The People

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December 22, 2010 | 3:33 PM | By

DMV Masala

Flickr: Josep Tomas

Black and brown.

I walked outside yesterday and felt abnormally grateful for the traffic clogging Irving Street at lunch time. I needed a cab and there were several, stranded in front of me.

The middle one had a female driver, so I chose her. Once I slammed the door, I was surprised; the interior smelled like auto parts, dust and WD-40– a combination which immediately transported me three decades in to the past, to my father’s garage, a place where I learned the difference between a flat and Phillips screwdriver before I figured out the alphabet. I checked my sexism immediately and felt bad for the dissonance I was experiencing at the shock of such a scent combined with a female driver. I knew better than that.

“Thanks for picking me.” She smiled wryly. She was middle-aged and African American, with thick, bouncy curls. Some of her facial expressions reminded me of Loretta Devine, which secretly delighted me. Devine was the best part of one of my favorite seasonal guilty pleasures: “This Christmas“. Stop judging me. I liked it before Chris Brown did that. Oh, you’re judging me because it’s a mediocre film which over-relies on holiday cliches to make its point…sure, I deserve that. Carry on!

“I’m not going to lie,” I began. “I thought it was cool that you were a female cab driver. I don’t usually get those.”

“Yeah, we’re rare.” She studied me in her rear view mirror.

“Are you Indian?”, she asked.

“My parents are–”

“And so are you!”, she declared, emphatically.

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FILED UNDER: The People, Immigrants, Race and Ethnicity, Racial Divide
December 22, 2010 | 10:44 AM | By

A Vigil in Brookland for Raj Patel

thisisbossi

Last Saturday, Raj Patel was murdered when he chanced upon a robbery happening in the corner store he managed, in Brookland. Last night, the community which appreciated him held a vigil in his memory. We Love DC was there, and unimpressed with MPD’s excuse for its absence:

Mr. Patel’s son, nephew and brother were present, and have asked that any further donations not be made to the family, but rather to Brookland causes, businesses and churches. Mr. Patel’s nephew explained that while the donations were generous and welcome, that the family knew that Mr. Patel would have wanted that money to go to the people who would need it this holiday season within the Brookland community.

I was disappointed at the lack of representation from MPD, who did not send anyone to the event. I received an email from Commander Greene of the Fifth District last night who said that they had not been made aware of the vigil, and had they known, they would have sent someone to attend and speak to the group, but that they were unaware. Given the large number of posts on area listserves, as well as flyers throughout the neighborhood announcing the event, I find it troubling they were not organically aware of the event, and would have needed an invite.

NBC 4 has more; the murder has not been solved.

FILED UNDER: The People, Brookland, Crime, Gun Violence, Immigrants
December 17, 2010 | 4:20 PM | By

On Today’s Metro Connection…

Rebecca Sheir/Metro Connection

While WAMU is nationally-known for The Diane Rehm Show, and locally-beloved for The Kojo Nnamdi Show, as of last week, I’ve found myself falling for WAMU’s other exclusive program: Metro Connection. I mention last week because last Friday, I listened to one of the stories from MC twice– and that was before I blogged about it. This week, I’m having driveway moments all over again, and just in case you missed it, I thought I’d spotlight two stories that DCentric readers may find interesting. First up:

A Legacy Of Education

Rebecca Sheir introduces us to Lynn C. French, whose African-American family has deep roots in the D.C. area… and a rich history/legacy of education. Her forebears include Emma Brown, who founded one of the first schools for African-Americans in D.C., and several of the early trustees of Howard University.

