What We Want
Dear Wanters:
It occurs to me that we in DC don’t really know what we want. Mark
David Richards has sent DCWatch a new article, “The Role of Presidents
in Local DC History: The District Needs a Champion in the White House,”
http://www.dcwatch.com/richards/090216.htm,
that discusses the relationship between the local and federal
governments since George Washington’s presidency. The long-standing
debate over that relationship has been re-ignited because of the pending
bill to give a floor vote to the District’s Congressional Delegate.
There are really three questions. What the relationship between DC’s
local government and the federal government should be, and how changes
in that relationship can be achieved legally and constitutionally, are
only two of them. The first question is what the citizens of the
District of Columbia really want.
Among the options for the local-federal relationship are keeping it
as it is; granting the District’s congressional delegate a floor vote;
giving the District a full House representative and two Senators without
granting it statehood; making the District a state; and retrocession of
most of DC, all but the federal district, to Maryland. The legal means
required to accomplish any of these options are problematic. Most of
these changes, if not all of them, would require a Constitutional
amendment, although advocates of some of them, such as a floor vote for
the DC delegate, argue that an amendment is not necessary. But what do
DC residents really want? Are most people satisfied with the status quo?
Do most people want a floor vote for the DC delegate and, if most people
want that, would they be satisfied with it? Do most residents of DC want
the District to be an independent state, or want the District to be
returned to Maryland? And how important is it to most people to make any
of these changes; how high a priority do Washingtonians place on them?
Are there any recent, reliable, independent, non-advocacy polls that
tell us what citizens of DC want, and how fervently they want it? Is
there even any way to write poll questions that would state the issues
clearly, plainly, and fairly, and produce reliable results? I’m not
convinced that knowing what residents of the District really want would
settle the issue. For example, advocates of statehood would undoubtedly
argue that statehood is a matter of equity, and that equity is not
something to be compromised by an opinion poll. But knowing what people
really want, and how badly they want it, should give our elected
officials and advocacy groups some idea about what they should advocate,
and how high a priority they should place on it.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Mayor Fenty has nominated Omar Nour to fill a vacancy on the
three-member DC Board of Elections and Ethics (PR 18-118, http://www.dccouncil.us/images/00001/200090209123650.pdf).
Nour would replace Dr. Lenora Cole on the very troubled administrative
body that oversees the conduct of DC elections and the enforcement of DC’s
campaign finance and election laws. As Mike Neibauer details in his
article in the Washington Examiner, Nour’s sole qualification
for the post seems to be that he is a triathlete who is the mayor’s
jogging buddy (http://tinyurl.com/bfv4vg).
As a result of serious problems that arose during the February and
September primaries in 2008, the city council established a special
investigative committee chaired by Mary Cheh. When additional problems
arose during the November general election, the work and life span of
the special committee was extended. Now, as chair of the council’s
Committee on Government Operations and the Environment, Cheh will
oversee Nour’s confirmation.
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No Weather Wimps Out Here
Ed T. Barron, edtb1@mac.com
Out here is a Colorado community about seventy miles west of Denver.
Each of the five days we’ve been here it has snowed overnight from two
to four inches. This snow falls on the side roads, which are ice covered
and are no better plowed than the non-emergency roads in DC. Yet the
schools open every day and on time. We passed one school on our way home
from cheating death on the slopes at Copper Mountain. It was about two
in the afternoon. A sunny day with the temperature around 15 degrees F.
The school was emptying out all the students in ranks and files for a
fire drill. We stopped to watch as they completed the drill over a
fifteen-minute time span. No weather wimps in this area. I wonder if
they have fire drills in DC schools and if they ever have one in the
cold weather.
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Statehood, Not HR 157
Samuel Jordan, samunomas@msn.com
Friends, over the next few days, I plan to distribute the letter
below to Members of Congress. This note is an appeal for assistance. If
you support the letter’s aim and formulations, please help in the
distribution on Tuesday and Wednesday, the 17th and 18th. That HR 157 is
a step to statehood in an “incrementalist” scheme is fundamentally
disingenuous. Why haven’t the incrementalists shared their plans for
the next step? How did such incrementalists determine the next step
without consultation with the residents of the District? One of the
approaches aired during the UDC forum on February 5 was the suggestion
that Congressional approval of a nonvoting Delegate was an incremental
step. There is a difference between intent and chronological occurrence.
