“We got voices for a reason, we’ll continue to push through, this the kind of poetry that will get the message through,” Wilson said as onlookers murmured in approval. “Everybody got that one thing, and for me, it’s Duke.”

Wilson, a junior at Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Georgetown, is an aspiring director, poet, cinematographer, and a vocal advocate for the arts in D.C. He’s also a starting forward on Bell’s varsity basketball team and a quarterback on Ballou’s football team. He also runs track for Duke Ellington and plays center field and pitcher on McKinley Tech’s baseball team.

At Duke, students who wish to participate in athletics can apply to other D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association programs to play on teams the arts school doesn’t field. Wilson is in Duke Ellington’s Cinematic Arts and Media Production program (CAMP) and balances that with athletics elsewhere.

For Bell’s basketball team he will participate this week’s DCIAA tournament, which culminates with the city title game Saturday.

Wilson’s schedule can be grueling. Most days begin with a 7 a.m. track practice on Duke Ellington’s campus. Indoor track is the only sport that his school offers — Wilson primarily runs hurdles and straddles his time between track and basketball in the winter.

An hour and a half later, school starts. On Tuesdays his first class is journalism, which tasks him with writing podcast scripts and designing magazines. He moves to his cinematography class, then to lunch, then to a three-hour arts period from 2 to 5 p.m.

“That’s when I’m able to perfect my craft,” Wilson said.

Some days, it’s poetry that piques his interest. He writes stanzas for hours, penning poetry with themes personal to him: his roots, his personal relationships, his immediate surroundings.

“But what is Duke without the instruments?” Wilson wrote in a poem titled “Our One Thing.” “Hearing violins on the third floor while writing sentences.”

Other days, Wilson and Locke Randall, another Duke student and athlete, work on their photography business, Elemental Studios. As students in the CAMP program, Wilson and Randall shoot photos of Duke Ellington’s monthly shows, which showcase the artistic talent of the student body.

The two have also taken photos of Duke Ellington alum Dave Chappelle’s comedy shows, among other local events.

Wilson and Randall have little time to waste after school lets out at 5 p.m. They have roughly an hour to make it across the city to Bell, in Columbia Heights, for 6 p.m. basketball practice with the Griffins, and their train ride takes roughly 45 minutes.

The commute can be painstaking, Wilson said. But given Duke Ellington’s atypical school schedule, Wilson and Randall wouldn’t be able to make the practices for other schools, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Cardozo and McKinley Tech.

Bell’s 6 p.m. practice time is their lifeline. The Griffins share their home court with five other teams: two middle school teams, two junior varsity teams and the girls’ varsity team. The boys’ team practices last.

Bell Coach Lionel Edmonds watches Wilson and Randall, always in lockstep, walk into practice ready to tackle the day’s activities. He and the coaching staff understand their commitments to the arts — Edmonds and his assistants have even attended Duke Ellington’s monthly performances.

“They’re doing a lot, and they’re being asked to do a lot from a bunch of different adults, so we respect that and we acknowledge that,” Edmonds said. “But we still have a high level of expectation for them in terms of how much energy they’re giving us, how much effort they’re giving us [during] practices and games.”

Wilson, a 6-foot-3 forward, has emerged as a vocal leader for the Griffins. Randall, a guard with a more reserved demeanor, has found a leadership role of his own, according to Edmonds.

It’s normally well after 8 p.m. by the time practice ends and Wilson and Randall commute home. Wilson says he “rarely sleeps,” instead using celery and watermelon juices made by his mom to keep him energized throughout the day. Randall practices yoga before he falls asleep, a time that helps him decompress.

The grind is worth it, they both agree. It’s their shared love for the arts that keeps them grounded, a passion they’re willing to fight for.

Wilson remembers how cold it was when he traveled to the DCPS headquarters in December 2022. He joined dozens of classmates in front of the city’s central office to protest a proposal that would hand over the arts school to the D.C. public school system, a move students fear will lead to defunding.

“All of that brought awareness to what we are and how great we are at the arts we do,” Wilson said.

There still hasn’t been a resolution to situation. But with multicolored signs surrounding him and a chorus of people greeting him with applause as he concluded his poem, Wilson felt he used his art for change — something that will live with him long after his athletic career concludes.