The following digital story, produced by Empower DC member Ernestine Ward, summarizes how she came to Empower DC, and why she believes its work is important.
Ernestine is a somewhat new DC resident and, unlike many other transplants to the area, she intends to stay. According to Ernestine, “volunteering with Empower DC has not only helped me gain a sense of community, but has also helped me become aware of many of the city’s pressing issues.”
I believe the above digital story exemplifies the mission of the Grassroots Media Project, which has been, “to provide a space for media production and training to individual activists and community-based nonprofits in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. Through the creation and distribution of news media, such as radio segments, short videos, public service announcements, digital stories, etc., GMP producers will educate and inform policy makers and the public at large about issues that matter to them. Our productions will be distributed on the Internet, public radio, public access television or any distribution outlet willing to work with us. We hope to provide an alternative to the mainstream media, which often overlooks or misrepresents issues and causes that matter most to low-income and working class residents of the District of Columbia.”
Unfortunately, Empower DC is no longer able to support that mission and this will be my last post for the Grassroots Media Project. Fortunately, Executive Director Parisa Norouzi has said that Empower DC would welcome another organization that fills the media training niche now left vacant by the suspension of the Grassroots Media Project and that she would like to have the content of the blog accessible as an archive, which you can find at the site grassrootsmediaproject.org.
In the meantime, GrassrootsDC.org is still up and running. The content on that site will be produced by former Grassroots Media Project volunteers who want to continue to work towards the project’s former mission. We are no longer working for the Grassroots Media Project but are instead in the process of forming a new organization called Grassroots DC. Grassroots DC will continue to fulfill the media training niche to which Parisa Norouzi referred. We will also continue to cover not only the work of Empower DC but as much of the considerable work being done by DC’s entire progressive community as we can manage.
Beyond our home online as GrassrootsDC.org, we don’t yet have a brick and mortar location. Producers continue to work collaboratively but from a variety of locations. With any luck, that will change soon and we’ll be able to resume training in person. In the meantime, you can still find our curriculum online and the alternative media that covers the issues that matter most to DC’s low-income and working-class residents at GrassrootsDC.org. It’s not the end of the Grassroots Media Project but a shift to what I believe will be a more sustainable organization, Grassroots DC.
In a David and Goliath story, the tiny Ivy City community, a low-income African-American neighborhood settled originally just after emancipation, has filed suit against the Mayor and USRC to halt plans to divert hundreds of polluting charter buses into their community for the next 10 years while Union Station undergoes a billion dollar redevelopment.
When residents learned that the Mayor, in the midst of attending ribbon-cuttings and congratulating new homeowners, had authorized the Alexander Crummell School be turned into yet another parking lot for diesel-spewing buses, their outrage turned to action and attorney Johnny Barnes was retained and lawsuit filed to halt the construction. Built in 1911, the school, now in neglected shape, is a national landmark added to the historic registry 10 years ago.
“We will do whatever it takes to stop this parking lot,” said third generation resident Andria Swanson, a plaintiff in the case and President of the Ivy City Civic Association. “We demand that the city stop treating Ivy City as its dumping ground, because we deserve better.”
The Ivy City case has city-wide implications as it will set precedent in areas of law relating to the requirement that Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) receive special notice and their views be considered with “great weight.”
The suit also hinges on the city’s failure to conduct an environmental impact study for the development of the bus lot, which the Mayor claims is not a “major action.”
Despite not receiving notice, the ANC voted 8 to 0 against the planned bus depot, once they discovered the plan. Other ANCs across the District have joined the opposition by passing resolutions against the bus depot.
Long treated as the city’s “dumping ground,” residents of Ivy City are already heavily impacted by respiratory illnesses exacerbated by heavy truck traffic along New York Avenue and the resulting air pollution. Generations of Ivy City residents have advocated improvements to their neglected neighborhood, and thought better days were coming when the city began investing in new affordable homes and revitalization planning. Yet early this year, the Mayor did an abrupt turn-around, authorizing the purchase of over six acres in the community to consolidate the parking of Department of Public Works’ fleet, on top of several acres of school bus parking already sited in the community.
