Help Ridgecrest residents stay in their homes!
Help Ridgecrest residents stay in their homes!
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DC has a homelessness crisis and the whole country knows it. Bowser alleged that there were only 221 homeless people in DC after completing several raids of encampments across the city. Housing organizers and community advocates have different ideas about how to address these issues. This video shares some thoughts from those impacted.
Upcoming events:
Once more for the folks in the back: Congress’ Plan to Defund DC by $1 Billion Is Not Yet a Done Deal!
The Congress has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia. [If you were raised in the District of Columbia, you will have learned this in your DC History class.] It means that we have a shadow senator and two shadow “representatives” of the House but neither of them have the right to vote in either congressional body. In essence, DC residents have no federal representation. Despite this, we pay plenty of federal taxes.
Even if you learned your American History outside of the District, you probably remember that “no taxation without representation” was a key rallying cry during the lead-up to the American Revolution. Back then, folks willing to fight a tyrannical regime thought it was unjust to impose taxes on citizens without giving them a voice in the legislative body that determines how taxes would be levied. It’s still unjust.
It’s been some time since many of us had any kind of history class [decades for me]. I don’t know why the US Constitution was set up to screw over the citizens of the capital city but that’s where we are and have been since the nation’s founding. But let’s not digress.
Because Congress has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, the argument can be made that every DC resident is a constituent of every senator and representative that does have a vote. It is perfectly legitimate for each and every DC resident to go to the congressional office buildings, knock on the doors of the elected officials there and say, “I didn’t vote for you. You do not represent me. You have no right to tell DC’s city council and mayor—the people who do represent me—how to spend the taxes that I pay to the District of Columbia.”
On the other hand, we may not be prepared to do a repeat of the Revolutionary War. A more strategic option might be to ask them to pass the DC Local Funds Act. Below is a plan of attack put together by Free DC. We can get some control over our tax dollars without firing a single musket.
https://freedcproject.org/news/encourage-representatives-to-pass-the-dc-local-funds-act
Throughout the last year the city saw several initiatives to improve the state of education in the city. We’ve collected some highlights from mainstream news sources to see what they were talking about. Local parents with children enrolled in DCPS are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on attendance and educational grade level standards. Amid lowering crime rates across the city people still seem to be concerned about crime. What questions do you have about education in Washington DC? Tell us here and we’ll investigate for you!
Important before. Important now.
We at Grassroots DC reaffirm our commitment to community power through grassroots storytelling.
In the face of the changes soon to come, we will utilize our First Amendment rights to uplift stories that need telling, stories that need to be heard, and actions that need to be taken.
Standing up to tyranny is a choice you make everyday, regardless of who's in office. Together we can be the solution and work toward what is best for our community and therefore ourselves.
At the end of the day, we keep us safe.
The Bronx-born actress has made a home here in the District, just over the Anacostia, and has established herself as one of the region’s more prolific performers. Just in the last year alone you could find her in Signature’s Passing Strange, Private Jones, and most recently Hair — first in the ensemble, but finishing out in the role of Sheila. But Signature isn’t her only turf, of course: she was recently seen in Mosaic’s workshop of Postmortem, and later this year she’ll be playing Anna in a massive staging of Disney’s Frozen at Olney Theatre Center, in one of the very first productions outside of Broadway.
While her talent and range are the drivers behind these roles, there’s something else that seems to get her in the audition room that’s less eager: her skin color. Or rather, the fairness of it which creates an “exotic” ambiguity that casting directors seem to prefer. Recently she posted some thoughts about the matter to her social media story. I’ve had similar experiences in my own life, so I took some time to chat with Alex about her experiences as a mixed person in theater spaces. There is an ever-growing desire to tell diverse stories, but not always the talent pool with the lived experience to do so.
(Alex uses she/her pronouns and spells her last name with a capital D in De Bard.)
This interview was conducted with the support of Grassroots DC, an East of the River-based media organization who specializes in bringing the power of the press to marginalized groups. You can support their cause by donating here.
A series of important events affecting our communities
Representation for Ward 8 residents is under attack. As you may have heard, Councilmember Trayon White (D, Ward 8) was arrested on a criminal complaint of bribery on August 18th. The claim alleges that White accepted payments in exchange for the extension of contracts with the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE). The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI, the D.C. Office of the Inspector General, and the IRS Criminal Investigation Washington Field Office.
Not unlike many other council members who have been involved in scandals and/or criminally charged, Trayon White is not perfect. The violence interruption programs that he supports are being credited for reducing crime and violence in Ward 8. If fully supported, they could transform policing to one that is more community-based. An increase in the number of violence interrupters may also result in a decrease in the need for the current number of patrol officers in the areas, something that the Office of the DC Auditor’s MPD audit suggests is needed. Trayon White’s involvement in a potential bribery case could jeopardize those programs. What's more consequential, is that the case could leave Ward 8 without DC council representation, in a city filled with residents who are not given equal representation in congress.
On Monday, September 9th at 7pm many residents of Ward 8 and the city at-large signed into a virtual community town hall hosted by Harriet’s Wildest Dreams (HWD) titled “What’s at Stake for Ward 8”. The meeting was facilitated by HWD’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, NeeNee Taylor and HWD Policy Organizer, Jillian Burford. Who, after grounding the meeting in the organization's principles, gave the virtual floor to Councilmember Robert White (D, At-large) to go over what will and may happen next in regards to Trayon White’s seat on the DC Council and several committees.
