Origins & Impact

Origins

The #DontMuteDC hashtag was coined on Twitter by then-Howard University senior Julien Broomfield during a 2019 springtime battle over music and public space on an iconic street corner in Washington, D.C.’s Shaw neighborhood. Peace activist Ronald Moten and cultural scholar Dr. Natalie Hopkinson co-created a petition, which drew more than 80,000 supporters from all 50 United States and 94 countries.

Since winning the return of go-go music to that street corner, the movement has racked up a growing list of other victories in public policy, the arts, and preservation:

IMPACT

IN ITS FIRST five YEARs,

Don't Mute DC:

Are currently celebrating a policy victory against billionaire-owner Ted Leonsis and Monumental Sports to keep our teams in D.C.

Supported the establishment of the Go-Go Museum & Cafe

Won return of go-go music to Central Communications/Metro PCS

Advocated to make Go-Go music the official music of the city !

$22 million restored in lethal cuts to United Medical Center, the only hospital serving Ward 7 & 8

$53 million restored to Banneker Academic High School’s modernization/move to Shaw

Project Empowerment workforce development program for returned citizens and at-risk populations taken off chopping block

Oral History of DMDC project in collaboration with Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Culture

District of Columbia Public Libraries created a #DontMuteDC archive of all the tweets.

Partnerships with Eaton Workshop, National Museum of African American History, Kennedy Center

International Press coverage: UK Guardian, New York Times, City Lab, Chicago Sun-Times, Huffington Post, WUSA 9, Al Jazeera, TV One, Canadian Broadcasting, Spanish Television, several documentaries in the works.

PETITION BY THE NUMBERS

On April 8, 2019, Ronald Moten and Natalie Hopkinson posted a “Don’t Mute DC Go-Go Music and Culture” petition. The response revealed the global reach and potential of this movement.

80,341

Signatures from every state in the Union +94 countries.

27,546

District of Columbia signatures

12,855

Maryland signatures

3,869

Virginia signatures

4,753

Unique comments, from 39 different states and 4 countries

People signed from the following countries:

Canada, England, Scotland, Australia, Sweden, Zambia, Afghanistan, Albania, Antigua, Argentina, Bahamas, Belgium, Belarus, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Martinique, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks & Caicos, the UK.