Guardian Angel, Woman Assaulted in Racially-Motivated Metro Fight
Twitpic: @dcguardianangel
Guardian Angels handcuffing five assailants who attacked one of their members on an Anacostia-bound train, Saturday night.
Earlier today, I storified tweets about the Guardian Angels voluntarily patrolling D.C.’s Metro system. This weekend, one Angel on an Anacostia-bound train tried to break up a fight between a black youth and a white woman; that man was violently assaulted by five people (including the youth from the original altercation) for trying to intervene. Other nearby Angels rushed to the train and detained all five assailants until police could arrive and arrest them. That’s the bare outline of what went down. But there’s more:
Alex Kaufer, an Angel in training, stepped in when a black male youth allegedly assaulted a white woman on a train as it pulled into the Anacostia Station on the Green Line about 11 p.m. Saturday. The youth and his friends apparently were making racial comments to the woman and her friend.
“The youths were harassing the girls. They were making fun of them because they were white and because of the way they were dressed,” John Ayala, East Coast director of the Guardian Angels, tells WTOP. “The girl got up and told the youths, ‘We are not afraid of you.’”
That’s when the fight started…
On Your Mind: the Guardian Angels and Metro Violence
Tasty Morning Bytes – Room at the Inn, Another Metro Brawl and More Mayoral Scandal
Good morning, DCentric readers! Do you feel sunnier after losing an hour yesterday? We do!
City Officials Find Solution To Homeless Crisis: The Comfort Inn Families in limbo because there aren’t enough case workers: “It turns out city administrators have come up with an expensive solution to D.C. General’s limited space: The city has spent tens of thousands of dollars putting homeless families up at the refurbished Comfort Inn on New York Avenue.” (Washington City Paper)
Five arrested, man attacked while breaking up fight on Metro No good deed… “…a member of the Guardian Angels, said he was attempting to break up a fight between a white woman and a black teen when two other youths and two men intervened and all five began assaulting him.” (Washington Examiner )
In D.C. campaign scandal, key tests are physical evidence, Gray aides’ interviews Ouch! “Cynics in the newsroom said Gray must have set some kind of speed record by taking less than 10 weeks to get from his inauguration to a scandal involving the FBI.” (The Washington Post)
Stumbles by Gray disillusion many in D.C. “Terry Lynch, executive director of the Downtown Cluster of Congregations, said Mr. Gray has given credence to the narrative advanced by Mr. Fenty during the election: namely, that Mr. Gray would take the city back to the era of dysfunction that ushered in the D.C. financial control board.” (Washington Times)
Report: Sulaimon Brown Had Been Tried For Attempted Murder Talk about a “second-chance”: “investigators report former mayoral candidate and fired city employee Sulaimon Brown was once tried for attempted murder while living in Chicago. The same confidential report says Brown was charged with assault in Essex County, New Jersey.” (WUSA Washington, DC)
David Simon: Drug War is “War on The Underclass”
Flickr: Fernando Galeano
The cover of Felicia "Snoop" Pearson's Memoir
Life imitated art yesterday as the actress who played “Snoop” on HBO’s critically-acclaimed, Baltimore-based drama “The Wire” was arrested. Her charge? Conspiracy to distribute heroin and other drugs.
The creator of “The Wire”, David Simon, released a statement through HBO decrying the war on drugs as a war on the poor. Simon emphasized how different his life and opportunities were and are from Pearson’s; the actress was born addicted to crack, she was a product of the foster-care system and she killed another girl while still a teen. Pearson served time for that murder before being discovered at a club by Michael K. Williams, who also starred on “The Wire” as “Omar”. Here is part of Simon’s statement:
In an essay published in Time two years ago, the writers of ‘The Wire’ made the argument that we believe the war on drugs has devolved into a war on the underclass, that in places like West and East Baltimore, where the drug economy is now the only factory still hiring and where the educational system is so crippled that the vast majority of children are trained only for the corners, a legal campaign to imprison our most vulnerable and damaged citizens is little more than amoral. And we said then that if asked to serve on any jury considering a non-violent drug offense, we would move to nullify that jury’s verdict and vote to acquit. Regardless of the defendant, I still believe such a course of action would be just in any case in which drug offenses — absent proof of violent acts — are alleged.
Both our Constitution and our common law guarantee that we will be judged by our peers. But in truth, there are now two Americas, politically and economically distinct. I, for one, do not qualify as a peer to Felicia Pearson. The opportunities and experiences of her life do not correspond in any way with my own, and her America is different from my own. I am therefore ill-equipped to be her judge in this matter.
Cut Metro Hours? Lose $50 Million from D.C.
DCentric
Save $3 to 5 million by cutting service? Lose $7 million in revenue. Or $50 million in matching funds from D.C.
Metro’s proposal to cut late-night service on Fridays and Saturdays in order to save money and create more opportunities for maintenance may hit a financial roadblock (via WTOP):
A Metro source tells WTOP city officials are less inclined to kick in their share of dedicated funding if they know they are going to lose millions in revenue from the rollback of late night weekend hours.
If D.C. were to hold back its share of dedicated funding, it could set off a troubling chain reaction. The move would essentially break an agreement with the federal government, which sends $150 million in funds per year to Metro. That money is to be matched year after year by D.C., Maryland and Virginia — all putting in $50 million each.