Plus:
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FILED UNDER: The People, History, Metro Connection, WAMU
December 16, 2010 | 4:49 PM | By

“Start with friends and neighbors…”

Muffet/Flickr

While in the process of learning more about local charities and non-profits this week, I spoke to Terri Freeman, President of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region as part of my research; I wanted to share part of her interview with you, because I think it illuminates a strategy for addressing one of the larger issues this blog was designed to explore– gentrification and the neighborhood tensions that come with it. I was merely asking Ms. Freeman for her take on “How to Help” this holiday season, but as she was speaking, I thought about how her words were just as relevant with regards to the changes that are remaking this city, block by block:

In addition to the five organizations you can give to or volunteer with, I would also suggest that people consider doing something nice for people in their own neighborhood. Be neighborly. If there are elderly people in your neighborhood, bring them something to eat (or help them with shoveling snow).

Believe it or not, in every neighborhood, there is probably somebody who can definitely use your help. You never know who might be watching what you say to somebody and the impact it can have on them.

I’m thinking back to several years ago when it was Christmas eve, and it was snowing. We were hit with Christmas spirit and decided to go caroling in the neighborhood…boy oh boy, did people look at us like we were aliens! And I think that’s because we have gotten away from doing those kind of community activities.

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FILED UNDER: The People, Non-profits
December 13, 2010 | 2:16 PM | By

Eric Sheptock has 5,000 Facebook friends and no home

Nathan Rott shares the story of Eric Sheptock, a self-described “homeless homeless advocate”:

Being homeless has become Sheptock’s full-time occupation. It’s work that has provided him with purpose and a sense of community. But it’s also work that has perpetuated his homelessness and, in a way, glorified it.

Sheptock, 41, wouldn’t take a 9-to-5 job that compromised his advocacy efforts or the long hours he spends tending to his digital empire, he says. He wouldn’t move out of the downtown D.C. shelter where he has slept for the past two years if it would make him a less effective voice for change.

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FILED UNDER: Around the City, The People, Eric Sheptock, Homelessness
December 10, 2010 | 3:12 PM | By

Remembering a fixture of Chinatown

Late in November, a 78-year-old man named Quan Chu was struck by a bicyclist in an alley near the Convention Center. We learned on Tuesday that the strike was fatal.

As NPR’s Andy Carvin points out in an affecting eulogy to “the Mayor of Chinatown,” his passing robs Chinatown of yet another vital link to its past. What’s left is for us to learn, and remember:

He and his family came to the U.S. from China in 1982. They lived in a rowhouse about two blocks south of NPR. For years he worked at the local Chinese restaurants to save up enough money to send their children to college. And several years ago he suffered a minor stroke. As part of his therapy, he would go for that walk with his wife each day.

I never got to know him. I don’t even know if he even recognized me each day in the same way that I always recognized him. But I feel a profound sense of loss with his passing — not only for his wife and family, but for Chinatown itself.

This isn’t just a story about how recklessness and lack of consideration can have huge and tragic consequences. It’s a story about the importance of the strangers around us, a reminder of how much we should treasure and respect each other. Condolences are due to Mr. Chu’s beloved – the kids he helped put through college, his wife who was also struck that day. But Andy’s right, the loss is all of ours.

FILED UNDER: The People, biking, Chinatown
November 23, 2010 | 1:20 PM | By

17 Million American Families are Food Insecure

Obama-Biden Transition Project

The Obama family volunteering at a food pantry, Thanksgiving 2008.

Two days before a holiday which results in, if not celebrates overeating, I’m reading the Washington Post’s “5 Myths about hunger in America“. The dissonance I feel is like a bucket of ice water to the face:

The person most likely to be hungry is a single, working mother. Federal programs ensure that low-income children can get free meals at school, but their mothers – many of whom are single and work low-paying jobs in the service sector – often have to make tough choices between food, rent, gas for the car, health care or new shoes for their kids. Millions of American women who face this predicament will feed their children and go without meals themselves.

Another tragedy in America is the rapidly growing number of seniors who have to choose between food, medicine and utilities. Though few of our elders will admit to needing help, a 2007 study by Meals on Wheels indicated that as many as 6 million are going hungry. Meanwhile, that free food-delivery service has waiting lists in many cities. The 80 million baby boomers approaching retirement are expected to live longer than any previous generation, but not all have set aside enough resources for their final years. When that silver tsunami strikes, hunger will come with it.

