Hello, DC. It’s us. Emma and Dazzo. Here to provide a status report on this free workout group we love so dearly.
First off, we want to acknowledge that we have been called out/called in recently for seeming disengaged and distant from leading NPDC. While it stings to hear those comments, they are entirely fair, and to be completely honest, they are accurate.
Navigating how to lead a group that at its core involves spraying sweat and spit droplets around with tons of people who are not in your household while laying on the ground and touching everything in sight at public parks and monuments has not been easy. As leaders, the past couple months have been some of the most challenging we’ve ever had, and oftentimes disheartening and discouraging, but we’ve tried to work – and will continue to work – to find safe solutions. During a time when there are more important things happening in the world (we can be honest, NP is important and we love it, but it’s critical to maintain perspective), it has been difficult to prioritize above a pandemic, an election, our jobs, and our families and relationships. I know I can speak for both of us when I say that our care for this community, this movement, our members, and this city is enduring, and even though things are tough, we are committed to bettering November Project DC and ourselves as leaders and community members.
Please know that we recognize where we have fallen short in the recent months as leaders, and that we are working to get NPDC back to a place where all of us feel not only safe to participate but hyped as hell about it.
SO, where are we now? What the heck is NPDC going to look like moving forward? Below are some updates on various topics. We hope you’ll join us in reigniting this NPDC-fueled fire under our butts.
Zoom Town Hall
Join us on Thursday, November 19 at 7:30pm for a town hall to discuss all things November Project DC. We’ll kick it off with a brief background about November Project and the structure of the global organization, but we want this to be an opportunity for everyone to discuss what matters to them as members of NPDC. Click here for Facebook event.
Prior to the town hall, please take some time to read the following, as we will use them as guiding principles for our discussion:
- November Project Community Agreements
- Community Building- National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Speaking Up Without Tearing Down
This will certainly not be the only town hall we have as a group, but it is a starting point for more conversations and changes to come.
Some of you may know that Maggie, a co-leader of November Project Brooklyn, wrote a blog about her experiences and pain of being a person of color in the November Project space. If you haven’t read Maggie’s blog yet, please give it a read. Systemic racism and marginalization is pervasive in all areas of our society, and this includes November Project. Please bring any thoughts, feelings, or reflections you have to our town hall, express them anonymously in our feedback survey or contact us directly (DM or novprojectDC@gmail.com).
Feedback Survey
A couple weeks ago, we put out an anonymous survey about NPDC. The feedback we have received so far has been invaluable. Feedback from this survey is what we plan to use to guide the conversations in our town hall, as well as future conversations. We mean it when we say we want your honest feedback, as we cannot become a better organization if we don’t hear from our members.
The survey will remain open indefinitely, so if you think of something to add, just submit another survey. Right now we’re reading all surveys as they come in, but moving forward we’re committing to reading all surveys once a month.
Fill it out here: https://bit.ly/NPDCFeedbackSurvey
Mural Mondays
During the summer we made our first attempt at an in-person(ish) workout. Dazzo and I station ourselves at different murals (or the same mural if there’s plenty of space), and people can come by anytime between 6:30am and 7:30am for a short 5-7 minute bodyweight circuit and then head out when they are finished.
So far this has been a huge success! Because there’s a 60 minute window to show up, numbers remain low at any given time, people remain socially distant, keep masks on at the murals, and we all get a small dose of that human connection we’re craving. It’s also an opportunity to learn about the local artists who paint these incredible pieces. We do our best to include all artist information on post-workout photos, as well as any news articles or interesting information about the artists and their works.
Before coming to a Mural Monday, you must sign the November Project waiver, and we ask that you wear a mask the entire time you are at the mural. As we have done, we will continue to post the bodyweight circuit in the comments of the workout location posts, so if you are not comfortable attending the in-person version, you can still get the workout in!
Thank you to people who have sent us ideas for murals to go to! If you see a good mural, let us know!
Wednesday Global Workouts
We will not be posting an NPDC workout for Wednesdays for the time being. We are going to focus our energy and efforts on Monday and Friday workouts. The GOOD NEWS is that November Project Global posts a virtual workout every Wednesday that anyone can do! Also, if you have ideas you want to see used in a Global Workout feel free to hit us up!
To find these workouts, head to November Project Global’s social media accounts:
Facebook: November Project
Instagram: @NovemberProject
Twitter: @Nov_Project
FITDC Fridays
Starting this Friday (11/6) we will be introducing a new Friday workout called FITDC Fridays. This will be in collaboration with the DC Department of Parks and Rec, who we’ve had a relationship with for the last few years.
The set-up will look very similar to Mural Mondays, except instead of murals, we will be at different rec centers around DC. The chosen rec center will stay the same for the entire month: November Fridays will be at Anacostia Rec Center, and December Fridays will be at Randall Rec Center.
People can swing by the rec center anytime between 6:30am and 7:30am for a short bodyweight circuit, then head on their way. Just as with Mural Mondays, you need to sign the waiver and we ask that you wear a mask. We will also post the workout circuits in the social media posts so you can do the workout on your own if you’d prefer.
We will explain more about this new collaboration with DC Parks and Rec as it unfolds.
NPDC Social Page
NPDC has a Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter account that we use to post workout details, photos, and other important info. There is also a Facebook group called the November Project DC Social Page, which is a member driven page used as a place to make connections within the NPDC community.
Make social plans, coordinate coffee, form run pools and bike pools, ask for running routes, physical therapist or exercise gear recommendations, find or post invites for virtual happy hours, post articles you think the community may find useful or NP-related memes that folks will laugh at– you name it! As long as posts are kind, inclusive, and follow the November Project Community Guidelines, it’s welcome on the Social Page!
We encourage everyone to join the Social Page, even if your brand new or you’ve never been to a workout!
Third Co-Leader
Back in September, a trillion years ago, our third co-leader, Jake “JB” Lloyd, stepped down after four fantastic years of leadership. Be sure to check out his goodbye blog if you haven’t already.
Maria and I have decided at this time not to bring on a new co-leader. Leading November Project is a big task under normal circumstances, even more exacerbated right now because of a global pandemic. We are adamant about making NPDC a more diverse and inclusive environment, and we recognize that leadership is a huge piece of that. It is something we are thinking long and hard about, and we want to take time selecting who that new person (or persons) will be. This being said, we’ve received feedback on the survey and we read the comments on social media about leadership needing to be more reflective of our city and we’re committed to an open, transparent process, and we are especially committed to setting up future leaders for success. So know that this is something we’re thinking about and when this change is unfolding we will keep members apprised.
We hope to see all of you at a Mural Monday, FITDC Friday, and at the Zoom Town Hall. Always know that you can reach out to us, via social media DMs, by email, or through the anonymous survey.
Email: NovProjectDC@gmail.com
Facebook: November Project DC
Instagram: @NovemberProjectDC
Twitter: @Nov_Project_DCA
With so much love,
Emma (she/her) & Dazzo (she/her)
Surprised to see myself show in The Blog! NPDC is the community that I can not stop talking once bring up, the work out, the people, and the unique NPDC culture you have. One year and a half is not enough( half of it doesn’t count🙃) Didn’t expect back to my county this soon, but it is what it is. While I am packing, I realized NPDC tagged shirts are Must Take With items. To leaders: Emma, Dazzo and Jack(former): Thank You for making NPDC a precious memory in my American life! And you can’t stop me joining the town hall from China right? Haha