For decades, the community has sought, and the DC government has promised, the restoration of Crummell School to provide services such as recreation, education and job training programs. Non-profit developers Manna Inc, Mi Casa and DC Habitat bought into the city’s stated goal of revitalizing Ivy City and broke ground on 58 new homes, now nearing completion. New homeowners and existing residents now face potential immediate risk to their health should the Mayor’s proposed charter bus lot move forward. The community is also burdened by overflow parking from Love nightclub, a youth detention center, homeless shelter, a new medical marijuana cultivation site and liquor distillery.
Just last year through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the DC Department of Housing and Community Development participated in a study that showed 36% of Ivy City and Trinidad residents lacked a high school diploma or equivalent, and 11% are unemployed. The Crummell School is situated in the heart of the community similar to a town hall, and is the last remaining place available to provide the services and gathering space the community seeks.
“Sitting a polluting charter bus lot across the street from residences is an injustice that the Mayor would never consider visiting upon a higher-income or more politically powerful community,” said Parisa Norouzi, Executive Director of Empower DC, a group working to enhance the organizing efforts of residents.
“By definition this is a case of Environmental Injustice,” Norouzi said. “The Mayor should be ashamed of himself.”
Youth from Ivy City from left to right, Stephanie Chloe, Dedrica (Drica) Clyburne, James Batts, Moniya Walker and Santasia (Tay) Scarborough
This summer, Empower DC hired several youth from Ivy City to help organize their community. What follows are the impressions of a few of the participants and a lovely video of Ivy City’s Annual reunion produced by two of the youth, Stephan Scarborough and Amari McCray.
Dedrica: I loved being the assistant community organizer for Ivy City because I used my voice for a better purpose. I feel Empower DC is doing an awesome job fighting for Alexander Crummell School. I got the opportunity to silently protest Mayor Gray’s plan to park 65 Bolt buses on the grounds of the historic Alexander Crummell School. And I feel I was good at getting people involved and wanting to stand up for the community they call home. I am definitely going to continue volunteering for Empower DC to keep the fight going in the community.
Moniya: One thing that I learned with empower DC is that you can always help with stuff. And that it was good to visit and learn new things. Empower DC changed me. I learned that you can always feel comfortable going and talking to an adult and how to have confidence. What I did not like was talking to people and getting people to come to meetings because at times they were rude. But even though people were rude there was a possibility they would attend the meeting. When I first started I was tired of walking around but I eventually got used to it. And I felt so happy when I would attend meetings and people I made contact with attended.
Stephon “Steph” Scarborough at 3.
Steph: Our amazing organization, Empower DC, has taught me a lot and it was a wonderful experience. Furthermore it was pretty excellent that the program was constructive, positive and productive. Our campaign that we are pursing has a good sense of justice and a large amount of significance. I am looking forward to starting an Empower DC band. The band will aim to reach out to people and tell them about our Ivy City community and all the hardships that we endure. Empower DC has been great to me and I will love to stay for future initiatives.
Amari McCray
Amari: My name is Amari. My summer with Empower DC was good while interning with the Grassroots Media Project. The experience was really good for me because I normally would be out with friends stealing bikes. While working with empower DC I learned how to operate the video camera and learned how to film different progressive events.
The Centennial of the Alexander Crummell School, a long-neglected historic landmark in the Ivy City community, was celebrated on Saturday, November 19, 2011. (Yes, this post is well after the fact, but certainly still relevant.) Empower DC released the Ivy City Neighborhood & Oral History Project, a book that features photos, excerpts from oral history interviews, and archival news clippings about one of DC’s most historic yet least known neighborhoods. The booklet will be distributed to participants, community members and libraries.
The reception was attended by many of the former Ivy City residents and alumni of Ivy City’s Alexander Crummell School. In 2002, several Crummell alumni played a key role, along with the Ivy City–Trinidad Civic Association, in winning historic landmark status for the Alexander Crummell School, which was built in 1911 and served as one of the District of Columbia’s first public elementary schools for black children until its closure in 1972. The Crummell alumni and current residents of the community share the goal of not only preserving the school but also having it renovated to serve as a recreation and workforce development center for the neighborhood, which currently lacks amenities of the sort.
