East of the River Magazine January 2019 by Capital Community News

JANUARY 2019

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NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

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The Bulletin Board by Kathleen Donner

A Traumatic Failure: DC Public Schools Neglect Mental Health by Jonetta Rose Barras

Securing DC Voting Rights by Walter Smith and Chris Wright

Ketcham Elementary School Principal Awarded Principal of the Year by John Muller

Our River: The Anacostia by Bill Matuszeski

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EAST WASHINGTON LIFE 30

IN EVERY ISSUE

‘Pathways 2 Power’: These Aren’t Just Kids by Matthew Litman

08 What’s on Washington 10 Calendar

Training DC Residents in Clean Energy by Catherine Plume

38 The Crossword 39 The Classiﬁed

ON THE COVER: Canal Park Ice Skating.

Supporting Women Reentering the Community by Candace Y.A. Montague

Jazz Avenues by Steve Monroe

Photo: Courtesy of Capitol Riverfront BID. See story on pg. 12

HOMES & GARDENS 36

DC Council Passes Nation’s Most Progressive Clean Energy Bill by Catherine Plume

Changing Hands compiled by Don Denton

KIDS & FAMILY

See Education Issue (stapled in center) A Resource for the Education and Enrichment of Students in Washington DC

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2019 WINTER-SPRING EDITION | PRE K-12

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FROM U STREET TO THE COTTON CLUB

This original work by local playwright Sybil Williams and directed by KenYatta Rogers, uses DC music from gospel to jazz (Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller) to tell the story of the rich cultural heritage and the importance of music in the life of Black Broadway, and of DC’s role in shaping the sound and soul of the Harlem Renaissance. It explores a life in music, moving out of Reconstruction south to the vibrant cultural pulse of U Street, taking tunes and tales north from DC’s Home of the True Reformers to New York’s famed Cotton Club, and back again to the District--all the while holding up in celebration the fiber with which this dynamic community is woven. A project of the In-Series, on stage at Source Theater, 1835 14th St. NW, Jan. 5 to 20. inseries.org. From U Street to Cotton Club 2009. Photo: Courtesy of In-Series

FIRST CHEFS: FAME AND FOODWAYS FROM BRITAIN TO THE AMERICAS AT THE FOLGER Just like today, getting food from farm to table in the early modern British world was hard work. And just like today, most of that hard work went unrecognized. First Chefs tells the stories of the named and unnamed heroes of early modern food culture, and juxtaposes the extravagance of an increasingly cosmopolitan and wealthy upper class against the human cost of its pleasures: the millions of enslaved women, children, and men, servants, gardeners, street criers, and laborers who toiled to feed themselves and many others. Pick up recipe cards which will help you “make history tonight” by preparing adaptations of early modern recipes found in the Folger vaults. Pull up a chair at their recreation of Shakespeare’s childhood hearth and peruse cookbooks written hundreds of years ago. First Chefs: Fame and Foodways from Britain to the Americas is on exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE from Jan. 18 to March 31. folger.edu. First Chefs at the Folger. Photo: Courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library

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TWELVE ANGRY MEN AT FORD’S

Behind closed doors, tensions run high as a lone juror argues the innocence of a teenager accused of murder. In this provocatively resonant American drama, 12 jurors from all strata of society revisit the evidence, debate the issue of reasonable doubt and confront each other’s personal biases. In it, Broadway director Sheldon Epps ignites a conversation about how prejudice can shape the quest for justice. Twelve Angry Men is on stage at Ford’s Theatre, 511 10TH ST. NW, Jan. 18 to Feb. 17. It is recommended for ages twelve and older. Ford’s Theatre has many opportunities for free and discounted tickets--for under 35s, seniors, military, teachers, Penn Quarter residents, groups and preview patrons. fords.org. (Front row:) Sean-Maurice Lynch, Michael Russotto, Christopher Bloch, (Back row:) Elan Zafir and Craig Wallace for Ford’s Theatre production of Twelve Angry Men. Photo: Scott Suchman

LET FREEDOM RING! CONCERT AT THE KC On Mon-

THE WOOD BROTHERS AT THE 9:30 CLUB Indie roots music/Amer-

day, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m., the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Georgetown University celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a free, ticketed musical tribute titled Let Freedom Ring! The annual program features Tony, Emmy, and Grammy-winning artist Audra McDonald, Tony-winning artist Brian Stokes Mitchell, and the Let Freedom Ring Choir. Georgetown University will present the 17th annual John Thompson Jr. Legacy of a Dream Award to Hawah Kasat, co-founder and executive director of One Common Unity, an organization which breaks cycles of violence and builds compassionate communities through the power of arts and education. Free tickets—up to two per person—will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis at the entrance to the Hall of Nations, beginning at 4:30 p.m. on January 21. Overflow seating will be available at Millennium Stage North. kennedy-center.org.

icana band The Wood Brothers return to the 9:30 Club on Jan. 17 and 18 for a two night stand in support of their latest album, One Drop of Truth. “Often, when you’re making an album in the traditional way, there will be a unifying concept, whether that be in the approach to the music stylistically or lyrically in terms over the overall narrative. And even though there are some themes that revealed themselves later, this one is all over the place,” explains Oliver Wood. “What I really love about this record is that each one of these songs has its own little world. There are diverse sounds and vibes from one track to the next.” 9:30 Club, 815 V ST. NW. 930.com.

Audra McDonald. Photo: Allison Michael Orenstein

Photo: Alyssa Gafjken

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AWAKE AND IN MOTION: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF MLK

Jan. 14, 4 to 6 PM. Doors open at 3:30 PM. Music begins at 3:45 PM. In his final Sunday sermon, preached at Washington National Cathedral 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, preached on “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.” Enjoy excerpts from Dr. King’s sermon, echoed in song, prayer, movement and dance. Washington National Cathedral. cathedral.org. Photo: Courtesy of the Washington National Cathedral

MLK MLK Let Freedom Ring! Jan. 21, 6 PM. First-come, ﬁrst-served free ticket distribution starts at 4:30 PM. Features Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and the Let Freedom Ring Choir. kennedy-center.org. MLK Peace March and Parade. Jan. 21, 10 AM to 1:30 PM. The one and a quarter mile parade route begins at the corner of MLK Jr. Avenue and Good Hope Road SE in Anacostia and ends at the Barry Farm Recreation Center. mlkholidaydc.org. Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Jan. 21. Find MLK dayof-service opportunities at serve.dc.gov/service/martin-lutherking-jr-day-service. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Political Legacy. Jan. 23, 6:45 to 8:45 PM. Brandon Terry of Harvard University examines the ethical and political thought Martin Luther King Jr. S. Dillon Ripley Center, 1100 Jefferson Dr. SW. smithsonianassociates.org. Visit the MLK Memorial. Open to visitors all hours, every day. 1964 Independence Ave. SW. nps.gov/mlkm.

KLEPTOCRACY AT ARENA

Jan. 18 to Feb. 24. Inspired by the power struggle between the richest of the Oligarchs and an ambitious Vladimir Putin after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the play explores US-Russia relations then and now. arenastage.org. Image: Jon Berkeley

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SPECIAL EVENTS Winter Restaurant Week. Jan. 14 to 20. 250 restaurants in metropolitan Washington offer affordably priced prix ﬁxe menus. Visit rwdmv.com for a list of participating restaurants. Chocolate Festival. Feb. 9 and 10, 10:30 AM to 5 PM. Enjoy tastings, cooking demonstrations and hands-on activities while listening to songs played on a traditional wooden harp. americanindian.si.edu.

AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD American Moor at Anacostia Playhouse. Jan. 9 to Feb. 3. Playwright/performer, Keith Hamilton Cobb explores Shakespeare, race, and America, not necessarily in that order. Anacostia Playhouse, 2020 Shannon Pl. SE. anacostiaplayhouse.com. Monday Night Music at Anacostia Playhouse. 8 PM. Jan. 14, Jason Anderson, “Jay Sun.” Anacostia Playhouse, 2020 Shannon Pl. SE. anacostiaplayhouse.com. Foundations of Improv. Tuesdays, Jan. 15 to March 5, 7 PM. Whether a nonproﬁt employee, a corporate lawyer, a software engineer or a high school English teacher, take the Foundations of Improv. Free. Anacostia Arts Center, 1231 Good Hope Rd. SE. anacostiaartscenter.com. What Happened 2 Chocolate City? Film and Discussion. Jan. 26, 2 to 4 PM. “What Happened 2 Chocolate City” examines how gentriﬁcation is changing Black communities as told through the lenses of three generations of Washingtonians. Anacostia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. anacostia.si.edu.

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CANAL PARK ICE SKATING

Open Sundays, 10 AM to 10 PM; Mondays to Thursdays, noon to 10 PM; Fridays, noon to 11 PM; and Saturdays, 10 AM to 11 PM. Adults, $9; children and seniors, $8. Skate rental, $5. Canal Park, 200 M St. SE. canalparkiceskating.com. Photo: Courtesy of Capitol Riverfront BID

Ceramic Demonstration. Jan. 28, 11 AM to 1 PM. The Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum and the Renwick Gallery partner sponsor a day of demonstration and exploration with Sharif Bey, Renwick Invitational artist and Associate Professor at Syracuse University. Anacostia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. anacostia.si.edu. Family T-Shirt Quilting Two-Part Workshop. Feb. 2 and 23, 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM. Have a favorite t-shirt, t-shirts in a drawer or on the closet shelf? Bring them to this workshop and learn basic sewing techniques to put together a useful, easy-care family heirloom quilt. Anacostia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. anacostia.si.edu.

MUSIC AROUND TOWN Music at Hill Country. Jan. 12, The Allman Others Band: DC’s Tribute to The Allman Brothers Band 2 Year Anniversary Show; Jan. 19, Jonny Grave; Jan. 20, Amanda Anne Platt & The Honeycutters; Jan. 26, Wylder; Jan. 30, Tim Reynolds and TR3 CD Release Party; Feb. 1, Mo Lowda & the Humble; Feb. 7, Sam Burchﬁeld, Pierce Edens; Read Southall Band, Kody West. Hill Country Live, 410 Seventh St. NW. hillcountry.com/dc.

