All Posts Tagged With: "DC"

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I went for lunch and stumbled upon one of the many anti-war protests in Washington, DC yesterday.

About 3 minutes in there was an altercation that I didn’t fully capture as I was trying to figure out what was going on and if I needed to move.

The video is just under 7 minutes and 100MB. If you are hurting for bandwidth, try the Flash version.

DC, Maryland and Virginia will hold their primary elections tomorrow, February 12. Whether you support Obama, Huckabee, Clinton or McCain, be sure to go out and vote. If you are not already registered to vote, you should definitely make sure you do so in time for the November elections.

VOTE!!!

I’m particularly excited because as an independent, I thought that I was not able to participate in primaries. Oh, but I am as Virginia has open primaries. This means that whether you are Democrat, Republican, Green, Independent, or whatever you still get to vote in the primary of your choice.

I tutor and mentor at Shaw Junior High through the Coaching for College Program. The student that I am working with this year seems to always have homework that consists of photocopied worksheets of some sort. As a tutor, I try to be consistent in my teaching so that I am not confusing her or using terminology not consistent with what she is learning in school. The problem is that she never has her books. The first time I encountered this, I was helping her with her geography homework although the questions were more like humanities questions. She had some definitions that she had to fill in. The student starts asking me the definitions. Of course I know what they were but my simply telling her would not help her. Also, my definitions may not match what her teacher is looking for. When I asked where her textbook was she said that they are not allowed to bring them home; they stay in the classroom. Although I was skeptical, we went to her classroom and retrieved her book. With the textbook, she was able to successfully complete her homework.

It happened again today. Today’s assignment was ratios. The worksheets asked to figure out the height of a tree based on the height of a meter stick and the lengths of shadows of the meter stick and the tree. Again she had no book. When asked about the book she said the same thing that they are not allowed to take the books out of the classroom. My co-coach Josh and I had a grasp on how to figure the problems out but didn’t know how it was being taught. Were we using the correct terminology? Were we showing her the correct way to solve the problems? It’s all a mystery to me. One of the problems, I used trigonometry to figure out. That’s not going to help her at all because she’s not at that level yet.

Is this true that the students are not able to take their books home? If this is true, my obvious concern is how the children can learn if they are not able to take their books home. Furthermore, how are parents or tutors able to help the students without textbooks?

And if it is true, do other DC Public Schools limit use of textbooks to the classroom or is it just Shaw? I’m going to reserve comment until I do some research about this.

I went to the candlelight vigil for DeAnthony Henson last night. I did not know DeAnthony; instead, I know one of his sisters from the Coaching for College Program. I learned a lot about DeAnthony, though, in that hour or so.

DeAnthony had been in trouble when he was young and had been sent to Oak Hill Youth Center. He became a focused young man while at the facility. He had goals on what he wanted his life to be. He mentored the younger kids and the staff members had nothing but good things to say about him, referring to him as a bright star. They knew he was going places in life.

At the time he was killed, he had been saving for a car and was preparing to move into a new apartment. According to his sister, he had already packed up his apartment for the move. He would also soon be starting a construction job full time. He was very much into family. He and his girlfriend of three years had plans for the future.

DeAnthony was involved with Earth Conservation Corporation (ECC) and Peaceoholics. Representatives of both organizations attended the vigil to speak DeAnthony’s praises. In addition to DeAnthony’s family, his long-time girlfriend, and representatives of ECC and Peaceoholics, representatives from the Mayor’s office also spoke about how good a kid DeAnthony was.

In this video shot less than one month before he was killed, DeAnthony is asked about why he was involved with Earth Conservation Corporation. I was impressed with his answer.

The neighbors in the Southwest community, in the shadows of the almost completed Washington Nationals stadium, where he was killed, spoke up to tell the police what happened which is rare in DC. According to witnesses, “friend” of his shot him. No one knows the reason as yet. The friend has been arrested. At the vigil the family thanked those that spoke to the police.

Violence in DC many times does not discriminate. There have been several cases this year where innocent people, many times children were killed just for being outside. I also found the another member of the Earth Conservation Corporation was gunned down earlier this year as he sat outside his house. This kid, too, had turned his life around, having become an important community journalist, activist, and youth advocate. Ironically just before his murder, that particular kid was producing a final video piece about putting an end to the gun violence endemic in his community.

It is sad that kids that have changed their lives for the better are being killed. Something has to be done.

Tags: senseless violence murder washington dc deanthony henson

One of the many jobs I had while in college was helping my boyfriend (at the time) deliver the Washington Post early every morning. Our route was in the Shaw and Logan Circle neighborhoods between 9th and 13th Street. We started each day at 3 a.m. By 5:30, we would be on 11th Street where we would see a man in his probably in his 60s that lived on 11th Street near P Street. He would be taking out the trash but it appeared that he was going to work. He greeted us with a smile every morning. We called him Smiley.

On Saturday after the tutoring session at Shaw Junior High I was driving on 11th Street. I noticed that Smiley’s house and the one next to it are being replaced by a four-story building. As that was many years ago, I don’t know what ever happened to Smiley and his wife, who we would see occasionally. But I wonder. Were they not able to keep up with the property taxes due to increased property values? Did they pass on leaving their house to their kids who then sold it? Did their house get condemned by the District government? (I remember it wasn’t in the best shape back then.) Or did they simply realize that the value of their house had increased drastically, sell it and move to the suburbs?

