Contact: Natalie Avery, Cell Phone #202-246-0343

[Mount Pleasant, DC]: On Sunday, July 1st , an unprecedented coalition of Mount Pleasant based community groups, musicians and artists are staging a concert at Lamont Park (Mount Pleasant and Lamont Streets NW) to raise awareness about a grassroots campaign to end the live music ban in Mount Pleasant restaurants.

The event, which will start at 3:00PM, features the Evens, a Mount Pleasant based band on Dischord Records. Also featured will be Hip Hop activists Head Roc and DJ Eurok and Mariachi Profesional de Guerrero, a mariachi band. Sol & Soul street theater troupe, an arts and activism group will also perform. The concert is sponsored by Hear Mount Pleasant, Mount Pleasant Main Street, All-Ways Mount Pleasant, Sol & Soul and the Community of Christ. These groups are working to lift restrictions on music and dancing in neighborhood restaurants. They are also working to build a more inclusive and democratic community problem solving process around the neighborhood’s commercial strip.

Mount Pleasant’s alcohol licensed establishments cannot offer live music of any kind because of "voluntary agreements" they signed with a local civic group. "These restrictions were imposed in the name of community but the community really feels strongly that live entertainment is integral to enhancing the cultural, social and economic fabric of our community," says Claudia Schlosberg, a 29 year resident of Mt Pleasant and a member of Hear Mt. Pleasant’s Steering Committee. So far over 1000 Mount Pleasant residents have signed Hear Mt. Pleasant’s petition seeking to overturn the ban. More signatures are being gathered every week. The local ANC has also voted unanimously to overturn restrictions that prohibit live entertainment. Schlosberg adds, "we want City leaders to understand, it’s time for change."

"This neighborhood has nurtured such an incredible array of musicians and music communities. It’s always been amazing to me that local restaurants cannot open their doors to them." said Natalie Avery, a Hear Mount Pleasant member and an organizer of Sunday’s event, " but this isn’t just about music. Our goal is to create more dialogue and collaboration among groups who have long been alienated from one another. We are building stronger bonds between residents, businesses and a range of community groups. Together we can work more effectively to address neighborhood issues all of us care about it. This event is a celebration of those efforts. Love of music has brought all these people together and has created some really exciting new partnerships."

"We think musicians and artists are community assets – they can and should be part of building solutions to the very real problems affecting our neighborhood." Said Karen Bridgett, of Mount Pleasant Main Street, a co-sponsor of the event. "Main Street is part of this campaign because our charter is to support local businesses and to enhance the relationships between businesses and residents. and ensuring that businesses can innovate and prosper."

Also featured Sunday will be information tables staffed by workers from community based groups serving youth, the homeless and low income families. " Part of our campaign is to educate people about all the great work of local community agencies and outreach workers to address at a very deep and human level, the problems we see on our streets and sidewalks," explained 20 year Mount Pleasant resident Athena Viscusi. "I’ve heard people credit these restrictions for improving the neighborhood. That analysis misses so much! Since the Mount Pleasant disturbances in 1992, community leaders, social workers, counselors and advocates, many who live in Mount Pleasant, have been building better social services, reaching out and helping people with addictions, advocating for more treatment and prevention services, and expanding our capacity to serve a severely neglected population. That story needs to be told so that residents who want to see improvements can plug into and support community based efforts to address problems at their roots." "Mount Pleasant Street is the community’s living room and we can work together to solve any possible nuisances associated with our restaurants in a more democratic way than the current VA process permits." says Barbara Hayden of All-Ways Mount Pleasant "There is a positive and collaborative energy in the neighborhood around this issue and the musicians are celebrating that this weekend ."