December 29, 2010 | 10:33 AM | By

D.C.’s Top Tweeps 2010 and the Digital Divide

Flickr: Alykat

Sculpture in Congress Heights by Anne Allardyce

Over at Congress Heights on the Rise, East of the River blogger The Advoc8te takes issue with the “popularity contest” that The Washington Post is hosting for D.C.’s Twitter royalty in “Why I won’t be voted “DC’s Best Blogger” in the DCTweeps Contest “:

How can you expect voters to participate in the election process when they don’t have the basic tools to participate? How can you vote in a contest if you don’t even know it’s going on?

As a blogger, a social media consultant, and as someone who spends about 75% of her waking hours online, I understand the ease and convenience of holding these types of contests using online surveys and Twitter. The technology is here to stay, no doubt about it. However, in communities such as ours where a good portion of the population still doesn’t have access to reliable and/or affordable Internet service and where most homes do not have a computer or access to one, a big part of the population becomes disenfranchised, even in purely entertainment contests such as this one. How do we expect residents who exist within the confines of the digital void to participate outside of it? How do we expect residents from outside of the community to learn about what’s inside the community if there is such a digital divide?

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FILED UNDER: The People, Digital Divide, Privilege, Race and Class, Social Media
December 29, 2010 | 8:30 AM | By

Tasty Morning Bytes – Gray’s Inauguration, How Culture Shapes Choice and GOP Meddling

Good morning, DCentric readers! Here are your piping hot breakfast links:

MPD Lieutenant Buys Kids New Presents After Christmas Eve Burglary “Turner, a 28-year veteran of the force, received a call on the night of December 24 about a family of four in Langston/Carver whose home was cruelly burglarized while they were out having a holiday meal. Sure, Turner could have simply filed a report, got on with his paperwork and moved along. But he gathered up a bunch of other officers, put together a bundle of toys and delivered them, as Assistant Chief Diane Groomes put it, “via the sleigh outfitted with a siren.”…”You got to teach the kids that, you know, you may have a temporary setback, but it’s a better day tomorrow. Joy will come.” (DCist)

(Psst…Vince Gray…) New Jersey mayor uses Twitter to clear Newark streets “We’ve gotten diapers to people. Delivered food,” he said. “One pregnant woman who was going into labor — at least thought she was. We were able to get there before the ambulances could. We actually got an ambulance unstuck.” In a Twitter exchange between the mayor and a Newark resident, one motorist asked for a street to be cleared. Booker tweeted: “If ur stuck DM (direct message) me ur (number),” before sending a crew to dig the motorist out. Booker also promised to send a road crew to clear streets around a hospital, after someone tweeted that it had not been adequately cleared.” (CNN)

2,000 D.C. residents pick up tickets to Mayor-elect Gray’s inaugural ball “About 2,000 residents scooped up 4,000 tickets to Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray’s Sunday inaugural ball – a free concert that will feature, among other local artists, Chuck Brown, the godfather of the city’s homegrown go-go music, and R&B crooner Raheem DeVaughn. Both musicians have been nominated for 2010 Grammy awards…Although the tickets weren’t going fast during two days of distribution last week, a flood of residents appeared Tuesday for the continuation of the giveaway at the convention center.” (The Washington Post)
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December 28, 2010 | 11:42 PM | By

Tweet of the Day, 12.28

I like Ohio. The general populace makes me look skinny and athletic.
December 28, 2010 8:09 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite
@hgil
Helder Gil

What? After the District, the state of Michigan is far but dear to my heart. Even my puppy knows how to double high five when she hears “Touchdown Michigan!” or “Touchdown Lions!”. She may not get a ton of opportunities to practice, but it’s still cute.

FILED UNDER: Media, Social Media
December 28, 2010 | 4:31 PM | By

More on Brown-on-Black Racism

Flickr: Chaymation

My “DMV Masala“-post– which was about my interaction with an African-American cab driver who was interested in my ethnicity because her own niece was half-Indian– inspired four of you to comment! That’s no small feat here at DCentric, where I’m more likely to hear crickets than reader reactions– I kid, I kid. I hear silence, not bugs. Anyway, one comment from American RogueDC deserved to be highlighted:

I remember very well having my heart broken by a co-worker (an Indian woman) whom I thought was a friend. We had worked together for more than ten years. One day, while viewing some photographs she was sharing of her female relatives taken during her baby-shower (I in fact had just given her my gift for the baby), I said, “You should introduce me to some of your nieces.” Her reply was simple, “You are too dark!” Until that moment, my being an African-American man who is only slightly darker in skin tone than her had never “seemed” to be a problem.

