Prince George’s County Black businessmen cry foul on council’s anti gogo policy
/Brian Logan is a businessman. He owns a hair salon, does landscaping and works as a DJ. But what Logan cannot do is run a go-go club in his native Prince George’s County.
In July 2011, after a string of homicides linked to clubs in the area, the county passed a law prohibiting anyone convicted of a felony from operating a dance hall that plays music. That means Logan, who was convicted in 2000 of possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute, cannot operate a club, something he says he was unaware of until after he had invested in a dance hall in Landover.
“People with prior convictions own other businesses,” Logan argued. And after serving 18 months in jail and a year of probation, he was able to have his voting rights reinstated. So, he asks, why can’t he run a dance club?
The reasons have much to do with how the music is perceived in the region.
Go-go music is the District’s own indigenous style of music. Steeped in a heavy bass line and backed by a heavy beat, the music has been the soundtrack for a number of black Washingtonians and others in the close in suburbs. Over the years, violence has sometimes overlapped with clubs playing the music.
That violence led Prince George’s officials to pass a law that many hoped would dissuade those with criminal inclinations. But for lovers of the music, the law is seen as overly restrictive — and worse.
This summer, club owners — most with no criminal record — filed a $10 million lawsuit in U.S. District Court alleging discrimination, but the case was dismissed. Logan was among the plaintiffs.
