Art All Night – The Drive-Thru Art Gallery in Anacostia

Created by local artists in partnership with the Anacostia BID and Busboys and Poets, the Art All Night Drive-Thru Art Gallery brings the Anacostia business corridors to life with an eclectic collection of artistic installations and original work.



Follow the CURATED MAP of artwork and businesses throughout the streets of Anacostia. The artistic installations will begin on the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, U Street, and Shannon Place.

Visitors are invited to travel by car, bike, moped, or pedicab to fully immerse themselves in this journey into artistic and creative expression.


PARTICIPATING ARTISTS INCLUDE:


Watch the LIVE STREAM powered by Anacostia BID

The Making of Busboys and Poets

A Seat at the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets

We’re proud to announce A Seat at the Table: The Making of Busboys and Poets, the new memoir from our CEO and Founder, which reveals the vision, challenges, and triumphs behind opening Busboys and Poets. Packed with misadventures, unexpected triumphs, and insights on race, business and politics, Andy Shallal’s memoir takes us on a “How I Built … Continued

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For Langston Hughes on His 123 Birthday

Speech given on February 1, 2024 in Havana, Cuba In 1927 Langston Hughes walked into a Cuba amid an emerging community of artists, intellectuals, and radicals.  He saw a “sunrise in a new land [– a day – in his words]sic – full of brownskin surprises, and hitherto unknown contacts in a world of color.”  … Continued

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Palestine Week 2024

January 18, 2024 – January 25, 2024 In keeping with our ongoing mission of uplifting racial and cultural connections, Busboys and Poets is hosting Palestine Week (January 18 through January 25, 2024). This week-long series of events will offer a diverse range of programming featuring Palestinian food, music, dance, poetry, discussions, and other enriching events. … Continued

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4. Cuba – The Hotel Nacional

Follow along for the Busboys and Poets Travel Tribe’s Cultural Exchange trip to Cuba (July 6-13, 2022) Wednesday, July 6, 2022 By Andy Shallal (@andyshallal CEO/Founder, Busboys and Poets) On the way to the hotel we make a pit stop for lunch. A sprawling thatch covered restaurant. Completely open to the elements on all sides. Linen … Continued

AndyShallal PeaceandStruggle

Everest Base Camp #10

Gourmet ketchup anyone? The Sunrise Tea House serves the best French fries I’ve had. Real potatoes fried and sprinkled with Himalayan salt and gourmet ketchup. The thick dark kind made of real tomatoes with a hint of plums (I am making up the plums, but it sure tasted delicious). I ask for Wifi. The owner … Continued

August Five Favorites

August Five Favorites

With the recent HBO series and our country’s current administration, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (Anchor Books, $15.95) is more relevant than ever. – Aliza

Busboys and Poets Books Review: Before the Next Bomb Drops

Busboys and Poets Books Review: Before the Next Bomb Drops

In his second poetry collection, Remi Kanazi takes the reader on a journey of violence and collective ignorance from Palestine to Ferguson to Iraq to Brooklyn. His unapologetically angry, graphic depictions of violence and fierce indictment of the ignorant among us who claim “the world is a messed-up place” but do nothing to stop it … Continued