Message from UHMP CEO

That’s me and UHMP staff, partners at the event.

What a kickoff to summer! 

On June 18, UHMP and the Washington Blade co-celebrated the release of the Blade’s Youth Pride and Mental Health special edition with a reception at the uber-hip nonprofit arts and culture venue, Dupont Underground. 

Stay tuned for at least one fall UHMP exhibit and reception there this fall, most likely for our D.C. “Transportation during COVID” project with graduate students from Georgetown University’s international health program and others from Richard Wright School for Journalism and Media Arts. It’s in the works! 

Our interns and students worked with longtime D.C. high school journalism instructor Mary Stapp to provide all of the Youth Pride section’s content as part of our publishing partnership with the Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ+ publication. (And that’s on top of all the content we’ve created in our workshops and high school classes; check out Brie Zeltner’s update on that here.)

UHMP interns Jojo Brew (left) and Pam Rentz (right) showing the Washington Blade’s Youth Pride issue

Our event, co-moderated by video intern, rising college freshman and Blade cover person, Jojo Brew, featured spoken word and musical performances by two UHMP LGBTQ+ mental health sources and partners, Tearra Walker and recording artist Young Elder.

I think I instantly shed my suburban torpor when I entered this subterranean trolley stop of old, now decorated with graffiti-like murals on the walls that display projected videos, photos and graphics for the exhibit of the week or month. 

This kind of experiential content sharing is just one of the many cool new directions UHMP is going this summer and beyond to make sure we reach community members who aren’t reading traditional media. We’re also partnering in Baltimore with the group, Empowering Communities Block by Block, to provide visual public health content for the Community Walk Through Theatre in the midtown Edmondson neighborhood, which has been nearly decimated by redlining and, ironically, the state’s decision not to extend the light rail “red line” there. Parts of the neighborhood were made famous in the TV show The Wire.

Our graphics, videos and even our new Therapy Thursday Instagram Lives – tune in every Thursday at 7 pm or click our IG Live for replays! – have aired on the big screen there. The space has performance stages and, of course, will be home to more UHMP events soon! Watch your inbox for invites.