Content categorized as Systemic Racism

We love you all

Kym Parker writes a poem about acceptance and God’s love.

Why we can’t just defund the police

Artist/Vendor Ayub Abdul shares opinions on why the community and police need to collaborate to help right social justice and meet local needs.

Critical Race Theory is divisive and regressive

Artist/Vendor Jeffery McNeil provides views on Critical Race Theory.

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.

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.

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.

The Miseducation of Christina Cole: A whole new world

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

‘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.

Residents urge D.C. Health to expand resources for people experiencing homelessness

Advocates, government officials and health professionals gathered virtually for the D.C. Department of Health performance oversight hearings for the 2020 and 2021 fiscal year on March 4 and 19. Several requests were made to better support those experiencing homelessness and poverty.

Still here, still strong

Artist and Vendor Joseph Jackson writes about his experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Searching for truth in a world full of make believe

Author Jeffery McNeil reflects on his changes in his life and the divide in the United States

Sometimes

A poem by Artist/Vendor Ron Dudley, a.k.a. “Pookanu”

Looking Ahead

Looking ahead nowadays is harder than looking back. It used to be that when you’re looking forward you can look back on what you’ve been through and how you got through what you’ve been through to get to where you are.