The nonvoting delegate and elected council and mayor were not intended
by Congress as steps to statehood or local autonomy for the District,
but as accommodations to the anger expressed by residents in the
District and throughout the nation in the wake of the death of Dr.
Martin Luther King. These weren’t race riots, but rejection of
injustice and race domination resulting in the assassination, but
experienced over the years as race suppression. At the forum at UDC,
there was no recognition of the role of the “people’s rebellion”
in 1968, which inspired all subsequent “accommodations” or “incremental
steps.” We continue not to enjoy local autonomy. If you have comments
or suggestions for edits, please share them ASAP. Otherwise, please
distribute to your networks. Thank you.
Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United
States, greetings: I am Samuel Jordan, a former Chairman of the DC
Statehood Party. You have been solicited by the operatives of an
expensive public relations campaign to approve H.R.157 and its
corresponding proposal in the Senate, S.160. The bills purport to
correct a long-term deficiency denying the right to full Congressional
representation for the residents of the District of Columbia. Not only
does the proposed legislation not achieve the goal of full and equal
Congressional representation, but it lacks respect for the documented
wishes of the District’s voters who approved by substantial majority
the seating of delegates to a constitutional convention in 1980 and
ratified a Statehood Constitution for the State of New Columbia in 1982.
At no time in their pursuit of passage of the DC House Voting Rights
bills have the promoters consulted with the people of the District in
order to ascertain their preferences for any significant change in the
representational status of the territory. Yet these bills have been
proposed in the 109th, 110th, and now the 111th Congresses — a period
offering sufficient opportunity to the promoters to obtain the “consent
of the governed” if that were their purpose.
The principle of democratic representation assumes the election at
the ballot box of public servants who will have withstood the scrutiny
of the electorate. However, even with the passage of the DC House Voting
Rights bills, the District of Columbia will not have increased its
control over local matters legislative, judicial or budgetary. These
matters will remain subject to the whim of at least 537 Senators and
Representatives in the expanded Congress, of whom only one will have
been chosen by the governed. Without doubt, this failure of
accountability to constituents would be found completely unacceptable by
any Member in this Congress. Accountability to the governed, like
consent of the governed is not a mere noble phrase, but a grounding
principle of democracy.
When we pose the question, “Why Utah?” we are again stunned at
the cavalier treatment afforded the residents of the District of
Columbia. Democratic principles are not subjects of horse-trading. The
posture of “politically neutral balance” feigned by the promoters of
the legislation does not meet the smell test, particularly due to the
availability to Utah and to any of the several states of a proper forum
for challenge of apportionments . The one-for-DC-one-for-Utah scheme
reeks of political expediency in light of the following: 1) Utah will
receive an additional vote in the Electoral College, unlike the District
of Columbia, whose electoral college votes are fixed by the 23rd
Amendment to the Constitution. This feature alone could have been
decisive in the event of another close presidential election. 2) The “balancing”
element in the bills is reminiscent of the controversial racial “balancing”
encountered in the admission of the majority Asian and Hawaiian native
territory of Hawaii and “white” Alaska in 1959 — in the reverse
order of their application for inclusion in the union. (Many Hawaiians
continue to protest the coup, occupation and annexation resulting in the
loss of their lands to the United States as acknowledged by Congress in
1993 in Public Law 103-150)
Scheduled for symbolic passage in Black History Month, this
legislation falls woefully short of the standards set by Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks and the multitude of thousands who held
the principles of democracy and political equality so high that they
risked their lives in an era that set an unfairly high price on
democratic equality for African Americans who are in the majority in the
population of the District. The bills before you are racially
insensitive and politically and morally inconsequential. They are an
affront to the memories of Dr. King and Mrs. Parks and the other heroes
and will establish a second class representation for the people of the
District of Columbia with their paternalistic failure to consult the
voters of the District, an absence of Senators, no autonomy for the
District over its own affairs, and the District’s continued
subordination to the will of 536 unelected legislators in the US
Congress. Respect for the principles of democracy demands your immediate
rejection of these bills and commitment to full and meaningful equality
for the people of the District with all other citizens of the United
States.