How painful, to be so crudely and immediately rejected by a long-time friend. The first thing I wondered was whether the woman was first- or second-generation.

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FILED UNDER: The People, DCentric, Immigrants, Race and Ethnicity, Racial Divide
December 28, 2010 | 1:45 PM | By

Teena Marie: Beyond Race

Flickr: Live at J&R

Teena Marie in 2006.

I’m old enough to remember Teena Marie during her heyday; the singular singer-songwriter passed away on Sunday. Last night, while running errands, I overheard a conversation about the R+B musician that has been recurring since 1979:

CVS shopper #1: “Yo, did you know Teena Marie was white?”

CVS shopper #1: “What? I just thought she light-skinned! She sings like she’s Black!”

Race is a complicated minefield of a topic, and exploring it takes a gentle touch plus a Costco-sized vat of sensitivity. That’s why I enjoyed reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “The Indomitable Blackness of Teena Marie”:

Teena Marie died on Sunday, and on every Martin Luther there was a collective wail. That line—”I’m a black artist with white skin”—is the kind of comment that usually causes black people to suck their teeth and groan. But Teena Marie died with an eternal hood-pass. The term “blue-eyed soul” is presently being affixed to her, but it borders on disrespect. It”s like Negroes “liked” the Eurythmics, we “liked” Madonna and some of that Hall and Oates, but Teena Marie was beloved. She was not simply in that George Michael “Father Figure” category, she was of that Chaka Khan/Freddie Jackson/Jeffrey Osborne/Denise Williams stamp. You did not hear Teena Marie and say, “I thought she was black,” you said, “No, seriously, I’m sure she’s black.”

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FILED UNDER: Media, In Memoriam, Music, Race and Ethnicity
December 28, 2010 | 10:51 AM | By

They could still probably use donations, though!

Flickr: vpickering

D.C. has so much Christmas spirit!

Jenny Rogers, who writes “The List” for TBD, discovered something interesting when she looked in to volunteering for the holiday (and since we highlighted so many non-profits and ways you could help a few weeks ago, I thought this would be extra relevant for DCentric readers):

Having just eaten a pile of Christmas cookies and feeling full of holiday goodness, The List decided to look into some volunteer opportunities —‘tis the season, etc. To her dismay, local non-profit directors told her that, well, they just didn’t really need the help. In fact, all the organizations The List spoke to were turning away volunteers because so many people had already offered their time. In a region known for its wealth and often painted as dysfunctional, it’s a testament to the goodwill of the people who actually live here that they’re fighting over the chance to serve.

That’s surprising and impressive. Good for D.C., that so many of its residents are so interested in doing good for D.C.

FILED UNDER: Delightful City, Non-profits
December 28, 2010 | 8:47 AM | By

Tasty Morning Bytes – D.C. is tops, Bike Lanes and Michael Vick

Good morning, DCentric readers! Ready for some breakfast links?

Esquire Names D.C. in Top 10 Restaurant Cities “Even after the disastrously painful-to-watch Top Chef D.C. spent half of the season outside of the city proper, there’s still no doubt that we attract fantastic talent in our kitchens. Unsurprisingly we come in behind, in rank order, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. But we were somewhat surprised to see that Houston placed ahead of us in seventh place. Boston and Seattle rounded out the rest of the list.” (DCist)

Merchants protest new downtown bike lanes “Beauty salon owner Lisette Attias said she’s an advocate for bike lanes, but not in front of her salon. “Why don’t they use the streets that aren’t crowded?” said Attias, owner of Piaf Salon and Day Spa near 15th and L streets Northwest. “It’s going to hurt my business. It’s going to be hurting a lot of businesses.” Attias said most of her customers are motorists. “We are still a city of drivers and business is dependent on that,” she said. D.C. now has 50 miles of designated bicycle lanes within its 1,200 miles of roadway. Expanding bicycle-friendly roadways is part of the 2005 D.C. Bicycle Master Plan, which aims to increase bicycle trips…” (Washington Examiner )

Learning from Finland “As recently as 25 years ago, Finnish students were below the international average in mathematics and science. There also were large learning differences between schools, with urban or affluent students typically outperforming their rural or low-income peers. Today, as the most recent PISA study proves, Finland is one of the few nations that have accomplished both a high quality of learning and equity in learning at the same time. The best school systems are the most equitable — students do well regardless of their socio-economic background.” (Boston Globe)
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December 27, 2010 | 5:01 PM | By

“Did you have a nice Christmas?”

Flickr: Mr. T in DC

Christmas tree in Columbia Heights.

