A new TV One show premiering tonight, “Find Our Missing,” aims to correct the disparity by spreading the word about missing African Americans. The show is part of a collaboration with nonprofit Black and Missing. Some of the first cases featured on the show focus on D.C. women Pamela Butler and Unique Harris. The Washington Posts reports:
… “Find Our Missing’s” main mission isn’t media criticism or a social harangue — especially since the first two cases seen here received a considerable, if belated, amount of local coverage. Rather, in the manner of “America’s Most Wanted,” it encourages viewers to come forward with useful information. Everything you need to know about “Find Our Missing” is in that second word: our. The series keeps its outrage just out of view; its foremost concern is for the missing, as well as their friends and relatives.
Increasing television airtime for these cases could lead to their solving. Another tool that could be useful is social media, but is there a disparity there, too? Twitter, Facebook and other forums are free and open for anyone to use, so it would seem these could be the perfect ways to circumvent any media bias. But take the case of Emily Hershenson, a white D.C. woman and ex-Capitol Hill staffer, who went missing on 2011. Many locals took to Twitter and other networks to spread the word. Tweets called on news organizations to move the story up in prominence, and her name was a trending topic. Some wondered, however, if the case would have received as much attention on Twitter had Hershenson been of a different race and class.
Yesterday, we posted a fascinating infographic illustrating the state of Latino and Asian immigrants in D.C. Today, we’ve come across a few new charts from the Urban Institute that compare racial gaps in education, housing and jobs from four metro areas, including D.C.
Of the four places examined, the D.C. metro area has the narrowest black-white gap when it comes to home ownership. But the disparity grows wider when just looking at the District proper. For instance, nearly 50 percent of black households in the region own their homes. In D.C. alone, that percentage drops to 39 percent.
Martin Luther King Jr. fought not only for civil rights, but also for economic justice. At the time of his death, most American urban areas, in the North as well as in the South, were highly segregated and African Americans were denied equal access to good schools, well-paying jobs, and homeownership—all essential pathways to economic success.
Today, more than four decades later, African Americans (on average) still don’t enjoy the same school quality, job opportunities, or home ownership access as whites. But the disparities have narrowed considerably and growing numbers of black Americans have succeeded in climbing the ladder of social and economic opportunity.
But job training programs have to be done right. WAMU 88.5′s Patrick Madden reports on problems with the District’s job training contracts. In one instance, the city was paying double per trainee than what nearby states paid. In another, the District gave a job training school $500,000 to train 70 people. The school, which is no longer running, is now embroiled in legal troubles; a private consulting firm has accused the school’s owner of misusing funds.
Such questionable contracts not only raise concerns over how the city uses its money, but also over the effectiveness of its job training system. DCentric has written about individuals who had trouble finding work after completing such job training programs.
Job training programs can be effective for some people, but such programs alone can’t reduce overarching unemployment disparities. For instance, 10 percent of D.C. residents have criminal records. For those individuals, no amount of job training can erase the challenge of getting hired with a past conviction.
The District’s immigrant population has been increasing over the past two decades, and these individuals constitute a diverse group. Just how diverse? Take a look at this newly-released graphic created by the Immigration Policy Center (the research arm of the American Immigration Council). The image is based on data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau and the Pew Hispanic Center.
Some notable figures about D.C.’s immigrants: about 91 percent of children with immigrant parents are proficient in English; about 6 percent of D.C.’s workers are undocumented immigrants; and more than half of D.C.’s naturalized immigrants have a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The District’s loan program for first-time homeowners has good intentions: to provide second mortgages that make buying a home possible for low-income families. But a Washington Post investigation found nearly 20 percent of people participating in the program are behind on mortgages payments.
Owning a home is often viewed as a necessary step for entering the middle class. But foreclosures can send many families backward in their class-climbing. The black middle class was particularly affected by the foreclosure crisis, in part because African Americans have more of their wealth tied to home equity than whites do.
DeAngelo McDonald, a Metro bus driver and father of six who earns $61,000 a year, financed a $338,000 house in 2008, in part with a loan from the city, paying double what city loan officials had estimated he could afford. His three-bedroom home in Southeast is now in foreclosure.