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Diversity of Menaces in Chevy Chase, DC
Frank Winstead, frank.winstead@gmail.com
Today I received an alert, http://tinypaste.com/7ef1b,
from VINELink, the Victim Information and Notification Everyday, http://www.vinelink.com,
that Richard Dorman was no longer a guest of the Montgomery County
Detention Center. Mr. Dorman is known for causing a DC resident to need
twenty-two stitches to the head. There remains a question as to whether
Mr. Dorman still has an active stay-away order in upper northwest DC.
Mr. Dorman, a fiftyish black male, does not scare me as much as the
young white female I encountered on Friday at Chevy Chase Circle. While
walking, I noticed a Denali Yukon XL parked in a striped area on the
street . As I gazed to the left, I saw a fire hydrant. Then I saw a
broken hubcap, apparently not from the vehicle. I took out my camera and
snapped a few photos of the SUV that was too close to the fire hydrant.
Within seconds, a woman appeared from a building to my far left and
complained about my photography. As I continued on my way, she passed by
me and picked up the jagged-edge hubcap. I wondered whether she was
going to club me with the hubcap and how would I block the blow. Then
she surprised me by making an underhanded motion in my direction with
the hubcap. A mangled hubcap makes a very frightening projectile. I kept
walking and watching her with no obvious way to avoid potential injury.
Then I began thinking what I would do if injured? Having read this Washingtonian
article on DC 911, http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/11153.html,
I knew my life expectancy would be greatly improved by crossing Western
Avenue into Maryland. Fortunately, she didn’t throw and I stayed on my
way. Photos at http://tinyurl.com/cgfq52.
How much difference is there between these two people?
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DCRA and ANC Bottlenecks Cost Dearly
Ron Deline, rondeline@gmail.com
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs’ permitting
process is absolutely disgraceful. Not only is it overburdened with
regulations, it’s woefully understaffed, and they are operating like
we’re still in the 1980’s. For example, why the heck does the
cashier’s office close before DCRA closes? If you can’t extend the
cashier’s office hours, then at least close the DCRA doors early
enough so the last person in there can still have a reasonable chance of
paying for permits, instead of wasting yet another day to fork over
those fees to DC.
However in this city, it’s not just DCRA that’s costing us dearly
in lost revenues, it’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions that
constantly harass and coerce business owners into “voluntary
agreements” to operate or expand their establishments. These ANC’s
are just armchair wannabe politicians, basically busy bodies that have
too much time on their hands and have far too much detrimental influence
this city’s businesses. Between waiting for permits from DCRA and
begging for agreements from the ANC’s, it’s a total mess to start a
food service business in Washington DC. That’s our foot traffic going
down the drain, and that’s a safety issue. If you just have boring
storefronts but no restaurants in between, these places get desolate at
night, like the big swaths of the downtown area that just are plain
scary to walk by.
This is how you fix this mess: 1) get rid of the ANC system all
together, as have the other cities have experimented to their detriment
with this antiquated community governing concept. 2) Split DCRA into
commercial permitting and residential permitting, and make sure anyone
can pay with a simple credit card at any time of the day. 3) Extend
commercial permitting office hours to seven days a week. I don’t know
how they do it, just do it. Use the “polar point” money to fund
this, or use some of that stimulus package to cover it. Frankly, DC
should be handling commercial permitting faster than late night pizza in
Adams Morgan, because anyone willing to open a new business in this
economic climate should be given a medal along with all the help they
need to get going.
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Compassionate Intervention
Richard Layman, rlaymandc@yahoo.com
In response to Len Sullivan’s comments about Councilmember Barry [themail,
February 11]: I wouldn’t call myself a supporter of the councilmember
and his positions on a variety of positions (especially after reading Dream
City by Jaffe and Sherwood). But I am a compassionate observer and
analyst. Clearly, Mr. Barry has issues, is sick, and needs help, and isn’t
deserving of the easy cheap shot that his current very public problems
offers to us.
Generally, the kind of repetitive behavior he’s exhibiting is a
clear sign of the need for compassionate assistance — it is a cry for
help — but the way our governing institutions are set up is to mete
retribution (cf. the Washington City Paper’s coverage of the
too-frequent shooting by police officers of people who are mentally
disturbed, http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=36512).
