DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! Welcome back from your weekend.

Profile of ‘Unlikely Brothers’ authors “They don’t even look much like friends. But Michael and J.P., denizens of two very different Washingtons, are at this favorite spot celebrating a relationship that has spanned 25 years and produced a harrowing record of violence, despair and, finally, redemption. After a chance meeting in a homeless shelter in 1984, an aimless 21-year-old activist and a homeless 7-year-old city kid effectively declared each other brothers for life.” (The Washington Post)

Police Drop Search for Missing D.C. Teen’s Body “A Washington, D.C. mother may never bury her 18-year-old daughter, whose body is believed to be entombed in dozens of feet of trash somewhere in a Virginia landfill…Investigators might have been more likely to excavate the landfill if Frazier didn’t belong to the “small world” of blue-collar workers, according to her father, Barry Campbell.” (afro.com)

Graduates From First Black High School Celebrate 75th Reunion “Twenty classmates from Dunbar High School, the country’s first black high school, celebrated their 75th-year reunion last week in Southwest Washington…Dunbar High School began back in 1870 in the basement of the 15th Street Presbyterian Church. The school employed black teachers during a time when most schools would not…One of Dunbar’s earliest principals was the first black graduate of Harvard University.” (The Root)

Teenage crime spiking in D.C. “Juvenile arrests have skyrocketed in the District this year, and city officials are bracing for the hot Washington summer when teens have extra time on their hands. The number of children under 18 arrested and charged with violent crimes — homicide, rape and aggravated assault — has risen 10 percent this year compared with last year. Burglary arrests of juveniles jumped 90 percent, while robberies shot up 173 percent.” (Washington Examiner )

Court rehabilitates drug users as moms “The 15-month program places women in a residential treatment facility for six months where they are able to live in a stable environment and receive drug, alcohol and mental health counseling. At some point during their stay, their children are typically moved into the facility, allowing counselors to observe how the mothers and children interact. The children’s health and development are also tracked.” (Washington Times)

Peaceoholics’ Moten offers tough words for a tough situation “Some teenage girls came to the vigil dressed as if going to a party, with six-inch spiked heels and skirts with hems just as high above the knees…The majority of young men present were high school age or in their early 20s; only a handful of the mourners looked old enough to be a father. But they still nodded when Moten spoke. And whether they agreed with him or not, they obviously respected him enough to keep listening.” (The Washington Post)