By Liane Scott, on November 29th, 2010 
Vince Gray is very proud of the legislation he sponsored making pre-k education universal for all 3- and 4-year-olds. He declared it as one of his major accomplishments in all of his town hall meetings prior to November’s general election. To be sure, early childhood education is extremely important. Children who receive high-quality child care from an early age are better prepared for school, more likely to graduate high school, go on to college, and to stay out of prison. But which service providers are able to take advantage of the money made available by this legislation is also important.
When the bill to make pre-k education universal was first proposed in 2008, 50 percent of the new slots provided were supposed to go to community-based child care providers. By the time the legislation was passed, that number was down to 25 percent. In addition, funding for the District’s Child Care Subsidy Program, which also benefits community-based child care providers as well as low-income parents in need of affordable child care, has been cut each of the past five years.
While Gray wants to do right by his youngest constituents, he seems less concerned about their parents or the middle-class workforce that at one time provided the backbone for DC’s tax base. A pattern that we should be familiar with from the Fenty Administration, who closed down Department of Recreation Early Childhood programs in wards 6, 7 & 8 while leaving the same programs open in the wealthier wards. This action, which Gray is unlikely to reverse, insured an increase in the unemployment rates in those wards hardest hit by the recession as child care providers from the Department of Recreation were fired. The closing of the Recreation Department child care programs also increased the burden on low-income parents by decreasing the number of affordable child care providers within the city’s poorest communities, a number which has already been decreased by the consistent de-funding of the District’s Child Care Subsidy Program.
Subsidized child care, which provides low-income parents with vouchers that pay a portion of their child care costs, is one of the most important work support programs available in DC and around the country. Child care costs can easily amount to $15,000 per year, per child. Without subsidies that help to make child care affordable for low-income families, thousands of parents in DC would be unable to work, unable to look for work or attend school so they are better qualified for work.
In addition to the huge benefits for children and their families, investing in early child care and education helps to strengthen a field whose workforce in DC is predominantly low-income women of color. Child care providers rely on these subsidies from the government to cover their costs. Without them, they would have to lay off the hundreds of people, mostly women, who work in this field. Many child care providers have already had to close their doors for good, even though these are precisely the kinds of small business that Gray claims to support.
The District of Columbia City Council will hold a a public hearing Tuesday November 30, 2010 to hear testimony regarding childcare in the District’s budget. Community members who are impacted–children, parents, child-care providers, etc., are encouraged to testify. If you are interested in testifying at the hearing, attending in support or getting more information, contact Ben Parisi, Child Care organizer for Empower DC at (202) 234-9119 or Ben (at) empowerdc.org.
By Liane Scott, on November 12th, 2010 
Have you ever heard the phrase, “if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu?” The Parents and Friends of Bruce Monroe Elementary School thought they were at the table when former School Chancellor Michelle Rhee and soon to be former Mayor Adrian Fenty promised that the school would be rebuilt by the fall of 2011. They sent their children off to Parkview Elementary School on Warder Street NW, out of the site of hungry developers and the passing traffic that helps keeps crime on Georgia Avenue at bay.
While test scores dropped and rodents infested the cafeteria, the $20.3 million allegedly put aside to help rebuild the school seemingly disappeared. The city did manage to come up with $2 million to construct an interim-use park on the site, so as not to remind the community that they don’t have the school they were promised. The first request for proposals that the city put out didn’t garner any serious takers now that Georgia Avenue doesn’t look like the developers dream that it was before the recession. And the latest RFP requires that developers submit two proposals, one for a school with commercial elements and one for commercial development only. No school included. Our presumptive mayor Vincent Gray has gone from saying that the promise made to the Bruce Monroe parents was a “cruel joke,” to “we can only afford one school,” meaning either Bruce Monroe or Parkview.
On August 10th, when the city planned to present this new RFP to developers, the Parents and Friends of Bruce Monroe Elementary School, were not invited to the table, as is blatantly clear in the video posted above. But being unwilling to be eaten alive, they showed up in force anyway.
