President Elect Aquarius Vann-Ghasri and two other Potomac Gardens residents prepare to cast their votes for the resident council board.
Although the official vote count won’t be complete until June, Grasroots DC would like to congratulate Aquarius Vann-Ghasri on her unofficial re-election to the position of president of the Potomac Gardens Resident Council. Vann-Ghasri credits her promotion of what she calls a Resident-Driven Leadership Model. Using this model, she has coordinated many presentations, focus groups and round table discussion based on the concerns and issues identified by Potomac Gardens’ residents.
Events coordinated by President Vann-Ghasri include presentations by representatives from Bread for the City’s Legal Clinic, the Office of the Tenant Advocate, the US Attorney General’s Office, Empower DC, etc. She has also brought speakers from Washington, DC’s activist community including Linda Leaks of the Justice Advocacy Alliance, Lucy Murphy of the DC Labor Chorus, Ronald Moten, author of Drinking Muddy Waters and Nisa Harper, author of Confessions of a Crazy Baby Mama.
Potomac Gardens has two resident councils. One representing those who live in the family residencies and another for those who live in the senior building.
The board for the family residents includes:
President – Aquarius Vann-Ghasri Vice President – Diane Hewitt Secretary – Shirley Ford Treasure – Misha Pettway Seargent of Arms – Vacant
The board for the seniors’ building includes:
President – Martha Moore Vice President – Lionel Adams Treasurer – Claudia McCormack Secretary – Karen Clyburn-Bennett Seargant of Arms – Robert Woodard
When Grassroots DC began setting up shop within the Potomac Gardens Public Housing complex in May of 2013, it was with the intention of providing media production training for and media coverage of DC’s traditionally underserved communities. As we moved into Potomac Gardens we realized two things. First, Potomac Gardens’ residents wanted and needed access to the Internet and basic computer training. Second, many Potomac Gardens residents who wanted to participate in our media production training program wouldn’t be able to without access to the Internet and basic computer training. So, we decided to provide basic computer training and access to the Internet.
As Grassroots DC’s executive director, I faced a pretty steep learning curve. Having taught media production for much of the last two decades, I had curriculum for radio and video production but nothing for basic computer literacy, let alone the more advanced classes that might be required. Grassroots DC also had the media production equipment that I brought along via my freelance work, which included three aging Macintosh computers, but we had none of those IBM clones otherwise known as PCs that folks seem so fond of in office environments.
So we needed computers, software, curriculum and instructors. Sheesh! As it turned out, the computers were the easiest part. Lowell Dodge founder of the DC nonprofit First Time Computers put me in touch with one of FTC’s graduates Jay Hornbuckle who had recently started his own business, Capitol Computer Solutions. Jay happened to have a donation of five computers that he was in the process of refurbishing. Because Grassroots DC had raised precisely $0.00 for the computer training program, Hornbuckle agreed to donate those first five PC’s to Grassroots DC, with the understanding that when we did get some grant money, we’d pay him to help maintain our computer lab.
I applied for a couple of grants and while I crossed my fingers, recruited some volunteers, Ben Dorger, a student and new resident to Capitol Hill, Brenda Hayes, longtime Grassroots DC member from before Grassroots DC even existed and Central Godbolt, a computer professional who, despite a busy schedule was able to commit two nights a week to the project. Between the four of us, we provided one class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10:00 AM until noon, and another on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 PM until 8:00 PM. Central and I began to put together a curriculum, mainly from online sources, and we started classes.
Tuesdays and Thursday morning classes were pretty fluid. Throughout the fall of 2013, class attendance ranged from two to seven students. There were days that we had to turn students away. We had the space, so we got a few more computers and a couple of printers in various states of disrepair through DC’s Freecycle Network. By this time we’d been awarded $1,000 from the Capitol Hill Community Foundation. Yay! So, we were able to call in Capitol Computer Solutions to fix up the donated equipment.
We focused on helping students meet their personal goals so classes were pretty fluid. 9 students set up email accounts, 5 created or updated their resumes. One student was able to use the skills she learned in class to help her study for her nursing certification. Two other students helped us create a basic grammar curriculum. One student signed up for more advanced classes with UDC’s Workforce Development program and will receive his certification as a Microsoft Office Specialist in May. In between scheduled classes, Potomac Gardens residents were able to come in and use the computers and access the Internet.
The four to seven students in the Monday and Wednesday evening classes were more consistent than the morning class. By the end of the 2013, they had not only gone through the basic curriculum but Central Godbolt had them take a computer apart so they could identify its components. This was way more than just a basic computer literacy class.
