Panel Discussion: Go-Go Remembered

How do you document a cultural movement that is still growing, changing, and being lived every day? In this engaging conversation, cultural curator Sundiata Ramin, musician and historian Kato Hammond, journalist and cultural historian Alona Wartofsky, and civic leader and cultural advocate Charles C. Stephenson Jr. reflect on the work of preserving Go-Go’s story. From oral histories and firsthand experience to books, film, journalism, photography, and community archives, the panelists will consider who gets remembered, whose voices must be centered, and what it means to protect Go-Go as both an art form and a cornerstone of DC identity. Audiences will gain insight into Chuck Brown’s far-reaching influence, the evolution of Go-Go, and the people committed to keeping its history alive. About the Panelists Sundiata Ramin is a cultural curator and educator dedicated to preserving the legacy of Washington, D.C.’s go-go music. He serves as the Curator and Director of Tours at the Go-Go Museum & Café, a role he has held since the museum’s opening in 2025. An accomplished percussionist, Ramin has taught go-go percussion in Ghana, West Africa, helping to expand the music’s reach beyond the United States. Kato Hammond is a Washington, D.C. musician, author, filmmaker, cultural historian, and founder of TMOTTGoGo, one of the longest-running platforms dedicated to documenting Go-Go music and culture. A longtime guitarist, Hammond is also a former member of Little Benny & The Masters, giving him firsthand experience inside the music and culture he has spent decades documenting. For more than 30 years, he has chronicled the people, history, sound, and evolution of Go-Go through journalism, books, film, photography, and digital media. He is the author of Take Me Out to the Go-Go: The Autobiography of Kato Hammond and co-author of CRANKIN!: Power and Resilience in Washington, DC’s Go-Go Culture, published by Georgetown University Press. The lead author of Crankin! Power and Resilience in Washington, DC’s Go-Go Culture, Alona Wartofsky is a former staff writer and culture editor for The Washington Post. She has been writing about go-go since the mid-’80s, and her stories about the music have appeared in The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, Spin, LA Weekly, and craftsmanship.net. Charles C. Stephenson, Jr. is a lifelong political and cultural activist whose work spans Washington, DC and beyond. Born in Harlem and raised in Mt. Vernon, he moved to DC after serving in the U.S. Army and went on to build a 30-year career on Capitol Hill, culminating as Legislative Director for Congressman Ronald V. Dellums. Alongside his professional work, he supported grassroots voter education efforts and co-chaired the Malcolm X Day Celebration in Anacostia Park for 25 years. He is the co-author of The Beat: Go-Go Music From Washington, D.C. and a former chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, where he helped expand access to city-funded arts p…