Tag Archives: Takoma Park

Crossroads Community Food Fair

Come taste the world at the second annual Crossroads Community Food Fair!

Join us on Sunday, May 19, 2024, for a day of delicious hyper-local food and community fun as the talented foodpreneurs of the TPSS Community Kitchen pop up along Laurel Avenue. Enjoy an incredible variety of sweet and savory eats and drinks from 15+ food businesses based in Takoma Park, including empanadas, Detroit-style pizza, burritos, tacos, pupusas, Vietnamese noodles and bánh mì, mac-n-cheese, nut butters and healthy nut snacks, mushroom jerky and soufflés, herb-infused teas, locally roasted Guatemalan coffee, sea-moss infused waters, baked goods and vegan treats, artisanal chocolate and cotton candy, and ice cream sammies. And meet the makers!

FREE Costume Sale

We’re spring cleaning our costumes, props, and classroom supplies, and it’s time to purge! We’ll be opening our office to the community to take items off our hands. Most garments are one-sized or size inclusive. First come, first served. ALL ITEMS FREE. Bring your own bags to carry away your new treasures!

At Only Make Believe, we create interactive theatre with children in hospitals, care facilities, and special education settings. Inspiring joy and imagination, our professional actors engage children with medically fragile conditions and developmental disabilities, fostering social and emotional growth.

Psychology Book Club with Janet

Join Janet, a current art therapist and former bookseller in a thoughtful discussion of curated selections in the psychology realm. Typically meets the second Sunday of each month at 4pm.

Booker Book Club

In the Booker Book Club, we read some of the very best literary fiction written in the English language. We select, read, and discuss shortlisted, longlisted, and winning Booker Prize novels, delving into rich narratives that challenge, inspire, and resonate with the depth and diversity of human experience. Check out http://www.peoplesbooktakoma.com/book-clubs for the current selection!

Here, Queer, and Fantastic! Book Club

Join us to explore novels that challenge, subvert, or reimagine the norms of fantasy writing. Every month, we will be exploring diverse and magical worlds, where LBTQ+ characters are at the center of the action and/or written by LBTQ+ authors. Epic adventures, magical beings.

Local Author Book Club

Join The Inner Loop as we discuss a local author’s work, as featured in our monthly Author’s Corner.

Check out http://www.peoplesbooktakoma.com/book-clubs to see this season’s selection!

Fantasy & SciFi Book Club

If you love to escape to different worlds, see magic, and fantastic creatures in your books, come read with us! We will talk about different worlds and the characters that evolve there, and maybe what they teach us about our own world. We will read a range of modern fantasy and speculative fiction with an emphasis on diverse writers and stories that leave us with hope!

Join Jo Ann on the third Sunday of every month and check out http://www.peoplesbooktakoma.com/book-clubs for this month’s selection!

Environmental Book Club with Mad

Let’s talk about the overlap of social justice and science, the systemic origins of environmental crisis as well as visions of the future. We’ll traverse both nonfiction and speculative works as we seek a deeper understanding of how the natural and built environments of today came to be and where they appear to be going. Check out http://www.peoplesbooktakoma.com/book-clubs for this month’s selection!

Ruthie and the Wranglers at Carroll Cafe

Come join the music and fun as Carroll Cafe welcomes back Ruthie and the Wranglers to our stage. With over 30 WAMMIES, you don’t want to miss their heavenly harmonies and range of styles.

Discover the Power of Systema: Free Self-Defense Trial Class for Adults

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re interested in self-defense, not just as a skill but as a transformative experience.

Look no further, because at Maryland Systema, we offer a training regimen that goes beyond the mere execution of moves. We provide an immersive, holistic experience that enriches your mind, body, and spirit.

Why Maryland Systema?

Personalized Learning: We believe every individual is unique. You don’t just get a cookie-cutter program; you get personalized training tailored to your physique, capabilities, and objectives.

Expertise: As the Founder of Maryland Systema, I bring years of practical and instructional experience in martial arts and self-defense. My team and I are certified, passionate, and ever-eager to help you reach your fullest potential.