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Music at U Street Music Hall. Jan. 12, Deep Sugar DC; Jan. 17, Psymbionic; Jan. 19, gnash and The Glitch Mob; Jan. 24, Windhand; Jan. 25, The Brummies and Orchard Lounge; Jan. 26, Let’s Danza! ft. Allen Aucoin of Disco Biscuits; Jan. 31, Danger and Article.002; Feb. 1, Cautious Clay and BAYNK; Feb. 2, KONGOS-1929 TOUR and Luttrell; Feb. 6, Ripe; Feb. 9, REV909: Daft Punk/French House tribute and Indie Dance Classics. U Street Music Hall, 1115 U St. NW. ustreetmusichall.com. Music at 9:30 Club. Jan. 12, Jumpin’ Jupiter and The Grandsons; Jan. 15, Mo; Jan. 17 and 18, The Wood Brothers; Jan. 19, Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven; Jan. 20, A Tribute to Frankie Knuckles; Jan. 24, Super Diamond; Jan. 25 and 26, Custer; Jan. 27, King Princess; Jan. 28 and 29, Rainbow Kitten Surprise; Jan. 31, Poppy and Amen Dunes; Feb. 1, Daley & JMSN; Feb. 6, Sharon Van Etten; Feb. 7, Mandolin Orange; Feb. 8, COIN; Feb. 8, Space Jesus; Feb. 9, Spafford. 815 V St. NW. 930.com. Music at Black Cat. Jan. 12, Jon Spencer & The Hitmakers; Jan. 17, Mineral 25th Anniversary; Feb. 13, Current Joys. Black Cat, 1811 14th St. NW. blackcatdc.com. Music at Rock and Roll Hotel. Jan. 12, Got My Own Sound; Jan. 18, Furball DC Mal 2019; Jan 19, The Soft Moon; Jan. 24, Still Woozy; Feb. 5, The Band Camino; Feb. 9, Feeder. Rock and Roll

Hotel, 1353 H St. NE. rockandrollhoteldc.com. Music at Pearl Street Warehouse. Jan. 12, Sail On with the Love Boat; Jan. 19, The New Orleans Funk & Soul Night; Jan. 24, Funk & Soul Night; Jan. 25, the Walkaways; Jan. 26, John Trawick’s 9th Annual 29th Birthday Show; Jan. 12, Elise Davis. Pearl Street Warehouse, 33 Pearl St. SW, pearlstreetwarehouse.com. Music at The Howard. Jan. 12, Carnival Baby; Jan. 25, Jon B. Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. thehowardtheatre.com. Music at Union Stage. Jan. 12, Roamfest ‘19 Show #1; Jan. 16, Free Acoustic Open Mic; Jan. 17, Main Source; Jan. 18, the Last Rewind; Jan. 20, Spin; Jan. 23, Grails; Jan. 25, The Lil Smokies; Jan. 26, Bronze Radio Return; Jan. 28, Jimmy Gnecco and LEEDS; Feb. 1, Brasstracks-The Vibrant Tour; Feb. 2, El Ten Eleven; Feb. 4, Cody Ko & Noel Miller: Tiny Meat Gang Live; Feb. 5, RKCB & Shoff y-See For Yourself Tour; Feb. 7, David Garibaldi-Art Life Tour; Feb. 8, Bryce Vine; Feb. 9, David August. Union Stage, 740 Water St. SW. unionstage.com. Music at City Winery. Jan. 12, EagleMania-The World’s Greatest Eagles Tribute Band; Jan. 13, Denny Laine Of Wings; Jan. 15, Alejandro Escovedo With Don Antonio (Band); Jan. 18, Vertical Horizon; Jan. 19, Marcus Johnson; Jan. 20, The Legendary

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Chi-Lites Featuring Marshall Thompson and Louis York; Jan. 23 Peter and Jeremy; Jan. 24, Danny Burns: “North Country” Album Release Party; Jan. 25 and Feb. 12 and 13, Steve Earle’s Annual Winter Residency W/ Special Guests Meet & Greet; Jan. 26, Ella Nicole; Jan. 27, Richard Lloyd (Of Television) Solo; Jan. 29, JD Simo Album Release Show; Jan. 30, Robert Gordon with Chris Spedding; Jan. 31, Chi-Town Transit Authority: The Music Of Chicago; Feb. 1, The Fleshtones; Feb. 2, Algebra Blessett; Feb. 4, Hudson Taylor; Feb. 7, Colin Blunstone; Feb. 8, Michael Henderson Valentine Love Concert; Feb. 9, Drivin N Cryin. City Winery, 1350 Okie St. NE. citywinery.com/washingtondc. Music at the Phillips. Jan. 13, Calidore String Quartet; Jan. 20, Baritone Benjamin Appl and pianist James Baillieu; Jan. 27, Trio Solisti; Feb. 3, Saxophonist Jess Gillam. Reservations are recommended. Online reservations are available until 12 hours before each concert. Tickets are $45; $25 for members; $20 students with ID, and $5 for ages eight to 18. Museum admission is included. The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW. phillipscollection.org. Blue Monday Blues in Southwest. Every Monday, 6 to 9 PM. Jan. 14, Queen Aisha Blues; Jan 21. Eddie Jones & the Young Bucks; Jan. 28, Full Power Blues. $5 cover. Children are free under 16 years old. Reasonably priced meals offered. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 I St. SW. westminsterdc.org. Jazz Night in Southwest. Every Friday, 6 to 9 PM. Jan. 18, 20 Year Anniversary Celebration; Jan. 25, Remembering Buck Hill. $5 cover. Children are free under 16 years old. Reasonably priced meals offered. Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 I St. SW. westminsterdc.org. Music at The Anthem. Jan. 20, A$AP ROCKY; Jan. 24, Kacey Musgraves; Jan. 26, The Disco Biscuits; Feb. 1 and 2, Greensky Bluegrass; Feb. 8, Drive-By Truckers; Feb. 9, Old Dominion. The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. theanthemdc.com. Music at Sixth and I. Jan. 22, Mick Jenkins with Special Guest Kari Faux; Feb. 9, Valerie June. Sixth and I, 600 I St. NW. sixthandi.org. Music at the Lincoln. Jan. 25, The Disco Biscuits; Jan. 26 and 27, Neko Case; Feb. 8, Fred Armisen; Feb. 9, Joe Jackson-Four Decade Tour. The Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. thelincolndc.com.

SPORTS AND FITNESS Washington Capitals Hockey. Jan. 12, 14, 18 and 22. Capital One Arena. capitals.nhl.com.

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Washington Wizards Basketball. Jan. 13, 21, 24 and 30. Capital One Arena. nba.com/ wizards. Fort Dupont Ice Arena Public Skating. Sundays, 2:30 to 4:30 PM; Fridays, noon to 2 PM; Saturdays, 1 to 3 PM. These hours are subject to change without notice. Skating is $5 for adults; $4, 12 and under and seniors 60 and over; and $3 for skate rental. Fort Dupont Ice Arena, 3779 Ely Pl. SE. fdia.org. The Washington Ballet @ THEARC. Mondays, 7:15 to 8:30 PM, Yoga; Wednesdays, 7:15 to 8:30 PM, Ballet; Thursdays, 7:30 to 8:30 PM, Pilates; Saturdays, 8:30 to 9:30 AM, Zumba. Single classes are $12. A discount of $6 is granted to adults from the zip codes 20020 and 20032. A valid ID is required to receive the discount. Class cards good for 12 classes are $100/$60 for Wards 7 and 8 residents. THEARC is at 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE. thearcdc.org.

MARKETS AND SALES Eastern Market. Daily except Mondays and important holidays. Weekdays, 7 AM to 7 PM; Saturdays, 7 AM to 6 PM; Sundays, 9 AM to 5 PM. Flea market and arts and crafts market open weekends, 9 AM to 6 PM. Eastern Market is Washington’s last continually operated “old world” market. 200 and 300 blocks of Seventh Street SE. easternmarket-dc.org. Branch Avenue Pawn Parking Lot Flea Market. Saturdays after 10 AM. 3128 Branch Ave., Temple Hills, MD. Union Market. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays, 8 AM to 8 PM; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 8 AM to 10 PM. Union Market is an artisanal, curated, food market featuring over 40 local vendors. 1309 Fifth St. NE. unionmarketdc.com.

CIVIC LIFE Congresswoman Norton’s SE District Office. Open weekdays, 9 AM to 6 PM. 2041 MLK Ave. SE, #238. 202-678-8900. norton. house.gov. Anacostia Coordinating Council Meeting. Last Tuesday, noon to 2 PM. Anacostia Museum, 1901 Fort St. SE. For further details, contact Philip Pannell, 202-8894900. Historical Anacostia Block Association. Second Thursday, 7 to 9 PM. UPO Anacostia Service Center, 1649 Good Hope Rd. SE. For further details, contact Charles Wilson, 202-834-0600.

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CUPID’S UNDIE RUN

Feb. 9, noon to 4 PM. Check-in and party, noon to 2 PM at Penn Social, 801 E St. NW. Run in your underwear at 2 PM. Return for the afterparty. Start a team and start fundraising to earn open bar, undies and more or run solo. Registration is $40; $45 on Feb. 4 and $50 at the door. Read more and register at cupids.org/city/washington-dc. Photo: Courtesy of Cupid’s Undie Run

Anacostia High School Improvement Team Meeting. Fourth Tuesday, 6 PM. Anacostia High School, 16th and R Streets SE. Benning Ridge Civic Association. First Wednesday, 6:30 to 8 PM at the Ridge Road Community Center, 830 Ridge Rd. SE Capitol View Civic Association Meeting. Third Monday, 6:30 PM. Hughes Memorial United Methodist, 25 53rd St. NE. capitolviewcivicassoc.org. Central Northeast Civic Association. Third Tuesday, 7 to 8:30 PM. Dorothy Height Public Library, 3935 Benning Rd. NE. For more in-

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formation, contact Michele or Rick TinglingClemmons, 202-388-1111. Deanwood Citizens Association. Fourth Monday, 6:30 PM. Deanwood Recreation Center, 1300 49th St. NE. Eastland Gardens Civic Association Meeting. Third Tuesday, 6:30 to 8 PM. Kenilworth Recreation Center, 4321 Ord St. NE.Contact Rochelle Frazier-Gray, 202-352-7264 or richelle.frazier@longandfoster.com. Fairlawn Citizens Association. Third Tuesday, 7 PM. Ora L. Glover Community Room at the Anacostia Public Library, 1800 Good Hope Rd. SE. Ward 7 Education Council Meeting. Fourth Thursday, 6:30 PM. Capitol View Library, 5001 East Capitol St. SE.

ANC MONTHLY MEETINGS ANC 7B. Third Thursday, 7 PM. Ryland Epworth United Methodist Church, 3200 S St. SE. anc7b@pressroom.com. anc7b@earthlink.net. ANC 7C. Second Thursday, 7 PM. Sargent Me-

morial Presbyterian Church, 5109 Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave. NE. anc7c@verizon.net. ANC 7D. Second Tuesday, 6:30 PM. Dorothy I. Height Neighborhood Library, 3935 Benning Rd. NE. 7D06@anc.dc.gov. ANC 7E. Second Tuesday, 7 PM. Jones Memorial Church, 4625 G St. SE. 7E@anc.dc.gov. ANC 7F. Third Tuesday, 6:30 PM. Washington Tennis and Education Foundation, 200 Stoddert Place, SE. ANC 8A. First Tuesday, 7 PM. HCD Housing Resource Center, 1800 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE. anc8adc.org. ANC 8B. Third Tuesday, 7 PM. Seventh District Police Station Community Center, Alabama and McGee Streets, SE. anc8b.org. ANC 8C. First Wednesday, 7 PM. 2907 MLK Jr Ave. SE. ANC 8D. Fourth Thursday, 7 PM. Specialty Hospital of Washington, 4601 MLK Jr. Ave. SW. ANC 8E. First Monday, 7 PM. Eagle Academy, 3400 Wheeler Rd. SE.

Have an item from the Calendar? Email it to calendar@hillrag.com.

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neighborhood news

DC SEU Recognizes Externs On Dec. 12, the DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) Workforce Development Program recognized its Summer/Fall 2018 cohort of externs with a commencement ceremony that focused on the importance of green energy jobs in the District. While participating in the program, six DC residents worked on sustainability and energy efficiency efforts at organizations such as Howard University, DC Water and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). They also received career coaching and access to certifications to help them obtain a green job in DC. The ceremony, which took place at DCSEU’s office in Navy Yard, featured remarks from Dr. Taresa Lawrence, deputy director of energy for the District’s Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) as well as DCSEU Managing Director Ted Trabue. The externs were also acknowledged by DC City Councilmembers Kenyan McDuffie and Brandon Todd. Councilmember McDuffie sent a member of his staff to commemorate the occasion and Councilmember Todd wrote a congratulatory letter to Ward 4 constituent and graduating extern Kiersten Washle. Historically, more than 85 percent of externs have gone on to full-time positions after completing the DCSEU Workforce Development Program.

Help Clean Up Pope Branch On Jan. 21, rain or shine, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Register at 9:30 a.m.), meet with other Anacostia Riverkeeper volunteers at Pope Branch Park to help clean up the riverbank. Meet at corner of Fairlawn Ave. and M Pl. SE. All supplies are provided. Wear closed-toe shoes and work clothing. For questions, email info@ anacostiariverkeeper.org. Sign up at bit. ly/2zTMF4Z. DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) Managing Director Ted Trabue (left) congratulates Richard Quaofio on completing the DCSEU Workforce Development program as a DC Water extern. Photo Credit: Anissa Najm

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Help Clean-up Shepherd Parkway Shepherd Parkway volunteers hold their signature community clean-ups every second Saturday of the month, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers meet in the picnic area near

ARTS ADVOCACY AND ANACOSTIA

On Nov. 30, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (The Kennedy Center) held a day-long series of events designed to explore how culture and the arts can build equity in Anacostia, including a town hall “Think-In” and community conversation, followed by a small business happy hour and gallery opening. Events featured Anacostia civic leaders, local artists, and students in collaboration with jazz bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding and Kennedy Center Artistic Advisor-At-Large cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The day was a partnership between Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Project and Arts Across America, a Kennedy Center initiative that spotlights and celebrates localities that use the arts to promote connection, a strong creative economy and increased cultural citizenship. Partner organizations included Anacostia Arts Center, We Act Radio, Anacostia Playhouse, Anacostia High School, Turner Elementary, Project Create, Nubian Hueman, District Community Playback, HBC Theater Company, The Den Reading Room & Artist Exchange, Mahogany Books, Vintage and Charmed, and Check It. kennedy-center. org/education/arts-across-america. Kennedy Center Artistic Advisor-At-Large cellist Yo Yo Ma performs at the Anacostia Arts Center

2019 is Your Year of Homeownership. The District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency is your homeownership resource in the District from buying a home to retaining your home; we have a homeownership program to assist you. DC Open Doors DC Open Doors is your key to homeownership in the city. This program offers first-time and repeat buyers fully forgivable second trust loans to cover a buyer’s minimum down payment requirement in addition to below market interest rates for first trust mortgages for the purchase of homes.

Mortgage Credit Certificate The Mortgage Credit Certificate (MCC) provides an additional incentive for first-time homebuyers to purchase a home in the District of Columbia. An MCC provides qualified borrowers the ability to claim a Federal Tax Credit of 20 percent of the mortgage interest paid during each calendar year.

Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP)

DCHFA serves as a co-administrator of the DC Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) first time home buyer program, HPAP, which provides interest free deferred loans for down payment and closing cost assistance up to $84,000 combined. DCHFA administers HPAP applications for households meeting very low to low income criteria.

HomeSaver Restore Assistance Program DCHFA now offers a Restore Assistance Program. – A one-time payment, up to $60,000, to “catch-up” on delinquent property related expenses. Applicants must have suffered a qualified financial hardship due to unemployment or underemployment, own a home in the District and be able to sustain future payments going forward.

Visit www.DCHFA.org for full qualification guidelines and information on how to apply to any of DCHFA’s homeownership programs. 815 FLORIDA AVENUE, NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20001 • 202.777.1600 • WWW.DCHFA.ORG E ast

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civil discourse. Scholar, professor and intellectual Amitai Etzioni will curate and moderate a series of discussions focused on topics and questions in today’s headlines. The next Arena Civil Dialogue will be in celebration of Professor Etzioni’s 90th birthday and will explore the role of community in our personal and collective future. The dialogue will be held in the Molly Smith Study at Arena Stage from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 14. There will be a reception before the discussion, at 5 p.m. in the Grand Lobby. This event is free and open to the public; reservations are required. The next Arena Civil Dialogues is Feb. 16, How democracies are lost—and saved. For more information and to register for future Are-

na Civil Dialogues, visit arenastage.org/ civildialogues.

DC Oral History Collaborative Grants Webinar DC Oral History Collaborative is a partnership project of HumanitiesDC, the Historical Society of Washington, DC, and the DC Public Library. Like last year, the DCOHC will offer grants for new oral history projects, but they will also offer grants for public programs and events that elevate or make use of existing oral history collections. There are DCOHC Grants Webinars on Fridays, Jan. 4, 11 and 19, at noon. Click on gotomeet.me/HumanitiesDC at the appointed meeting time to join. For more information about these grant

In December, Deanwood Public Library staff held a holiday celebration, featuring a diorama of the Deanwood community created by Library Associate Dawn Fox with input from staff and community members. As the diorama was taking shape, library patrons contributed stories of “Deanwood way back when.” The diorama includes all the details, from the Library reference desk, the local liquor store and even a smoking, noisy train filled with coal. Kathy Jenkins Manager and Dawn Fox LA did a phenomenal job implementing a creative way for residents to “know your neighborhood” and celebrate the unique history of Deanwood. The display is open to the public through Jan. 31 at the Deanwood Neighborhood Library: 1350 49th Street N.E. Closed on Mondays. Photo: DC Public Library

the corner of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, SE. Gloves, bags and light refreshments are provided. Wear boots and clothes you can get dirty. Upcoming dates are Jan. 12 and Feb. 9.

Free Grocery Store Rides On Dec. 11, Martha’s Table and Lyft launched a program to provide local families with $2.50 Lyft shared rides to three grocery and market partners in Wards 7 and 8. During a six-month pilot period from January through June, families with children enrolled at six participating elementary schools will receive fifty $2.50 flat fare rides for traveling to and/or from Giant at 1535 Alabama Ave. SE; Safeway, 2845 Alabama Ave. SE and the lobby market at Martha’s Table, 2375 Elvans Rd. SE.

COLORS: Adult Coloring

Chess Meet Up

Arena Stage Civil Dialogues Dates Announced

Whether playing for years or just learning, come to Francis A. Gregory Library, 3660 Alabama Ave. SE, for an evening of chess. This program is for

anyone who wishes to learn to play or improve their chess moves. All ages and experience levels are welcome. The Chess Meet is held on Wednesdays, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. For more information, call 202-727-6044.

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Coloring can be an incredibly calming and stress relieving activity; it’s a simple way to connect with one’s creativity and relieve daily anxiety. Just like meditation, coloring switches off the brain from other thoughts and focus only on the moment, helping to alleviate worry. Stop in on Fridays at noon and discover why this trend has taken off. Coloring pages and materials are provided. Anacostia Library is at 1800 Good Hope Rd. SE. dclibrary.org/anacostia.

Arena Stage continues to host Arena Civil Dialogues to engage the DC-area residents on topics important to our

DPR OFFERS FREE LIFEGUARD TRAINING

DPR lifeguard training certification courses are now open and will be available until July. DPR will waive all fees for those who enroll in lifeguard training before March 1. The courses will be provided at multiple recreation centers across the District. DPR employs the International Lifeguard Training Program (ILTP), an objective driven program that produces high level lifeguards, to train and certify lifeguards to work both indoor and outdoor aquatic facilities. Candidates must successfully pass the written exam, demonstrate skill competencies to the instructor during practical scenarios, attend all scheduled class sessions, and maintain professionalism all times. The starting rate for DPR lifeguards is $13.95/hour. Starting March 1, the courses will be available for a nominal fee. For additional information on the International Lifeguard Training Program (ILTP), visit jellis.com. To register for an upcoming certification course, visit dpr.dc.gov. For questions concerning lifeguard training, contact Brandon Vahey at Brandon.Vahey@dc.gov. Free Life Guard Training. Photo: Courtesy of the DC Department of Parks and Recreation

HELP RE-TREE DC

Those looking to help re-tree DC can find open plantings by visiting caseytrees. org/events. While all are welcome, advance registration is required. Registration for their Spring Volunteer Season (community tree plantings and park inventories) opens on Monday, Feb. 25. Casey Trees is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit established in 2002 committed to restoring, enhancing and protecting the tree canopy of the nation’s capital. To learn more about Casey Trees, visit caseytrees.org.

METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON, DC

HOMICIDE VICTIM

opportunities or the DC Oral History Collaborative, visit dcoralhistories.org.

Greater Washington Urban League Accepting Scholarship Applications The Greater Washington Urban League and its young professionals’ auxiliary, Thursday Network, is now accepting 2019 Scholarship Applications. GWUL has facilitated the distribution of more than $2 million in scholarships to more than 300 young adults to financially support their freshman year at an accredited 4-year college or university in the United States. Applications must be submitted by Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. For questions, contact the Scholarship Committee by emailing scholarship@thursdaynetwork.org. gwul.org/gwulscholarships.

DC Health Link’s 2019 Open Enrollment DC Health Link’s open enrollment period runs through Jan. 31, 2019. Res-

VICTIM’S NAME

idents are encouraged to sign-up for high-quality, affordable health insurance at DCHealthLink.com, the District’s online state-based health insurance marketplace established under the Affordable Care Act.

Charnice Milton LOCATION

2700 block of Good Hope Road, SE DATE/TIME

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

9:40 PM

05.28.15 HOMICIDES/2015/MILTON_CHARNICE.PDF

Up to $25,000 Reward

Photo: Courtesy of Casey Trees

CONTACT

DC Hypothermia Hotline

Detective Chanel Howard

(202) 437-0451

(cell)

Call the Shelter Hotline at 202-3997093 when you see a homeless person who may be impacted by extreme temperatures. You can also reach the hotline at 211 or uposh@upo.org. Families seeking emergency shelter should go to the Virginia Williams Family Resource Center (VWFRC) at 920-A Rhode Island Ave. NE. VWFRC operates between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Thursdays (except for holidays and days on which the District government is closed). After 4 p.m. and on Fridays and weekends, families should call the Shelter Hotline.

Detective Robert Cephas

(202) 497-4734

(cell)

Homicide Branch

(202) 645-9600 (main)

Have an item for the Bulletin Board, email it to bulletinboard@hillrag.com.

DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT

On Wednesday, May 27, 2015, at approximately 9:40 pm, Ms. Charnice Milton was shot and killed in the 2700 block of Good Hope Road, SE. The Metropolitan Police Department seeks the public’s assistance in gathering information regarding this homicide. H O W TO H E L P O U R I N V E S T I G AT I O N

This case is being investigated by the Department’s Homicide Branch. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the detective(s) listed above or the Command Information Center (CIC) at (202) 727-9099. Anonymous information may also be forwarded to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411. TEXT TIPS 50411

COMMAND CENTER 202 727-9099 up to

$25,000 reward

Learn more about the MPD Rewards Program mpdc.dc.gov/rewards DCPolice

DO YOUR PART TO HELP PREVENT AND SOLVE CRIME. The Department currently offers a reward

of up to $25,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for any homicide committed in the District of Columbia. Your assistance is appreciated by your community.

@DCPoliceDept

We care. Do you?

OfficialDCPolice

CATHY L. LANIER Chief of Police

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The Impact of Trauma on District Youth, Part 2

A Traumatic Failure DC Public Schools Neglect Mental Health by Jonetta Rose Barras

have to meet this guy and have sex with him. If I don’t, then he and his friends are going to rape my little sister,” a student at Frank Ballou High School in Ward 8’s Congress Heights told her teacher. The teacher was trying to persuade her to stay after school, so he could help her improve her grades. “She said that effortlessly, without any real emotion,” recalled the teacher, who requested anonymity. There wasn’t any reason to disbelieve her. “I wanted to call the police [but] she was worried about repercussions for her. So, I didn’t do anything.” Inside Ballou’s gleaming $140 million structure, there are hundreds of stories from students who could be modern-day models for Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” Situated among private homes and rental apartments, Ballou’s ecosystem is marked by stunning toxicity: high poverty, double-digit unemployment, gun violence, domestic violence and child neglect. “Wearing a uniform is probably the best attempt at normalizing the environment for them; outside of that, none of the students has normal childhoods,” the teacher observed. “They live by trauma. There is nobody in their world to help them process all of that.” Ballou is no outlier. It is exemplar, an illustrative tale about the effects of unresolved childhood trauma on DC’s public schools and how education leaders, government officials, parents and students are grappling with associated challenges. (For more, see Part 1 of this series at www.hillrag. com/2018/12/03/the-cost-of-juvenile-trauma.) Two documents – an independent investigative report and a student survey – underscore the similarities while exposing the ties that bind students and

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the issue of trauma without regard to race, class or geography. Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) was hired in 2018 by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to examine allegations that most students who graduated from Ballou in 2017 had not met established attendance and academic requirements. A&M found that 34 percent of the entire citywide 2017 graduating class of 2,758 students had, in fact, received diplomas in violation of mandatory attendance and academic rules. The consulting team also made this confession: “DCPS [DC Public Schools] students face many challenges in maintaining regular attendance … including high rates of poverty, homelessness, work and childcare responsibilities, interaction with the court system, and many others.” The team acknowledged that while the challenges “contribute to absenteeism in DCPS” they were not factored into the analysis. The other document is “The Youth Risk Behavior Survey of 2017,” which was completed voluntarily and anonymously by more than 16,000 District middle school and high school students. Many respondents – 11 percent of Hispanic, nearly 9 percent of black, 8.3 percent of Asian and 4.5 percent of white high schoolers – admitted they had missed school at least one or more days prior to the survey. The unanimous reason: they felt unsafe. Equally troubling, 11.8 percent of high school males and 19.1 percent of females thought of killing themselves. “High school females were more likely than males to feel so sad or hopeless every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities, at a rate of 33.1 percent to 20.8 percent,” according to the survey.

Digging Deeper Janice, a petite and reserved 18-year-old who graduated high school in 2018, has known the kind of depression captured in the youth survey. As we spoke during a recent interview, her low self-esteem was palpable, and her voice was laced with pain. “It started in elementary school when my best friend passed away. We were in the second grade; she had asthma.” “In middle school the boys started teasing and bullying me because I was skinny,” Janice explained. Experiencing the trauma of parental abandonment by the absence of her father, she began looking for love in all the wrong places. She subjected herself to abusive relationships. “Emotional and verbal abuse can be worse than physical. I went through rage and wanting to compromise with [that] person,” she said. “It was terrible. It was very stressful.” Troubling romantic relationships and toxic stress at home caused her grades to plummet. With a 2.69 grade point, she was rejected by the college of her choice. These days, she attends classes at a local university, hoping to reset her academic career. “People talk about trauma, but they don’t go deep enough. The services don’t go to the core; it’s [mostly] on the surface,” said Marco Clark, founder and chief executive officer of Richard Wright Public Charter School for Journalism and Media Arts. “Also, we have to address the long-range impact. We can’t stop at 18 years old. The trauma is still there.”

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Judith Sandalow, executive director of the DC Children’s Law Center, wrote in a 2015 white paper, “Children with traumatic histories are more likely to be referred for special education, have higher rates of school discipline referrals and suspensions, lower test scores and grades and are less likely to graduate.” She has been on a crusade ever since, pushing for more trauma-informed schools. Citywide, more than 66 percent of public-school students – traditional or charter – who took the English Language Arts portion of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) standardized test in 2018 scored below proficient, according to OSSE. More than 70 percent of the students scored below proficient in math. “In a classroom setting, our systems are too often set up to punish children for not being able to stay focused in classroom and adhere to behavioral standards,” said Rose Shelton, a therapist who has worked with adults and children. “For children dealing with trauma or a mental health disorder, this is especially difficult.” Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the DC Department of Health and interim director of the DC Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), didn’t disagree. “Children begin to internalize things that happen on the outside of school and it affects their ability to learn.” She continued, “If those things are happening repeatedly and the child is in a constant state of agitation where they cannot concentrate, they cannot self-regulate, those issues need to be addressed because the child is in a state where they are never able to fully engage in their educational attainment.”

Failed District Policies Despite that compatibility in assessing the problem, there is a clear line of demarcation. Advocates, students, parents and education leaders have argued that trauma among the city’s children and youth has reached epidemic level; swift and comprehensive action is needed. The government has not provided it, however. “One in six District youth suffer from emotional, behavioral, or developmental conditions,” the DC Fiscal Policy Institute’s Jarred Bowman wrote in an August 2018 report. “Yet only one-third of DCPS and public charter schools have full-time mental health clinicians, despite the goal that all schools be staffed with at least one by the 2016-2017 school year.” That goal was established in the South Capitol Street Memorial Amendment Act of 2012, which was passed by the DC Council in response to one of the deadliest mass shootings in DC. The killing spree on South Capitol Street was triggered by a missing bracelet that the owner believed stolen. As retaliation, he gathered his five-member posse and on March 30,

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2010, opened fire on a crowd of people just returning from a funeral. Four people were killed in that driveby, including 16-year-old Brishell Jones. David Catania, then an at-large councilmember, said that while working on the legislation with Nardyne Jeffries – Jones’s mother – they realized “overwhelming evidence pointed to unmet behavioral health needs” as “one of the most significant contributors to later delinquency and antisocial or violent behavior.” Consequently, the law mapped a course of action, mandating that DBH “implement a program to inform teachers, principals and staff at child development facilities of common signals exhibited by youth with unmet behavioral health needs.” It further required the mayor to submit a “comprehensive plan” for the expansion of early childhood and school-based behavioral health programs and services by the 2016-17 school year. The executive was to “establish a strategy to enhance behavioral health services” in all public schools and public charter schools, including programs that provided “interventions for families of students with behavioral health needs; reduce aggressive and impulsive behavior; and promote social and emotional competency in students.” The law’s timeframe required that by the 201415 school year, mental health services would be available to 50 percent of all traditional and charter school students. By the 2016-17 school year, mental health services were to be universally available in all public schools. Eight years after that bloody March day on South Capitol Street and six years after passage of the legislation, DC still has not fully implemented the law. More egregious, the murders of young people have continued.

The Fix Is Not In Multiple Bowser administration officials have defended the city’s actions. “Every DC public school has mental health services through the social workers and psychologists that are assigned. [With] the charter schools, it varies,” stated Dr. Tanya Royster, then director of DBH. “School-based mental health actually began 17 years ago. It’s been a very slow growth, but growth still.” Dr. Nesbitt, who temporarily assumed direction of DBH on Nov. 30, didn’t stray far from that script. “The executive branch and the legislative branch are committed to acting quickly in the best interest of our children.” She said that over the past several years the administration has been “reimagining” in-school health programs and considering how to accelerate mental health services. The mayor’s task force on mental health calculated that at the rate the District was proceeding, “It would take us a decade or more to get re-

sources in the schools.” Consequently, the government decided to ramp up services, beginning this year. The mayor and council have set aside $3 million for a three-year expansion of in-school mental health services that would include screening and assessment “across the spectrum,” early intervention to prevent a child from possibly requiring a higher level of services and treatment where appropriate. Those services would be provided by a network of nonprofit community-based organizations and private-practice providers. The specific scope and design could vary from school to school and would be determined by a team of mental health experts working collaboratively with school-based leaders, teachers and parents in what is being called a community of practice. Schools would be added to the program in phases. The first year there would be only about 52 institutions considered the neediest that would be in the program. That means essentially it would take another three years before the 2012 South Capitol Street Memorial Act is fully implemented. Dr. Nesbitt cautioned that people should not complain because without this plan it likely would take “a decade using the old model” to address the mental health needs of children. At-Large Councilmember David Grosso, who chairs the DC Council’s Committee on Education and Libraries, has blasted the administration’s approach. In a letter dated Nov. 29, he wrote that eight months after receiving the March 2018 final report of a mental health task force, “A comprehensive needs assessment has still not been completed, and it seems the department is even less clear about how to implement this program with fidelity.” Dr. Nesbitt said that after conducting a review the administration realized it needed 48 new clinicians, not 33 as originally projected. She said the funds will be in place to cover the additional personnel. “We won’t be pushing the program off for another year or anything like that.” That assurance has brought little comfort to many advocates, parents and others concerned about trauma and its growing effect on the academic success of the city’s children. “I am not one for window dressing. The first step toward solving this is to acknowledge we are not doing enough,” said Elizabeth Davis, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union. Questions also have been raised about placing decisions in the hands of administrators, principals and teachers, many of whom have not received appropriate training. And then there is the issue of legislation the council may pass that competes with trauma reduction efforts. Davis is most concerned about the Fair Access to Schools Act. Approved by the legislature in July 2018, the law requires the establishment of inschool suspension policies and programs aimed at re-

ducing the number of students expelled from school. Requiring disruptive students to be retained in class could hasten teacher burnout, asserted Davis, noting that DC has one of the highest teacher turnover rates. Mary Levy, a recognized expert on DCPS, recently conducted a study at the behest of the State Board of Education on teacher turnover over three- and five-year periods. She found that during a five-year period, the city’s traditional public schools lost 70 percent of their teaching staff. Most neighborhood high schools lost 80 percent or more of their staff within five years. Ballou, for example, witnessed a five-year turnover rate of 83 percent. Davis argued that teachers were not receiving adequate professional development to deal with the myriad issues that had been thrust upon them. OSSE has established an online training program that focuses on creating traumainformed schools. It’s unclear, however, whether the course is mandatory. State Superintendent of Education Hanseul Kang did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. DCPS Interim Chancellor Amanda Alexander initially agreed to an interview but never provided a date and time for the conversation.

A Contagion? Insufficient in-school mental health resources and inadequately trained teachers could exacerbate the problem, creating an environment where traumatized children affect other students and the academic success of those students. Shelton, an African-American therapist and mother of twin daughters who were enrolled in a DC charter school, provided some insight into that dynamic. Shelton told me that one of her daughters seemed to be adjusting to the school environment. The other had “checked out” and was “begging me to home-school her.” “I didn’t know what was going on,” continued Shelton. She visited her daughter’s class and saw students sitting on the carpet most of the day. “There was a lot of pushing and regur-

gitating information. When a kid would get in trouble, [my daughter] would get this anxiety on her face.” Meanwhile, school officials informed her that they wanted to hold her other daughter back a grade. Shelton was shocked. “I asked for an assessment.” Officials refused. Shelton pushed back. As the fight continued, she worried that delays could make matters worse. She had both her children assessed privately. “They were fine,” but her apprehension about the school environment heightened. She visited more frequently. “I started seeing a level of fear that was being created in the school and in the classroom.” She transferred her children to a traditional public school. “Sometimes children are being traumatized in the classroom by a teacher,” added Shelton, who has been advocating through Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE) for more in-school mental health counselors, comparable to academic counselors. “We need to do a deeper dive to understand how students who experience trauma are affecting teachers who teach them,” added Davis. “We teach students who are traumatized, and teachers are also traumatized.” The mayor’s mental health expansion program didn’t just happen because health professionals wanted to do something different, said Dr. Nesbitt. “It was born out of the need that school leadership and education leaders want to have better things in place.” There is one problem. Not every school will get those better things this year. This series was produced as part of the University of Southern California Annenberg Center for Health Journalism Fellowship with a grant from the Fund for Journalism on Child Well-Being. Jonetta Rose Barras is a DC-based freelance journalist. This series was produced as part of a University of Southern California Center for Health Journalism Fellowship with a grant from the Fund for Journalism on Child Well-Being.

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Securing DC Voting Rights New Law Suit Argues District Residents are Constitutionally Entitled to The Vote

e recently filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking full voting representation for District residents in the United States Senate and House of Representatives. We have frequently been asked why this lawsuit might succeed when other such efforts have failed -including an earlier lawsuit that led to a 2000 court decision rejecting the argument that District residents are constitutionally entitled to congressional voting representation. The answer is that the earlier lawsuit was based on the proposition that District residents should be treated as residents of states and on that basis must be given the same representation that state residents have. Our new lawsuit is completely different: it argues that even though District residents are not residents of a state they are constitutionally entitled to representation and that three significant developments in the law since 2000 demonstrate that this is so.

by Walter Smith and Chris Wright

However, Congress’s determination that it has the power to provide voting representation to District residents makes its failure to do so a violation of the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause—an argument not previously presented to a court.

Equal Protection The Equal Protection claim is particularly compelling given that Congress has taken action to provide that two other groups of Americans who do not live in a

Congress Can Award Voting Rights to District Residents First, after the 2000 decision both Houses of Congress decided by large majorities that they have the authority under the Constitution’s “District Clause” to simply pass a law giving DC the vote, even though DC is not a state. The District Clause gives Congress broad authority to legislate for the District. In 2007, the House relied on that Clause to pass a bill giving DC full voting rights in the House. The Senate did the same in 2009. These bills passed with broad bipartisan support, including from leaders such as Mike Pence and Paul Ryan. Unfortunately, partly because both Houses did not pass the bill during the same Congress, it did not become law.

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state do have full voting representation. The first group is those who once lived in a state but now live overseas. Congress passed a law in 1986 providing that those people are entitled to full voting representation even though they don’t live in a state. The second group is those who live in “federal enclaves” such as military bases or the National Institutes of Health --areas that once may have been part of State land but were later ceded to the federal government. Congress has taken action allowing people who live in such enclaves to have full voting representation, just as

it did for people who have moved overseas. But it has not done so for the residents of the District. This violates Equal Protection under the Constitution.

Due Process Our lawsuit also contends that the failure to afford District residents full voting representation violates the Due Process Clause of the Constitution. This contention is based on the second important development in the law since the 2000 decision -- the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The ruling changed the way the Court looks at alleged denials of fundamental rights, and did so in a way that shows that the continued denial of the vote to District residents can no longer be sustained. In that ruling, the Court said the question was not whether the Framers of the Constitution contemplated a right to same-sex marriage, as Justice Scalia contended. Instead, the Court held that the proper approach involves a two-step inquiry asking, first, whether there is a long-recognized, fundamental right to marry, and then whether the reasons the right is fundamental apply to same-sex couples. The Court answered both questions affirmatively and concluded therefore that same-sex couples had a constitutional Due Process right to marry. The same analysis applies to voting representation for District residents. First, there is a long-recognized, fundamental right to voting representation. In fact, the Supreme Court has often said that the right to vote is the most fundamental of all rights because it is protective of all other rights. And second, the reasons the right to vote is fundamental apply to District residents in the same way they do to other Americans. In fact, as the 2000 decision determined, there is no

justification for denying District residents the vote. That denial therefore violates the Constitution’s Due Process Clause.

The Plaintiffs

lived their whole lives here, or moved here from other places in the country and then lost the vote. These plaintiffs work hard, pay their taxes, contribute to their communities, and fulfill their duties as citizens; yet they lack the most important privilege of that citizenship – the right to voting representation. This is not just unfair and unAmerican; but as our lawsuit shows, it is unconstitutional. We as plaintiffs’ counsel seek to remedy this inequity. Since 2001, Walter Smith has been the Director of DC Appleseed, whose mission is to make the District of Columbia a better place to live and work. Mr. Smith graduated from Harvard Law School and, among other positions, served in the Navy JAG Corps, was a partner at the law firm of Hogan Lovells, and served as the District’s Special Deputy Corporation Counsel. He has argued numerous in the Supreme Court and other federal courts and, among other honors, was named by The Legal Times as one of the 90 Greatest Washington DC Lawyers of the Last 30 Years. The plaintiffs are also represented by a team of lawyers from Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, LLP, who are providing their services pro bono— Christopher Wright, Timothy Simeone, Patrick O’Donnell, Henry Shi, and Deepika Ravi. HWG is a boutique law firm with extensive trial and appellate litigation experience. Mr. Wright, who has headed the firm’s appellate practice since 2001, graduated from Stanford Law School and, among other positions, served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Chief Justice Burger, in the Office of the Solicitor General, and as General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission. He has argued more than 25 cases in the Supreme Court and more than 40 cases in the federal courts of appeals. We hope and expect to prevail in this lawsuit. But even if we don’t prevail, it important that we bring the suit and press it vigorously. Those of us who believe in democracy have a duty to do all we can to protect it.

Those plaintiffs, who represent each of the District’s eight wards, have either never had voting representation because they were born in the District and

Walter Smith is the executive director of DC Appleseed. Chris Wright is a partner at Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis.

The First Amendment The third important legal development shows that the denial of the vote in the District violates the First Amendment. In recent gerrymandering cases, Justice Kagan and four other Justices of the Supreme Court have recognized that gerrymandering interferes with the exercise of the First Amendment rights to representation and association, and lower courts have struck down gerrymandered maps in North Carolina and Maryland on those grounds. As determined in the Maryland case, Republicans’ First Amendment rights were harmed in two ways when the electoral map was unfairly redrawn to change a district from majority-Democrat to majority-Republican. Their First Amendment right of representation was infringed by the limitation on their ability to be represented by a person sharing their views and their First Amendment right of association was infringed by the limitation on their ability to effectively join together with others to promote a candidate espousing their views. Preventing District residents from having voting representation is the ultimate gerrymander and therefore a violation of their First Amendment rights under the recent court decisions. Unlike the residents of Wisconsin, Maryland, and North Carolina in those recent cases, District residents’ voting rights are not merely diminished; they are fully and completely denied. Even though these recent developments demonstrate that the Constitution itself commands that the residents of the Nation’s Capital at long last be given the vote, it is important to point out that basic notions of fairness and equity also command that result. There is simply no principled basis for the plaintiffs in this lawsuit not to have the same voting rights as other Americans.

Ketcham Elementary School Principal Awarded Principal of the Year by John Muller

hen Mayor Muriel Bowser spoke on stage at Ketcham Elementary School at 15th Street and Good Hope Road SE last month, for a rally to support a citywide effort focusing on daily attendance, Principal Maisha Riddlesprigger sat unassumingly in the front row, flanked by her students and faculty. Following introductory remarks Mayor Bowser pivoted her focus. “When we have a high-energy person with great expectations for their kids is when we see the type of achievement gains that we see in your school,” Bowser said. “And I get to recognize that outstanding principal, and this year it’s your principal who is going to be Principal of the Year!” After the auditorium erupted in continued applause, Riddlesprigger took the stage to convey her surprise and share in the recognition. “None of this work we’ve done at this school would be possible without all of the staff here today,” she said, expressly acknowledging teachers, administrators, custodians, instructional coaches, instructional aides, mental health team members and school operations. “All of those people are working every day to make sure you are learning, and to make sure you are happy and love and enjoy your school,” Riddlesprigger said, addressing her students. “I know we are here for Principal of the Year, but I want you to know we have a Staff of the Year that has worked so hard.”

Community Pride at Ketcham With Ketcham located around the corner from the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, the announcement of the accolade brought a sense of gratification. A generation of adults of Old Anacostia fondly recall their years attending Ketcham, openly sharing their memories of Principal Romaine Thomas, including her comforting the school in the wake of a student and teacher passing in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Upon Thomas’ retirement the community had demanding expectations of the next gen(continues to pg.29)

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neighborhood news

Our River: The Anacostia The Bridge at the Arboretum by the Redskins owner, After years of work designing a bridge to cross the Riveven if the stadium does er and give access for trail users to enter the National not happen it might be a Arboretum, as well as allowing Arboretum visitors to benefit to have the land walk to the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (and vice-verpermanently in City sa), plans have come up against opposition. The ophands. If the Stadium ponents are members of the rowing community who does get built, however, were never consulted on the design of the bridge. Bethe owner’s plans include cause they represent clubs, colleges and high schools a “moat” to be filled with that field rowing and sculling teams in competitions, restaurants, shops and the safety of students and others learning to row is their office buildings. None highest priority, and the new bridge was designed with of that fits with the curpiers in the middle of the River in an area otherwise rent limitations on the clear of obstructions. lease to sports and enterBecause the process is so far along, the Park Service tainment. by Bill Matuszeski has been reluctant to reopen the design and discuss a And more imporfree-span structure without piers with the boaters. It is tant, it is contrary to all not clear if it was ignorance or indifference on the part the plans developed by t’s time for some New of the Park Service that led them to fail to consult with local residents in recent years with Year’s Resolutions for so important and fierce a group of users. But their conEvents DC, the City non-profit that Our River – some for the tinued resistance to redesigning the structure is not beallegedly had the authority to plan City, some for our favoring well received. The claim that a free-span is not a viathe develop of the land. For startite Federal agencies and ble option falls deaf on the ears of rowers who start each ers, it would be interesting to know some for you, Dear Readtrip from Bladensburg Marina, where there is an existif the folks at Events DC were in er. In all cases, we need to ing free-span longer than the one that would be at the on the new stadium discussions focus on improvements in areas that proposed site. The Arboretum supports the idea of the or were blind-sided as much as the comprise the three “C”s – commubridge, but has taken no position on the design. But the City Council and the local neighnication, consistency and conviction. Park Service, under new leadership in the Anacostia, is borhoods. Those earlier plans This is not to say that we don’t overdue for some New Year’s Resolutions about ways of called for redevelopment of the have good progress and cooperation communicating with the public. And they should adopt parking areas north of the stadium AWS Director Jim Foster Reacts under way in many areas. Recent exthose Resolutions before taking on the pending transfer into sports fields, playgrounds and to the News of a New Stadium. amples include the entire Riverfront of Kenilworth Park to the City, because there is a long a permanent farmers market, among Photo: Anacostia Watershed Society Area from the Navy Yard to the Stadihistory of soil contamination at that site. other uses. In fact, there is work alum, the beginnings of the Reservation ready underway removing some of Lower Beaverdam Creek 13 redevelopment along the River below RFK Stadium, the asphalt. They were also to be consistent with the Here we have a creek that drains a large section of Maryand the 11the Street Bridge Project activities in AnacosMayor’s designation of parts of Kingman and Heritage land but enters the Anacostia at the DC line, so that tia neighborhoods. In all these, people are talking and Islands in the adjacent River as protected wild areas. all its effects are felt only in the District. Most imporworking together on common goals and willingly talkIt is obvious that if the City is now seeking a new staing through differences and opinions on where to go. dium all those efforts are inconBut there are lots of other areas where there is room sistent with the need for parking for improvement of the three “C”s, where there is concars for 60,000 people. Junkyards Along Lower Beaverdam Creek. Photo: Bill Matuszeski fusion, back-tracking, bad communications, potential Bottom line – previous effor danger, or just plain ignorance. Three such areas forts by the local neighborhoods along our River come to mind: the RFK site, the proto work with the City through posed bridge at the National Arboretum, and the probEvents DC are in tatters. It is not lem of PCB pollution from Lower Beaverdam Creek, clear how long this courtship bewhich enters the River at the DC line right below the tween the Redskins and the City Route 50 bridge. Let’s examine why each of these is will continue (the owner is also food for some New Year’s Resolutions to do better: working with the Maryland Governor to get a site from the Park The Future of RFK Service near National Harbor). The plans for the future of the RFK Stadium site have But there is plenty of room for been thrown into confusion by two recent surprises the City to adopt some New – that the City is working with the owner of the RedYears Resolutions on how to deal skins on plans for a new stadium, and that Congress is better with the City Council and looking at ways to transfer the land from the Park Serthe citizens who have devoted vice to the City; it is currently under a 50-year lease so much time and effort to what that runs out in 2038. While the latter is being driven happens there along Our River.

Some Needed New Year’s Resolutions

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tant it is responsible for 83% of the water-borne PCB’s entering the River, a serious toxic that derives from a variety of sources, including electronic gear and machinery. Amazingly enough, after alleging years of study, the State of Maryland is unable to identify this major source of deadly pollution, which contaminates all the fish and other species in the River. Even more astonishing, shortly before the Creek enters the Anacostia, it passes through a neighborhood of about a dozen large junk yards and recycling centers with enormous piles of abandoned appliances, car parts, wrecked autos and other metal debris. It would seem that some Resolutions about visits to places along Beaver Dam Creek are in order for the Maryland Department of the Environment. In sum, we all need to adopt some New Year’s Resolutions. As members of the public, we need to get informed, stay informed and demand from our public officials the three “C”s – consistency, conviction and communication. The Federal agencies need to resolve to communicate better – no surprises, learn better who is using the River for what, and make use of the environmental impact provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act – no “assessments” hidden in drawers, but full Environmental Impact Statements with public comments and, where appropriate, full public hearings. Maryland officials need to commit to finding the sources of PCB’s and getting them under control, as well as informing the public on progress. And the City administration needs to give the public and the City Council a sense of confidence that it will stop changing its plans for lands along the River. Some development with protected public riverfront is possible – we’ve proven that – but the sooner the City commits to open space along the River, with carefully constructed areas for development such as Reservation 13, Poplar Point and Buzzard’s Point, the better. Bill Matuszeski writes monthly about the Anacostia River. He is the retired Director of the Chesapeake Bay Program, a DC member the Citizens Advisory Committee on the Anacostia River and a member of the Mayor’s Leadership Council for a Cleaner Anacostia River.

eration of school leadership, as Ketcham, built in the early 1900s, and named for a one-time District Commissioner, commanded a special place of pride in the neighborhood. “Principal Riddlesprigger has created an environment where all the children are valued,” says Alan Page, parent of a kindergartner. “She greets many of them as they start their school day, always by first name. As a result, students value themselves and their peers, often holding doors open for one another (and adults) and generally exhibiting a caring, respectful attitude.” Page lauds Riddlesprigger, a California native and graduate of UCLA, for establishing a school culture in which “all of the students will go on to college” and for instituting practices like “encouraging students to wear college sweatshirts on Friday that reinforce this expectation.” Echoing remarks by students and other parents, Page praises Riddlesprigger for assembling a “strong team of licensed instructors who have extensive experience educating children from challenging urban environments. They lead with love and expect results. The children rise up to meet those expectations.”

Ketcham Elementary School Principal Maisha Riddlesprigger with students. Photo: DC Public Schools.

Principal Riddlesprigger in Her Own Words Last fall Riddlesprigger composed an editorial, “What It Really Means to Be a DCPS Principal,” for the online-based publication The DC Line. “During my nine years as a DC Public Schools administrator, I have seen new initiatives, senior-leadership changes, curriculum adoptions, shifting goals and implementation of various plans,” Riddlesprigger wrote, alluding to the internal demands of a school system looked to as a national model for innovation in K-12 education. “The one thing that has remained constant is the amount of love and dedication that school principals, and district and city leaders, pour into our schools and our communities.” Riddlesprigger, well-respected inside and outside the school walls, offers data points to confirm Ketcham’s success. “Since 2015, the number of Ketcham students proficient in math has nearly tripled and the number of students proficient in English language arts has doubled on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC),” she revealed. According to test scores, the number of students scoring a 1 or 2 (out of a possible 5) on PARCC decreased by 40 percent in math and 17 percent in reading. Due to steady gains in test scores, the math proficiency rates at Ketcham are now similar to more affluent schools. Ketcham is ranked 25th among all public and public charter elementary schools citywide with respect to collective math scores, only surpassed by schools within the Capitol Hill Cluster or schools west of Rock Creek Park. Additionally, during Riddlesprigger’s tenure, Ketcham has been recognized by EmpowerK12, a school support organization advocating data-driven best practices, as a Bold Performance and Improvement School for exceed-

ing annual growth and performance expectations three years in a row. “These data points illustrate that we at Ketcham are on the path to ensuring more students in our Anacostia community can reach their full potential,” Riddlesprigger shared. “Empower K12 predicts if we continue our current rate of growth and performance, we will be able to close the opportunity gap for our students at a faster rate than expected.”

Praise for Principal Riddlesprigger and Award Ceremony “Principal Riddlesprigger truly earned the distinction of Principal of the Year – during her tenure as principal thus far, student achievement in math and English language arts have been on the rise, student satisfaction rates have increased, and Ketcham welcomed infants and toddlers to their school this year, expanding their success to include the youngest learners in their community,” interim Chief of Elementary Schools Angela Chapman told East of the River. “Principal Riddlesprigger, and all of this year’s honorees, are not only invested in their schools, but their communities,” said DC Public Schools interim Chancellor Amanda Alexander. “Improving our schools is disciplined work – it’s about knowing each student by name, having rigorous cycles of data analysis and informally observing teachers on a regular basis to provide feedback that strengthens instruction. There are no silver bullets for this work and I appreciate every member of the DCPS community for their commitment to our vision of every student feeling loved, challenged and prepared to positively influence society and thrive in life.” Principal Riddlesprigger will be recognized, along with other DC Public Schools awardees, at Standing Ovation 2019 on Feb. 7 at The Anthem on the Southwest Waterfront Wharf.

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‘ Pathways 2 Power’: These Aren’t Just Kids ow a Group of Student Activists is H Trying to Better the Community by Matthew Litman

have died, too many people have died,” Holdip said, speaking softly but candidly. “Everywhere, not just DC … It’s not a ward problem, it’s not a community problem, it’s an America problem.” But Pathways 2 Power focuses on a wide-ranging set of issues, not just gun violence. “Our movement exists in many different forms for different causes,” James said. “It’s for anything you want it to be when you come.” Each member of the group brings their own experiences and expertise to meetings. Renford, who lives in Ward 5, comes from a family that has historically fought against institutions that disadvantage black people in the South. She focuses on education and widening the scope of what’s taught in schools as African-American history beyond slavery. She also spoke at the Rally for DC Lives last March. James is passionate about mental health, and spoke at a mental health conference hosted by the Adolescent Peer Support League. Holdip, who is from Ward 5, rallies on unifying the city, and wants to become a civil rights lawyer. “We all learn from each other,” Holdip said. “All the time.”

How It Started

‘It’s an America Problem’

After the deaths of two classmates, students and faculty at the Southeast charter school Thurgood Marshall Academy (TMA) were at a loss. In September 2017, TMA high school senior Zaire Kelly, 16, was shot and killed in an attempted robbery. Then, only a few months later in January 2018, Paris Brown, 19, a junior at TMA, was shot and killed. In the wake of these sudden losses, a small group of juniors and seniors decided to start meeting in the classroom of their AP government teacher, Karen Lee. First, to commiserate and grieve with each other, to be frustrated, mad and all the things one feels when someone is viciously taken from them without reason. Then, to share ideas, opinions and potential solutions to the issues affecting their communities. Seated around a long table at the front of Lee’s classroom, students discussed things like rap culture, education, how materialism drives robberies, how suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder can cause someone to act out violently, how to make their neighborhoods safer. The group existed informally throughout the school year and grew in size. Senior Lauryn Renford, 17, was with the group from the very beginning, but she, along with other members, recruited more students like seniors Jayla Holdip, 17, and Anthony James, 17. It’s tough to know the number of active members. Meetings aren’t regularly scheduled and are largely dependent on students’ schedules. The group is still in its infancy; it wasn’t until the summer when it decided on a name. The most active participants are the seniors, and TMA alumni keep in touch from college. According to Lee, the group’s faculty advisor, the school has been incredibly supportive.

James, who lives in Ward 8 with his parents and five siblings, realizes now that the near-daily threat of violence and gunshots doesn’t faze him as much as it used to, even though he’s never felt safe in his neighborhood. He makes sure his headphones aren’t turned up too loud while walking home at night, and that people aren’t following him. He sometimes hears Premiering Their PSA gunshots outside his house. Last year, students partnered with Ground Media, a “I feel like I’ve become numb, in some way, because studio based in Southeast DC, to create their own pubit’s so common, and that’s obviously not a good thing,” lic service announcement. James said. “It’s a problem. I just don’t think this is something that should be normalized, especially.” “I felt like [gun violence] wasn’t my problem until Zaire passed away,” Renford said. The national conversation about gun violence rose to prominence after February’s shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and faculty were killed. DC, however, has been dealing with its own gun crisis for decades. According to the Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD), the District has seen 158 homicides in 2018, a 44 perFrom left to right: seniors Anthony James, 17, Lauryn Renford, 17, and cent increase from 2017. Jayla Holdip, 17, sit around Renford’s computer. “Too many children

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Training DC Residents in Clean Energy DCSEU’s Workforce Development Program by Catherine Plume

James, Renford and Holdip share a moment.

The PSA features nine students, including Renford, highlighting the issues around their communities in a spoken-word-style speech, with powerful close-up shots of the students themselves. Shot in Southeast and Capitol Hill, the PSA serves as a wake-up call to neighbors and politicians. The students are tired of losing friends and loved ones, and made clear what they wanted: accountability, safety and a stop to the violence. The PSA also challenges viewers to “Recognize Greatness.” While Pathways 2 Power was born from tragedy, it wants to pivot and recognize what makes neighbors and neighborhoods great, and, at the same time, ways to make them even greater. Pathways 2 Power premiered the PSA at Ben’s Chili Bowl in October. Councilmembers Kenyon McDuffie and Trayon White attended, as well as DC Police Chief Peter Newsham, among others. Renford, smiling confidently, handed Chief Newsham her business card before the PSA played. After the screening, one student told the officials, “Don’t let this be the last time we see you.” With projects still in the works, Pathways 2 Power hasn’t reached back to elected officials or members of the MPD. But they plan to, once the time is right.

What’s Happening Now Sitting in Lee’s classroom, around the table where Pathways 2 Power holds its meetings, Holdip points to her copy of Michelle Obama’s new book, “Becoming.” Lee watches a video of a former student and member of Pathways 2 Power performing Langston Hughes’ poem “America to Me.” James and Renford compare what colleges they are applying to. Renford mentions a mural she plans to create as a memorial for the slain teens of DC. She’s secured funding, a wall and an artist, Martin Swift. She has set up a GoFundMe page for the mural, as well. “Zaire and Paris are going to be on it for sure,” she said. It shouldn’t be shocking how mature, thoughtful and articulate these teens are. That seems to be the norm for most kids their age nowadays. While it’s tempting to claim that the students in Pathways 2 Power are the next generation of DC’s leaders, their teacher looks at it differently. “I think we have to stop thinking of them as the next ‘anything,’ and as the people right now who are doing it,” Lee said. “As long as we delay the power and their leadership by saying they’re the next, we take away the power of the moment when, truly, they’re galvanizing their community.”

hese days, energy efficiency and renewable energy are powering DC. While providing solar and wind energy to homes and offices, they are also creating jobs for DC residents. The DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) is providing hands-on training to meet the evergrowing demand for workers in this field. On Dec. 12, six District residents graduated from DCSEU’s Workforce Development Program. To mark the occasion, the Summer/Fall 2018 cohort of “externs” participated in a commencement ceremony that highlighted both the importance of green energy jobs in the District and the growing demand for skilled workers in this field. The ceremony, which took place at DCSEU’s office in Navy Yard, featured remarks from Dr. Taresa Lawrence, Deputy Director of Energy for the District’s Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) as well as DCSEU Managing Director Ted Trabue. The DCSEU Workforce Development program gives people provides career coaching, training and access to certifications in green energy. The externships are hands on. Participants are called externs because they work in the field at mentor sites, for example at Howard University, DC Water and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), taking on tasks ranging from installing solar panels to auditing HVAC equipment on large treatment facilities. Externs also receive career coaching and access to certifications to help them obtain jobs related to renewable energy in DC as well as weekly trainings on interviewing and résumé writing. The Workforce Development Program is overseen by the DCSEU’s Sheryl Dove. “It’s an honor for our team to run this program, to help change lives and to watch these phenomenal individuals step into a bright future. Every cohort starts with a group of diverse individuals who are strangers, but by the end they typically act like a team that has been working together for years,” said Dove. DCSEU has sponsored nine cohorts to date, and historically. More than 85 percent of externs have gone on to full-time positions after completing the program. Josh Brown, a Ward 8 resident, graduated from the DCSEU Workforce Development Program in January 2018. He found out about the Program while working as a driver for a rideshare company when one of his passengers, a DCSEU employee, told him about the program. Josh forward(continues on pg.33)

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Supporting Women Reentering the Community One Nonprofit Organization Helps Women Returning from Incarceration by Candace Y.A. Montague

enry Ford once said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” For many returning citizens coming home from prison, parole is that opportunity for renewal. But returning women citizens face greater, more nuanced challenges. Who addresses their needs? The W.I.R.E. (Women Involved in Reentry Efforts) is a nonprofit organization for women and by women, working to help them succeed in spite of their criminal past.

LaShonia’s Avowal

For LaShonia Thompson-El that time in prison put things into perspective. A lifelong DC resident who spent her formative years in Ward 8, she attended Hart Junior High and Ballou Senior High before dropping out at age 16. Back in the late 1980s and early 90s, during the perilous crack cocaine era, she was “wild,” as her mother put it. According to Thompson-El it was her social circles that brought her to that life. “I didn’t have exposure to drugs in my household. My mother never did drugs or went to prison. I went to school and socialized in an environment where my peers were violent, starting at Hart. My boyfriend was drug-dealing. I was selling drugs and fighting. It was all normalized.” Thompson-El has five sisters and three brothers. All except one have touched the criminal justice system in DC. By the time she was 18 years old, Thompson-El had caught her first case: assault with a deadly weapon. She explained that although she acted out of anger, her overall feeling was of hopelessness. “At that point I had been involved in so much violence that I was paranoid. And I was in a cycle of violence for so Women Involved in Reentry Efforts lifting as they climb. Photo: Kristin Adair long that I just became de-

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LaShonia Thompson-El, founder of The W.I.R.E. Photo: Candace Y.A. Montague

sensitized to it. I wasn’t necessarily an angry person. Just miserable.” Thompson-El’s life took a downward turn a year later. “I was waiting to be sentenced on the assault case when one of my friends got into a dispute with somebody and came and got me. I was 19 and I wasn’t going anywhere without a weapon. I had a gun on me, and two girls lost their lives on that day.” In 1993, LaShonia, the unemployed single mother of two children ages three years and 10 months, was sentenced to 20-60 years in prison.

Rates and Recidivism Thompson-El’s story is not an anomaly. Sadly, for many women in DC, prison has been a part of their trajectory. According to the DC Department of Corrections September 2018 report, on average, DC Correctional Treatment Facility in Southeast detains 193 women, majority black and between the ages of 21 and 40 years. On the federal level, the rate of imprisonment for black women in 2016 is 96 per 100,000. Here’s a sobering fact: according to a study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2005, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested within five years of release. Lack of employment opportunities, housing and mental health support are all cited as roadblocks that impact recidivism rates. The Incarceration to Incorporation Entrepreneurship Program (IIEP) Act of 2016 was one solution offered by the District government. It is a program designed

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to help returning citizens get training and support to become entrepreneurs. Funding for the program was not included in the 2018 fiscal year budget.

Connecting The W.I.R.E. Thompson-El was released from prison after serving 18 years of her sentence. In 2013, while she was working at the Mayor’s Office on Returning Citizens Affairs, her supervisor asked her for ideas on how to support women returning to the community. After participating in a few focus groups, she explains, “we started thinking about what we could do. We could provide peer support, peer mentoring, and we can be peer advocates and inform the community about the needs of women. We decided to start The W.I.R.E.” The members of The W.I.R.E. connect with women who are returning to the community, serving as mentors and providing guidance and navigation services. They connect with women who are still serving time, assisting with transportation and family reunification. They counsel women in trauma, an issue Thompson-El believes is the biggest hurdle to overcome. “Everybody experiences trauma before, during and after incarceration. Who helps us process all of that? Nobody.” In 2019, they will expand their services to host restorative justice programs and provide guest speaker services to the community at large. Andrea Kane, long-term supporter,

says The W.I.R.E. has a niche that gives an edge over others. “DC has a strong commitment to reentry but sometimes it helps to just get connected to other [formerly incarcerated] women they can relate to. The W.I.R.E. can help navigate challenges whether they are emotional, financial, housing or getting connected to services.” She adds that they also keep a hand on the women still inside prison to strengthen bonds with their children. “They know first-hand how difficult it is to be away from your children; especially for DC residents who are sent to federal prisons away from the city. They are helping women who are currently incarcerated stay connected to their families including paying for visits and phone calls.” Thompson-El, a married grandmother of five and an alumna of Trinity University with a bachelor’s degree in human relations, stands as a lighthouse in the community, guiding paroled women back with compassion. “I have a group of peers that understand what I’m going through without me even telling them. These are my aunties and sisters. We do whatever we can to help others and to try to make a difference.” Want to learn more about The W.I.R.E. and how you can lend a hand? Visit www.thewirdedc.org. Candace Y.A. Montague is the health reporter for Capital Community News. Follow her, @ urbanbushwoman9.

The W.I.R.E. in its humble beginning in 2013. Photo: The W.I.R.E. DC

The DCSEU Workforce Development Program Summer/Fall 2018 cohort celebrates completing their externships at a ceremony held at the DCSEU office. Photo Credit: Anissa Najm

ed his résumé to her that same day. “When you’re looking to change your career path, sometimes that’s so hard to do, especially in the adult phase of your life. DCSEU’s program was a remarkable experience,” said Brown. As a part of his training, Josh externed for Thompson Facilities at Howard University. He took a building operator course through the Pennsylvania College of Technology at the University of the District of Columbia. He currently works as a HVAC technician at a DC hospital. While the DCSEU has helped District residents obtain green energy jobs since its inception in 2011, the utility’s management team created the formal Workforce Development Program in 2014. The ideas was to help DC residents discover the green energy and sustainability fields, to assist the DCSEU’s large customers and contractors with energy efficiency projects and to support the growth of smaller DC certified business enterprise (CBE) contractors. “Since Mayor Bowser took office, we’ve seen a growing need for skilled labor in the clean and renewable energy sector,” said Tommy Wells, director of DOEE, “and DC’s recently passed Clean Energy DC Omnibus legislation will continue to build demand for this emerging green workforce. The DCSEU’s innovative program provides externs with hands-on training in energy efficiency and sustainability projects, enabling them to transition into meaningful jobs that have a real and positive impact on the District’s citywide clean energy and sustainability goals.” Ted Trabue of DCSEU notes, “Many of the program participants see a whole new trajectory for themselves and their families via the pursuit of a green career. In Feb. 2019, we’ll be piloting a building operator cohort – a training program focusing on running smart buildings – those using automated processes to automatically control heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting and security systems. We’re excited to offer this program because the talent pool for building operator positions is decreasing. People currently in those jobs are retiring and buildings are evolving to include smart technology that requires specialized training.” Interested in participating in the DCSEU Workforce Development Program? District residents can begin the application process by emailing their résumé to workforcedevelopment@dcseu.com. As Trabue notes, “Green energy is creating jobs in DC.” Catherine Plume is a lifelong environmentalist, a writer, and blogger for the DC Recycler: www.DCRecycler.blogspot.com; Twitter: @DC_Recycler. She is also a Board Member and Conservation Chair of the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club, however, perspectives expressed are her own and do not necessarily represent the positions of that organization.

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New Year’s Wishes. Davey to Bring back Bohemian Caverns? Happy New Year to all and wishing you many good nights and days and nights of our finest musical offerings! Warmest wishes for all our favorite performers and venue operators for 2019, and warmest sympathies and wishes for the families of our departed heroes in 2018, including Cecil Taylor, Randy Weston, Roy Hargrove and Nancy Wilson. And best wishes for Davey Yarborough in efforts to bring back Bohemian Caverns. As reported in the Washington Business Journal in November, Yarborough, jazz program director and band leader at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, “wants to revive legendary jazz club Bohemian Caverns,” closed since 2016.

Oren Wins Monk Piano Competition by Steve Monroe

Bandleader, percussion master and composer Nasar Abadey performs for the 20th Anniversary Jazz Night show at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Jan. 18.

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Tom Oren, 24, of Tel Aviv, Israel, was named winner of the 2018 Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition last month in DC. Presented by the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, since renamed the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, the competition awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships and prizes, including a major scholarship and a guaranteed recording contract with Concord Music Group for the winner, according to institute information. Judges included Monty Alexander, Joanne Brecken, Cyrus Chestnut, Herbie Hancock, Jason Moran, Danilo Perez and Renee Rosnes. Oren commanded the audience’s attention with his performance of “Just One of Those Things” and “Just as Though You Were Here.” Second-place winner Isaiah Thompson, 21, of West Orange, New Jersey, performed “A Prayer/Good Intentions” and “The Other Originals” (both origi-

nals) and third-place winner Maxime Sanchez, 31, of Toulouse, France, performed “The Mothers of the Veil” and “Gone with the Wind.”

MidAtlantic Jazz Festival Coming Soon See www.midatlanticjazzfestival.org for headliners, schedule and ticket information for the festival coming Feb. 15-17.

DC Jazz Festival News The DC Jazz Festival has announced its dates and an initial list of artists for the 2019 DC JazzFest presented by Events DC, June 7-16, with performers including perennial DC favorites Snarky Puppy and Jose James, as well as the new Bill Withers Project, tenor sax titan Joshua Redman, singer-songwriter Michael Franks, vibes master Stefon Harris & Blackout and 14-year-old Joey Alexander, according to a festival statement. “This extraordinary lineup represents an incredible range of artistry, representing an array of jazz expressions, both classic & contemporary, as well as a broad representation of what we like to refer to as the International Language of Jazz,” said DC JazzFest Artistic Director Willard Jenkins. The DC Jazz Festival also has announced the launch of its 2019 international jazz band competition, DCJazzPrix, and has issued a call for applications at www.dcjazzprix.org, according to a DC Jazz Festival statement. The entry fee for the DCJazzPrix remains $49 per band. The winner of the 2018 DCJazzPrix, Cornerstore, won a $15,000 cash prize and will perform June 15 as part of the 2019 DC JazzFest at The Wharf. For more information about the DC Jazz Festival and its programs, visit: wwwdcjazzfest.org.

InReview... Roberto Magris CD ‘World Gardens’ Kudos to Italian pianist Roberto Magris for his most recent CD, “World Gardens,” a charming, melodic, cosmopolitan journey with Dominque Sanders on bass, Brian Steever, drums, and Pablo Sanhueza, percussion. Jazz, folk, blues, free jazz and other genres are highlighted here, including on Magris’ own “Blue Bamboo” arrangement, his “Song for an African Child,” “Stella by Starlight” and others. Magris and Sanders on bass exchange playful licks on Magris’ “Blues at Lunch,” with Andrew Cyrille’s “High Priest” a quicksilver exploration into many sights and sounds, colors and rhythms. See www.jmoodrecords.com for more information.

Baby, It’s Cold Outside! Warm Up by the Fire while Enjoying Homemade Turkey Vegetable Soup & a Signature Hot Cocktail! JANUARY HIGHLIGHTS: … Terence Blanchard & The E-Collective, Jan. 10-13, Blues Alley … DeAndrey Howard/Collector’s Edition, Jan. 11, Westminster Presbyterian Church … Benito Gonzalez, Jan. 11-12, Twins Jazz … Elin, Jan. 12, The Alex … 20 Year Anniversary, Jan. 18, Westminster … Noah Haidu Quartet featuring Gary Thomas, Jan. 18-19, Twins Jazz … Charles Covington, Jan. 19, Germano’s Piattini/Baltimore … The Twins Jazz Orchestra, Jan. 24, Twins Jazz …. Roy Ayers, Jan. 24-27, Blues Alley … The John Lamkin Favorites Jazz Quintet, Jan. 25-26, Twins Jazz …. Davey Yarborough/Remembering Buck Hill, Jan. 25, Westminster … Nicole Saphos, Jan. 26, The Alex … Carl Grubbs Ensemble, Jan. 26, Walters Art Museum/Baltimore … Karen Lovejoy, Jan. 27, Jazz and Cultural Center … Marty Nau, Jan. 27, Twins Jazz … Pat Martino Quintet, Jan. 27, Baltimore Museum of Art … The JoGo Project Album Release Party, Jan. 29, Blues Alley … Joshua Bayer, Jan. 30, Jazz and Cultural Center JANUARY BIRTHDAYS: Frank Wess 4; Kenny Clarke 9; Max Roach 10; Jay McShann 12; Melba Liston, Joe Pass 13; Gene Krupa 15; Cedar Walton 17; Jimmy Cobb 20; J.J. Johnson 22; Gary Burton 23; Antonio Carlos Jobim 25; Bobby Hutcherson 27; Roy Eldridge 30. Steve Monroe is a Washington, DC, writer who can be reached at steve@jazzavenues. com and followed at www.twitter.com/jazzavenues.

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homes & gardens

DC Council Passes Nation’s Most Progressive Clean Energy Bill by Catherine Plume

hile DC may not have a vote in Congress, it does have the most far-reaching climate legislation in the country. On Tuesday, Dec. 18, the DC Council unanimously approved the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018. This bill is unprecedented in the US and will change the way DC sources its energy, while providing incentives for clean and renewable energy and vehicle purchasing. What does the bill do? • It requires the District to transition residential, business, and DC and federal government infrastructure 100 percent to electricity generated from wind or solar by 2032. • It mandates green efficiency standards for existing buildings, which account for 74 percent of the District’s greenhouse gas emissions. • It increases the current Sustainable Energy Trust Fund (SETF) utility fee (included on Pepco bills), which will generate additional funds to finance renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. It also funds programs to help lowincome residents transition to more sustainable energy and creates a clean-energy workforce development program for District residents. • It encourages the purchase of more energy efficient (electric and hybrid) vehicles by reducing the excise tax on these vehicles while increasing the tax for non-energy-efficient vehicles. • It authorizes the mayor to participate in regional programs designed to reduce greenhouse gases. • It requires “private vehicle-for-hire” companies (Lyft, Uber, taxis) to develop “a greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan” by 2022, with a goal of increasing the number of zero-

E a s t o f t h e R i v er D C N e w s . c o m

Cheh and DOEE, has steadily moved forward with the creation of energy infrastructure and policies necessary for the implementation of this landmark, nation-leading, 100 percent renewable energy sources bill,” says Chris Weiss, executive director of the DC Environmental Network (DCEN), which helped coordinate coalition activities in support of the bill. Weiss continues: “DCEN, and many climate organizations and activists, spent three years advocating for a carbon fee and rebate, believing it represented the fastest path to the greatest reduction of carbon emissions. We failed to convince decision makers to take that step at this time. In the next decade we may have to revisit that tool, but in the meantime, we are so very proud of the DC government and sustainability community, including elements of the business sector, for coalescing behind this legal commitment and hopeful statement for our nation’s capital city and the planet.” The Clean Energy Act is only one of several initiatives that the Council has recently passed with an eye to reducing carbon emissions. Earlier in December, it passed legislation regulating leaf blowers due to their negative impacts on operator health, emissions and the environment, as well as legislation incentivizing residential composting and food donations to keep food out of landfills, where it creates methane. Meanwhile, to further reduce waste across the District and in rivers, DC began implementing a plastic straw and stirrer ban as of Jan. 1. DC is truly becoming a great environmental model for cities around the world.

emission vehicles used by these fleets. Tommy Wells, director of the Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE), is thrilled with this legislation. “The new comprehensive energy bill passed by the Council implements Mayor Bowser’s recent CleanEnergy DC plan to keep the city on track with our commitment to the Paris Accord to curb global warming. It’s an exciting bill, and the first in the nation to establish and enforce building energy performance standards on existing infrastructure. The bill also fully funds the new DC Greenbank to help retrofit buildings, especially multifamily buildings, and help preserve affordable housing Catherine Plume is a lifelong environmentalist, a writer and while improving the environment.” a blogger for the DC Recycler: www.DCRecycler.blogspot.com; Many environmental groups across the District Twitter: @DC_Recycler. She is also a board member and the joined forces and worked with Councilmember Mary Conservation Chair of the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club, but Cheh (D-Ward 3) to draft, lobby and garner support the perspectives expressed here are her own and do not necessarfor the bill’s passage. ily represent the positions of that organization. Mark Rodeffer, committee chair of the DC Chapter of the Sierra Club, notes, “The Sierra Club and our local environmental allies have spent incalculable time and energy working on this bill, and we are thrilled that it was unanimously approved by the DC Council. Mayor Bowser committed the District to the terms of the Paris Climate Accord, but we weren’t on track to meet those targets. With this bill, we’ll be on a solid path to substantial climate pollution reductions.” Others, while supportive of the bill, wish it had gone farther. Members of the DC environmental community celebrate the passage of the “For the last decade, the DisClean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018. Photo: Chesapeake Climate Action trict’s sustainability community, Network (CCAN) Climate Action Fund arguably led by Councilmember

homes & gardens / changing hands Changing hands is a list of most residential sales in the District of Columbia from the previous month. A feature of every issue, this list,based on the MRIs, is provided courtesy of Don Denton, manager of the Coldwell Banker office on Capitol Hill. The list includes address, sales price and number of bedrooms.

SAVE! SAVE! SAVE! bat

NEIGHBORHOOD ANACOSTIA

1262 TALBERT STREET SE UNIT#20B 1437 RIDGE PLACE SE 2309 16TH STREET SE 1215 MORRIS ROAD SE 1634 RIDGE PLACE SE 1408 T STREET SE 1631 U STREET SE

CONGRESS HEIGHTS

3415 5TH STREET SE UNIT#36 717 BRANDYWINE STREET SE #101 3201 8TH STREET SE UNIT#11 1246 BARNABY TERRACE SE 520 LEBAUM STREET SE 39 DANBURY STREET SW 1239 SAVANNAH STREET SE

DEANWOOD

66 55TH STREET SE 3936 E CAPITOL STREET NE 4422 HUNT PLACE NE 5104 JAY STREET NE 5143 SHERIFF ROAD NE 1106 46TH STREET NE 5037 JUST STREET NE 527 45TH STREET NE 909 PORTER COURT NE 244 57TH PLACE NE 246 57TH PLACE NE 920 52ND STREET NE 318 59TH STREET NE 123 36TH STREET NE 95 55TH STREET SE 4509 DIX NE 4607 CLAY STREET NE 6109 CLAY STREET NE

PRICE

$225,000 $280,000 $302,400 $375,000 $457,000 $485,000 $529,000

3 3 2 3 3 3 3

$60,000 $119,000 $154,900 $208,000 $217,000 $287,000 $408,000

2 2 2 3 2 2 4

809 49TH STREET NE

FORT DUPONT PARK 4632 HANNA PLACE SE 4615 HANNA PLACE SE 306 BURBANK STREET SE 708 BURNS STREET SE 4335 GORMAN TERRACE SE 4327 BARKER STREET SE

HILL CREST

2107 FORT DAVIS STREET SE UNIT#201 2108 38TH STREET SE UNIT#102 3683 ALABAMA AVENUE SE UNIT#B 1121 BRANCH AVENUE SE 1320 27TH STREET SE

KINGMAN PARK $250,000 $230,000 $243,000 $256,500 $305,000 $335,000 $350,000 $375,000 $382,000 $385,000 $385,000 $386,000 $399,400 $399,999 $436,990 $465,000 $469,000 $485,000

3 3 3 3 3 5 3 3 4 3 3 2 3 3 3 4 5 5

1730 GALES STREET NE 1824 D STREET NE UNIT#1

MARSHALL HEIGHTS

4508 B STREET SE UNIT#4 48004820 C STREET SE UNIT#301 4632 A STREET SE 4614 A STREET SE 5206 D STREET SE

RANDLE HEIGHTS

2302 SOUTHERN AVENUE SE 3446 23RD STREET SE 1520 TUBMAN ROAD SE 1911 S STREET SE 1821 T PLACE SE 1850 WOODMONT PLACE SE

$612,000

$180,000 $250,000 $275,000 $285,000 $325,000 $530,000

2 4 2 2 2 4

$105,000 $117,000 $135,001 $350,000 $397,000

2 2 2 3 3

$485,000 $554,000

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XWORD

www.themecrosswords.com • www.mylesmellorconcepts.com

Players In Films by Myles Mellor Across:

1. Atlantic 6. Northern Spain resident 13. For sure 19. Molten materials 21. Dry sherry 22. Moving 23. Daniel Day-Lewis character 25. Jeered 26. Part of a giggle 27. Freshener 28. Shade of brown 30. Contribute obligingly 31. “The Sopranos” restaurateur 34. Unhealthy atmosphere 37. Horror writer, Edgar Allan 38. Get sidetracked 39. Find out bit-by-bit 41. House cooking 44. Eulogizes 47. Helen of ___ 48. Muscles 53. Bradley Cooper starred in it 58. Like some music 59. Bishop’s jurisdiction 60. Crackerjack 61. Cool 62. Shaded color 63. Inner, prefix 65. Grooves 66. “Bon ___” 68. Demolished 69. In rags 71. Asia’s ___ Sea 73. Goes with Buenos... 76. Checker, perhaps 80. “It’s a Wonderful Life” role 83. Much may follow it 87. Bias 88. Martini ingredient 89. Hand warmer 91. CPR giver 92. Maintain 94. Jon Voight co-starred in it 97. Pepper 99. Halo 100. Raspy

101. Include, contain 104. Expressionless 106. Be compatible 110. Pay dirt 111. Grant 113. Twisty turns 117. Arabic commander 118. Weather map area 120. Counter to 122. ___ dare 123. BLT part 125. Dakota Fanning played a young girl in it 130. Vegas visitor, maybe 131. “West Side Story” song 132. Golden ___ 133. Scanned again 134. Battle do-over 135. June honoree

Down:

1. The Oracle of ____ (Warren Buffet) 2. Scottish game pole 3. “Snowy” bird 4. Health org. 5. “Not gonna happen” 6. Report back to 7. Insurance company headquartered in Rhode Island 8. Heap 9. Welder of sorts 10. Thing you weave on 11. Slanting 12. Not an officer 13. Jewish youth org. 14. Tic-tac-toe winner 15. Letter-shaped fastener 16. Spooky movie, nail-___ 17. Dementieva of tennis 18. Big name in bear markets 20. Used a bench 24. Big ___ 29. Kind of wave 32. Composer Stravinsky

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Look for this months answers at labyrinthgameshop.com 33. US Island 35. Yard decorations 36. Lows 38. Portuguese Mrs. 40. Euro predecessor, in Portugal 42. Ancient stories 43. End of the year month, for short 44. Convenience 45. Marvel Comics group 46. Angry, with “off” 47. “Comin’ ___ the Rye” 49. Kenyan’s neighbor 50. Spheres in space 51. Exceptional

52. Toboggan 54. Set off 55. Simpsons character, Flanders 56. Sign after Cancer 57. Prefix with dermal 64. Corkscrew, e.g. 67. Country singer, Bonnie 70. African runner 72. Come back again 73. P.D.Q. 74. Rick’s “Casablanca” love 75. File 77. Annual meeting 78. Roman 12 79. Short-tailed lemur

80. “8 Mile” Rapper 81. Actress Diana 82. Math degree 84. Wyo. neighbor 85. Andy’s partner 86. Eye malady 90. #1 Alicia Keys hit of 2007 93. Bout stopper, for short 95. Not yet final, at law 96. Channels 98. Love, Spanish-style 102. Hawkish 103. Give new title to 104. Beach wear 105. Nice head 106. Maid’s concern 107. Mexican root 108. Island east of Indonesia 109. Black band of mourning 112. Brownie bunch 114. Sound 115. Over 116. Disrespectful 118. Cross 119. Not kosher 121. W.W. II battle site, for short 124. Not one’s cup of ___ 126. “It must be him, ___ shall die” 127. Worthless amount 128. ___ Glory (U.S. flag) 129. Nutritional fig.

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