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University of Maryland, Baltimore Country, history professor G. Derek Musgrove and I organized the roundtable, with the support of the chair of the conference organizing committee Matthew Gilmore. The roundtable brought together authors (and one filmmaker) who had written or are in the process of writing about Marion Barry:
- Steven Diner, Professor of History, Rutgers – Newark, and author of “Washington, The Black Majority: Race and Politics in the Nation’s Capital,” in Snowbelt Cities: Metropolitan Politics in the Northeast and Midwest since World War II. 1990.
- Dana Flor, filmmaker, “The Nine Lives of Marion Barry.”
- Maurice Jackson, Professor of History, Georgetown University. Working on a social, political and cultural history of African-Americans in Washington (1700s until the present).
- Harry Jaffe, journalist, Dream City: Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington, D.C. 1994.
- Jonathan Agronsky, journalist, author of Marion Barry: The Politics of Race.
- G. Derek Musgrove, Moderator and Professor of History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Jackson provided a progressive analysis of Barry that recognizes the complicated class nature of Barry’s legacy:
- While white residents may condemn Barry, Barry has been a long-time ally of white gentrification. He worked to gentrify downtown DC, supported the revitalization movement, voted against rent control, and provided benefits to both white and black elites. Jackson said that both white and black elites were responsible for Barry remaining in office and for the urban crisis. [Jackson later gave this further clarification: both black and white elites financially did well during the Barry years but that the Reagan years and federal budget cuts played a major role in the urban crisis of the 1990s; I would say that the elites could also be seen as having a role in the urban crisis.]
- At the very same time, Barry has been one of the only leading politicians that speaks for the poor in DC, not in a condescending way or from the viewpoint of charities, but as an equal. Barry represents hope for, and provided needed jobs and services to, low-income residents in particular. In a previous post, I discussed a Washington Post article about long-time supporters of Barry, including a Richard Butler:
“But even if Skyland gets a Walmart, Richard Butler won’t have the mayor he wants most. Butler, 50, learned to cook while he was locked up. He’s now doing well as a line cook in one of the city’s new restaurants. Have any of the recent mayors made his life better? ‘All I want is Marion Barry,’ said Butler, who is African American and a permanent resident of Barrytown. ‘He’s the only one who ever looked out for the people, always said the right things to us.'”
Agronsky similarly noted that many low-income residents see Barry as the “Black Rocky,” “someone who keeps on fighting until the end.”
Flor observed that “who Marion Barry is is who you are.” For example, if you or a family member gained a job through Barry’s summer youth jobs program or a job in the DC government, then you would likely feel much gratitude toward Barry. Jaffe noted that Barry opened the city government to African American employees and should be given credit for that. An audience member, who had worked for Barry in the late 1980s and early 1990s, discussed how people sought to work for Barry because he was a “visionary” with “a genuine spirit of public service.” After years of Congress’ mismanagement of the city, Barry got the city’s budget in order and began building a new kind of city, “a modern city.” Jaffe recognized Barry as “the best politician in DC” with a deep understanding of the political structure with which he had to contend to build this new city. In his autobiography, Barry writes:
We spent a lot of time fighting against folks who were not affected by poverty, unemployment, homelessness, inequality or the citywide deficiencies in education. As the mayor and the leader of the local government, I saw that we could use budgets and more city revenue and resources to try and create more opportunities for those who did not have opportunities, while still managing a major city to do well. That was my job as the mayor, not to be satisfied with the status quo, but to build a much better Washington for everyone. (p. 158)
And, yes, there is much more to say about his legacy.
Rest in Peace, Marion Barry.
I truly hope Ward 8 will be gentrified
maybe ward 8 will be gentrified, but i hope not. i last saw marion barry on mlk ave in se in ward 8. he seemed frail. ‘hey marion’. (i was going to go walk down the sreet to pick up something but people said its night, don’t go, so i didn’t, he wasn’t no hero (unlike me) but u have to work with the hand you are dealt with. (i even had one of those summer jobs, partly to keep me off the street). i was at that historical society meeting but only at the end (cuz i’m on ishi time—i’m always on time, and know what time it is—i just set my watch for whatever time is conveniant).
georgetown u (which i know about since i went to ellington high across the street) is no better than marion barry (and i know elinor holmes norton, etc. went there) so take the pick out of your eye before saying someone else is blind (and i’m agnostic). unfortunately, the ‘poor’ were and are sort of duped by everything and everybody. as they say, thats sociology in my neighborhood (eg tally’s corner, a book about really old shaw area on 11th and n st nw—i got a gun pulled on me one time there, though it was over an argument about some market transaction—-i said i was going to call the better business bureau but ran away instead).
The Journey of the Man “Marion S. Barry, Jr. “A Life Ends…The Legacy Begins (March 6, 1936-November 23,2014” What was least said about Barry “He was a Successful Negotiator” the Master Mind of many of District of Columbia Municipal Regulations. Barry came to the right place, at the right time “Without a Doubt he is a Scholar of a Legend” impacting every ward including ward 9.
just glancing at this to see if my comment was deleted (it wasn’t, just as marion barry was not deleted though i’m not in that league—way beyond my pay grade as some say). barry got criticized by some because he and others tried to calm down all the riots at 14th and u (some were into burn baby burn thing; even other kids at my elementary school when they were reopened were showing me all their new clothes and stuff they got from looting, i guess i missed out (patches—old song by clarence carter) —-i am so old i even remember that—i asked my parents why is there all this smoke. i had national guard parked in front of my house—i asked them to give me just one machine gun (since my parents wouldn’t let me play with guns, they were pacifists) but they said no so i told them u are not nice so u have to get off my corner. some people ask me my astrology sign—i dont believe in astrology, but i am aquarius; i note u cite both dec 9 and ward 9. jayZ combined these in a song called 99 problems, though jimi hendrix asked what if a 6 turned out to be a 9, and velvet underground (lou reed) had an album called 69, and mike tyson ‘funny or die'(on youtube—-definately funny) had a take down of herman mccain (republican candidate, godfather’s pizza which discusses whether its 999 (mcains plan) or 666). (there was a deer hunt in rock creek park (donald byrd had a song about that) last nite, and since i tend to walk at nite i heard the shots, ran away right into a person with a gun who told me to get down to the road and get out of the park, which i did. i may go with the graylin hagler group on a ferguson march friday since its my area. alot of the good new gogo music these days seems to come from ward 9. (i have no religion, but (XCB) old song ‘ten commandments band’ union bethel 7 19 08 (youtube) is one of my faves).