Four students from the Monday and Wednesday night basic computer class continued into the new year and are now preparing for their Microsoft Office Specialist Certification. They have already completed one desktop publishing assignment and are now working on minizines covering topics such as physical activity and nutrition for children, youth tennis programs and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle after a heart attack. Once published, the minizines will not only be posted to GrassrootsDC.org but also printed out and distributed within the Potomac Gardens Public Housing Complex. Once they receive their certifications, these students will assist in teaching a new basic computer class.
Grassroots DC applied for several grants in the hope of funding the computer training program. So far, only the Capitol Hill Community Foundation has stepped up to the plate. Their $1,000 grant has not only allowed us to provide the basic computer classes, but also keep the lab open for the Potomac Gardens community at large. Residents regularly come in to print out documents, create flyers for community events, use the Internet, etc. One mother was able to secure a scholarship for her daughter to a private school.
Anyone reading this post right now takes for granted their access to computers and the Internet. The residents of Potomac Gardens Public Housing Complex do not. On behalf of them and all of Grassroots DC, I’d like to express our gratitude to the Capitol Hill Community Foundation.
I was struck by this comment in the Washington City Paper (Chatter, Shelter Skelter, 3/21/14)a week or two ago:
[DC] Public officials attributed the crisis to a confluence of little affordable housing and the vapor trails of the Great Recession. Reader spmoore offered a diagnosis: “The demolition and elimination of thousands of public housing units in the last 10 to 15 years has resulted in a definite spike in family homelessness. There are simply less units to house low income families in need…Society and the city seems perfectly fine with demolishing public housing, negatively stereotyping public housing, and then act so concerned about the homeless spike.”
An apartment in public housing is a whole lot better than being homeless. I happened to have dinner in Potomac Gardens on Tuesday evening. It was a great time eating, talking, and, yes, visioning with a small group of Potomac Gardens residents, local homeowners, and grassroots community organizers. This was part of Art in Praxis’ experiment, “The Future of [Your] Street” “to activate neighbors in collectively shaping the kind of community they want to live in and be a part of.” Potomac Gardens and Hopkins as public housing projects were an essential part of this vision.
The dinner guests discussed ideas that so closely resembled those concepts used in urban sociology, such as Logan and Molotch’s Urban Fortunes. They spoke about the difficulties caused by a mindset focused on protecting or increasing housing values and/or on renovating houses as an investment, especially real estate agents and investment groups seeking to maximize their investments (exchange value), as opposed to the mindset of those focused on having a home and building a community to satisfy social and personal needs (use value)(see pp. 1-2 of Urban Fortunes). Many people have a mix of these, but renters have the most interest in use value, of course. As a result, more of the neighborhood was being mobilized for those with higher incomes and for investors than for renters, especially low-income renters, and those homeowners focused more on use value.
One Potomac Gardens resident spoke so thoughtfully about how he wanted more interactions with the neighborhood like this dinner because he felt that those who were new to the neighborhood needed to know things (such as, I think, the norms and folkways of the neighborhood) to feel more comfortable in the neighborhood. This knowledge would allow people to move beyond their imaginations (or common assumptions) and fears about public housing and about the neighborhood (like assumptions about cities based on “The Wire“). This might allow for a more inclusive discussion about The Future of Our Street/Community.
Are you interested in joining in the visioning, in which public housing is fundamental to the vision?
Back in December 2012, I took a look at the Wikipedia page for Potomac Gardens public housing at 13th and Pennsylvania Ave, SE. At that time, I was surprised by what I read:
The existing [Wikipedia] page surprised me because it focused exclusively on 1) the potential replacement of the buildings either with Marine barracks or mixed-income housing and 2) crime in the area (under the only category of “Incidents”). There was no discussion of what life might be like in Potomac Gardens, as well as no mention of people important to the community, significant sites within the property, or important events or activities. There was also no discussion of how life in Potomac Gardens may have changed over time. In general, the page seemed to be written from the point of view of people unconnected with those living in Potomac Gardens. Yes, those living inside and outside Potomac Gardens have a great interest in the potential redevelopment plans, but the page does not capture much about Potomac Gardens. Without knowledge of the life within Potomac Gardens, it becomes very easy to argue that Potomac Gardens should be dismantled, since it appears to have no value or significance.
In that post, you can see what the original Wikipedia page looked like. I made some additions to try to expand the perspective of the page. Others have since revised it further. However, I knew that those living in Potomac Gardens would be the ideal editors of the Potomac Gardens Wikipedia page.