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Many mainstream media outlets are reporting as though Trayon is sure to be found guilty but during the community town hall many called for reminders that we are all innocent until proven guilty in this country. As an elected official, he continues to represent Ward 8 until voters decide otherwise. Federal charges don't change that immediately, and with an upcoming election, we'll soon find out who Ward 8 residents choose to represent them.
As of March 2024 there have been 140 Black people killed by D.C. police since 2013. The department has been accused of using other racially biased tactics such as stop and frisk, and jump out units. Jump-Out squads aren’t the only police units committing brutal acts against Washingtonians. A mandated MPD report revealed that Black people made up the majority of people who were stopped, frisked, arrested, and violated by special units in 2019 and 2020. These units are a part of the Narcotics and Specialized Investigations Division; officers usually wear plain clothes, and their duties are to remove illegal guns from the streets and handle investigations dealing with narcotics.
After the launch of the Law Enforcement Exchange programs, U.S. Law enforcement continues to intensify the militarization of its agencies, most notably through the 1033 Program. This program was created to supply U.S. police departments with surplus military equipment ranging from weapons to uniform gear. In the last decade, protestors have been met with local police agencies dressed in riot gear. MPD is among the many U.S. police departments that have had to settle large sum civil lawsuits against its officers for misconduct, excessive force, unlawful arrests, and unjust murders. In 2021, D.C. chose to settle two lawsuits in the amount $1.6 million dollars for police misconduct during the infamous 2017 Inaugural protests aka J-20. Wards 7 & 8 are often referred to as police “occupied territories”, similar to Gaza and the West Bank being occupied by IDF soldiers and Israel Border Patrol agents.
The IDF (Israel Defense Force) is a military style unit within the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza. The atrocities committed by the IDF against Palestinians have been well documented since its inception. This same unit is one of the security entities responsible for training U.S. Law Enforcement agencies. The IDF is also referred to as “IOF: Israel Occupying Forces” by its critics, Palestinians, and activists. The INP (Israel National Police), is the police force that was established the same year as the beginning of the Nakaba.
In the beginning half of 2023, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Black Lives Matter D.C. hosted several hybrid “Cop Watch'' trainings, one was held at the Black Worker Wellness Center located in Southeast, D.C. Impacted communities are becoming more experimental with creating alternatives to policing that are grounded in love, community self-defense, and autonomy. Providing a glimmer of hope in a world of doom.
When a young black man in Washington, D.C., lost his life to violence, Charnal Chaney felt the tragedy was preventable. “We had two government agencies in that neighborhood, over a billion dollars in resources. I feel like he should still be here.”
This conviction led Chaney, founder of Bold Yoga, and Katherine Russell, founder of Transformative Justice Solutions, to create The Healing Outlet. “We realized that there’s already a lot of great work being done, it’s just that it’s not being coordinated and we’re not working together,” Chaney said in a video with Russell in which they describe their vision for the app.
“People need resources now, so another big part of this app is being able to instantly connect people to others who are grieving and resources on how to cope with the losses that neighborhoods are feeling, that schools are feeling…the effects and the trauma [of gun violence] impact everybody in the vicinity,” Russell states.
On Feb 6, the DC Council had their first vote on the Crimnibus aka Councilmember Pinto and Mayor Bowser’s “Secure DC” Omnibus in their legislative meeting. While this hyper-racist crime bill passed the first vote, HUNDREDS of you called & emailed and PACKED the Council meeting, resulting in some critical harmful provisions being removed from the bill!
These harm reduction amendments are an important win. Unfortunately, many dangerous provisions still remain and the second and FINAL vote is coming up on March 5th. But we know the community pressure is working!
So, please join us and take action to stop the crimnibus!
Join Grassroots DC for our Media Literacy Workshop!
In the workshop we will:
- Learn how to make mainstream media work for you
- Deconstruct the way that local news reports on issues that affect our communities
- Understand when and why the news gets it wrong
- Learn how to convince local news producers to pay attention to issues they normally ignore and include perspectives they usually omit
Upcoming events
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Once more for the folks in the back: Congress’ Plan to Defund DC by $1 Billion Is Not Yet a Done Deal!
The Congress has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia. [If you were raised in the District of Columbia, you will have learned this in your DC History class.] It means that we have a shadow senator and two shadow “representatives” of the House but neither of them have the right to vote in either congressional body. In essence, DC residents have no federal representation. Despite this, we pay plenty of federal taxes.
Even if you learned your American History outside of the District, you probably remember that “no taxation without representation” was a key rallying cry during the lead-up to the American Revolution. Back then, folks willing to fight a tyrannical regime thought it was unjust to impose taxes on citizens without giving them a voice in the legislative body that determines how taxes would be levied. It’s still unjust.
It’s been some time since many of us had any kind of history class [decades for me]. I don’t know why the US Constitution was set up to screw over the citizens of the capital city but that’s where we are and have been since the nation’s founding. But let’s not digress.
Because Congress has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, the argument can be made that every DC resident is a constituent of every senator and representative that does have a vote. It is perfectly legitimate for each and every DC resident to go to the congressional office buildings, knock on the doors of the elected officials there and say, “I didn’t vote for you. You do not represent me. You have no right to tell DC’s city council and mayor—the people who do represent me—how to spend the taxes that I pay to the District of Columbia.”
On the other hand, we may not be prepared to do a repeat of the Revolutionary War. A more strategic option might be to ask them to pass the DC Local Funds Act. Below is a plan of attack put together by Free DC. We can get some control over our tax dollars without firing a single musket.
https://freedcproject.org/news/encourage-representatives-to-pass-the-dc-local-funds-act