Black Cat Vol.1: First impressions and fierce encounters

                                   The three of us at the metro.
      At this point, I’d like to confess that for the whole of the first semester of my freshman year, I did not venture out into U Street. I guess I was too entranced with the happenings at the Foggy Bottom campus and adjusting to college life was harder than I thought it would be.

    It was not until March that I made my way into U Street, when a couple of my friends decided that we should visit the Black Cat. The Black Cat opened its doors as a concert venue in 1993 to cater to the underground music scene. (www.blackcatdc.com) It then moved to a larger space in 2001, three doors down from its original location.

     As we got off the metro stop and started walking towards our destination, I couldn’t help but feel mesmerized at my surroundings. The street was packed with people with a purpose (and a bunch of girls with higher heels than they can walk in) ; it was after all a Saturday night. The street that unfolded before my eyes was one very different to Foggy Bottom; the people rushing up and down the sidewalks were not just college students. It was a whole different side of DC that I didn’t think existed.

    The clubs and restaurants looked to have more character from the outside than any such location close to campus and I was surprised by the diversity of the people around me, in terms of age and culture. These combined into creating an atmosphere bustling with energy and life.

     However, we did not arrive at the Black Cat on time and it was the fault of the two fairly intoxicated girls who were accompanying me. We got sidetracked by a small, smelly dog and his owner: a 30-something black woman who goes by the name of Heather Fierce. It was a lucky occurrence though, due to the fact that she lived on this street for 10 years.

     She was wearing a red bandana on her head, a sleeveless black t-shirt and sweatpants. While the girls were petting her dog, she was telling us all about her life, her home (Brooklyn) and the street. She remarked on how much the street had changed and become more modern and busy; she called it ‘the place to be’ in DC. She emphasized the love of the place and how she liked seeing it so busy.

      Before I had a chance to chat with her more, she had to continue walking her dog and the girls were screaming at me to move on (a word of advice: don’t fight with drunken girls on any occasion). Regardless, it was definitely a fierce encounter.