DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! Treat your case of the Mondays with some hot links:

A little luxury for all “I mean look at this coat, the detailing, the cut, the style,” she said, modeling the $548 gold trench she bought a week ago, while ogling a $900 satchel bag. Linton is exactly the kind of customer Elie Tahari knew he’d find in the Washington area: one with discerning tastes, definite style and disposable income…The region’s resilient and diverse economy has attracted a stream of young professionals with edgier tastes in fashion, restaurants and entertainment. Not all of these folks are game to drop $200 on a button-down shirt, but enough are to make this area fertile ground for a new class of luxury retailer.” (The Washington Post)

Coming Out: Not as Simple as Black and White “With respect to Ms. Maddow, it’s much easier for a white lesbian to adhere to this virtue than her darker gay brethren. As a highly educated, successful white woman, she is afforded certain privileges that many gays of color still are not. Not to mention, being gay is often a bigger taboo within the black community than the white. And while she has certainly had to contend with her own battles with heteronormativity, it might not be to the same extent as, say, her black male counterparts have to deal with.” (The Root)

Malcolm X Elementary School’s Community Garden Vandalized Students at the Anacostia public school have started replanting, need donations: “It made me feel sad because we weren’t able to keep the garden,” said Lenea Johnson, who is 9. Many of the kids came by during Spring Break to water the plants. By the end of the week, the plants had been pulled and thrown in the trash. “I’m not surprised because things go on in this neighborhood, vandalizing and stuff like that,” said 11-year-old Tyuana Turner. (WUSA Washington, DC)

Questions about President Obama’s birth certificate are coded and covert rhetoric to stir up racial fears “It is not just the birth of President Obama that is at stake. Those leading the charge for states’ rights are against the birth of EEOC. They are against the birth of contract compliance. They are against the birth of Title IV. They are against the birth of Affirmative Action. They are against the birth of the Voting Rights Act. The attack against the President is really an attack against the birth of the Civil Rights Movement.” (Washingtoninformer.com)

Long-awaited enforcement to begin on D.C. anti-littering law “In Ward 4, where the pilot program is kicking off, resident Nancy Roth said she is often dismayed by the number of liquor bottles and snack wrappers she finds lining her street…she remains doubtful that writing tickets will prove the best solution to the problem. “If you’re going to tell people ‘Don’t throw this on the ground,’ you have to give them an alternative,” Ms Roth said. “Can the city be persuaded in this time of budgetary uncertainty to put more trash cans out in the neighborhood and then keep them maintained?”” (Washington Times)

Ex-boyfriend of yoga-store slaying suspect sought restraining order in ’07 “Brittany Norwood, the woman charged with killing her co-worker at a high-end yoga store, punched, pushed and threw things at a former boyfriend who ultimately obtained a judge’s order to keep her away from him in October 2007, according to D.C. Superior Court records. Norwood, 28, violated the court order later that year by following the man and his new girlfriend in a car, court documents show.” (The Washington Post)