At any rate this is merely one example of what is going on all over the District and other cities across the country. Some call it revitalization or urban renewal. Others call it gentrification. My thoughts are mixed on revitalization. As I have an affinity for old houses and buildings, I am glad to see old houses, buildings and neighborhoods preserved. And it seems that crime in those neighborhoods is reduced. But poor people who probably owned their houses outright as well as renters are displaced.

Truth be told at 11th and P Streets, NW, I saw change coming even back then in the early 90s. About six townhouses across the street from Smiley’s house were renovated back then. And several brand new townhouses went up at 12th and M Streets, NW. I guess the people who moved into those were the earlier comers. Although more drastic change would occur after the building of the new convention center on Mount Vernon Place, NW.

Shaw in the 90s was all hustle and bustle. There were people outside no matter what hour – drinking, shooting the breeze, going to the carryout, etc. There was an open air market for pretty much anything you can imagine. Even though there was the crime, I felt safer with all those people outside. Now no one is outside and even during the day it seems like a ghost town – well, not all of Shaw but definitely that one block of 9th Street between O and P Streets. To me that is scary.

Now there’s the new convention center on Mount Vernon Place between 7th and 9th Streets and a brand new building full of expensive condos at 9th and M Streets. The apartment building on 12th Street between O and P Streets that I refused to enter after the first time I went in there to deliver that one newpaper seems nice and serene. I see more greenery that I remember back then and many of the houses seem to be very well maintained. The rowhouse where I lived for a short time at 9th and O seems brand new even though, it was falling apart back then. At 10th and M Streets, NW, there are bikes and Vespas chained up even at night. I remember when a bike frame would be the only thing remaining chained up after being stripped of all loose parts.

I get emails on a weekly basis from various condos at various stages of construction in the city. Despite the higher cost of living, I love the urban environment and would love to move back to the city. I want to walk to work and walk to get groceries. I would be willing to get rid of my car as well. But if I move into these new/renovated digs, wouldn’t I be contributing to the mass displacement of poor people?

I continue to have conflicting views on revitalization but I hope it has worked out for Smiley and his wife.

The DC Council is putting together a commission do a feasibility study on charging a toll to enter the city. A lot of DC residents are for it saying that Maryland and Virginia residents get services (i.e. police, roads, etc.) from the DC government for free. They also claim that commuters ruin the roads and should pay for them. DC can’t charge a commuter tax on out-of-state workers, so they keep trying to come up with ways to get money from the commuters. Many say that they are currently doing this with speeding cameras, parking tickets, and the like.

I think a lot of people here are missing the concept of what a toll is. Toll booths would charge drivers entering the city. I doubt there would be any discrimination as to whether it was a MD or VA plate versus a DC plate. All drivers, including DC drivers, entering the city would be charged. To put this into perspective, how many DC residents drive to Tysons, Pentagon City or Bowie Town Center to shop? How many people go out to Target on Route 1 or the new Walmart that’s inside the beltway? What about restaurants in Maryland or Virginia? (Unfortunately DC is not self-contained meaning DC residents depend on MD and VA more than they are willing to admit.) On the way back from these trips, DC drivers would have to pay the toll as well. It would probably end up costing DC residents more in the long run.

Another thing, the tolls to enter “New York” as Marion Barry mentioned are to enter Manhattan not New York City as a whole. So whether you are driving in from New Jersey or from one of the other NYC boroughs you have to pay the toll. In addition, there is no toll exemption if you live in Manhattan. Furthermore, to liken this idea to that of Manhattan is ridiculous as Manhattan has an excellent public transportation system (in terms of getting to different parts of town and that fact that it’s 24 hours). We don’t have that here in DC.

New York also charges a “commuter tax.” I paid it for 2006 for working in NYC for only 8 weeks while being a VA resident. The reason DC can’t charge a tax on MD and VA residents is that they have a reciprocity agreement. If they really want revenue from commuters they should look into changing that. Changing that, though, would probably cause DC residents who work in MD or VA to have to pay commuter taxes there as well.

I would also like to add that I would largely not be affected by this in terms of commuting as I catch the Metro. Where I would be affected would be when I come into the city for entertainment and when I come in to volunteer. I’m not saying that I would cease these activities because of a toll but I’m sure a lot of people would.

Anyone who reads Express on the Metro or whereever, is constantly bombarded with condo ads. Everyone of them is like: “We’re close to the Metro, pick me.” “Your lifestyle will improve, pick me.” With the amount of money they’re selling these condos for, I doubt that my lifestyle would improve by that much. I might spend less on the Metro getting to work. But I don’t think that save a few dollars a day would be enough that I could pay for these condos. The ads show the lowest price while most of the lowest-priced units are already sold. The thing that gets me is that it doesn’t matter much the neighborhood these condos are in, they’re still expensive. The overall draw of city life is the city life. If you can’t walk anywhere, what’s the point. Many of these condos have no grocery stores or recreation anywhere near them. If I still have to drive everywhere I don’t get it.
With all these ads it’s hard to imagine that there’s a housing shortage. Would developers feel the need to advertise so much if people were dying to have some place to live. The shortage was the justification for the ridiculous market. With the real estate bubble bursting, I wonder if the prices will come down.

Someone else was apparently frustrated with the real estate market. I saw this sticker at the corner of 13th and I Streets, NW. It has since been removed.