East of the Monsoon: Southeast Asian American Poetry at USA250

The D. SEA Writers Collective read poems commemorating the USA at 250, sharing the tears, joys, and wonders of 1.5 gen. refugees&immigrants.

Dan Hong, Nico Penaranda, Dylan Tran, and Pacyinz Lyfoung are Southeast Asian American poets from Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines, bearing the cultural heritage of their Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, and Hmong ancestors. They have been reading together for over a year, and in 2026, they started to write together. They formed the D. SEA (Southeast Asian American) Writers Collective, a DC/DMV group. They revised and created poems to commemorate the quarter of a millenium anniversary of the USA, sharing the good, the bad, and other of their Southeast Asian American journeys. They will be glad to share poetry with you all, and if you would like to write your own poem too, they prepared a writing workshop to be offered after their reading. We will be meeting in Room 401-F, on the 4th Floor of the DC MLK Library.

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Theater and Policy Salon: Friends Don’t Fake Out Friends in DC

A Theater and Policy Salon play reading and panel discussion in partnership with the NYU Brademas Center. Join a timely conversation about the scariest AI deep fake challenges faced by vulnerable communities in DC and globally, anchored by a reading of D.C. playwright Ben Hatt’s new play, “Imposed.”

This Theater and Policy Salon event, in partnership with the New York University Brademas Center and NYU’s DC campus combines a true to life drama about two young women victimized by deep fake revenge porn with an expert conversation on policy fixes and individual action. The panel will include CUA Prof. Mary Graw, GWU Prof Alexa Alice Joubin, playwright Ben Hatt, and Becca Branum, Deputy Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Free Expression Project.

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Behind the Headlines

Black journalists have always been on the frontlines, telling the stories that shape our communities and holding power accountable. In this special live performance, DC’s Black journalists step out from behind the byline and onto the stage to share the “stories behind the stories”. Through true, personal storytelling, they will reveal the moments that changed them, the challenges of navigating modern newsrooms, and what it takes to keep telling the truth in an industry that doesn’t always make space for their perspectives. Join us for an evening of powerful narratives about chasing stories that matter and holding onto your voice.

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Class Action Reads! Nothing Less Than Equality

Join the DC History Center for a highly anticipated lecture from historian Tikia K. Hamilton about her new book Nothing Less Than Equality: The Battle over Segregated Education in the Nation’s Capital. 

School desegregation was not inevitable. Before the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education and its companion case in DC, Bolling v. Sharpe, Black Washingtonians built a remarkable school system for their children. Led by outstanding educators with a curriculum designed for Black students, some local activists argued that the issue wasn’t segregation; it was a need for resources to address overcrowding, crumbling facilities, and lack of materials and supplies. Some Black Washingtonians believed that the federal government should be compelled, instead, to fulfill its own Jim Crow mandate of “separate but equal,” ensuring that Black schools received the same resources as white schools.

We know about the legacy of desegregation. But this complex, lesser-known history complicates the questions and pushes us to think differently about “equality” both in the past and in our schools today. Join the DC History Center on Tuesday, March 31 to welcome Dr. Tikia K. Hamilton, whose work informed and shaped our exhibit Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital.

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