At the beginning of 2020, Howard University senior Lyric Amodia created The Movement Street Organization Inc., to mix creativity with service by creating socially conscious streetwear for outreach programs in the cities the organization serves.
The Movement Street is a female-run organization active in the DMV, Flint and Detroit, MI. With Amodia’s connections to Flint, her passion for service started as a cry for help from family members and friends to help raise awareness about the Flint water crisis.
The Flint water crisis is a public health problem that started in 2014 after the city’s drinking water was contaminated with lead and legionella bacteria. Due to the city not properly responding to the issue, many people fell ill. Coming from Germany, Amodia knew she had to do something for the city she loved dearly, so she started a movement that would last a lifetime.
“When I got to the states, and I came back home, I found out that one of my hometowns is on national television because they are suffering from environmental racism,” Amodia said. “I wanted to help, I wanted to do this for my family, I want to do this for us…”
Amodia, with the help of volunteers, created a T-shirt that helped raise money for the cause. The collection was named 810 H2O Collection, with the two in H2O being a water drop. The funds from the collection were poured back into the community to help end the crisis. Since the H2O collection, The Movement Street has done many more collaborations in the community to ensure that people’s voices and causes are heard. One example of their work is buying Thanksgiving groceries for over 50 families annually. To make this happen, the organization garners support from volunteers.
Volunteer Carlos Eldridge, Jr., a senior political science major and history minor from Waldorf, Maryland, believes that The Movement Street is a committed and selfless organization.
“They really adhere to the needs of the communities that they are in no matter which one they are in,” Eldridge said. “I feel like a lot of organizations sometimes try to come to do their own work, but I like that Movement Street looks to see what kind of work is already being done and how they can assist.”
Another way that The Movement Street gives back to the community is by allowing Black- owned businesses and artists to showcase their talents by participating in the “Creative Classic.”
The “Creative Classic” provides a forum for Black people to showcase art, community talents and access to different networking opportunities. The “Creative Classic” will be hosted on February 18, 2023, at the MLK Public Library Auditorium.
Jordyn Britton is one of the event planners putting together this year’s festivities. She said that she is very excited for the Howard community to see what the organization has been working on.
“We really wanted it to be a space where Black creatives can network and see each other’s work. We want to give artists the platform to be creatively free and showcase their work, and I am really excited,” she said enthusiastically.
The Movement Street will be opening submissions for the “Creative Classic” soon and hopes they get a large turnout. Whether you are a poet, artist, or entrepreneur, the creative classic is the perfect place to showcase those talents. More information will be released soon, but you can follow The Movement Street on all social media platforms (@themovementstreet) to stay up to date.
Copy edited by Chanice McClover-Lee
