Apprenticeship
"Knives In, Knives Out"
Fall 2027
One can be apolitical while still asserting that not every young man needs to be a theater major. There is dignity, even a kind of pragmatic spirituality in all work. Whether a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker, work imports enduring metaphors to all those so engaged. In "Knives In, Knives Out", 3-4 young high school boys will learn some of the rudiments of butchery from Soko's experts. But more than the skills themselves is the central idea conveyed.
"You are like this knife you hold in your hand. You have the potential to inflict damage - upon yourself, your family, your community. But in learning how to wield this knife, and yourself, you can instead be a force of provision, protection. This same sharp knife in the surgeon's hands saves life. In learning how to hold your knife, you have the opportunity to do the same."
Students who completes the 4-month program will receive a SOKO Certificate and have an opportunity to continue their apprenticeship, with the expectation that they can one day become master butchers.
Teaching/Service
"The $40 Meal"
Fall 2027
Teaching young people service is to show them a kind of beauty, a harnessing of the self, not just for the purposes of work, but towards the application of beauty. Of course, responsibility goes hand in hand with such things, but a better way to imagine that responsibility is in a broader framework - what we ought to render to ourselves, to our family, to our community.
"The $40 Meal" shows how cooking need not be a lofty enterprise. In fact, the loftiest things about preparing food for oneself or others come through the simplicity of interaction, of giving and rendering with kindness, and sharing some of the beauty that one possesses.
Food Programs
"Wine & Books - A Life Together"
Fall 2027
Wine and books - their full enjoyment - requires intention, attention, patience, and designation. It also calls out for a designation, a setting aside. The first requirement is material - money, a table, a food, company - all such things have to be arranged. But the second part is spiritual, for lack of a better world - it is the numinous that animates the body, the guides motives, ideals, hopes, dreams.
Wine's ability as a motiving factor, as that crucial, mysterious, spice of life is legend. But few programs truly address the full range of how a man or a woman can truly abide with wine - taking full advantage of this unique hour in the wine world to sculpt, shape, build and enjoy - now, and for the years to come.
Oral History/Documentary
Takoma Park
Fall 2029
Though its "downtown" is small and humble, Takoma Park looms large in our imagination. It is where our founder, Malik Wilson, first dreamed, and it is what sustains him - and us - in the years since. In Takoma Park, Malik examines the history, folkways, and the emerging retail and restaurants of our beloved community.
Oral History/Documentary
Restaurants
2026-2029
Our most democratic, Romantic places, restaurants capture something essential, ongoing, truthful. Simple palaces of hopes and dreams, they reveal what we esteem and find worthwhile. In this years-long undertaking, Takoma/Cleveland Park seeks to get to the root of how the beauty is produced, from those who serve.