FILED UNDER: The People, Food, Hunger, Poverty
November 22, 2010 | 12:50 PM | By

I know plenty of laid-off people in D.C., Congressman.

missycaulk

The Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s Mariah Craven rightly reproves U.S. Representative-elect Allen West (R-FL), who, while answering a question about tax cuts posed by David Gregroy on Meet the Press, invalidated the very real economic hardship District citizens face. Here is what Congressman West said:

I come from a — an area down in South Florida where unemployment is at 13 percent, foreclosures are absolutely high. We are seeing closed upon closed storefronts. But yet, when you walk around here in Washington, D.C., you don’t see people getting laid off, you don’t see, you know, anyone suffering, you don’t see the foreclosures.

Here is Craven’s response:

So, the Congressman doesn’t see anyone suffering when he walks around D.C. I wonder how much he has walked around the District and where, exactly, he’s walking. Has he walked around Ward 8 where the unemployment rate is 26.5 percent? Has he walked past the new IHOP in Columbia Heights where 500 people – many of whom were overqualified – applied for jobs? When he’s walking, is he talking to any single women who are caring for their families on less than $29,900/year – the median income for this family type, according to our new report 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area?

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FILED UNDER: The People, Poverty
November 19, 2010 | 10:56 AM | By

Barry: “right now, 55 percent of the new hires are not D.C. residents.”

Over at the Afro, Dorothy Rowley writes “District’s Black Residents Remain Hard Pressed to Find Jobs“:

The D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute reported in October that while joblessness surged in part last year for the District’s African-American residents, employment remained relatively steady for its White residents and those with a college degree…

“The city’s high unemployment rate is obviously not going to turn around simply because the overall economy recovers, DCFPI Executive Director Ed Lazere, told the AFRO. “Our leaders have to make this a priority and have to make concerted efforts to address it,” he continued, “and given that the unemployment rates are highest for residents in isolated wards who often have limited jobs skills, it seems pretty logical that concerted efforts would help residents get access to skills – whether it’s through high school, a community college or other means.”

Ward 8 Councilman Marion Barry, agreed. But he said the key to fighting joblessness – particularly in his district – is contingent upon attracting the ears of the private sector and federal government. “The city’s initiative has to be to become more involved with the private sector and the federal government,” Barry said. “There are 700,000 jobs in the District of Columbia and 340,000 of them are with the federal government. The rest are in the private sector, so we have to get the District government to start hiring more city residents because right now, 55 percent of the new hires are not D.C. residents.”

FILED UNDER: The People, Jobs, Marion Barry, Poverty, Race and Class, Ward 8
November 18, 2010 | 5:51 PM | By

How accessible is marriage, to the poor?

Soulfull

Local blogher and Campus Progress Editor Kay Steiger writes about a Time/Pew Poll on marriage, and whether there are issues of classism intertwined with weddings (Thanks, SOH):

The Time story that relates the poll goes on to say that “the richer and more educated you are, the more likely you are to marry, or to be married — or, conversely, if you’re married, you’re more likely to be well off.”

The idea of tying marriage to wealth isn’t that surprising when you look at the wedding industry…As weddings become more status-oriented and more costly, it makes sense that the less educated — and therefore the less financially well off — become less likely to see marriage as accessible to them. This has roughly been my problem with weddings all along, although I suppose I haven’t been particularly articulate about it until now. If the standard for weddings becomes a Vera Wang dress, an ornate venue, and freshly imported flowers — all amounting to that “one perfect day” — then marriage itself begins to be viewed as an institution for those who can afford all those things.

Of course, not every couple has to do that, and many don’t. Lots of couples elope at the court house and have a low-key celebration later on. But the trouble is that there aren’t many options for folks that want something in between — or at least, the wedding industry leaves you with the distinct impression that there isn’t such an option.

FILED UNDER: The People, Money, Race and Class