January 18, 2011 | 10:29 AM | By Anna
Flickr: Marlon E
"I have a dream..."
As someone who did Speech and Debate for all four years of high school, I have a special appreciation for first drafts, unexpected riffs and the power to be inspired by the moment, the divine…or Mahalia Jackson. Check out “On Martin Luther King Day, remembering the first draft of ‘I Have a Dream‘”, by Clarence B. Jones, via WaPo:
The weather and the massive crowd were in sync – both calm and warm for the March on Washington. Even the D.C. Metropolitan Police, which had been bracing for a race riot, had nothing to complain about.
I remember when it was all over but the final act. As I stood some 50 feet behind the lectern, march Chairman A. Philip Randolph introduced Martin, to wild applause, as “the moral leader of our nation.” And I still didn’t know how Martin had pulled the speech together after our meeting.
After Martin greeted the people assembled, he began his speech, and I was shocked when these words quickly rolled out:
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check.
Martin was essentially reciting the opening suggestions I’d handed in the night before. This was strange, given the way he usually worked over the material Stanley and I provided. When he finished the promissory note analogy, he paused. And in that breach, something unexpected, historic and largely unheralded happened. Martin’s favorite gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson, who had performed earlier in the day, called to him from nearby: “Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin, tell ‘em about the dream!”
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January 18, 2011 | 8:35 AM | By Anna
Good morning, DCentric readers! We sure are happy to see you, again.
Taking to roads to find Martin Luther King’s legacy “It started as a series of high school road trips, chances to venture out of the District with the loose intention of picking apart a well-worn Chris Rock joke about the violence on streets named after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “Eight teenagers from five D.C. high schools crisscrossed the country with two mentors and video cameras, visiting more than a dozen “MLK streets.” Their driving tours in 2008 coincided with the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, putting the students between a history they barely knew and history in the making.” (The Washington Post)
History of King holiday all but forgotten 25 years later “Monday, January 17 marks the 25th anniversary of the Martin Luther King Day national holiday. President Obama and other administration officials have picked up on the call made repeatedly by the King family and civil rights and social service organizations for the day to be not just about celebration, pageantry, and parades, but a day of service…Polls show that a majority of Americans as individuals plan to observe the King holiday in some way. However, the King holiday is still not the universally observed federal holiday that it could or should be.” (thegrio.com)
D.C. area and Dixie drifting farther and farther apart “The region’s Southern accent is also becoming measurably less pronounced, linguists say. The Confederate flag doesn’t fly much in these parts anymore. Korean barbecue has taken its place alongside the Southern pit-cooked variety in many neighborhoods, and the “sweet tea line” that once stretched across Virginia has gotten blurry…the Washington area’s “Southernness” has fallen into steep decline, part of a trend away from strongly held regional identities. In the 150th anniversary year of the start of the Civil War, the region at the heart of the conflict has little left of its historic bond with Dixie.” (The Washington Post)
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January 14, 2011 | 4:44 PM | By Anna
Flickr: Mike Licht
Now reading, “Is Michelle Rhee becoming a Republican darling?” from Mike DeBonis at the Post:
Rhee’s message has been embraced by the favorite media outlets of the conservative movement. She rolled out her policy platform in a Wall Street Journal op-ed and made an appearance on Fox News Channel (in addition to appearances on the Today Show and other less partisan forums). Today, a post on the Heritage Foundation’s blog calls on “opponents of sensible education reforms to put the needs of children before the demands of special interests–as Rhee’s aptly named group suggests.”
It’s not hard to explain the GOP’s embrace: Rhee’s policy agenda has long been heavy on attacking the role of teacher unions in blocking the sorts of reforms she believes are most effective — eliminating teacher “tenure,” ending seniority-based teacher transfers, evaluating teachers by their students’ test scores, etc. Democrats, with their closer ties to national unions, tread more lightly around those issues in a way that the GOP does not.
But the question for Rhee is to what extent she wants her nascent national brand to get caught up in partisan politics, especially going into a presidential election year.
January 14, 2011 | 2:44 PM | By Anna
A still from the film.
Just heard about this– a film I’ve wanted to see is now available online, via Hulu. If you haven’t seen “The Nine Lives of Marion Berry” yet, go here and stream for yourself, if you have the capacity to do so. Here’s the blurb from Hulu:
The Nine Lives of Marion Barry tells the saga of this despised, beloved and resilient politician. It’s the story of race, power, sex and drugs, and a man who is the star of one of the most fascinating and bizarre chapters of American politics.
WaPo said this about the HBO documentary:
But what “Nine Lives” has that the great print profiles lack is a delicious collection of archival footage from the 1960s and ’70s. Here’s a young, slim, goateed, dashiki-clad man the newspapers called “Marion S. Barry, Negro militant” at community meetings, asking angry young Washingtonians to rise up with him against police brutality, “dig it.” As Jesse Jackson says in the movie, Barry was “a marching, picketing, protesting, Freedom Riding young man who had that fire.”