Comprehensive Self-Defense: Systema isn’t just another martial art; it’s a comprehensive system of understanding human anatomy, movement, and psychology. You don’t just learn to fight; you learn to understand your opponent, making you effective in neutralizing threats with minimal effort.

Holistic Wellness: Beyond fighting skills, Systema integrates breathwork, posture, relaxation, and mental conditioning to keep you balanced, focused, and agile in any situation. We offer a well-rounded approach to self-defense that most traditional martial arts simply don’t cover.

Real-World Scenarios: We don’t just train you for the ring; we prepare you for life. Our scenarios simulate real-world situations you might encounter, making your training practical and immediately applicable.

Inclusive Community: Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced martial artist, our community is welcoming and supportive. We provide a safe and respectful environment where you can grow at your own pace.

Adaptable Skills: Systema is about fluidity and adaptability. Our approaches are not rigid; they’re designed to adapt to various situations and opponents. This makes you versatile and highly effective in self-defense.

Ethical and Moral Foundations: At Maryland Systema, we instill not just skills but values. We teach restraint, discipline, de-escalation strategies, and the ethical use of force, making you a responsible citizen and a formidable opponent.

Flexible Scheduling and Locations: We understand that life is busy. That’s why we offer a variety of class times and locations to suit your schedule.

Competitive Pricing: Quality training shouldn’t break the bank. Our pricing is competitive, and we offer various options to fit your budget.

So, if you’re ready for a transformative journey that not only equips you with exceptional self-defense skills but also fosters your overall well-being, Maryland Systema is the place for you.

Ready to unleash your inner warrior? Join us now, and be part of a transformative experience that you’ll carry for a lifetime, not just during a class.

YOUR FIRST CLASS

Our classes are open to adults and no prior experience is needed. Please wear comfortable closes including long pants or trousers.
We train in the grassy park area directly across from the Coffee Republic and there is plenty of free parking behind this coffee shop.
Limited class size, please text Jim at: 301 326 9146 to confirm your attendance.

We look forward to meeting you!

Jim Eglin
Founder and Chief Instructor

Rick Stack for “We Who Grieve”

Join us at People’s Book for a conversation with Rick Stack about his latest book We Who Grieve.

About the Author: Rick Stack’s career is dedicated to social justice. His experiences in the Jackson County(MO) Public Defenders Office led him ot question the reliability of severe sanctions based on a system susceptible to human error. Research on global resource issues brought Stack to Washington, DC, in the late 70s, where he held a series of positions devoted to fighting hunger and poverty, first globally, then locally. Most notably, Stack was the Founding Executive Director of the Capital Area Food Bank throughout the 1980s, and the DC Central Kitchen’s first Board chair.

Stack co-produced the award-winning documentray, In the Executioner’s Shadow (2018). The film was the centerpiece of Oregon’s statewide abolition campign, resulting in legislation to reduce the use of capital punishment. Screenings of the film generate thoughtful discussion, and have changed hearts and minds.

About the Book: We Who Grieve is intended to be a comforting companion for those in the throes of grief and for their supporters. With this work, Stack hopes to add empathy to a world sorely in need of more.

This event is in-person and free to attend.

Leta Hong Fincher for “Leftover Women, 10th Anniversary Edition”

About the book: Leta Hong Fincher’s landmark book Leftover Women shone a light on the resurgence of gender inequality in 21st-century China. Ten years on, women in China continue to experience a dramatic rolling back of rights and gains in the increasingly patriarchal political climate of the Xi Jinping era.

Leftover Women explores the structural discrimination against women and the broader problems with China’s economy, politics, and development that lie behind them. This updated edition includes a new preface exploring developments in China in the 10 years since the book’s original publication, including the new “three child policy”, the growth in online feminist and LGBTQ activism and the state’s increasingly repressive moves against dissent.

About the author: Leta has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Dissent Magazine, Ms. Magazine, BBC, CNN and others. She won the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi award for her China reporting. Fluent in Mandarin, Leta is the first American to receive a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University’s Department of Sociology in Beijing and is currently a Research Associate at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University. She has a master’s degree from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree with high honors from Harvard University.