In Washington, DC, as is true across the nation, policy makers and public officials listen to the concerns of the financially advantaged (developers, major business owners, etc.) because they have the resources to bring their concerns to the forefront of public consciousness. Low-income and working class residents of the District of Columbia and surrounding region have no such resources. What’s more, they are often hard pressed to meet their own needs and have little time or energy to advocate on behalf of their communities. As a result, their concerns are either misrepresented or ignored by the press entirely.
Grassroots DC works to correct this imbalance within the DC Metropolitan region by providing training in journalism and media production. The articles, short videos (and eventually radio podcasts) that our students produce educates policy makers and the public at large about issues and causes that are vital to the under-served communities of the District of Columbia Metropolitan Area.
Grassroots DC is membership based and intergenerational. Our members are low-income, working class and are from traditionally oppressed communities. When circumstances permit it, we are activists, organizers and agents of social change. Although we come from a variety of backgrounds and circumstances, we share a core set of progressive values that compels us to advocate for policies that promote human rights over property rights, to work to end oppression in whatever form it takes and, more specifically, to make the Washington DC Metropolitan Area more welcoming and livable for those of us whose incomes fall below the median.
Grassroots DC productions are distributed on the Internet, public radio, public access television and any distribution outlet willing to work with us. We hope to provide a platform through which individuals from misrepresented communities can control their own image, their communities’ image and ultimately create an alternative to the mainstream media, one which envisions and promotes justice and equity within our communities, the city, the region, the nation and the planet.