Good morning, DCentric readers! Here are some delicious breakfast links to ease you back in to the work week:
Homeless man in D.C. uses Facebook, social media to advocate for others like him “Eric Sheptock has 4,548 Facebook friends, 839 Twitter followers, two blogs and an e-mail account with 1,600 unread messages. What he doesn’t have is a place to live. “I am a homeless homeless advocate,” he often tells people. That’s the line that hooks them, the one that gives Sheptock – an unemployed former crack addict who hasn’t had a permanent address in 15 years – his clout on the issue of homelessness.” (The Washington Post)
The Politics of Reality TV “The (Marion) Barry show is a mixed bag, but not without some odd appeal of its own. We get to see him sing (not terribly), play golf (terribly) – and conduct blunt conversations with aides and pols over the kickback scheme that led to his censure this year…there’s a certain poignancy in the loyalty of Barry’s son to his flawed and somewhat self-deluded dad. What’s amazing, at first blush, is the number of Washington municipal politicians who participate in the show. But then again, a chance to be on TV, in whatever form, outweighs what used to pass for common sense.” (NBC Washington)
D.C. Homicide suspect was ward of DYRS “A 20-year-old D.C. man arrested Friday in connection with the killing of a 16-year-old was a ward of the city’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, The Washington Times has learned….In a recent series of articles, The Times explored youth violence in the District and found that DYRS has been plagued by a pattern of crimes committed by and against youths under the agency’s supervision. An analysis of a year’s worth of homicide data found that one in five killings involved a youth in the custody of the city as either a victim or a suspect.” (Washington Times) Continue reading →
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.
The memorial will sit on four acres near the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials and include a bookstore and visitor center.
Thirteen years of quotes from King’s books, letters and speeches will be displayed on 355 granite panels.
At the center of this $120 million project, Dr. King’s words are given form: ”a mountain of despair” — through which visitors will be able to walk — and “a stone of hope,” which bears a 28-foot tall sculpture of King less than a month from completion.
The monument isn’t scheduled to open to the public until August 2011, but you can get a 3d-riffic sneak preview in the video below. Meanwhile, today represents another milestone in MLK’s gigantic legacy: 46 years ago on December 10, he received the Nobel Peace Prize.
SOME's 40th Anniversary Thanksgiving Day Trot for Hunger
I had a lovely thanksgiving. I rarely get to see my only sibling on that day which is dedicated to families, but this year, I spent it with her, eating pizza. That’s a tradition she unwittingly created while serving in the Air Force, overseas. Like me, she’s a strict vegetarian, and when she was stationed in certain countries, the biggest treat she could find was pizza, so every year for almost a decade, that’s what she ate. I’m proud to continue that tradition with her, because of the poignant story behind it.
So that’s how I spent my Thanksgiving– with family, eating cheese, introducing everyone to the wonder that is “Boardwalk Empire“. We even indulged in some eye-roll-worthy retail shenanigans at midnight. But what stands out to me most about this Thanksgiving–even more than the Gino’s pizza which was lovingly carried here from Chicago for us to enjoy– was how we started that morning; we were up by 6 and on the Mall by 7am, looking for parking so that four of us could participate in the So Others Might Eat 5k. I am embarrassed to admit that aside from being excited about naming our team (“Pilgrim and Wrong Indians”), I was grumbling about my lack of sleep and the lack of sun (or warmth) at such a cold, early hour. Continue reading →
A quick administrative note: please welcome Matt Thompson of Project Argo/npr to DCentric!
Matt Thompson is an Editorial Product Manager at National Public Radio, where he’s helping to coordinate the development of 12 topic-focused local news sites in conjunction with NPR member stations. Before moving to DC, Matt served as the interim Online Community Manager for the Knight Foundation. In May 2009, he completed a Donald W. Reynolds Fellowship at the Reynolds Journalism Institute; his explorations into creating context-centric news websites have been widely cited in discussions about online journalism’s future. He came to RJI from his position as deputy Web editor for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, where he led the creation of the Edgie-award-winning, socially networked arts-and-entertainment website vita.mn. While managing the development, community and production of vita.mn, he also managed technology and interactivity-related projects for StarTribune.com, from creating an internal taxonomy to transforming the online opinion section into a blog…
Matt graduated with honors in English from Harvard College in 2002, after writing his senior thesis on the television show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Outside of work, he blogs at Snarkmarket.com, has completed one Twin Cities Marathon, and is itching to get ready for another.