Recently I read a news story about how gerontologists are starting to
realize when seniors fall and injure themselves that it shouldn’t be
taken for granted as a symptom of old age, but as an indicator of the
need for further intervention. Appropriate intervention can reduce the
likelihood of other injuries in the future, and/or provide other
necessary assistance often required as people age. Why is the case of
Marion Barry any different?
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On Friday, February 13, I received a call from the Office of the Ward
7 councilmember attempting to berate me for nominating the Single Sale
of Cigar Products Prohibition Amendment Act of 2009 as a dumb piece of
legislation. I was informed that since the legislation would not ban the
sale of “multi-packs” of cigars, only singles, and that, “I and my
cigar-smoking friends could still purchase cigars.” Let’s forget for
the moment that high-end cigars, not just cheap Philly Blunts, are often
sold as singles — the councilmember’s office repeated their mistaken
belief that people buy single cigars only for the purpose of smoking
marijuana. Before continuing, let me state for the record that I do not
advocate smoking, nor do I smoke.
Now, let’s take another look at the language of the proposed
legislation. “1) ‘Single cigar product’ means an individual cigar,
cigar leaf wrapper, flavored or non-flavored cigar that is referred to
as a blunt, blunt wrap, or any other tobacco product that may be used in
the ingesting, inhaling, or introduction of marijuana to the human body.”
The key phrase is: “any other tobacco product that may be used in the
ingesting, inhaling, or introduction of marijuana to the human body.”
Anyone who can read can understand what that means — any tobacco
product that can be altered to become a mechanism to ingest, inhale or
otherwise introduce marijuana into the human body will be banned from
sale in the District of Columbia. Let’s give the councilmember the
benefit of the doubt, and assume that may not have been the
councilmember’s intention. But that is what the proposed legislation
clearly states.
There is also the continued mistaken belief that all buyers of single
cigars repurpose them as marijuana delivery devices. Remember those
high-end cigars mentioned above? There was a time when I used to buy
them (at over twenty dollars a cigar) one at a time, and I know people
who still do. Why? I did not own a humidor; and I didn’t smoke cigars
often enough to buy them by the box because they would dry out even in a
humidor. How about the traveling businessman or woman who purchases a
single cigar at a four-star hotel? What about local businesses like Ozio’s,
the high-end cigar and martini lounge on M Street, NW? The legislation,
as currently framed, bans those sales as well. I don’t know about you,
but I have never seen anyone hollow out a Padron, a Cohiba, or a
Davidoff and fill it with marijuana. The ban could be extended to the
sale of wine, because wine can be repurposed to ingest, inhale, or
otherwise introduce marijuana into the human body. Everyone knows that
putting wine in a bong is better than water, because after you smoke
your weed, you can then drink the marijuana infused wine! Again, this
proposed legislation is unclear in its intent, overreaching in its
scope, and worthy of the dumb legislation award.
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There seems to be some confusion about retroceding DC back to
Maryland in order to obtain statehood. In Richard Layman’s message in
themail, February 11, reference was made to the city’s receiving
support from Maryland and to how the state would provide services to the
city as it does with other cities and counties within Maryland. However,
the only portion that would be retroceded back to Maryland would be the
territory of the District of Columbia, not the city. The city is
provided for by the US Constitution and would be supported by the
Congress. DC is not a city. There is only the Federal City. In the
beginning Washington, DC, was intended to emulate a state as would be
any other state in the union. The city had mayors; the state had
governors and a Supreme Court, but as the treasury was bankrupted by
Governor Shepherd in trying to bring the city and territory into the
19th century, the city and territory were placed under the three
commissioner rule. So for those who desire statehood, retrocede the
territory of DC back to Maryland, like that portion of the city that was
originally from Virginia (Alexandria and Arlington) was retroceded back
to Virginia.