January 14, 2011 | 10:31 AM | By Anna
Flickr: Smithsonian's National Zoo
The best time to view the lion cubs at the Zoo is 12:30 every day, but they may not be outside, especially if it is cold...or if an extra-good episode of Sesame Street is on.
I often post “Awww!”-inspiring pictures of local baby animals whenever I have to go away for several hours, but I feel like this image is especially poignant and meaningful; you see, much like a parent taking care of the more mundane– and yet crucial!– aspects of raising a child, my generous employer, American University, is similarly cleaning me behind the ears when I’d rather be playing. And by cleaning, I mean training and by playing I mean blogging. I’m off to a training until 2pm. Regularly scheduled programming after that, not that it will be anywhere near this cute.
January 14, 2011 | 8:40 AM | By Anna
Good morning, DCentric readers! Huzzah for Friday!
Students From Watkins Elementary School Pay Tribute To Martin Luther King, Jr. “For the seventh year, fourth grade students took buses to the Lincoln Memorial and recited the words of Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Each of about 100 students read one part of the speech, a sentence or two or sometimes just a phrase. But do students at such a tender age really understand the words and the legacy of the Civil Rights legend? Students told FOX 5 the speech means everyone, no matter who, is entitled to equal rights. As for whether King’s dream has come true, one student said, “No, not yet. It’s come close, but not yet.” (myfoxdc.com)
Md. father uses robocall to get revenge on school officials “At 4:30 a.m. Thursday, phones began ringing with 29 seconds of automated, mocking objection: This is a Prince George’s County School District parent, calling to thank you for the robocall yesterday at 4:30 in the morning. I decided to return the favor. While I know the school district wanted to ensure I drop my child off two hours late on a snow day, I already knew that before I went to bed. I hope this call demonstrates why a 4:30 a.m. call does more to annoy than to inform.” (The Washington Post)
Eww: Metro Employees Urinate and Defecate on Trains and Buses “…Metro employees aren’t only using pocket tracks to relieve themselves during their shifts — some have even taken to urinating and defecating inside trains and buses…one bus operator told Weir that she “used to go into a cup or bag at the back of her bus when a bathroom stop wasn’t an option” — though that kind of behavior has been slightly curbed since WMATA installed cameras on its buses. According to the transit workers’ union, the reason for the peeing and pooping all over Metro’s property is that operators don’t have sufficient time to use the bathroom during their breaks, even when there is a bathroom nearby…” (DCist)
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January 13, 2011 | 4:37 PM | By Anna
Flickr: Jenn Larsen
Beer at the Black Squirrel, in Adams Morgan.
According to NBC4, The Black Squirrel, a bar on 18th Street NW, is generating some serious buzz– and it’s not always the positive kind, nor what you might expect:
A months-old blog post on the website of an Adams Morgan bar is stirring up new controversy. Twitter is all… atwitter (sorry) about an entry on the website of the Black Squirrel (2427 18th St. N.W.) decrying illegal aliens…
Local Twitter users are promising to boycott the venue. “Moving back to DC in 3 days, love craft beer & the only thing I know about @ThBlackSquirrel is won’t ever go there,” wrote Kevin Thurman (@kmthurman).
The Black Squirrel might want to keep the following in mind: Do NOT anger people on the Internet. Especially about political issues, in D.C., to people who need artisanal craft beers merely to survive.
I’m not surprised that a bar– even one in the Morg, which I associate more with partying than politicking– has a blog which explores hot-button issues now and then. This is D.C., after all. I am surprised when such a blog boldly proclaims sentiments like this about illegal immigration:
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January 13, 2011 | 2:22 PM | By Anna
Flickr: Foxymoron
"I Heart Gentrification" street art from this summer, found on U Street.
Michel Martin’s Can I Just Tell You? column about the recent, shocking violence at L’Enfant Plaza inspired a Washingtonian named Jane Lincoln to leave this comment on NPR’s website:
Thank you for your thought-provoking essay. I’m a DC native, white, and i’m used to subtle messages of hostility from black folks. I totally get it. The young man clearly is not from here. He would not have been enraged by their attack. or puzzled. If he was a native, he’d know, ah, this is one of those pay back times. I have white privilege, and no matter how pro-black i may be, i have what they don’t and they’re mad. Yeah, they were kids, and being bad, and the new twist is videotaping. But its an old game. Let’s find a way to humiliate a white person. Ah! That felt good. Now, what do we do? I’m bored again.
If i were present, i would have run to the station attendant and asked her/him to call police. I would also look as closely as i could at the kids to see if i knew them, or at least to identify them if ever they’re caught. i’d leave my contact info with the metro police. i’d stick around to see if i could be helpful to the young man. i know i would have done this. i’ve done it before.
I love this town. I work on my racism. I live in Edgewood NE DC and have lived in ward 5 for 23 years. The tensions between new and old, black and white, haves and have nots, will continue.
