Check out this animated video on “Waiting for Superman” and American’s educational system from Hong Kong’s Next Media, the company which became famous after animating Tiger Woods troubles. Adrian Fenty and Michelle Rhee both star in it:
How safe is Metro?
Riding on the Metro-o-o.
Well, this is harrowing:
A survey of Metros 10,000 employees has found that nearly two-thirds of them have observed a safety violation in the past year…
The survey found that safety violations are reported nearly 70 percent of the time, and fear of retaliation was the top reason employees cited for not reporting safety breaches. Employees were also reluctant to report their peers. Another main reason workers said they did not report safety problems was they believed nothing would be done about them.
“There is a sense of futility,” said board Jim Graham, who is also a D.C. council member.
Tasty Morning Bytes – Another Georgetown Arrest, a Murder Suspect and a Memo for Sanity
Good morning, DCentric readers! Ready for some links?
Harbin freshman arrested for “use of a controlled substance” Same dorm as the DMT bust: “At her arraignment, Baltazar pled not guilty to charges of unlawful possession of and intent to sell marijuana and the sale of drug paraphernalia. The judge released her from custody but recommended that she undergo drug testing and treatment. Her attorney, Brian M. Heberlig, said during the arraignment that Baltazar will be meeting with the head Georgetown’s student disciplinary board on Friday.” (blog.georgetownvoice.com)
GOP Social Club Sued For Racial Discrimination “Kim Crawford, who says she worked as the club’s assistant comptroller and human resources manager for more than ten years—the last eight without a raise—has filed a complaint in federal court [pdf] alleging she was repeatedly passed over for raises while “less qualified, less deserving male and white counterparts were given” pay bumps. And she says she was fired in July after taking seriously, and investigating, a racial discrimination complaint from the club’s acting executive chef.” (gawker.com)
Science and Faith in the Black Community ”The Black Church’s policing of the bodies and destinies of black women and the lives of black gays and lesbians represents a bankrupt ‘morality’ which is just as pernicious as that of the Religious Right…Insofar as atheism and humanism provide an implicit rejection of both black patriarchy and ‘authentic’ blackness, those who would dare to come out of the closet as atheists are potential race traitors.” (Racialicious)
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Commodifying Culture, for Halloween Costumes.
DivineLegs000
I wonder if the Dutch are thrilled about this?
When I first moved to Washington, D.C. in the late 90s, I was a homesick student who rushed back to Northern California at every opportunity. However, there were two holidays I refused to travel on: Halloween and Independence Day. The latter is perhaps obvious; is there a better place to celebrate America? But Halloween…well, that’s changed, in many ways. While people may still get dressed up and go to M Street, in Georgetown, the night is no longer as epically naughty as it once was, now that it is confined to sidewalks. Sorry, that’s not accurate– there is one aspect of Halloween which is still crazy…the costumes. For women, specifically. A decade ago, the most risque outfits you’d see were “Naughty Nurses” or “French Maids”; now, you can get a provocative take on everything, from Marie Antoinette (I wouldn’t click that, if you’re at work) to a “Yummy Yellow Jacket” (not as risque as Marie, but you may get stung).
It’s all a bit bizarre, and if we are transforming insects like ladybugs and bumble bees in to sex objects, it seems like the point is to use Halloween as an excuse to wear as little as possible without having to worry about being judged for parading around in less material than some swimsuits. Hey, whatever floats your fake powdered wig. I save the side-eye for those special outfits which turn cultures in to costumes; while some people think it’s “fun” to be “Ghetto Fab“, “Seductive Squaw” or “Asian Doll“, I have to restrain myself from reminding these insensitive boors that some of us can’t take off our skin. My point is, ethnicity isn’t something to be ordered online for $52.95 and then worn to a succession of bars, where other revelers spill drinks on your micro-kimono or faux-feathers. Some of us are born with a certain phenotype and this affects how we are viewed and treated, every moment of every day. We don’t have the luxury of selecting our culture from a catalog and then discarding it, conveniently, after a holiday.
A Good Family Makes All the Difference
The City Paper said it, so I won’t (note the parenthetical observation):
The lawyer for one of two college students arrested for manufacturing DMT, G. Allen Dale, points out that the accused aren’t “thugs.” He tells City Desk: “We’ve got some very young kids from good families, who’ve done some good things.” (Which, clearly, means they shouldn’t be treated the way most other accused drug dealers in D.C. are.) Dale points out, for instance, that his client, John Perrone, is an honor student who has worked at a homeless shelter, and has participated in a walk against hunger for the last ten years. So, he explains, “Our first step is to get them out.”…Pointing out Perrone’s youth and small size, he calls his current incarceration a “criminal hell.”
