In publicist and strategic planner Stacey Palmer’s estimation, the DMV’s go-go community can and should become a political force. Beyond the musicians, that community encompasses those who support the music in various backstage and behind-the-scenes roles and its sizable community of fans. “We have the numbers, and as a collective, we matter,” she says. “We can make a difference with our numbers.”
Over the summer, while considering both the national and local implications of the 2024 election, Palmer came up with the idea of launching an initiative dubbed Go-Go Vote that would assist with voter education and engagement for the go-go community. “My brain burst, and it came to me that this is it. It was that clear,” says Palmer.
Immediately, Palmer enlisted the help of longtime community and go-go activist Charles Stephenson as well as Ambrose Lane Jr., host of WPFW’s To the East program, which focuses on stories and news impacting Wards 7 and 8. Together they started enlisting musicians to serve as “Go-Go Ambassadors,” encouraging people to get out and vote. Currently, ambassadors include EU’s Gregory “Sugar Bear” Elliott, TOB lead talker “Lil” Chris Proctor, Frank “Scooby” Marshall of Sirius Company and the Chuck Brown Band, Michelle Blackwell, and Matthew “Swamp Guinee” Miller of Crank Lukongo. Also joining the effort are longtime advocates for go-go culture Nico Hobson, owner of Go-GoRadio Live, and Junkyard Band manager Maurice “Moe” Shorter.
For many of the ambassadors, past and current voter suppression targeting Black citizens makes Go-Go Vote deeply meaningful. “Voting is a right that was earned, especially by African Americans, through a lot of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. I can’t see how anyone could look at all of the sacrifices made for that right and not exercise it,” says Scooby. “More than any other, this is the most important election of my lifetime.”
Palmer has included learning to recognize voter suppression as one of Go-Go Vote’s key education components. “If your vote didn’t count, they wouldn’t be trying to take it from you,” says Palmer. The owner of the local media agency Executive Virtual Assistance, Palmer believes Go-Go Vote will impact not only the national vote for president but also local elections.
“Local voting is really your vote, and it’s really your power. If you say, ‘I ain’t gonna vote,’ your not-vote is also a vote,” she says. “We vote for sheriffs and judges and school boards, and these elected officials work for us. We have the power to hold them accountable, to call constituent services, and demand the things that we want.”
As the Don’t Mute DC and Long Live Go-Go movements have shown, sustained efforts to influence local government policy can make a difference for go-go artists. In 2019, in response to residents of a luxury apartment building forcing the Metro PCS at 7th Street and Florida Avenue NW to stop playing its signature go-go, musical protests were held outside Donald Campbell’s store. They rapidly increased in size, and both new grassroots organizations quickly gained traction. Their advocacy led to go-go’s designation as the official music of Washington, D.C., as well as efforts to pass initial legislation ensuring that go-go artists receive the same kind of governmental arts funding that supports other performing arts institutions.
“Don’t Mute DC and Long Live Go-Go, they woke up a sleeping giant and set the stage for GoGo Vote,” says Stephenson. “This is go-go culture stepping up, and it takes me back to so many times in the past that we have worked to advocate for the culture through so many efforts to weigh go-go down. What this says is that you are a powerful constituency not only in the city, but in this region. We’re more than entertainment for your political rallies. We are a mighty coalition, and we have needs that politicians and leaders have to address.”
Palmer’s goal with Go-Go Vote is to present sustained voter education on everything from voter registration, polling locations, and candidate platforms. The initiative also aims to combat misinformation. “I feel like people speak about what they hear through grapevine, and social media makes the myths worse. We live in a 24/7 news cycle, where people don’t read past headlines,” says Palmer. “People have to learn to decipher all that noise to educate themselves to make informed decisions.”
Blackwell, who has used her platform as a go-go artist to support initiatives combating street violence and promoting COVID vaccinations and masking, was eager to join the effort. “I’ve said for years if we as a culture in go-go really pulled ourselves together, and took account of how many we have, we could make our little Super PAC,” Blackwell says. “We’re literally in the nation’s capital, and there are still people in this area that don’t really understand the significance of their representation at the voting booth.
“It’s about time that we as a culture act on the opportunity that has been there for the taking,” adds Blackwell. “It’s just a matter of us engaging. We live here, we benefit the community, and we should be able to effect policy that positively enhances our communities.”
Ever since Chuck Brown’s go-go beat swept the District in the early 1980s, city politicians who’ve understood the power of go-go culture—figures ranging from former mayors Marion Barry and Adrian Fenty to Mayor Muriel Bowser and At-Large Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie—have either supported go-go or, conversely, attempted to use the go-go community to garner support. “For decades, they’ve recognized the influence we have,” says Blackwell. “This is about us recognizing it and seeing what we are capable of as a community.”
In recent weeks, Sugar Bear has been opening EU shows by talking to audiences about the Nov. 5 election. “I want to be sure that they receive the message,” he says. “You want change, you gotta be a part of that change. It’s your future. If you can go-go, you can go vote. It’s that simple.”
Meanwhile, go-go artist Charles “Shorty Corleone” Garris has collected a group of more than 40 artists to record “Go-Go Go and Vote,” a new original track that premiered last weekend on both his Sirius-XM WHUR Voices show Crank with Shorty and his WHUR show. “This is a politics town, but it’s still a go-go town, and we still got a job to do to get our community to the polls,” says Shorty Corleone.
As it works toward registering as a nonprofit, Go-Go Vote must remain neutral in its political advocacy, yet Stephenson, speaking as an individual, notes that a second Donald Trump presidency would negatively impact local residents in multiple ways.
“Project 25 wants to go back to stop and frisk,” says Stephenson. “He wants to take away Home Rule for D.C. He wants to be able to fire government workers who are not loyal to him across the board, so that impacts workers for him across the region. As a 501c3, we can’t say vote for Harris, but we know if we encourage our constituency to vote, 98 percent will make the right decision.”
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Stacey Palmer’s name.