“I was a first-time home buyer thinking that everything was on the up and up,” said McDonald, 48, who declared bankruptcy in 2009. “At any minute, we could be out on the street. It’s heartbreaking. It’s scary. I don’t know what could happen, especially with my kids.”
Today marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s a perfect day for visiting King’s memorial on the National Mall, where there a number of events are being held. But before you head out, consider watching an excerpt from King’s “I have a dream speech.”
At the end of the month, one of D.C.’s last large DIY spaces will close, putting out dozens of artists. It will be replaced by a $57 million development. Washington City Paper has this excellent write-up chronicling the history of Gold Leaf Studios and the artists it hosted:
For well over a decade, Gold Leaf’s 12 studios have housed legion creative types like [Durkl creative director Will] Sharp. And while Gold Leaf attracted packed crowds and scattered media attention over the years as its art parties grew notorious, its more important legacy is simply as a cheap, spacious place for folks to do their work. “There are happy artists here over 50 that come in at night and paint,” says Sharp. “Artists, welders, sculptors, musicians, and jewelers all under one roof is kind of an oasis for someone like me.”
Courtesy of Bora Chung
Brandon Moses of Laughing Man practices in his Gold Leaf studio.
Slate’s Matthew Yglesias writes, “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the city was probably more culturally influential during its mid-eighties quality of life nadir than it is today as a richer-but-prohibitively expensive city.” That’s when D.C. gave birth to groups like post-punk band Fugazi.
Fugazi founding member Ian MacKaye stopped by WAMU 88.5′s offices last week to discuss an online archiving project on The Kojo Nnamdi Show. We caught up with him afterward to get his thoughts on D.C., art and gentrification.
New yoga studios in a neighborhood have become shorthand for gentrification. But is it “true” yoga? Who really owns it? Those are the questions posed by this Washington Post piece, which explores divisions between traditional and contemporary yoga practitioners, and yoga’s roots in Hinduism.
What really bothers the purists, though, is that the video contradicts yoga’s true aim, which is spiritual oneness and a unity of mind and body. Instead, it’s another brick in the $6 billion yoga industry — a crass way to sell gym memberships, just as Lululemon sells expensive stretch pants in the name of the transcendence that is the ostensible aim of yoga practice.
The video is “just emblematic of the Western commercialization of yoga,” Shukla says. “You know, the whole purpose of the physical asanas [poses] is to prepare your body to sit still and focus. It’s not about having a cute ass.”
History: Monday marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day and this year will be the first time that King’s memorial on the National Mall will be open to the public. A number of events and activities, which can be reviewed here, are being held on the memorial’s grounds starting Friday and running through Wednesday.
Talk: It’s too late to reserve seats to attend Thursday’s “Remaking America,” a conversation hosted by Tavis Smiley at George Washington University and being broadcast live on C-SPAN. But if you have to miss it, you can check out the official after-event with Smiley and Cornel West at Busboys and Poets. It starts at 10 p.m. at the 14th and V streets NW location.
Art: We’ve recommended checking out the Corcoran Gallery of Art and Design’s “30 Americans” exhibit before, which displays heralded art by black American artists. The gallery normally charges $10 for entry, but is offering free admission from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday. The Corcoran is located at 500 17th St. NW.
D.C. was once called “Murder Capital.” In 1991, at the height of the crack epidemic, 479 people were murdered. But the end of 2011 brought good news: the number of homicides in D.C. had reached a 50-year low. The Washington Postreported that meanwhile, Prince George’s County experienced a slight increase in its number of murders, and that D.C.’s poorer residents moving into the county have taken neighborhood disputes and other issues with them, contributing to the uptick in crime.
Given the city’s demographic changes, a number of people are pointing to one reason in particular: gentrification. The narrative seems logical enough: violent crime tends to be higher in poorer neighborhoods, and demographic changes have left D.C. a wealthier city. That may make sense in D.C. neighborhoods where there has been gentrification. But it doesn’t fit when examining District communities that have historically had the most homicides and the highest poverty rates.
