Do the Write Thing: DC All-Stars: An anthology of writings from participants in the DC Do the Write Thing initiative from 1994 to 2012

by Rashid Darden

Do the Write Thing is a national writing-based violence prevention program founded in Washington, DC. This anthology of DC All-Stars collects the writings of DC youth from the waning years of DC's crack epidemic to the post 9/11 era. Though much has changed, much has remained the same, and Do the Write Thing remains in place to collect it all through the eyes of our youth.

86 pages, Paperback

Published May 16, 2012

About the author

Rashid Darden is an award-winning novelist of the urban LGBT experience, a seasoned leader of black fraternal movements, and a professional educator in alternative schools. He is local to the District of Columbia and Conway, North Carolina.

His books include the Potomac University Series: Lazarus, Covenant, and Epiphany; Yours in the Bond (Men of Beta, Volume I); the Dark Nation Series: Birth of a Dark Nation and Children of Fury; the anthology Time; and The Life and Death of Savion Cortez, a volume of poetry. His short story “Smith & Jones: Young Americans” was first published in 47 – 16 : Short Fiction and Poetry Inspired by David Bowie (Volume I). In 2017, Rashid’s play “Message from ‘The Legba’” was selected as a winner of the OutWrite DC and Theatre Prometheus One Page Play Competition. It was staged in 2018. Rashid won the Elite 25 Award in Literature from Clik Magazine in 2006.

Rashid believes wholeheartedly in living an authentic, intersectional life at all times. He is an out, black gay man who has experienced chaos and order, wealth and poverty, urban bustle, and rural peace. He brings to his novels as well as his own life a sense of thoughtful disruption. Ultimately, he believes in the principles of everyday brotherhood—that is, the parts of ourselves which keep us connected to one another in meaningful ways.