I stood at the customer service counter, wondering if anyone would notice me amid the shopping carts and baskets which surrounded me, each heaped with spurned gifts, returned merchandise that needed to be put-back. The lights were already dim in this part of the store, a testament to how slow my normally chaotic neighborhood had become due to the threat of snow. After several minutes, a tall, striking young employee approached me to ask if I needed help. I said that I needed to make a return.

Wordlessly, he rounded the carts and positioned himself behind the counter. I handed him my receipt and he scanned it, then reached for the tchotchke I was returning. He tossed it in to a giant bin behind him without looking. “$21 will go back on your card. Thank you.”

“Thank you,” I replied.

“Did you have a nice Christmas?”, he mindlessly asked.

And because I have no boundaries, I replied, “I don’t really celebrate it anymore. Some years ago, my dad went in to a coma on the 23rd of December and passed away on the 29th. We buried him on the 31st. So the holidays just haven’t been the same after that.” My cheeks were hot by the time my explanation trailed off awkwardly. I should’ve just said, “Yes, thanks for asking!” and walked out.

My answer had snapped him out of his exhaustion, haze, reverie. “That’s deep.”

“Do you think you’ll ever celebrate it again?”, he asked. I stared at him, and for the first time, I really saw him. He was too pretty for retail. He looked like he should be the supporting actor on a sitcom, the one-liner-spouting son with an easy smile, filling out a fake nuclear family on some set in L.A. I had noticed him before, but only in the most cursory way– he stood out from the other employees. While they shuffled, slouched and grumbled, his posture was flawless. While they layered tee-shirts and sagged their pants, he always wore a designer crewneck sweater and a trim, shiny belt with a giant French logo for a belt buckle. The latter could’ve been a fake, but if it was, it was a great one. No fraying threads or tarnished metal in sight. He took his appearance and his comportment seriously.

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FILED UNDER: The People, Columbia Heights, Gun Violence, Race and Class, Teens
December 27, 2010 | 3:18 PM | By

The Tragedy of Tokenism

Flickr: Pixeloflight

Tokens.

Mike Riggs, one of my favorite reporters in D.C., wrote this amazing piece for the Daily Caller about Tokenism after reading a New York magazine profile of Marty Peretz, “editor of the New Republic and eater of his own foot”:

I have a soft spot for tokenism, which is what Peretz is invoking when he says he knows Muslims and black people. Not because I approve of it (I don’t), but because it took me a long time to figure out how tragic it is.

I was the first person in my family, which traces its southern lineage to the Civil War, to date someone who is not white. M had long, straight, jet-black hair, brown skin, curves, and she sometimes rolled her Rs. After she met my dad and stepmom, and nothing seemed amiss, I figured that my family cared more about culture than color.

In other words, It didn’t matter in the least that M was Peruvian because she acted like a South Florida WASP.

Then one day, while lying on my bed, M told me that she was Jewish.

I strongly encourage you to read the rest of the story; Mike describes what happened when M encountered his family and he met hers. Then, he signs off with this walloping paragraph:
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FILED UNDER: Media, Interfaith, Race and Ethnicity, Racial Divide, Tokenism
December 27, 2010 | 1:15 PM | By

What’s so great about D.C.? Everything!

Flickr: jGregor

Photographer j Gregory Barton saw this young woman on the Metro, and asked if he could capture the love.

I love twitter. It’s the one element of social media I use most; from story ideas to learning about breaking news, I tweet, retweet and read tweets, constantly. For those whose grasp of it is hazy, Twitter is a site where you can post updates, thoughts, links or absolute drivel– all in 140 characters or less. When someone starts following your drivel tweets, you get an alert telling you about this happy development. While it isn’t always possible to do so, I love examining these emails and learning more about the people who were kind enough to start reading me, by checking out whom we have in common, perusing their brief bios and clicking on their links.

One such Twitter user, Jacob Patterson-Stein, gave me three Christmas presents on December 25; he started following DCentric’s twitter account (@DCntrc), he started following my personal account (@suitablegirl) and when I looked at his bio and found his blog, “Tumbling Through the City“, he made me smile with a recent post of his, “50 Great Things About D.C.“. Here are his picks for numbers 14 through 26:

http://tumblingthroughthecity.tumblr.com

Part of Jacob Patterson-Stein's list of 50 things he loves about D.C.

Jacob has inspired me to start curating my own list, but I’d love your help, too. What do you love about D.C.? Leave your answers in the comments, tweet them at me or (if you must!) email them. I’ll compile them and even though we are off after Wednesday, I will log in and post the best of your submissions here, in one glorious list. Ready? Go!

FILED UNDER: Media, DCentric, Delightful City, Social Media