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Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request to
DC Schools
Don Resnikoff, resnikda@hotmail.com
[In reply to Paul Walters’ request for information about a FOIA
Request to DC schools [themail, February 8], here is some information
from the DC government web site (http://www.dc.gov/agencies/detail.asp?id=20)
that might help:
“The Office of the General Counsel is the principal contact point
within the DC Public Schools for advice and policy guidance on matters
pertaining to the administration of the FOIA. All requests are handled
professionally and expeditiously. FOIA requests must be in writing. When
submitting a written request, please prominently mark the envelope or
fax as a ‘FOIA Request.’” Nicole Streeter is the FOIA Officer; her
address is DC Public Schools, 825 North Capitol Street, NE, #9100,
Washington, DC 20002. DCPSFOIA@dc.gov,
phone: 442-5000, fax 442-5098.
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DCPS Will Now Follow DC Government FOIA
Regulations
Cherita Whiting, cherita_whiting@yahoo.com
On February 13, the following emergency rule was issued by DC Public
Schools: “The Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS),
pursuant to section 103 of the District of Columbia Public Education
Reform Amendment Act of 2007 (‘Public Education Reform Amendment Act’),
effective June 12, 2007 (DC Law 17-9; DC Official Code § 38-172), and
Mayor’s Order 2007-186 (August 10, 2007), hereby gives notice of the
below emergency and proposed rule. Emergency action is needed to
preserve the consistent application of the District’s Freedom of
Information Act throughout all District government agencies. With the
passage of the Public Education Reform Amendment Act, DCPS became a
subordinate agency to the Mayor and subject to the rules of the Mayor.
This emergency and proposed rule will delete rules for the
implementation of the Freedom of Information Act from Chapter 34 of
Title 5 of the District of Columbia Municipal Register (DCMR), rules
that were promulgated specific to DCPS as an independent agency and
which are now in conflict with those promulgated for all District
government agencies. This emergency is necessitated by the need to
ensure preservation of the public welfare in general, to remove a direct
conflict in regulations, and to clarify the procedures that DCPS is
required to follow in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
The emergency rule was adopted on February 9, 2009 and became effective
immediately. This emergency rule will remain in effect for up to one
hundred twenty (120) days, unless earlier superseded by a notice of
final rulemaking. The proposed rule will be submitted to the Council for
a forty-five (45) day period of review. The Chancellor also hereby gives
notice of the intent to adopt this rule, in final, in not less than
thirty (30) days from the publication of this notice in the DC Register
or upon approval of the rule by the Council whichever occurs later.
“Chapter 34 of Title 5 of the DCMR is deleted in its entirety.
Title 5 of the DCMR is amended to add a new Chapter B34 to a new
Subtitle B to read as follows:
“CHAPTER B34 FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
“B3400 GOVERNING REGULATIONS
“B3400.1 The regulations found in Chapter 4 of Title 1 of the District
of Columbia Municipal Regulations shall be the rules and procedures
followed by the District of Columbia Public Schools in implementing the
District of Columbia’s Freedom of Information Act, effective March 25,
1977 (DC Law 1-96, DC Official Code § 2-531 et seq.).
“Comments on this rule should be submitted, in writing, to Michelle
Rhee, Chancellor, DCPS, at 825 North Capitol Street, NE, 9th Floor,
Washington, DC, 20002, within thirty (30) days of the date of
publication of this notice in the DC Register. Additional copies of this
rule are available from the above address.”
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Larry Neal Writers’ Competition
Maresha Tadesse, maresha.tadesse@dc.gov
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities invites District of
Columbia resident writers to submit their works for the twenty-sixth
annual Larry Neal Writers’ Competition. Cash awards and prizes are
given to writers of all ages for artistic excellence in poetry, short
story, dramatic writing, and essay! Special prize offered for 2009 is
The Big Read - DC Special Recognition Award for Creative Expression.
Deadline for submissions is 7:00 p.m., Thursday, March 19, at the DC
Commission on the Arts and Humanities, 1371 Harvard Street, NW.
Awards will be presented at the twenty-sixth annual Larry Neal
Writers’ Awards Ceremony, Friday, May 8, at 6:00 p.m., at the
Elizabethan Theater of Folger Shakespeare Library. For more information,
and to view program guidelines and download an application form, visit
http://www.dcarts.dc.gov or contact Charles Barzon at 724-5613 or charles.barzon@dc.gov.
