DC's Creative Advocacy Lab
Building a cultural and political community nourished by face-to-face creative action & experimentation
We fuse the cultural with the political,
systems redesign with personal & collective transformation,
art with strategic advocacy & action.
More than "feeling good" & beyond "raising awareness".
We work to transform the culture of politics & explore how to build a system that centers the needs and values of humanity:
Equity | Respect | Liberation
Co-Directors
Sam
Bonar
Sam is the Chief Strategy Officer, of Delicious Democracy. He is a comedic strategist, bard, advocate, miscommunication facilitator, and systems tinkerer. He uses improvisation and infinite play to build Equitism and cut through the bullshit.
But what do we actually do?
Current Experiments
Dancing in Congress
Playfulness is effective and legal (if you don't call it "protesting")
Art as Advocacy/Strategy
Beyond "Raising Awareness" - we bring artists face-to-face with power
Miscommunication Workshops
Leaders, politicians, and teams can learn to strengthen communication and unleash the value of collaboration.
Monthly Experimental Gatherings
We bring folks together at DC community restaurants (or virtual spaces these days) to break bread, find meaning, and talk about how to build a politics that doesn't suck - the second Tuesday of each month!
Connecting Face-to-Face
Food, Fellowship, and Finding Meaning - these are new types of events that embrace uncertainty and emotional tensions
Open Mic for Poetry & Rituals
Try something new, awaken your senses, and explore the power of community to touch, move, and inspire
The only Alternate Reality Civic Engagement Game
An atlas and game map for community organizing, building equitable power, and everyday political action
Blend the Real and Virtual
Players must explore the physical world to explore and go on quests in the game world
Get Rewarded for Showing Up
It rewards discovering community and advocacy events, incentivizes face-to-face one-on-ones as the basis of power-building, and mobilizes through immersive and participatory storytelling
Download & Test the Alpha Version
Available on the iPhone App Store, but it's not good yet! We're trying radical transparency and letting you in to our mess. Tell us what you think and make it your own!
What's everyone yelling about?
Our Issues
Transforming
the System:
There's so much to be upset about or fight against.
We work on issues that envision an equitable future, build community strength, and address the root causes of BS:
corruption, election integrity, voting rights, civic engagement, community ownership of data and tech platforms, and a structural lack of political creativity.
Solving wicked problems requires more than a direct assault on obvious symptoms.
One of the few systemic changes that can transform the culture of elections, Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a well-tested voting system where you are free to vote for who you really want. You can rank your choices instead of picking only one.
The people and communities of DC are second-class citizens without full control of our local money and laws. Yes, we're not all politicians in this culture-rich city - the rest of the country sends THEIR politicians to OUR city. Becoming a state is the beginning of deciding our own future.
Co-ops, tech equity, transformative justice... We're prototyping a new economic and political system grounded in community ownership, systemic balance, and infinite play. Everyone hates capitalism and socialism these days - let's make something new to nourish us.