The past month has brought a lot of my creative work into the public eye. I’ve celebrated the release of a book about the music and culture I’ve spent decades documenting, and I’ve watched my animated film project begin its journey from private screenings to public audiences in Washington, D.C.
It’s a reminder that the stories I’ve carried for years can keep finding new ways to reach people.
Celebrating CRANKIN!
On September 1, I joined my co-authors, Alona Wartofsky and Charles C. Stephenson Jr., at the Go-Go Museum & Café in Anacostia for the launch celebration of CRANKIN!: Power and Resilience in Washington, DC’s Go-Go Culture, published by Georgetown University Press.
The evening brought the book’s history to life. We talked about go-go’s beginnings, its artists and bands, and the role the music has played in Washington’s culture and community. Next Gen Krank, a band made up of young D.C. musicians, performed alongside go-go legends Sugar Bear, Big G, and Weensey. Beat Ya Feet dancers brought another part of the culture into the room.
That mix of generations felt right for a book that looks across five decades of go-go. It recognizes the people who built the sound and the young musicians and fans who are carrying it forward. The launch was followed by conversations with readers at Politics and Prose and Busboys and Poets.
Take Me Out to the Go-Go reaches public audiences
At the same time, my animated film project, Take Me Out to the Go-Go, began screening at public events. On September 23, it was shown as part of DC Stories at The Wharf, a program highlighting films by local independent and emerging filmmakers.
The film was also officially selected for the 2026 Cultural Connections Film Festival. On October 8, it screened in the festival’s Sounds of Washington D.C. program at the historic True Reformer Building on U Street.
Those screenings mean a lot to me. Take Me Out to the Go-Go is rooted in my own story: growing up in the Washington area, discovering the guitar, finding my way toward go-go, and navigating the choices that shaped my life in music. It brings that personal history together with the sound and atmosphere of the city that raised me.
The version currently screening runs about 35 minutes and ends at a turning point in the story. I’m working toward expanding it into a longer film. One of the areas I want to develop further is the Capital Centre chapter, including the musical paths that brought me and my cousin Byron into the orbit of Little Benny & the Masters and Rare Essence. I’ve also submitted the current film to the Maryland Film Festival and am waiting to hear what comes next.
The screenings are an important step, and I’m continuing to explore festival and distribution opportunities as the project grows.
More stories are taking shape
Filmmaking is becoming a major part of my creative work, and Take Me Out to the Go-Go is one of several stories I’m developing for the screen.
I’ve started Get Buster, a virtual animated series about Buster Ross and Nina Vale, two agents working with Black Star Intelligence’s Long Shadow Unit. It gives me room to build an action-adventure world with its own characters, cases, and personality.
I’m also creating Max’s Journal, a vertical micro-drama series set in Bellwood, Mississippi, in 1932. It follows Max Henson, a young Black blues guitarist and writer who records his daily experiences in his journal. Each brief episode blends his “Dear Journal…” reflections with cinematic scenes from his life, including the music, people, and mysteries surrounding him.
Max’s Journal is available now on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. You can find the series and start with its introduction, Entry Zero, at katohammond.com/maxs-journal.
I’ve also begun bringing my comic books, The Musical Adventures of Kato & The AllyKats, to life through animation. I released the comics a few years ago, and now I’m turning those stories into animated episodes. The first installment is available on YouTube and my other social media platforms, and it ends on a cliffhanger that sets up the next chapter.
I’m also developing Glen Willow: The Movie, based on my novella Glen Willow. Set in the Washington and Prince George’s County area in 1992, the story follows Steffon and Tiffany through a love story shaped by friendship, neighborhood life, and the choices people make as they come of age. The movie is in development.
There are other film ideas taking shape as well, including an additional animated biographical project in its early stages. I’m continuing to develop the stories and figure out the right path for each one.
My documentary TMOTTGoGo: Inside the Pocket has also reached streaming through Fawesome. That project grew out of the same work that has always driven me: documenting go-go, preserving its history, and making sure the people and stories behind the music are seen and heard.
The work continues
For more than 30 years, TMOTTGoGo has been a place to document and celebrate go-go culture. Now I’m bringing that same commitment to books, documentaries, animation, and new kinds of storytelling.
The book launch and the film screenings are milestones, but they’re also part of a larger body of work still in motion. I have more stories to tell, more projects to build, and more plans for bringing them to audiences.
I’m grateful to everyone who has supported the work so far. There’s more to come.
Among the 150 tours that it provides is a guided virtual walking tour of Washington DC’s U Street Corridor and Go-Go music’s history, that helped it overcome the devastation of the ‘68 riots. The walk, which is narrated by Kato Hammond, takes you from St. Augustine’s Chapel to the Howard Theatre, hitting spots in between, such as the Reeves Center, Meridian Hill Park (Malcolm X Park) Ben’s Chili Bowl, Industrial Bank, Lil Benny Way, Masonic Temple, Lincoln Theatre, The African American Civil War Memorial, 960 Club, Chuck Brown Way and much more. Also included in this virtual tour are stories from Andre “Whiteboy” Johnson (