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InTowner
February
Issue Now Online
P.L. Wolff, intowner@intowner.com
This is to advise that the February 2009 online edition has been
uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com. Included are
the lead stories, community news items and crime reports, editorials
(including prior months’ archived), restaurant reviews (prior months’
also archived), and the text from the ever-popular “Scenes from the
Past” feature (the accompanying images can be seen in the archived PDF
version). The complete issue (along with prior issues back to January
2002) also is available in PDF file format directly from our home page
at no charge simply by clicking the link in the Current and Back Issues
Archive. Here you will be able to view the entire issue as it appears in
print, including all photos and advertisements.
The next issue will publish on March 13 (the second Friday of the
month, as always). The complete PDF version will be posted by the
preceding night or early that Friday morning at the latest, following
which the text of the lead stories, community news, and selected
features will be uploaded shortly thereafter.
To read this month’s lead stories, simply click the link on the
home page to the following headlines: 1) “Dupont East’s Liquor
License Moratorium Set to Expire in March; Opinion Divided on What Next”;
and 2) “Preservation Board Cases Reveal Sharp Dissents.”
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Department of Parks and Recreation Events,
February 17, 19
John Stokes, john.astokes@dc.gov
Tuesday, February 17, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., Sherwood Recreation
Center, 640 10th Street, NE. Adapted karate for children with special
needs, ages 7-12. Karate instruction consists of basic tae kwon do
techniques adapted in a form that is easy, interactive and fun. Sessions
are held every Tuesday and Thursday evenings, February 17 to April 24.
Cost is $25.00 per person. All supplies and equipment must be supplied
by participants’ parents and/or guardian. For more information
contact, Victoria Cole-Rolon 645-6516
Thursday, February 19, 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m., King Greenleaf
Recreation Center, 201 N Street, SW. Seniors ages fifty and up will view
the Mobile Black History Museum, enjoy singing and dance performances,
speeches of Martin Luther King, and more. Light refreshments will be
served. For more information, call Kim Campbell at 645-7454.
Friday, February 19, 3:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m., Trinidad Recreation Center,
1310 Childress Street, NE. Youth will enjoy themselves at a dance with
light refreshments to celebrate Valentines Day. For more information,
contact Anthony Higginbotham, Site Manager, 727-1293.
Thursday, February 19, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Turkey Thicket Recreation
Center, 1100 Michigan Avenue, NE. Portraits in Black. Student
reenactments of famous Black American personalities. Light refreshments
will be provided. For more information, contact Joyce Murphy, Recreation
Specialist, 576-9238.
Thursday, February 19, 6:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., National Archives
Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. The Young Men of Distinction will
participate in a program celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa
Parks. For more information, contact Tameka Borges, Recreation
Specialist, 576-5642.
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Historical Society of Washington, DC, February
19, 21
Ed Bruske, euclidarms@yahoo.com
Thursday, February 19, 7:00 p.m., 801 K Street, NW, at Mt. Vernon
Square. Black History Month Lecture: Black Presidents Before Obama. The
mainstream media have begun to compare President Barack Obama to other
historic American chief executives such as Abraham Lincoln and Franklin
Delano Roosevelt. Obama himself has said he was inspired by Lincoln’s
“Team of Rivals” in selecting nominees for his own cabinet. Is that,
however, where comparisons can or should end? Are there no historic
presidents of African descent that Obama can be compared to? Is he the
first of his kind in history? Join author, lecturer, and historian of
the African Diaspora C.R. Gibbs for a revealing look at some other
surprising historic individuals of African descent who served as
presidents of their nations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Often unheralded or their African ancestry purposely denied or concealed
(“strategic silence,” some historians and social scientists have
called it) while their other ancestries are hailed, these unique men
remain hidden in the shadows of history.
C.R. Gibbs is the author, co-author of six books, a
frequent national and international lecturer on an array of historical
topics, and a historian of the African Diaspora. He has spoken at such
diverse venues as The World Bank, the Legislative Assembly Building at
Ontario, Canada, and Virginia Tech at Blacksburg, Virginia. He has
appeared several times on the History Channel as well as Belgian and
French television. He researched and narrated “Sketches In Color,” a
thirteen-part companion series to the acclaimed PBS series “The Civil
War” for the Howard University television station. The Smithsonian
Institution’s Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History
and Culture features Mr. Gibbs as one of its scholars at the museum’s
Online Academy web site. He is also a DC Humanities Council Scholar. In
1989, he founded the African History and Culture Lecture Series, whose
scholars continue to provide free presentations to libraries, churches
and other locations in the Washington-Baltimore-Virginia area. In 1997,
he led twenty-six people on a transcontinental crossing of the African
continent. Mr. Gibbs is the winner of the 2008 award for excellence in
historic preservation public education awarded annually by the Mayor of
the District of Columbia. Ages fourteen to adults. RSVP@historydc.org
or 383-1828. Free admission.