Having community members show up at a meeting that was clearly meant for developers only may help to keep the Bruce Monroe site in the hands of the city’s residents. The Parents and Friends of Bruce Monroe Elementary School are scheduled to meet with Mayor Elect Gray, Ward One Councilmember Jim Graham and Council Chair Kwame Brown on Tuesday November 16. At the Ward One Town Hall meeting, Vince Gray expressed his appreciation for the activism of the Bruce Monroe community and claimed to be an activist himself. Next week will tell us whether he’s also willing to give them a meaningful position at the negotiating table.
To get involved in the Campaign to Rebuild Bruce Monroe, contact Empower DC’s education organizer Daniel Del Pialago at Daniel@empowerdc.org.
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.
By Liane Scott, on September 24th, 2010 
Empower DC set up the PEOPLE’S SOAPBOX for the first time at last weekend’s Black LUV festival. In our first edition, Brian Anders has some ideas about how to deal with homelessness and DC’s affordable housing crisis. Do you agree with him or not?
Expect more from the PEOPLE’S SOAPBOX soon.
By Liane Scott, on September 9th, 2010 
On May 15, 2010, over 125 local organizers and activists representing a diverse range of issues came together to discuss the state of the local progressive movement and provide a vision for the future. Participants of the Greater DC People’s Assembly began to create a People’s Agenda, which they brought to the US Social Forum in Detroit for endorsement and action.
Hazal Yolga, an intern with the Washington Peace Center, put together the above video promoting the People’s Assembly. Hazal took advantage of the free training in video editing (specifically Final Cut Pro) offered by the Grassroots Media Project to any Empower DC member interested in producing media that improves and promotes the self-advocacy of low- and moderate-income DC residents. Besides being posted here, the video is being sent out over the People’s Assembly listserves and to their Facebook invite groups.
On August 7, the DC People’s Assembly met again to report back on the US Social Forum and to plan their next steps. In keeping with the goal of bringing together progressive activists to share expertise and work together on overlapping issues, three working groups were formed.
The Days of Action planning group is putting together events related to the October 2nd One Nation March. Contact Ben from Empower DC ben@empowerdc.org for more information. The People’s Agenda working group is finalizing the list of priorities and collective demands of the DC Metro Social Forum. To contribute to that discussion contact Anna Duncan of the Latino Economic Development Corporation aduncan@ledcmetro.org. The Community Media working group plans to establish an independent media forum dedicated to the pursuit of social justice. Greg Bloom from Bread for the City is heading that up and can be reached at greg.bloom@gmail.com.
As the producer of this blog, which I’d like to think is itself a media forum dedicated to the pursuit of social justice, I have joined the community media working group on behalf of the Grassroots Media Project. In fact there are a number of local media forums dedicated to the pursuit of social justice. DC’s Independent Media Center and the Washington Peace Center site both have been supporting and reporting activism for well over a decade. DC Watch is an on-line magazine about politics and public affairs in the District of Columbia. There are also several smaller sites whose content is dedicated to specific topics. DC Food for All and Beyond Bread cover issues relating to hunger and poverty in the nation’s capital, Save Our Safety Net covers issues pertaining to social services. Etc.
The problem is that for most of these blogs, this one included, the content is too specific and the audience too limited to make a substantial impact. Commercial blogs like DCist and the City Paper have a wide audience but they have no dedication to social justice. Like the more traditional news sources, commercial blogs and even many of the neighborhood blogs rarely look to DC’s low- and moderate-income residents as experts on the effect that legislation and public policy has on their lives.
Because the Internet has become a powerful way to influence our elected officials, social change activists need to use it. Although blogs and Youtube videos don’t always reach the low and moderate-income constituents that we social justice advocates work with, they do reach the middle- and high-income residents who hold sway over the city’s political leadership. Wouldn’t it be sweet if we had a forum with an audience as large as DCist, posting stories that educate DCs progressives about where our issues intersect and empowering our constituents to better advocate for themselves.
To that end the Grassroots DC will provide training in radio and video production to help participants build content for the site that the community media working group is currently calling DC Commons. The Washington Peace Center has agreed to connect their extensive social justice calendar to the site. But as of now, there are only a few organizations dedicated to providing content. We hope to change that at our first meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday September 21, at the Empower DC office, 1419 V Street NW. For more information contact the Grassroots DC coordinator, liane@GrassrootsDC.org.
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