Content categorized as Civil Rights

DC’s first transitional drug treatment program for women opens

Samaritan Inns’ new facility provides homeless or at-risk women seeking sobriety with a six-month treatment program that allows them to live full-time in the building while receiving a personalized regimen of therapy and medical care, and later, assistance finding jobs and housing.

Thrive DC and CFLS open 12-bed housing center for women returning from prison or fighting addiction

Thrive DC and the Community Family Life Services are opening their second housing facility in the Kenilworth neighborhood in Northeast D.C. to help women returning from prison or struggling with addiction to have stable housing, access to mental health services, and a peer support network.

Hope for the disabled

Artist/Vendor Abel Putu reflects on his personal motivations in overcoming his challenges.

DC residents join nationwide rally to stop violence against Asian Americans

On May 15, a group of individuals assembled at Freedom Plaza in D.C. to bring attention to the problem of violent hate crimes against Asian Americans.

Mothers rally to pass police reform in George Floyd’s name

Ahead of Mother’s Day, the Center for Racial Equity and Justice held an event asking Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. While the national legislation stalls, local reforms are being considered.

Panhandling permits are a bad idea

Vendor Jeffrey McNeil offers his opinion on why Montgomery County’s consideration of requiring permits to panhandle is extreme and only furthers stigma.

Change we can believe in? I think not

Wendell Williams questions President Joe Biden’s commitment to racial justice. 

I hope that Derek Chauvin’s conviction is only the beginning

Aida Peery looks ahead to greater accountability for racism and police brutality after Derek Chauvin’s conviction.

Montgomery County weighs panhandling permits for ‘safety’

Montgomery County Councilmember Craig Rice is reintroducing efforts to require permits for soliciting money or donations near roadways for “pedestrian safety.”

DC Council votes to advance Comp Plan amendment

In the first of two rounds of votes, the DC Council moved proposed revisions forward to the Comprehensive Plan, despite ongoing displacement and gentrification concerns.

Housing activism turns confrontational in face of deepening housing crisis

Tenants and housing advocates are using more confrontational tactics to fight eviction and displacement as the national affordable housing shortage intensifies.

The Miseducation of Christina Cole: A whole new world

Yesterday I wanted to change the world. Today I wouldn’t mind seeing it destroyed

When trans and non-binary people age out of homeless services, there’s nowhere to turn

Transgender people in the United States face barriers in many aspects of their lives, from job discrimination to family rejection. While LGBTQ-focused youth programs and housing assistance is growing nationally and in the District, transgender adults are being left behind after aging out of the system in their mid-twenties.

Earth Day

Ayub Abdul shares a poem reflecting on how every day should be Earth Day.

‘DC’s richest residents pay lower taxes than everyone else,’ report finds

Ahead of debates over the mayor’s FY22 budget, a DCFPI analysis finds that D.C.’s 1% pays less in taxes than everyone but the lowest 20% of residents and argues that higher taxes on D.C.’s wealthiest residents are essential to addressing racial inequities in wealth and income.

Council advances Comprehensive Plan amid concerns of racial inequity

D.C. Council votes to advance the Comprehensive Plan amendment, despite concerns of exacerbating racial inequity.

To address record overdose fatality rates, DC must establish safe consumption spaces and decriminalize drugs

Shane Sullivan, a harm reduction outreach worker, argues that only full decriminalization of drugs will enable the District to seriously address its increasingly deadly street supply. 

Unique settlement creates hope for change to rampant housing discrimination in DC

A source-of-income lawsuit against Bozzuto Management results in a unique settlement with broad implication for future discrimination cases related to housing subsidies

On the Beat, Part 1

As the trial over George Floyd’s traumatic murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer last year wears on, another young man, 20-year old Daunte Wright, was killed on April 11 by another officer from the same police department on Sunday

Overloaded with landlords and real-estate developers, Bowser’s “Saving DC’s Rental Housing Market Strike Force” leaves out marginalized tenant voices

Tenant voices were conspicuously absent from the deliberation on recommendations that will affect the District’s most vulnerable renters’ ability to remain housed through the end of the pandemic and long after.