Photos featured in the book demonstrate how Ivy City was a haven for middle- and working-class blacks during the District of Columbia’s more segregated past. The book also documents the efforts of the children and youth of Ivy City as they attempt to transform the abandoned Crummell School into a community center, including a photo of DC Mayor Adrian Fenty signing a pledge to renovate Crummell for community needs. “The book will be a resource for teachers, students and all DC residents, who can learn about this small but uniquely tight-knit community,” explains Empower DC Executive Director Parisa Norouzi. “This is the first known record of the community’s history.” The goal of the Ivy City Neighborhood and Oral History Project is to bring together the former and current residents who both have the best interest of the community at heart as well as to foster pride in the community through the sharing of oral history and personal stories.
In addition to the release of the Ivy City Neighborhood & Oral History Project book, the celebration was also an opportunity to screen the documentary Crummell School: Heart and Soul of the Community, which was produced by American University Anthropology student and Grassroots Media Project intern Sean Furmage.
This Tuesday, June 5, 2012, I will be facilitating a workshop entitled “Use the Media Before It Uses.” The Youth Education Alliance, which recently merged with Empower DC and one of the very few organizations in the city dedicated to helping DC’s youth realize their own political power, used the media effectively. Jonathan Stith, Empower DC’s Youth Organizer and former Executive Director of YEA has provided us with two powerful examples of their work.
Youth Education Alliance at the April 5, 2007 Budget Hearing
This is video is an example of how youth have used media to spread a message of inspiration and education. In 2007, with Mayor Fenty making drastic budget cuts, YEA members devised a cleaver and creative testimony to then City Council Chair Vincent Gray to portray how the budget cuts were impacting them.
The testimony was an adaptation of an exercise that Christina Reyes-Mitchell did with our youth members during her interview to be Youth Organizer. She didn’t get the position but she made an impact. The exercise became a part of our regular political education toolbox.
The video features YEA alumni David Lawrence Jr.; Taneisha Palmer Tanika Kat Palmer; Rob Gorham; MakinMoves Margaret who gave up their vacation to make it happen when the city unexpected moved the budget hearing to occur during their Spring Break.
Special Shout-Out Ann Caton -one of the finest organizer turned consultant transformed to mom!
The Unguided: Why DC Students Need Guidance Counselors
The Unguided was made in 2006 after YEA had established an office in Anacostia. We found out students had one guidance counselor for the entire school. There were 900 students attending Anacostia. Then we found out they weren’t the only school. The Guidance Counselor Campaign really took off.
YEA members were ahead of the curve on this issue. A great guidance counseling system is a fulcrum and critical support to enriching academic and social environment. The movie shows that great schools have great guidance counseling. Research from Philadelphia seems to support it. Graduation rates in their schools rose to the 90th percentile when students were connected to at least “one caring adult” in the building, even if that person isn’t involved in academic instruction. Isn’t that what Guidance Counselors are supposed to do? The truth isn’t complicated.
Interestingly both Mayor Fenty and Mayor Gray promised to address the guidance counselor shortage to end the school-to-prison pipeline and “double the number” of high school and college graduates. In fact, Mayor Gray promised to “double the number” of guidance counselors as one of his campaign promises. I wouldn’t hold your breath for that one.
If, like the members of the Youth Education Alliance, you would like to learn to use the media to advocate for a cause that’s important to you, then join us at the following:
Empower DC & DC Jobs with Justice Present Grassroots Leadership Education Program
How to Use the Media, Before it Uses You!
Tuesday, June 5th 6:30-8:15 PM Benning Library
3935 Benning Rd, NE / Minnesota Ave Metro / Wheelchair Accessible
Developing a clear, concise message is the key to effectively advocating for your issue in the media! Join Empower DC for our upcoming Empowerment Circle on how to effectively create and use media, Liane Scott from our Grassroots Media project will lead this interactive training!
RSVP to Liane@empowerdc.org or (202) 234-9119 x 106. Limited child care is available – please RSVP!
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