Who Will Decide D.C.’s Next Councilmember?

Posted on November 3, 2010 by admin

Elections expert Bill O’Field and Pete Tucker joined hosts Dr. Baruch and Toussaint Tingling-Clemmons for their election night coverage on More Room On the Outside on DCTV. Among the issues discussed were: Statehood; the elected attorney general charter amendment; the importance of Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners; why America votes on a cold Tuesday in November; and much more.

Also discussed was the D.C. Democratic State Committee’s upcoming selection to fill Chairman-elect Kwame Brown’s At-large seat. That’s right, it is the D.C. Democratic State Committee, and not the voters of the District of Columbia, who will be selecting the next D.C. Councilmember, until a special election is held.

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A Report on Poverty in D.C.

Posted on November 3, 2010 by admin

LISTEN TO JENNY REED

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Jenny Reed of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute

In order to address poverty in the District of Columbia, it is important to know who it is that is poor. That’s the thrust of a report released by Jenny Reed of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. A recent front page article in the Washington Post noted that 43 percent of African American children in the District are living in poverty. As Reed writes in “Who is Low-Income in DC“:

“The District of Columbia’s poverty rate is far above the national average and has remained high even in periods of strong economic growth. Some 133,000 residents – nearly one-quarter of the population – are low income… [with] income at or below $24,475 a year for a family of three. DC’s low-income population is so large that it would overflow RFK Stadium and the Nationals’ Ballpark combined.”

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Mixing Local Politics and Local Food

Posted on November 2, 2010 by admin

LISTEN TO JOHN GLOSTER

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John Gloster of the DC Statehood Green Party and the Ward 8 Farmers' Market

Ten years ago, what was then Ward 8’s only supermarket was closed. Members of the D.C. Statehood Green Party responded by starting their own market. Ten years later, the Ward 8 Farmers’ Market is still going strong and leading the way in finding innovative approaches to providing fresh produce to the food desert that is southeast Washington, D.C.

In two recent editorials, the Washington Post encouraged D.C. voters not to limit themselves to voting for Democratic candidates, but instead to consider voting for D.C.’s second politcal party which, according to the Post, is the Republicans. John Gloster, one of the founders of the Ward 8 Farmers’ Market and a member of the D.C. Statehood Green Party, responded: “Here’s the deal: the D.C. Statehood Green Party, we call ourselves the second party. The Republican Party is the third party in the District of Columbia. You look at the number of votes we get in elections the last few cycles, it bares that out. We’ve been out-voting the Republican Party.”

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Restoring Sanity in Education

Posted on November 1, 2010 by admin

LISTEN TO BRANDT & CAROLE ROBINSON

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Florida high school teachers Brandt and Carole Robinson at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” on the National Mall in Washington, DC Saturday drew as many as 250,000 people. Dunedin High School teachers Carole and Brandt Robinson came all the way from Palm Harbor, Florida because, “we were concerned with insanity in local politics in Florida and some of the people that are running for our state and federal offices really trying to run on some of the fears and are supported by the Tea Party movement. Especially when it comes to the funding of public education.”

If the Tea Party-backed candidates prevail in Florida in Tuesday’s election, it will play a significant role in furthering Florida’s privatization of its public education system. At the forefront of the effort to privatize Florida’s school system is Jeb Bush, the former Governor of Florida and brother of President George W. Bush. Carole said, “The very people that are supporting the privatization of schools are those that will profit the most from that action. The third Bush brother, Neil Bush, founded a corporation called Ignite Learning which is one of the leaders in producing state tests, that his brother Jeb [is] trying to instill in states. He’s actually trying to pass this type of bill all across the United States.”

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The Nutcracker as Grim Reaper

Posted on October 31, 2010 by admin

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Former members of the Washington Ballet orchestra picketing outside the Ballet on Wisconsin Ave

The noise coming from Wisconsin Avenue Thursday afternoon was unusually beautiful as drivers honked in solidarity while members of the Washington Ballet orchestra performed a roadside concert. Actually, the performers were former members of the orchestra, and that’s precisely why they were protesting outside of the headquarters of the Washington Ballet.

For more than three decades, an integral part of the Washington Ballet’s performances of “The Nutcracker” has been live music. But if the Washington Ballet has its way, this will be the second consecutive year that the orchestra won’t be in the pit, but instead taped music will be used. The ticket prices for “The Nutcracker” have not dropped, nor are customers made aware that live music is no longer a part of the program.

