps DC-area artists pull off harebrained schemes by night. A Howard University alum, she also taught African American art history and was a research assistant at HU's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. During a stint as her high school's mascot, Mel discovered the joy of public performance, and has been making a fool of herself ever since. On any given weekend, she can be found very badly playing tennis at Ward 7's Benning Stoddert Rec. Facebook: /mhcart | Instagram: @mhcart | Twitter: @mhcart

A Ward 7 resident since birth, Gloria is a career educator and semi-professional photographer and writer. She is especially pleased to participate in several community activities by co-sponsoring a girls’ mentoring group and public speaking. In her spare time she enjoys family, friends and is an observer of life who enjoys historical site research and travel. Facebook:    GLK Photography, Wordsmithing and More! | Instagram: @gksayit | Twitter:@thewriter75

MICHELLE PARKERSON is the author of a book of poetry and short fiction,  WAITING ROOMS, and her work has appeared in several anthologies of LGBT and Black literature.  She is a university professor, having taught at Northwestern, Howard University and, most recently, Temple University’s Dept. of Film & Media Arts.  As a performance artist in the 1980s and 90s, she fed her creative and activist soul doing stage collaborations such as MURDER ON GLASS and VOICESCAPES  (with writer/kindred spirit Essex Hemphill and musician Wayson Jones), DIVAS!...AN EVENING WITH MICHELLE PARKERSON AND BRENDA FILES,  WOMEN OF SUBSTANCE (with Kwelismith and Kimberly Boyd),  THE DANGEROUS BORDER GAME (with Guillermo Gomez-Pena) and occasional solo projects.  Michelle is also a filmmaker who has documented the lives of LGBT icon, Audre Lorde, jazz vocalist Betty Carter, D.C.’s own acappella activists, Sweet Honey in the Rock and the legendary male impersonator, Storme De Larverie of  The Jewel Box Revue.

JIMM has made noise in the DMV as one of the most charismatic activists for hip hop charity Will Rap 4 Food, Inc. and for his intense live performances. JIMM has performed at official and unofficial stages as SXSW, A3C, Six Flags America, and throughout the DC Metro Area. JIMM is currently working on his next mixtape Thoroughbred 1100, which he describes as "Block Rock."  Instagram: @JIMM25 | Twitter: @JIMM25

Kymone Freeman is a poet, an activist, an award winning playwright and director of the National Black LUV Festival (NBLF) He is a co-founder of We ACT Radio DC’s only independent radio station and a founding member of #DCFerguson one of the leading groups that focuses on police lynchings.

David works as the Executive Director of The Pearl Coalition currently working to build the "Spirit of the Pearl" schooner, in Washington DC's historic tail ship.  David has worked for over 20 years in multiple leadership roles raining from youth development & intervention, environmental restoration and justice, business innovation and the creative economy.

John Johnson is a native Washingtonian and is the founder and creator of Verbal Gymnastics theater company. Mr. Johnson uses his background in theater to create a unique interactive experience when facilitating in educational environments.Mr Johnson has worked as a drama therapist with a partnership with the districts Youth Services Center. Some of Mr Johnson's accolades include being named one of DC's "30 under 30." This recognition is given to emerging performance artists in their respective disciplines by the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities. He has also been a two-time Artist Fellow of the DC Arts Commission. He holds a B.A in theater form the University of the District of Columbia.

Stephanie Garibaldi designs and teaches storytelling classes, leads trainings for businesses and organizations, runs SpeakeasyDC's youth programs, and coaches all the performers on SpeakeasyDC's monthly 2nd Tuesday Series. Since 2006, Stephanie has coached well over a thousand individuals in the art of contemporary storytelling for professional as well as artistic settings.

DJ Heat (Nicole Mosley) became the first female to ever be crowned DC DJ of the Year at the Fab Awards in 2014/  At the DMV Awards, she has been a multiple-time recipient of awards for having the best blog (DCMumboSauce.com), as well as being the Most Supportive Media Person, Most Supportive Radio Personality and Most Supportive DJ.  She is Editor-in-Chief of the hip-hop blog DumbRappersNeedTeaching.com. 

Terry has been a cultural producer, organizer and media consultant for arts and social justice organizations for more than 15 years. He relocated to DC from New Orleans to pursue advocacy and policy work on the use of culture in progressive issues. As Managing Director at Junebug Productions, he oversaw production of Junebug's Free Southern Theater Institute's programs. While Director of Producer Services and Technology at the National Black Programming Consortium, he worked with some of the country’s best filmmakers to bring their projects to fruition and broadcast on PBS and other media outlets. Later, as Senior Coordinator at StoryCorps, NPR’s Morning Edition national oral history project, he managed Storycorps' touring mobile recording studio and staff that traveled around the country collecting stories of everyday people.

Kimberly C. Gaines is an arts administrative professional with a background in film, photography, arts education and development. She is dedicated to bringing the arts to underserved communities. Ms. Gaines is an alumna of Howard University where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications with an emphasis in film and a minor in photography. Kimberly also has a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Savannah College of Art and Design. She has taught photography and design to youth for over ten years. Her educational and non-profit experience has included media empowerment facilitation for youth and adults, curriculum development and management.

Selah Benoit is a folklorist and story catcher who enjoys producing documentaries that collects and preserves the personal memories, experiences and living legacies of every day people. Selah was trained in Oral History at the University of Mississippi and holds a degree in Global Studies, History and Culture from Union Institute & University. Selah is founder of Hunger Tales and Roots & Reasons. Selah is also a member of the Association of Personal Historians, the National Storytelling Network, the Healing Story Alliance, the American Folklife Society and DCTV.

Sarai Taomi is an editor, producer and filmmaker. As a high school student, she recognized that her talents and interests were under served in the public school system and embarked on a self-designed home-school educational plan supervised by an accredited institution. Sarai focused on visual media, national service through AmeriCorps and community mapping projects. These experiences cultivated her interest in community empowerment and expression and, as an artist, uses film to promote the beauty, creativity, and stories of our diverse and eclectic world. Through a combination of traditional study and professional internships, Sarai has honed her skills in production, editing, research and social media. She has interned at the Children's Media Project in Poughkeepsie, NY, Our Task in Arlington, VA, HERE Arts of SoHo in New York City and Stone Soup in Washington DC. You can learn more about Sarai at www.saraitaomi.wix.com/portfolio.