Saturday, February 21, 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., 801 K Street, NW, at Mt.
Vernon Square. Urban Gardening Forum. Rooting DC. Registration
required. Are you a community gardener in Washington, DC? A teacher with
a school-yard garden? A member of a garden club or block club interested
in beautifying your neighborhood? Involved with a nonprofit leading a
gardening program? Or, are you interested to getting involved with such
community projects? If so, you are invited to attend this forum designed
to bring DC gardeners together to reconnect. Join us to share resources
and foster partnerships between those who are working towards common
goals of a greener, healthier DC. Rooting DC has two tracks of
talks. The garden how-to track covers soil, composting, IPM, container
gardens, herbs, and pruning; and the garden for the greater good track
covers how to start a community garden (land, people, etc.), tree
planting and beautification, rain gardens/bayscaping/habitat gardens,
and food security and nutrition.
The schedule also provides plenty of time for networking with other
local gardeners and local gardening organizations as well as the
premiere showing of the documentary, Garden Cycles Bike Tour. The
speakers will be followed by roundtable discussions on various topics
including: Regional Food Security, Why is “Green” White?, Community
Gardens in DC, and many more issues of concern to urban gardeners. (A
Collaboration between the Historical Society of Washington, DC, and
Urban Gardening Forum) Space is Limited so advance registration is
requested — we do expect a sellout. For details and to register in
advance, contact 638-1649 or RootingDCForum@gmail.com
or go to http://www.rootingdc.org.
For the entire family. Free admission.
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Discover Engineering Family Day, February 21
Jazmine Zick, jzick@nbm.org
February 21, 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Discover Engineering Family Day.
Explore competition robots, make a zipline for a ping pong ball, and
discover how engineers turn ideas into reality at the Discover
Engineering Family Day. Free drop-in program. Recommended for ages five
to thirteen with adult supervision. At the National Building Museum, 401
F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line. Register for events
at http://www.nbm.org.
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Ward 3 Republican Meeting, February 24
Paul Craney, pauldcraney@yahoo.com
Ward 3 Republican social get-together. This event is free and is not
political event or a fundraiser; all open-minded DC residents are
welcomed. Tuesday February 24, 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. at Tony Parker’s
house, 4881 Potomac Avenue (go to MacArthur and W Street, go to the
river, take left on Potomac Avenue. Meet DC FOP Police Union Chairman
and fellow Ward 3 resident Kris Baumann and chat with your political
neighbors. Why? Because it is fun, we love politics, and we believe this
city deserves better from its elected officials. To RSVP, please call us
at 289-8005 or E-mail at: info@dcgop.com.
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Foster and Adoptive Parent Conference, March 7
Angela Byrd, abyrd@dcmfapa.org
The DC Metropolitan Foster and Adoptive Parent Association will hold
its fourth annual conference, Thinking Outside the Box, on Saturday,
March 7, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Thurgood Marshall Center,
1816 12th Street, NW. The keynote speaker will be Judge Karen Howze,
Magistrate Judge, DC Superior Court, who has adopted three daughters
through the DC child welfare system. There will also be remarks by Dr.
Roque R. Gerald, Interim Director of the Child and Family Services
Agency. Register now online at http://www.dcmfapa.org;
space is limited. Registration fees include workshops, continental
breakfast, and lunch. Member parents, $25; nonmembers, $35.
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CLASSIFIEDS — DONATIONS
All-in-One Printers-Scanners-Copiers
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
Do you know anyone who owns a printer/scanner/copier where the
printer stopped working? Those devices are still very usable as
scanners. I’d love to place some of those scanners with donated
computers I’m delivering to people in our area. I can pick up from
anywhere in the DC area.
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