GRAMMY nominated artist Aloe Blacc and his songs were a remarkable — and remarkably appropriate — entertainment for guests of the N Street Village annual gala earlier this month (Thursday, March 14th).
“I have the pleasure of singing a couple of songs for you as you dine, as you converse, as you reach into your purse,” he rhymed, joking (but not) about his appearance at the event as a benefit for one of they city’s foremost communities of empowerment and recovery. The night ended up bringing in over $1.6 million for the non-profit.
“This [first] song I’m going to sing for you, I had the pleasure of writing inspired by the best picture this year, Green Book,” he introduced before crooning “I Count On Me” from the blockbuster. He called it a song about “determination, and self motivation,” something that resonated with N Street Village’s staff, residents and supports.
Place Ambassadors of Praise Choir
(Photo Credit:
Elyse Cosgrove
Photography)
He also delighted the crowd with his and Avici’s chart topping hit “Wake Me Up,” for which he was joined on stage and in song by the N Street Ambassadors of Praise. This song has been said to be about a sudden realization that life can be unbelievably good.
These sentiments were an echo to comments made earlier in the night by women honored by the non-profit, which gives housing and support to low income and homeless women in the DC area in an effort to make it “rare, brief, and non-reoccurring” (in the words of N Street’s Executive Director Shroeder Stribling).
In particular, a trio of residents: Ruth, Rebecca, and Rosalind were celebrated for their tenacity and accomplishments in recovery.
Mayor Muriel Bowser was also lauded, honored with N Street’s 2019 Founder’s Award. “We can do a lot of great work as the government, but we can do so much more when we have committed and effective community partners who share our vision,” the Mayor said of the work of the non-profit.
Blacc crooned in “Wake Me Up”: “I tried carrying the weigh of the world, But I only have two hands…”
N Street’s 2019 Annual Gala underlined that those who need it are able to count on N Street Village and its community of supporters to help, even when they, themselves “didn’t know [they] were lost.”