We’ve already covered how this issue doesn’t just inconvenience privileged drunk people who’ve been out partying– it also means pain for members of the working class who depend on Metro to get home from their jobs at odd hours. Another issue? How much money will be saved by the service cuts vs. how much could be lost:
Continue reading
Why Ignoring Race Fails Everyone
Flickr: Susan NYC
Child playing in NYC.
Yesterday, the Motherlode blog from the New York Times featured a guest post called “Talking About Race (Etc.)” by Amanda Freeman, a white woman who parents two African-American step-kids along with her half-Asian biological daughter.
Freeman narrated two recent experiences which made her think critically about racism. In the first, a black cop rounds up “unattended” children at a playground, including–much to her shock and dismay–her step-children; the second anecdote is about a coffee date with another mother, who mentioned how Freeman’s African-American children had a better chance at being admitted to college than her half-Asian daughter.
Because we live in this new America that celebrates diversity, I have to remind myself not to forget these little happenings. The real danger lies in being lulled into complacency, erasing race from our national dialogue, checking off the completed box. Racial stereotypes in America run deep; they are woven into our everyday expectations. And we can’t let them go unexamined.
What I do know is that ignoring the subtext of these situations fails everyone involved. The more we try to process our complicated feelings about race, the less likely they are to erupt in ugly ways.
Tasty Morning Bytes – Help for Homeless Principal, Another Gray Scandal and Metro’s Broken Escalators
Good morning, DCentric readers! Just a few more hours until a potentially rainy weekend!
Offers of Help Pour in for Homeless Principal Follow-up on story from yesterday’s round-up. Happy news for a Friday. VIDEO: “Carol Dostert, a former principal who’s now homeless, gets generous offers of shelter, support and even work.” (NBC Washington)
Family struggles to cope after wife and mother of four killed by driver on PCP Family lost their home after surviving parent had to quit his job to care for injured children: “The most difficult part, he said, was bath time after the accident, when so many of the kids’ legs and arms were in casts. It was the harshest reminder that his wife was gone.” (The Washington Post)
Prostitution-free zones target visible sex workers in D.C. “The law theoretically prohibits police from identifying prostitution-related behavior on the basis of “stereotypes or ‘profiles’”; instead, police must rely upon “clearly articulated” signs of sex work…neighborhood objections to visible sex work often center on what women should and shouldn’t be wearing outside the house.” (tbd.com)
Scandals, scrutiny mount on Gray administration What budget shortfall? “Several top-ranking D.C. political appointees are being paid at a rate that would violate District law, it was revealed Thursday, yet another controversy in the scandal-marred first two months of D.C. Mayor Vince Gray’s administration.” (Washington Examiner )
Metro’s Plan to Improve Escalators It could get worse if Metro loses federal funds: “There’s a reason escalators always seem to be broken. One is they’re not keeping up on maintenance. Right now only 40% of preventative maintenance is done on time.” (myfoxdc.com)
Lingering federal inquiry could hamstring fledgling administration It’s all so distracting: “Federal authorities looking at accusations of impropriety by the Gray for Mayor campaign might mean more trouble for a fledgling administration that must quickly move to set a new course or potentially risk losing its way entirely, experts said.” (Washington Examiner )
D.C.: America’s Most Socially Networked City
http://twitter.com/DCntrc
Are you following us on Twitter? We hope you are!
According to The Buzz, here’s another way D.C. is “winning“– we get an “A+” on a report card for the “Most Socially Networked” cities:
When we first decided to crown one town America’s Most Socially Networked City, our money was on Palo Alto…But the title instead goes to Washington D.C., a city where staying connected can get out the vote, and virtual handshakes help shape our nation.
We started by calculating the number of Facebook and LinkedIn users per capita, followed by overall Twitter usage (NetProspex). Then we looked at traffic generated by the major social networks, including Myspace, Friendster, Reddit, and Digg (analyzed by ad network Chitika). Finally, after factoring in the percentage of households that check out chat rooms and blogs (SimplyMap), we had the results…
I know that Twitter was only part of the equation used for determining each city’s score, but since it was, I can’t help but wonder if our city’s racial composition has anything to do with this win. After all, Twitter is disproportionately popular with African-Americans.
In D.C., AIDS Rate for Women is 12x National Average
http://www.aids.gov/awareness-days/
According to the president of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, Nicky Goren, Washington, D.C. “has an AIDS rate for women that is 12 times the national average and rivals sub-Saharan African countries“. That’s a sobering statistic to contemplate on National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
Why have a day devoted to Women and girls? Because:
HIV/AIDS is a serious public health issue affecting nearly 280,000 women in the United States. While men account for most HIV/AIDS cases, the impact on women is growing. In addition, research shows that, when compared to men, women face gaps in access and care.
In D.C., The Women’s Collective, a local nonprofit that serves women who are either living with or at-risk for HIV/AIDS, is hosting two events, one of which is going on right now:
Women Raising Awareness Event 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Women’s Collective– 1331 Rhode Island Ave., NE
Activities include Medicaid enrollment, free HIV testing and a Safer Sex in the City party.The Positive Ladies Soccer Club film screening and discussion 6 to 9 p.m.
National Press Club – 529 14 th Street, NW
In partnership with the NAACP and the National Council of Negro Women