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As another election cycle comes to a close, we wanted to share this quote from D.C.’s new shadow senator, Ankit Jain, in our People Issue:
“If you’re a young Indian boy or a Latina girl, you don’t have to look like everyone else in the majority population in the city to run for office and get elected. D.C. is Chocolate City, and everyone knows that, but what people don’t talk about as much is that we have a large immigrant population. It’s important for that community to have representation and people who understand that perspective.”
This moment, captured by Alex Koma, reminds us of the importance of our work.
We’re already navigating the outcomes of the results of the election and what it all means for you. To help us do this, we’re aiming to raise $22,025 by the end of 2024.
Help us hold D.C.’s newly elected officials accountable in 2025 and keep an eye on those in power. Contribute to our year-end campaign today.
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Good Monday afternoon, D.C. It was a rough weekend for District sports fans as the Spirit lost the NWSL championship to the Orlando Pride, and the Commanders dropped their third straight to Dallas. Here’s some news you might have missed while you were on a walking tour of iconic local punk landmarks.
Barry Well Remembered
ICYMI: Mayor-for-Life Marion Barry died 10 years ago. We published an essay of previously unseen photos from his funeral procession featuring interviews with folks along the route. On Saturday, a couple hundred people gathered at the D.C. government building on 4th Street NW that now bears his name to see the unveiling of a mural in his honor.
“We want to show the city, the nation, and the world who Marion Barry is and the impact and the legacy of his life so that residents and visitors to this city will know for once and for all who Marion Barry really was,” said Nabi Bilal, who worked on the mural along with other artists at Creative JunkFood.
Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places
D.C. joined the look-alike contest trend in the most D.C. way. Young people gathered in Malcolm X Park for a Jack Schlossberg look-alike contest. Apparently, “none [of the contestants] even remotely resemble Schlossberg,” the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, according to Washingtonian’s Sylvie McNamara.
Some in the crowd of mostly women tell McNamara they came to find a date. “This is, like, the social event, all the eligible men and women showed up,” one woman said. “Everyone here is a twink or a girl,” said another woman, who described her type as “tall, active on social media, and from a political dynasty.”
Daniel Bonomo, a 25-year-old master’s student at Georgetown, won. He said his girlfriend convinced him to compete.
Semester vs Trimester
Georgetown University initially rejected law student Brittany Lovely’s request to delay a final exam because she was expected to give birth just a few days prior. Only after a petition was circulated and after the Post contacted the school did Georgetown University agree to delay the exam. Before the school acquiesced, Lovely said she met with officials, hoping to change their minds on her own. “I was told not only would it be inequitable for my peers, but [the school official] alluded [that] I should have planned better,” Lovely told the Post, adding that the school official told her “motherhood is not for the faint of heart.”
How to End a Sentence
A group of people locked in the DC Jail went to court Friday afternoon, but not to adjudicate their cases. Six members of the DC Jail debate team competed against students from James Madison University. The two teams debated whether to abolish life-without-parole sentences in front of a panel of judges—jail residents argued for abolition; the students argued in favor of keeping the sentence. Judges awarded the win to the jail’s team, which featured Harold Cunningham, who has previously written for our Inside Voices column. Read the Post’s coverage of the debate, and then check out Cunningham’s essay on solitary confinement on our website.
—Mitch Ryals (mryals@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Credit: Darrow Montgomery
Block Party, Ep. 15
Photographed Nov. 19 on the block bound by 7th and and 8th streets SE and G and E streets SE.
Credit: Courtesy of the United States Attorney's Office for D.C.
Corrections Officer Indicted as Part of Conspiracy to Smuggle Drugs and Weapons into the DC Jail
The United States Attorney’s Office for D.C. charged six members of an alleged conspiracy to […]
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb is suing Raheem AI, a D.C.-based police accountability nonprofit. The lawsuit filed this week follows a New York Times investigation into the organization founded by Brandon Anderson, who reportedly used the nonprofit’s funds to support a luxury lifestyle, including personal travel, designer clothes, and emergency veterinary services. [WUSA9, NYT]
Four days after Denis Humberto Navarette Romero was released from jail for exposing himself to a woman on the Washington & Old Dominion trail, he returned to the trail and, police say, raped another woman. He was arrested last Monday and has been convicted of more than a dozen offenses in Northern Virginia and D.C. [Post]
By City Paper Staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
It’s a tale as old as time in D.C. government: The Council passed a ban on right turns at red lights, but Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration says it doesn’t have enough money to enforce it at every intersection. Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen argues Bowser is choosing not to fund a change she doesn’t support. “The Council needs to fund the laws it wants implemented—otherwise they give the mayor an easy out,” counters former At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman. [Post]
Scenes from the party marking 50 years of Home Rule ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to power: Private strategizing, cautious optimism, lots of go-go, even a few jokes. “If Donald Trump wants someone to oversee D.C., I’m more than happy to do it!” quips former Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander. [Axios]
Education leaders remember Mary Levy as an unparalleled, data-driven force in local politics. [DC Line]
By Alex Koma (tips? akoma@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Jafet Casarrubias Peña, a 22-year-old who worked as a barback at Georgetown’s Fiola Mare, died last weekend. His body was pulled from the Potomac River roughly 12 hours after his Saturday night shift ended. Police say they don’t suspect foul play. His family is mourning. [Post]
Remember Greg “Learn English” Harris? He owned Canna Coffee Ice Cream Cafe Mocktail Bar Lounge and went viral for yelling at a delivery driver to “learn English.” His restaurant in Adams Morgan was shut down for health code violations. Now, he’s back with a food truck. [WUSA9]
By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)
Retro Review: A Thanksgiving Classic Stuffed with Unforgettable Performances
Screening tonight and Wednesday, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, John Hughes’ 1987 road trip comedy, features two stars giving the deepest and funniest performances of their careers.
Gladiator II: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
The follow-up to Ridley Scott’s biggest hit is almost as diverting as its precursor, and even more hollow.
A look at how the incoming presidential administration could affect the local arts community and what advocates should focus on. [DC Theater Arts]
Earlier this fall, Rolling Stone spent a day with Noochie, the local rapper and mastermind of Live From the Front Porch. It reads like an ode to D.C., especially with its photographs from local artist Farrah Skeiky. [Rolling Stone]
The new Chinatown mural intends to send a message to the city and mayor: Chinatown’s community is still here and Monument Realty’s plans to build luxury housing in the neighborhood could easily displace residents “and destroy what’s left of D.C. Chinatown,” says Cassie He, a volunteer with the Save Chinatown Solidarity Network. [WTOP]
By Sarah Marloff (tips? smarloff@washingtoncitypaper.com)
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