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    South Side Event Space The Citadel Hosts Festival and Grand Opening

    Khamall Jahi wants to create a sustainable and secure space where culture is protected.

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    Event space and lounge The Citadel, at 1761 Parsons Ave., is still a work in progress, but Jahi hopes to build a “community relic” for the South Side.

    Jahi, his brother, Ras Jahlani Ben-Levi, and his mother have partnered to run the space, which will include an event and small office space in one.

    The family acquired the former church last summer and, after some DIY remodeling, are now ready to open it up to the public.

    Jahi recently moved back to Columbus after seven years in California. He said he wants to bring some of his experiences on the West Coast to Columbus, but he wants to stay informed on what the community wants and needs as well.

    “I want to mix-up some of what I’ve been experiencing while I was gone
    with some of the things I feel people like here, and some of what I feel like they might even need here,” he said.

    The space has hosted local music acts like jazz-hop group The Liquid Crystal Project and smaller events like movie screenings and weekly yoga classes, as well as the 2000s hip-hop and R&B dance party Orange Soda.

    Ben-Levi received a grant from the Greater Columbus Arts Council earlier this year, and with that funding, the brothers are planning a festival and grand opening this weekend.

    The festival, taking place on Oct. 23, will be a combination of music and live performances, live art and vendors.

    Ben-Levi notes the festival will feature artists The Flex Crew, N’Shia Iman, Binta, Meaca Moore, Conquest, Tony Phillips, Luh Bear, Turich Benjy, and Ben-Levi’s own group Jxlani and The Sour Boys. The lineup is a mix of genres, including hip-hop, R&B and reggae.

    “I wanted to diversify,” he said. “I didn’t want to just do hip hop and other genres that Columbus is used to.”

    Jahi said the goal is for The Citadel to be a sustainable community space. In the coming months, they’re planning community programming and other celebrations.

    Jahi and Ben-Levi both grew up on the South Side. In returning to Columbus, reconnecting with this community is what Jahi felt like he needed.

    “It’s what I came back for. It feels more like home than any other place,” he said. “I feel like I had all these myths and reasons why I was afraid to come back to Columbus, but it’s been evolving and changing in an amazing way—from the arts to the Black community, to just the consciousness in general.”

    The South Side is made up of “really solid” people from all different walks of life, Jahi said, so to get a space in their neighborhood meant a lot—especially because it’s changing as well.

    “To be amongst that community and to add to that narrative, it’s super important to us to see all the changes and to be a part of that change,” he said. “To be amongst my old neighborhood while the city is changing, that feels super good.”

    For more information, visit thecitadel614.com.

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    Taijuan Moorman
    Taijuan Moormanhttps://columbusunderground.com
    Taijuan Moorman is a former reporter and social media specialist for Columbus Underground and The Metropreneur who covered civics, arts, entertainment, lifestyle, and business news and features.
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