DC Still Walmart Free

It’s been a minute since we’ve done a post on Walmart, but that’s not to say that DC’s progressive community has stopped working on the issue. Currently, the group No-Ward-4-Walmart is calling for an anti-Walmart presence at the Historic Preservation Review Board Hearing (October 27th at 2:10pm, 441 4th St. NW, Room 220 South) where they will consider designating the old streetcar storage barn at Georgia and Missouri Avenues NW a historic landmark which would make it impossible for developer Foulger Pratt to build a Walmart on that site.

Respect DC takes the position that it’s okay if Walmart comes to DC so long as they sign a community benefits agreement that would guarantee that any Walmart within the District provide its workers with a living wage. Not much word on the community benefits agreement, but on October 20, 2011, Respect DC teamed up with Occupy DC and staged a flashmob at a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser at Union Station. The fundraiser featured Walmart board chairman Rob Walton as well as Wes Bush, CEO and president of arms manufacturer Northrop Grumman.

As its name suggests, the group Walmart Free DC believes that DC doesn’t need any Walmarts: they not only fail to provide a living wage to their employees, but they also have a tendency to drive small businesses into the ground. Empower DC also opposes Walmart coming to the District. This summer, Grassroots Media Project intern Roshan Ghimire and hip-hop artist/community activist Head-Roc teamed up to produce the following video Keep DC Walmart Free, which makes our position pretty clear.

In addition to hosting a series of screenings of The High Cost of Low Price throughout the city over the summer, Walmart Free DC has posted several links that make a strong case for their position. LGBT activist Robby Diesu’s post sums up much of that information and makes a few points that are missed on most of the other anti-Walmart websites.

Why the GLBTQ Community in DC Needs to Reject the Wal-Mart Invasion of Our City

By Robert Diesu

In November 2010 Wal-Mart decided that DC would be its next target in their attempt to amp up their already impressive market share of the retail world. They have met a lot of resistances so far, but not enough. Wal-mart has a special place in the minds of us who are progressive, leftist, and even liberal, and that is the vast majority of us can think of only one word to describe them; evil.

In the District, Wal-Mart plans on bringing in four stores by 2012. Wards 4, 5, 6, and 7 will hopefully not be the home to these planned stores. Each of the four stores in the invasion are going to be 80,000-100,000 sq feet. Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy? But they have not signed leases at any of the four locations, though.

Yet, we as queer people have some extra special reason’s to oppose the evilness that is Wal-Mart, and mainly they don’t support our liberation as a community. To this date, they do not have an anti-discrimination policy that protects trans people and other non-gender conforming peoples. This prompted the National Gay and Lesbian Task force to come out against them invading New York and hopefully soon, DC as well. [1]

They donate to crazy right-wingers, who are actively working against our interest in congress, and by donate I mean hundreds of thousands of dollars, not five grand like Target.  Members of the Wal-Mart board of director and the Wal-Mart PAC have given $455,500 to current members of the “Tea Party Caucus” in Congress (this also includes Tea Party backed candidates who lost)[2].  Not to mention $1,431,000 to candidates who have actually voted against voting rights for DC.[3]

Oh, and they think we are a “highly controversial issue”[4], as a reason why they don’t donate to any National LGBT groups.  Since when is treating other human beings with respect and dignity a controversial issue? The last time I checked, our liberation and the emancipation of our community from oppression was a good thing, not something controversial? What should be highly controversial is that a city government that is as progressive as DC would even think of allowing Wal-Mart in our city-limits.

Now there is this fad among our community to boycott companies who are against our liberation and it always seem inept to me. (I mean Target is right next to my gym, and is constantly calling my name.) Yet, here is a chance for us to actually stop a corporation that opposes our liberation from even getting a foot in our city.  Wal-Mart Free DC is a group that is working actively to oppose all and any Wal-Marts in our city. They are working to build a multi-racial, multi –generational, multi-class, and multi-gender citywide coalition who opposes Wal-Mart from even building a single store in the District. Check them out if you want to stop this invasion of our city!

Wal-MartFreeDC.org Keep DC Wal-Mart Free!

For more information on Walmart on a national level, go to Walmart Watch.