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Latino Media Collective’s Pre-Election Special

Posted on October 30, 2010 by admin

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The Latino Media Collective airs Wednesday evenings from 7-8:00 PM on WPFW 89.3 FM, Pacifica Radio. Last night, journalist Pete Tucker and D.C. Statehood Green Party media coordinator Scott McLarty joined hosts Oscar Fernandez and Norberto Martinez for a special program on the upcoming elections. Topics discussed included school reform; second six-figure salaries of D.C. Councilmembers; the lack of election coverage following the September 14th primaries by the Washington Post and other major media outlets; and more.

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Hardy Middle School Students on School Reform

Posted on October 28, 2010 by admin

LISTEN TO MALACHI & MIRANDA WOODS

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From left to right: Miranda, grade 8, Malachi, grade 7, and their mom, Sherry Woods, standing in front of Hardy Middle School. (9/15/10)

While there has been a great deal of discussion in the media surrounding school reform, rarely are the voices of those at the target end of those reforms heard from. Hardy Middle School students Malachi and Miranda Woods are determined to change that. This brother-sister team attempted a sit-in strike to protest the changes they have endured at their school, including the removal of their principal, the popular Patrick Pope.

The Hardy students’ attempted sit-in strike occurred the day after the Democratic primary election which saw D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray defeat Mayor Adrian Fenty. One of the central issues in that election was Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s school reform. District voters took the opportunity to weigh in on the matter by voting Fenty and Rhee out of office.

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The Movement Against Mountaintop Removal

Posted on October 27, 2010 by admin

LISTEN TO TRICIA SHAPIRO HERE:

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Tricia Shapiro, author of "Mountain Justice"

Author Tricia Shapiro has closely followed the grassroots movements to stop mountaintop removal. At an event organized by the Dream City Collective, Shapiro discussed her just released book, “Mountain Justice: Homegrown Resistance to Mountaintop Removal, For the Future of Us All.”

Shapiro said, “Mountaintop removal is a really large-scale form of strip mining for coal in central Appalachia. Large amounts of explosives… are inserted into the top of a mountain. It’s blown to bits. They clear the rubble off, scrape off a seam of coal, then blow up another layer of mountain, push it off to the side, and so on until they’ve got down to all the seams that they want. The seams are relatively thin. They’re blowing up a lot more mountain than they’re getting coal. And the damage that is done is on a much larger scale.”

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A Farmers’ Market in a Food Desert

Posted on October 25, 2010 by admin

LISTEN TO OBERRON DEFREITAS

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Oberron DeFreitas at the Ward 8 Farmers' Market

Oberron DeFreitas was determined to bring his organic produce into the food desert that is southeast, D.C. “The only place I wanted to bring my goods was southeast,” said DeFreitas, who lived and taught in the area for more than a quarter century. For the last seven years, DeFreitas has sold his produce to residents of southeast as part of the Ward 8 Farmers Market.

In addition to selling his produce to individuals each Saturday in the parking lot of the United Medical Center, DeFreitas is part of a buyback program which guarantees him $250 a week in sales. The produce from the buyback program is distributed to feeding programs, as well as to corner stores in southeast. This novel initiative allows residents of southeast to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the entire week, not just on Saturdays.

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Local Headlines, Oct 22 – Wa. Post reports on for-profit colleges… awkward; Post smites enemies on D.C. Council, endorsing Republicans; and more…

Posted on October 25, 2010 by admin

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Republican Dave Hedgepeth, the Washington Post's preferred candidate for the Ward 3 council seat

The Washington Post Co. owns the for-profit college and test company Kaplan, which earned a 2009 revenue of $2.6 billion, accounting for more than 60 percent of the Post Co.’s total revenue. For-profit colleges have come under federal investigation recently for allegedly encouraging students to take on more debt than they are able to handle. In an article published in today’s Washington Post, reporter Nick Anderson reveals a number of startling facts. From the article:

“Companies that run colleges and trade schools for profit are mounting a full-tilt, high-dollar campaign against an Obama administration effort to tighten rules for their access to federal aid. The industry has staged a Capitol Hill rally, run advertisements in national newspapers, hired big-name lobbyists and coordinated thousands of comments on the proposed regulation in an effort to derail or dilute it. This month, industry executives are beginning a round of private meetings with senior Education Department officials to argue their case. At stake is a lucrative source of funding for a sector of higher education that serves about one of every 10 post-secondary students and has more than doubled its market share in the past decade. Stocks of for-profit colleges have fallen sharply in recent months amid warning about how the proposed rules could shake up the schools… For profit schools receieve about $1 of every $4 spent on federal Pell grants for students in financial need. That totaled more than $7 billion in the last school year – up from nearly $1 billion a decade earlier… The Washington Post Co. operates for-profit schools through its subsidiary Kaplan and owns more than 8 percent of stock in Corinthian Colleges, another for-profit company, based in Santa Ana, Calif.”

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