A couple of weeks ago, I got to visit Grassroots DC‘s Wednesday evening computer class in Potomac Gardens. The computer class had seven adult students learning how to use computers to do email, explore the internet, write letters, resumes, produce documents, etc. Earlier the class had written a letter to Councilmember Tommy Wells, asking for help with the former recreation center in Potomac Gardens. This meeting, we were going to update the Potomac Gardens Wikipedia page!
I handed out this guide, which anyone can use:
After they logged into Wikipedia at their computers, there was an immediate debate about whether Potomac Gardens ever had the nickname “Magic City.” Someone told me that it had been called this, and months ago I had added it in the Wikipedia page. While one person vaguely remember this name, everyone agreed that Potomac Gardens had only one nickname: “The Gardens.” So, two of the students changed that on two different parts of the page.
A discussion broke out about how anyone could update the page. Someone suggested that the history on the page must therefore be false. Someone else referred to a fact about Potomac Gardens that was true. Another asked, how do you know that? She said, I know it from the Wikipedia page. I admitted that I had written most of the page. One person turned to me quite surprised: but you don’t live here. How do you know this information? Another student said, you did research? I then asked, how can we get information about the history of Potomac Gardens, how can we get historical information? Some said that they could ask some older residents. Others said that one could Google for more information. I said that there was almost no information on the web about Potomac Gardens’ history. So, they would have to research and write it themselves.
The discussion was a professor’s dream discussion. The class became incredibly loud as the very nature of history was debated along with the topics and details they each wanted to include in the page. It was agreed that a section called “Community Life” would be added. A student added this section, while other students wrote up different paragraphs in Word, which they then posted to the new section. Actually, more correctly, most of them wrote up their parts in beautiful handwriting and then typed it up in Word. The non-profit organizations operating on “Community Row” in Potomac Gardens and the old recreation center came to life. One of the senior residents revealed the pride and joy of the senior building — the greeter system they had implemented themselves (see the page for details).
So, it was a fantastic time. The experience made very clear how history writing reflects one’s perspective. The glorious University of Maryland, College Park, sociologist Patricia Hill Collins has contributed her work on “intersectionality” to feminist standpoint theory, which is valuable when thinking about how one’s perspective or standpoint influences one’s view of history. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
Feminist standpoint theorists make three principal claims: (1) Knowledge is socially situated. (2) Marginalized groups are socially situated in ways that make it more possible for them to be aware of things and ask questions than it is for the non-marginalized. (3) Research, particularly that focused on power relations, should begin with the lives of the marginalized.(1)
Wikipedia provides the tools for marginalized groups like those at Potomac Gardens to make the non-marginalized aware of histories and power relations not necessarily visible to the non-marginalized. Much more research and further revisions of the Wikipedia page are necessary. I also, of course, can’t stop making revisions based on information I find. One can then ask what my perspective or standpoint is. In the meantime, you can see the page’s current state, and you can take part in this history writing as well.
Last September, the DC Beat Club–a digital music workshop that travels to neighborhood libraries and community centers in the DC area–came to Potomac Gardens. After participating in September’s Beat Club, Larry Jackson a 13-year-old Potomac Gardens Resident, has come by every week asking if he can rap and if we can put it on Youtube. This past Saturday, January 18, 2014, Grassroots DC hosted the DC Beat Club for the second time and Larry’s wish came true. DC Beat Club founder Barrett Jones and his friend Audrius Reskevicius with his own video camera and laptop, helped Larry put together the following video. Enjoy!
The DC Beat Club is part of Grassroots DC’s efforts to teach music and radio production to Potomac Gardens Youth. We plan to build up this partnership in the very near future.
In other news, Saturdays have become pretty busy at Grassroots DC. We’ve begun pre-production on a documentary called Potomac Gardens Inside and Out. Our first step is to conduct surveys of the residents living around the public housing complex. In February, we plan to put the same survey questions to the residents within Potomac Gardens itself.
In addition to the Beat Club and the surveying, students from Monday’s video production class have begun to use the open lab time to work on their video projects. Brenda Hayes, producer of radio program This Light: Sounds for Social Change, which airs Sunday nights on CPR radio, stopped in to do some audio editing. Knowing there would be a crowd, I served chicken and collard greens. If Grassroots DC can afford it, we may make that a regular thing. In any case, Saturdays are generally a good time to stop by and get involved. Doors are usually open by 10 am, but it’s good to call first, 202.608.1376.
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