Darien Birks is a graphic designer (amongst other things), living in Brooklyn, NY. Professionally, Darien works for a corporate design agency in Manhattan, learning as much as he can about the business and about the field. Aside from that, he is always into freelance work or something music related.

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Matthew C. Horne - Motivational Speaker/Author/Self-Development Coach

“Dreams or desires don’t just appear in your heart, they have purpose behind them…”
-from The Universe is Inviting You In, by Matthew C. Horne

With one glance at Matthew Horne, the thought of him building a successful career in the self-development industry would never cross your mind.  Standing 6 feet and 5 inches tall you would envision him running plays up and down a basketball court before anything else.  It’s not a surprise that he spent most of his 25 years chasing dreams of the NBA.  He played for various AAU teams, for two high schools in Prince Georges County Maryland, and for a Division I university, Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.  It was during his sophomore year, when he performed a last minute effortless persuasive speech assignment, that Matthew began to see his original dream moving in a different direction.

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“You have to be willing to get a 100 doors slammed in your face in hopes that just 1 door will remain open for you”

Latecia Durham always wanted to be a singer.  In fact, she has been writing songs since the age of seven.  The Fort Washington, MD native had to keep her dream a secret for most of her life.  With a long history of great musicians and singers in her family who never quite “made it,” she was encouraged to focus on school work and participate in sports – running track for Friendly High School and the University of Maryland at College Park.

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AMADI: When was Clockwise clothing established?

CLOCKWISE: January 2008

AMADI: What made you want to start a DC based clothing line?

CLOCKWISE: We grew up in the area and have lived here ever since childhood. In recent years, we felt that this whole DMV area has been on the rise as far as music goes. We wanted to represent the area on a national scale by means of fashion and clothing the same way that artists were repping the area with their music.  We also saw an untapped market in DC for urban/skatewear, seeing that most DC brands were reaching out mostly to the “hood” urban wear clientele.  All of us have a strong art/media design background and an addiction to clothes, so it only made sense to launch this venture.

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Left to right: Crazy Legs, Donte, KK, Jose

The “Beat Ya Feet” dance craze first became popular on the scene of DC Go-Gos roughly around 2001, and was one of the biggest revolutions in Go Go dancing. Inspired by the up-tempo rototom and timbale grooves which were becoming increasingly popular at the time, “Beat Ya Feet” was big in chocolate city. It was a dance that shaped the DC metro culture for a long period of time — it was not uncommon to see people beatin’ their feet at the bus stop, at school, at work, on the metro, and on the streets. Now, several years after its debut, a group of skilled dancers known as the Beat Ya Feet Kings bring a new energy and fresh originality to this dance that still inspires excitement. The Beat Ya Feet Kings have performed at many venues, including Showtime at the Apollo, the Go-Go Awards, the Black Family Reunion, UDC, and they have been featured on a music video with Tabi Bonney.

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