Re-Entering Society: Chancelin Matthews Tells His Story

By Judith Hawkins, on May 5th, 2013

Many citizens of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area who have paid their dues to society are forced to pay them over and over again because of the antiquated polices and unrealistic expectations placed on them by the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA). Chancelin Matthews shares some of his concerns about prison and life after his release.

Valencia’s It Is What It Is Mobile talk show is dedicated to ensuring that these important stories are told. If you or someone you know would like to speak out on the devastating effect of the correctional system, please contact us at iiwiitalkshow@yahoo.com, because IT IS WHAT IT IS.

Comments are closed   Justice System, Re-Entry/Recidivism   , , , , , , , ,  

A Mother’s Plea for Her Imprisoned Son

By Judith Hawkins, on January 26th, 2012

Ms. Bennett’s eldest son is 48 years old. She has not touched him since he was 14 and 1/2 years old. He is incarcerated in Texas. Ms. Bennett’s son was instructed to plead guilty to a charge over thirty years ago by a public defender. He was only supposed to get two to five years. After he began to serve his term he was subjected to vicious abuse by correctional officers for years. His abuse led him to defend himself, which resulted in him being charged with murder. He has obtained a degree in prison and is an accomplished portrait artist and poet. He is currently looking for avenues to publish his poetry.

Ms. Bennett made an impassioned plea for her son. She said she had been waiting for a chance to speak out about her son, and asks for prayers for him. Many parents are dealing with the heartache of having a child incarcerated with no hope of finding help or a voice for them to speak out. Ms. Bennett’s story will be heard. Many families have been shattered by the incarceration of juveniles and the stigma attached to it. The most common thought is that “they weren’t raised right”. This family is an example of how wrong those preconceived notions are.

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Affordable Housing is a Nationwide Struggle

By Liane Scott, on June 20th, 2011

On April 15, 2011 the United States House of Representatives approved a Budget Resolution for 2012 proposed by conservative Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan. Ryan’s resolution, if passed, will abolish Medicare and mandate budget cuts totaling $5.5 billion to Housing and Urban Development programs starting in October 2011. All of these cuts target low- and moderate-income people and add up to more than double the amount cut in 2010.

The House budget also calls for work requirements, time limits and rent increases for elderly, disabled and low income tenants receiving HUD assistance. Currently, the House Budget Committee plans to cut 14% of HUD programs across the board, leaving 294,000 Voucher families, 150,000 Public Housing families, and 180,000 Project Based Section 8 families without homes beginning in October. If these cuts are applied proportionately to Washington, D.C., 1520 Voucher families, 1100 Public Housing families, and 1540 Project Based Section 8 families will lose their homes.

Earlier this year, the Save Our Homes Coalition—representing tenants who live in Section 8 public housing programs as well as housing voucher recipients from across the country—coordinated a national day of action to protest the proposed cuts to the HUD budget in Fiscal Year 2011. Nineteen cities participated in a series of actions that took place on Valentine’s Day, including Washington, DC. Grassroots Media Project ally, Judith Hawkins of Valencia’s It Is What It Is Mobile Talk Show, along with Project trainees from Different Avenues, Grace Ebiasah and Jasmine Archer, produced the following video.

As a result of the nation-wide “Have a Heart-Save Our Homes” rallies, like the one shown above, as well as other pressure from the Left, deep cuts to HUD rental housing programs were avoided. However, Republicans have again called for deep spending cuts. This time they are tied to the increase in the US debt ceiling, which must be voted on by August 2 to avoid a US government default. To avoid further cuts, tenants are urging support for alternative revenues by taxing the wealthy and closing loopholes for giant corporations that paid no federal taxes in 2010.

According to US Uncut, a self-described grassroots movement taking direct action against corporate tax cheats and unnecessary and unfair public service cuts across the United States, Bank of America paid no federal income taxes in 2010. In fact, BOA received a tax refund of $666 million—despite record profits and lavish taxpayer bailouts. US Uncut and others estimate that making large corporations pay their fair share would generate as much as $100 billion per year. If BOA paid their fair share at the supposed “corporate income tax rate” of 35%, $4.2 billion in cuts could be avoided—enough to prevent the deep cuts to HUD rental programs proposed by the House Budget Committee for FY 2012.

To that end, low income tenant leaders and organizations from across the nation will come together June 21, to urge the US Treasury to “Tax the Cheats and Save Our Homes.” The National Alliance of HUD Tenants and local organizations Empower DC, ONE DC and the Community for Creative Non-Violence urge everyone suffering under DC’s affordable housing crisis to join them at the following rally at the Bank of America and the US Treasury.