I stole that bio from here, where you can also find a picture of the man who encouraged me to apply for my dream job at WAMU: writing for DCentric. Matt kindly offered to pitch in and contribute to the blog for a week. Consider it an early holiday gift, because even though you might not realize it yet, that’s what it is.
Good morning, DCentric readers! Ready for some links?
Cutting D.C.’s child-care subsidy isn’t the way to fix the city’s budget gap “For the District’s single working moms, good child care is what makes their world possible. They can work, bills get paid, life proceeds. Take affordable day care away, and it all collapses like a cheap gingerbread house. Yet this is exactly what the D.C. Council is thinking of doing to help close a $188 million budget gap, whittling away at an already shrunken program that subsidizes care for about 12,000 children of working parents. The people who would suffer are those doing everything right. They are the last ones who should be targeted in a frenetic budget-cutting spree.” (The Washington Post)
Food Bank Sees Small Signs Of Turning Economy “But there are small signs that the hardest times may be passing. Executive Director Charlie Meng says though the center serves about 10 new families each month, that’s better than the 100 new families applying for assistance each month one year ago. And as volunteers sort through cans of donated food, they’re seeing expiration dates that haven’t passed. “It’s a sign that people are willing to spend money because all of it is newly bought. So they’ve gone to the store to buy specifically for AFAC,” Meng says.” (wamu.org)
The Unlicensed Meat Salesman and The Culture Of Fear “The District’s neighborhood listservs provide one particularly valuable service to jittery residents: they’re searchable repositories of suspicious activity. Shady newspaper salespeople, magazine peddlers, people dressed as utility technicians — just a sample of the alleged scam artists who prowl the city’s residential streets in search of their next victim. Recently though, we’ve noticed another class of accused scammer popping up on the listservs: the guy who sells meat out of a van — who some residents aren’t just afraid will swindle their money, but perhaps also their digestive health.” (DCist)
This is a PSA for a different "Street Smart" campaign in D.C. but both causes are worthy ones.
DCentric reader Judith Claire left this helpful comment on my iPhones-are-attractive-to-thieves post from earlier today, “I am glad I have an Android“:
City folks have to learn how to have street smarts. Take if from an old, white woman who learned all about street smarts from my students starting in 1963 Cardozo HS and also for many years at Shaw Jr. High. Walking or jogging anywhere with ones ears plugged is not smart! Even joggers lose their “ear plugs.’ Give the city a break! Give our police force a break. Be street smart here and all over the world! Just do it! Just sayin’…and lock your doors on house and car! Enough already!
Ever since I was young, I have found Barbershops interesting. People who come in don’t know each other, but they are still comfortable enough to talk. I was always fascinated by the range of conversations that happened. When I thought of this piece, I wanted to pick something that the two wards had in common. I considered ice cream parlors, bars, hardware stores…something that both wards have, but barbershops were the perfect place.
Which patrons were most interesting to talk to?
There was a guy named Tucker, he was the focus of the piece, he had just got out of jail– his perspective really struck me.
…after reading this, in TBD. If you carry an iPhone, you should read it, too. The piece is about how iPhone-users are a walking target; it starts with the story of Alexandra Friendly, who was walking home from work this Spring, when…
En route from work one afternoon this April, Friendly walked out of the Rhode Island Avenue Metro station and made her way up 10th Street NE toward home. Along the way, she popped in her earphones and played some music on the iPhone she’d bought two weeks earlier…
Then she felt a hand on top of hers. And then a yank that pulled her phone out of her hand, breaking her headphones off at the plug and leaving the buds in her ears. She watched, shocked, as her iPhone thief made his way back to a car. Enraged, she ran to the car and grabbed onto the door as it started to roll off. She managed to hang on until she was dropped a short way down the block, where a woman helped her up…
“Everything went black and white,” says Friendly. “When I think about the memories I don’t see any colors.” All she can remember seeing clearly are the young man’s shoulder-length dreadlocks as he headed to the car. The cops told her they’d be in touch if they learned anything, and that was pretty much the end of it.
