Often times I feel that the progressive movement in DC is getting nowhere. I’ll make the mistake of reading the comments following some article that actually pertains to community organizing on DCist or the City Paper site and I am sickened by the classism and thinly veiled racism there. Spend too much time wading through DC’s blogosphere and one can start to believe that the gentrifiers are the only people whose opinions matter in this town. By contrast, last night’s Organizing for Post Election Accountability Empowerment Circle was heartening.
DC Rapper Head-Roc performs Change In America.
We discussed the record of the soon to be previous mayor Adrian Fenty. He and the city council did many things that the community didn’t appreciate in the last four years. In many ways, the city is not better off. We are not better off without Franklin Shelter, or the 23 neighborhood schools that were closed down, or the 13 early childhood and out of school time programs that were shuttered at Parks and Recreation Centers in wards 6, 7 and 8. But none of those things were taken away without a fight.
Hundreds of homeless and homeless advocates protested in Franklin Square, testified before the city council and won emergency legislation to keep the shelter open. Mayor Fenty ignored the emergency legislation, and the city council that enacted it did not sue the Fenty Administration for flouting the law, but the activists did. The fight to reopen Franklin Shelter continues. On Friday, October 8, the federal courts will hear the case. Go to Reopen Franklin Shelter Now for the latest updates.
Under Mayor Fenty, schools chancellor Michelle Rhee managed to close down 23 neighborhood schools that were supposedly under-enrolled and/or under-performing. As it turns out, some were and some weren’t. She fired 266 teachers and support staff due to a shortfall in the budget that turned out to be some kind of accounting error. And she fired or forced to retire dozens of beloved and committed school principals. But none of this came without a price.
After rallies, demonstrations, school walkouts and many, many lawsuits over illegal terminations, alleged warrior woman Michelle Rhee’s days are numbered. Parents from Bruce Monroe Elementary School, which was closed with the promise that a new school would be rebuilt on the site, have continued to pressure the Fenty Administration, the city council and even the developers who’ve shown an interest in building commercial property on the site. So far as the parents are concerned, the school will be rebuilt as promised. The plan to turn Hardy Elementary School in Georgetown, a high performing feeder school that caters to children from every ward in the District, into a neighborhood school that serves only the wealthy and mostly white students from Georgetown, has also met stiff opposition. For developments on opposition to school reform without community input, check out long time DCPS advocate Candi Peterson’s blog The Washington Teacher.
While we are still waiting to hear the outcomes of the lawsuits on behalf of those Park and Recreation employees who staffed the early childhood programs in Wards 6, 7 & 8, before they were closed down, another lawsuit was won outright.
Remember the checkpoints in Trinidad? In the summer of 2008, the Northeast DC neighborhood began to take on the feeling of a police state, as motorists were stopped and asked to provide ID and prove that they had a “legitimate” reason to be in the neighborhood. Those checkpoints are gone now. Why? That would be because the Partnership for Civil Justice sued the District on behalf of four activists who simply refused to accept the infringements on their rights. You can read the details in the Washington Post article Federal Court Says D.C. Police Checkpoints Were Unconstitutional.
The point of all this and the Empowerment Circle that reminded me of these events is that organizing works. We have held Mayor Fenty accountable by firing him. Although the city council, complicit in the above crimes against the community, has not been held accountable, half of them will be up for re-election again in 2012. We’ve all agreed that we can expect little better treatment from presumptive mayor Vincent Gray, but we’re not going to wait for him and the council to disappoint us as many did with Mayor Fenty. Holding our elected official accountable is a process that must be consistent and ongoing.
To that end, Empower DC has planned a series of events designed to bring more DC residents into the progressive movement. We’re calling it the Empower DC Outreach Tour, during which we will hit the streets with DC rapper Head-Roc who has produced a CD of music focusing on the Empower DC campaigns—education, housing, public property and childcare. We’re going to hit almost every ward in the city and hope to sign up as many folks for the various campaigns as we can. It takes place during the last two weeks of October and will coincide with many of presumptive mayor Vincent Gray’s town hall meetings. Please join us. The schedule follows:
Tuesday, October 19, 2010 – Columbia Heights Metro Station
5:30 – 6:30 PM, the Ward 1 town hall meeting will follow this event.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 – Alabama Avenue & Good Hope Rd., SE
5:30 – 6:30 PM
Thursday, October 21, 2010 – Anacostia Metro Station
5:30 – 6:30 PM, the Ward 8 town hall meeting will follow this event.
Saturday, October 23, 2010 – The Funky Flea Market, 6th Street & Florida Ave. NE
Noon – 2:00 PM
Monday, October 25, 2010 – Petworth Metro Station
5:30 – 6:30 PM
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 – Waterfront Metro Station
5:30 – 6:30 PM, the Ward 4 town hall meeting will follow this event.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010 – Georgia & Florida Avenues, NW
5:30 – 6:30 PM, the Ward 6 town hall meeting will follow this event.
Thursday, October 28, 2010 – 3900 Block of Minnesota Ave., NE
5:30 – 6:30 PM
A concert series closing party and fundraiser will be held at the Potter’s House, 1658 Columbia Road, NW on Saturday October 30, 2010 from 6:30-9 PM.