Tax the Cheats, Save Our Homes Rally Tuesday, June 21, 2011 10:30 – 11:30 am 730 15th Street NW (Bank of America) Washington, DC 20005

Tuesday’s demonstration will feature tenant leaders from across the nation gathered in Washington, D.C. for the annual conference of the National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT), the nation’s only national tenants union. They will be joined by tenants and homeless people from DC, including Empower DC, ONE DC, and the Community for Creative Non-Violence. For more information, contact Empower DC, affordable housing organizer Linda Leaks at 202-234-9119.

 

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Gentrification Moving East of the River

By Liane Scott, on February 8th, 2011

Integrated Classroom at Anacostia High, 1957

Gentrification has a tendency to spread and as it spreads, communities turn over. Examples of racial and economic integration, which we all hope will be the result of urban development, are truly hard to find. In the 1940s & ’50s Anacostia was white and believe it or not, Georgetown was black. While it may be unlikely that Georgetown will ever be affordable enough to sustain a majority black population again, Anacostia may revert to it’s previous status. For much of the last decade many long-term residents of DC (black, white and Latino) who at one time lived in Northwest have sought more affordable homes east of the river. With the recession still in full force in Wards 7 & 8, a considerable number are heading even farther east, across the border into Maryland. Who will remain?

One black-owned DC business that will not be relocating to Ward 9 (Prince George’s County) is Stewart’s Funeral Home. In an exploration of gentrification and those who are able to survive it, Brenda Hayes and Be Steadwell produced the following audio report: A_Home_Away_From_Home. It’s clear that Stewart’s Funeral Home is part of a legacy within DC’s black communities of taking care of their own that stretches from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement. But will that tradition last now that the black majority of the District of Columbia is dwindling and will soon cease to exist?

Video producers Judith Hawkins and Valencia Rutledge of Valencia’s It Is What It Is Mobile Talk Show make the case that it is not only African-American business owners who have been established for decades that will survive. The tradition of fulfilling the needs of the community within the community remains, despite the neglect that accompanied the flight of the middle class after integration. Their report on gentrification features a businessman who sells his wares on the street. No, he doesn’t deal drugs, but if you can’t afford a brick and mortar store, then pounding the pavement and taking the product directly to the consumer is one way to go. It may not make him rich, but it will keep him in his Ward 8 home.

The stories featured in this post show the kind of tenacity that’s necessary if native Washingtonians or immigrants from other parts of the country or other parts of the world are to strengthen their roots here and survive gentrification. To rebuild a sense of financial security among the middle class, working class and even low-income residents of DC, we must push for real economic opportunities that extend not only to for-profit developers but also to residents whose investments in the community represents more than just the all mighty dollar but the true wealth of the District of Columbia.

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It Is What It Is

By Liane Scott, on September 27th, 2010

The Grassroots DC is all about community media. Valencia’s It Is What It Is Mobile Talk Show is as community media as community media gets. With nothing but a flash video camera and access to the internet, co-producers Valencia Rutledge and Judith Hawkins have presented Southeast DC and PG County to the world in a way that the mainstream media could never accomplish. Their work is raw–mostly unscripted, unedited interviews of the people they meet on the street or community members trying to make things better. They made some effort to polish their work by taking classes at DCTV, but found that the prices were too high. What does it mean that even the public access station isn’t accessible to everyone? Making community media takes commitment. Making community media without technical or financial support is only accomplished by the most determined. Having worked with Judith and Valencia on their editing skills for a little over a month, I can say that the word determined describes them perfectly.

I’m posting just a few of their videos here for your consideration. If you live east of the river, watching their videos is like checking in with your neighbors. If the other side of the Anacostia is like a foreign country to you, then be prepared to have your assumptions challenged.

Valencia’s & Judith’s Corner

Valencia and Judith speak to audience about their concerns for the surrounding communities and make a pitch for financial support, so they can continue their work.

DC Shootings!

Valencia and Judith return to the scene of shooting.

Homelessness in DC

Being homeless is no picnic.

N-PUT FEEDS THE NEEDY AND THE HOMELESS

Have you heard of the N-PUT Organization? I didn’t think so. Community groups doing positive work in Southeast DC aren’t commonly on the radar of our most common news sources.

DC Evictions

This was the first video that Judith and Valencia edited at the Grassroots Media Project lab. There pitch for financial support did not garner enough support, and Valencia was evicted.

To continue following the adventures of Valencia and Judith on Valencia’s It Is What It Is Mobile Talk Show, subscribe to their Youtube channel @ iiwiitalkshow111.

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