“A Sane Person’s Guide to (some of) DC”
BYT
Part of the handy guide from BYT, which you can download.
In service to all of the people who will apparently be crashing with my neighbors for this weekend’s dueling rallies, the bloggers at Brightest Young Things have published a “How to survive your rallying weekend”-feature. It offers a handy break-down of neighborhoods and restaurants to explore or avoid (all of Georgetown has been condemned):
There is no reason you need to go to Georgetown unless you desperately need something from the Apple store (the only one in the District) so you can obsessively post updates for your college paper or personal blog.
There are no cool bars in Georgetown- only mid-range clothing chains, tourists with cupcake smeared on their faces (though it is sort of OK if the cupcake is from Baked & Wired, the best bakery around) and college-aged diplobrats…The same goes for Northern Virginia. No matter what people say, NoVa is a place for people who are afraid to live in the District.
It’s a cheeky, fun guide that probably required a lot of work–and BYT deserves praise for compiling it and presenting it so nicely. Unfortunately, all I can think of after reading it (and its proud references to The Wire) is, “Stuff White People Like“. Or more accurately, “Stuff White People Who Feel Hip Like”. Sure, you can name-check Oohs and Aahs and praise the collard greens all you want, but that’s something white people like to do, too.
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It’s never too late.
A still from the video about the reunion.
This is wonderful. Fifty years after they graduated from high school, students from two segregated Northern Virginia high schools met for dinner, to get to know each other. For the Class of 1960, Loudoun High School was for White students and Douglass was for Blacks (via WaPo):
Jimmie Roberts, a 1956 graduate married to Peggy, a member of the Class of ’60, delivered a vivid history of Douglass, proudly noting that their daughter, Muriel Roberts Heanue, not only attended Loudoun after it integrated in 1968 but is now an assistant principal there…
Now, as they toured what was once Douglass, they talked about how integration was finally happening for them. At age 68, they are reclaiming some of what segregation took away.
“The friends we would’ve had,” said Sheila Kelly.
“The friends we should’ve had,” said Peggy Roberts.
There’s a video for the story which is worth watching, as well.
Tasty Morning Bytes – Housing for the Homeless, Howard U’s Light Pollution, Why NPR Matters
Good morning, DCentric readers! Last night, while you were pretending not to watch Glee, we were out searching for links. Enjoy!
District gets winter plan for sheltering the homeless “The homeless will increasingly be placed in apartments and single rooms in the District this winter, under a plan approved Tuesday, with barely a week to go before the city’s cold-weather season officially begins. The plan approved by the Interagency Council on Homelessness, a coalition of D.C. agencies and nonprofit groups, lists 185 units that will be used for families when emergency shelters are full.” (The Washington Post)
High-Heel race won’t be charged for police overtime “The District won’t be able to recoup costs for police overtime spent on closing down streets for the High Heel Race because the annual jaunt around Dupont Circle in which men dress up as women has been labeled a “First Amendment event.” E-mails among police officials obtained by The Washington Examiner show that Mayor Adrian Fenty designated the Halloween-season event as a protected First Amendment event in September 2009.” (Washington Examiner )
A Walk With: Sandra Butler-Truesdale – Housing Complex “As we walked, Butler-Truesdale, always attuned to racial interactions, noticed that loitering black men looked at the pair of us—a white reporter and an older black woman—with suspicion. “You know what they’re thinking?” she asked. “First of all, ‘what is she talking about?’ And ‘is she giving away our secrets?’” (Washington City Paper)
Juan Williams on NPR, via The Diane Rehm Show
Race and Class, everywhere.
At some point between Sunday evening and Monday morning, the body of American University Professor Sue Marcum was discovered by a friend who had been concerned about her. Professor Marcum had taught at the business school since 1999. This morning, police got a major break in her case when Marcum’s stolen jeep was noticed by a “a license plate recognition sensor” (more on those, here):
Police went to Benning Road and attempted to stop the Jeep, Bonilla said, then gave chase when Hamlin allegedly tried to drive away. The Jeep crashed into a crosswalk signpost at the intersection of New York Avenue and M Street NW. Hamlin, who police said lives in Northwest Washington, was taken into custody and charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and felony fleeing.
I learned everything I know about Professor Marcum’s death through the Washington Post; after feeling shock and sadness over this violent, awful crime, what struck me about this story yesterday was how quickly readers turned to race, when discussing the murder. Seven of the first eight comments are solely about race, class and the Post’s coverage of homicide. Here are the first two:
