VOL. 54, NO. 39 • JULY 11 - 17, 2019
Enjoy Summer’s Soaring Temps but Beware of Harmful Sun Rays
District, Maryland Get Chesapeake Bay Trust Grants
Protests Highlight Effects of Far-Right Rhetoric
By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer @StacyBrownMedia The District was announced among several cities that will receive more than $965,000 in funding for the Chesapeake Bay Green Streets, Green Jobs, Green Towns Grant Program (G3). These awards, which were announced by The Chesapeake Bay Trust in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Maryland Department of Natural Resources
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins Since before President Donald Trump entered office, the concept of free speech and what constitutes as such has dominated political discussions, particularly because white supremacists spewing xenophobic rhetoric that incited violence against marginalized groups said the law protects their right to express their views. Last weekend, nearly a year after the Ku Klux Klan descended upon the White House, right-wing extremists from across the country returned to the District, converging on Freedom Plaza on Pennsylvania Avenue as an expression of their First Amendment rights. This time however, an equal, if not more powerful, opposing force, bringing with it a multi-ethnic audience and the go-go sound, coalesced several feet away. “We are not policing people in this space, and that means everyone,” April Goggans, core organizer of Black Lives Matter DC, standing in front of a white banner with “All Out DC” emblazoned across it, told a crowd at nearby Pershing Park on Saturday afternoon. “None of us are free until all of us are free.” After a group prayer and call-
PROTESTS Page 40
Capture the Moment Page 44
5 Area grants will help the District and Maryland protect nature and wildlife. (Courtesy photo/EPA)
GREEN Page 42
Residents Discuss Future of Affordable Housing By Sam P.K. Collins WI Contributing Writer @SamPKCollins For more than a decade, neighborhood revitalization in the District has been synonymous with neglect and displacement of low-income tenants. As communities east of the Anacostia River increasingly grapple with that reality, a group of residents and organizers have set out to analyze and tackle its key causes. That effort continued during the People’s Right to Housing Mini-Assembly, one of three events intended to educate res-
idents about displacement and prepare them to collectively fight those involved in the dispersal of longtime Washingtonians. The two-hour event attracted former Barry Farm residents and those from other pockets of Southeast concerned about the future of their precarious living situation. “Developers’ plans don’t look like they’re in our favor. There aren’t a lot of opportunities to manage businesses,” said Detrice Belt, chair of Barry Farm Tenant and Allies Association (BFTAA). and one of
HOUSING Page 38
5 Detrice Belt, head of the Barry Farm Tenants and Allies Association, takes notes on landlord neglect during the People’s Right to Housing Assembly hosted by One DC at the Black Workers and Wellness Center in Southeast on Saturday, July 6. (Anthony Tilghman/The Washington Informer)
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