the anacostia is liquid shit ...

... regardless of the side on which you live. and that's why, as always, i take offense when reporters use the easy-out phrase "wrong side of the anacostia" to describe the neighborhood of a person who may not have had the same opportunities as someone from the east side of the potomac.

that's what happened in this piece about a kid from southeast dc - a recent high school graduate from an intact family on his way to the university of arizona with a stop along the way as a summer intern at the white house. all i can say is why???

why this random phrase in the middle of an otherwise straightforward piece about a district kid who's getting the chance of a lifetime - irrespective of his address? is it so that all the rest of us will say - oh okay, i get it - he's special because he's from one of those neighborhoods?

so frustrating!

the nameless, the faceless

today's papers dedicated A LOT of print to this season's first real snow storm - 4-12 inches that delayed the feds and closed the schools; all but the district of columbia public schools, that is. parent's were pissed and the pundits speculated as to the extent of the obama factor on the mayor's and chancellor's decision to keep open the district's schools.

i guess this was news worthy, but my eyes were drawn to this article in the post. the article focuses on the increased murder rate in certain neighborhoods in ward 8 and the 7th police district. the interesting part of this news article was that there was really no news. it was more like a quasi-journalistic litany of dangerous stereotypes - southeast, east of the anacostia river, open air drug markets, murder, overworked, under-prepared police, poorest neighborhoods in the city, blah, blah, blah, blah ... not one victim's name, not one specific location, no real attempt to provide information regarding any of the 11 murders - all the stuff to keep you scared, and keep you away.

the stories that need to be reported are that:

1) these 11 victims are human beings with families and friends and are just as valuable as those victims who die on the other side of the river - the side where your name ends up in the paper and your story is told ... the side of the river where people read stories in the paper about 11 murders in fewer than 60 days and then hold protests and insist on increased patrols, intervention and protection; and

2) the communities of northeast and southeast dc east of the anacostia river are strong, vibrant, and established communities with people from all walks of life - including those who, just like their counterparts in all other wards and quadrants of the city, make choices that are not the best for them or for their communities.

the day the national marathon came by

yesterday the suntrust national marathon passed in front of our house. it's the one day of the year that 1000s of people, who might otherwise never venture east of the anacostia river, get to see our little part of the city. to be fair, the runners who finish in less than 3 hours don't see much of anything, but, with our house at mile 23, we get of lots of joggers, limpers, and walkers.

i'm sure that some who enter the race are a little apprehensive about having to run through SE. certainly, some make jokes with punchlines of crime, drugs, and poverty. but, if any of those stereotypes are challenged as the participants see that those cheering from the sidewalks and their porches are not unlike them, then the national marathon has served, what i hope, was one of its purposes.

the first runner....

the first woman....

and our mayor!