Fasten yourself seatbelt it’s going to be a bumpy ride or There is literally nothing that duct tape can’t solve.

Dawa picks me up at 5 am sharp and we make it to the airport by 5:15 for our 6:15 flight to you know where! There is no traffic to speak of. It is really foggy outside and they announce that our flight is delayed. Then delayed again. And again. This is quite normal since Lukla airport is a bitch and the last thing they want is a crash. Tourism makes up a huge slice of Nepal’s GDP. At least 8% to be exact. Their service sector and agriculture make up most of the rest.

By 8:30, with the airport packed with people scrambling to find a flight to somewhere in Nepal, our turn finally comes and we are rushed on a bus that would take us to our plane. There are 16 passengers. A full load. All local with one exception, me! The bus weaves through the tarmac and finally stops next to our tiny plane. It may as well be a crop duster! The inside is 5 feet high. Great for Dawa and most of the passengers but not for this guy. The seats look like the back section of a 1955 Montgomery Alabama bus. The overuse of duct tape is alarming. Duct tape on the seats, on the walls, around the cockpit door. There is a constant drip from the ceiling that apparently the duct tape has failed to stop. The flight attendant hands the person under it a paper towel! One more cursory look and you realize that they have yet to discover the magic powers of soap and water. Or just anything wet frankly. They can make good use of that drip for instance. This plane hasn’t seen a wet rag since the earthquake hit Nepal in 2015. Nothing about this plane gave me confidence. With one exception, the attendant, who stays cool as a cucumber for the entire 40 minutes of this flight, even keeping a straight face while giving safety instructions in case of a crash (yeh right!). She would repeat everything to me in English with a smile. No one paid attention. Everyone knew that this plane would fall apart at the slightest trouble and we’d all die. Why bother learning stuff you’ll never use. There were several moments during the flight where we came alarmingly close to kissing the Himalayas. Her plan will have to wait another day.

The dreaded landing into Tenzing Hillary Airport in Lukla (named in honor of Sherpa Tenzing and Sir Edmund Hillary the two submitted Everest in 1953) turned out to be a piece of cake. The plane came to a complete stop with a few feet to spare. Most of my adrenaline was used up in the air while flirting with the mountain side. The landing strip is hilarious though. It sits in the middle of a neighborhood on the edge of a cliff with kids playing tag inches from the plane.

I unfold myself out of the plane, stretch my body and take in the fresh air and what’s left of the sun rays before the clouds steal them. At 6500 feet this is the highest point I’ve been on earth! No nose bleeds, no headaches, no dizziness. I am told to be patient, that may come later! For now I will enjoy breakfast in Lukla at a tea house overlooking some gorgeous snow covered peak and will hit the trail moments after.

Hope you come along.

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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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Watch Angela Davis in conversation with Amy Goodman

Last night a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock opened for a conversation with activist and scholar Angela Davis with Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman at Busboys – 450K.  The private events room at 450K is named after Angela Davis and she signed a photo of herself on the mural created by our founder/CEO Andy … Continued

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A Reflective Minute: The Crown Act Mural Unveiling in Anacostia

Busboys and Poets is built, in part, on the premise of being a place where, “arts, politics and culture intentionally collide.” So there is no better place for Candice Taylor’s Crown Act Mural to be displayed than on the side of a wall of Busboys and Poets in Anacostia. The 2019 Crown Act was created … Continued

Reflections on a Historic Week

Reflections on a Historic Week

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in a landmark decision the Facebook generation has quickly likened to the collapse of de jure segregation.

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Everest Base Camp #11

Taking flight. I’ve made peace with the crows. They are now my companions on this trek. They coax me and nudge me with their now seemingly less hideous squawks. They remind me to bring out my inner eagle. I guess we all have that. Sometimes it’s buried so deep that you have to put yourself … Continued