By Ben King, on August 7th, 2013 
People from Washington, DC report back on their knowledge and experience from the 2013 Allied Media Conference in Detroit. Find out how to share your story below!
The Allied Media Conference (AMC) brings together organizers and technology buffs every summer in Detroit. Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the AMC has earned a reputation among community media makers and grassroots researchers for highlighting positive solutions for social movements, not just stating problems. In addition to providing an inclusive space for sharing knowledge and skills, the conference is tons of fun!
Due to a strong presence of people and organizations from DC, some AMCers coined the term “DCtroit,” a phrase of solidarity between DC and Detroit. After my first AMC in 2012, I started saying that I connected with more DC people in Detroit than right here at home!
Now, we want to stay connected and share the love. A group of media producers from Grassroots DC is putting together this series of blog posts in order to reflect on our experiences and bring the AMC back to our communities.
Contribute!
This is an inclusive effort to share perspectives of anyone from DC who attended AMC 2013. We want to hear from you! Contact Grassroots DC Coordinator, Liane Scott (liane[at]grassrootsdc.org), to post your story about the AMC to this blog. We will compile posts and cross-post them to the Allied Media Project’s Talk forum in order to stay informed and stay connected.
Next year, we hope to recruit and fundraise so that even more people from DC can attend the AMC. Beyond the conference in Detroit, we are thinking about how to organize a similar convergence of local media creators and change makers in DC. How do we create a strong network of like-minded people to work together? Ultimately, we are stronger together than apart. Comment or contact us, and let’s build a more beautiful DC!
By Liane Scott, on July 29th, 2013 
On July 12, 2013, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs released the report Racial Disparities in Arrests in the District of Columbia, 2009-2011. The following are a few of the reports insights:
Nearly seven out of ten traffic arrests were of African Americans Eight out of ten individuals arrested for disorderly conduct were African American or Hispanic Although there is little disparity in drug use between DC’s African-American and caucasian residents, nine out of ten individuals arrested for drug offenses are African American. More than eight out of 10 arrests in our city were of African Americans.
In short, we might not have a stand your ground law in the District of Columbia but the same racial profiling that took the life of Trayvon Martin and many, many other African American men and boys is alive and well in the District of Columbia. In light of these facts, a coalition of activists is having a press conference and teach-in that draws the connections between the fight for justice for Trayvon Martin and the need for a movement to address racial profiling in DC.
Are you still mad about Trayvon Martin? Do you want to give his death meaning and stop future extra-judicial killings? Make a start by attending this press conference.
Speak Out and Organize Against Racial Profiling in DC Wednesday July 31 @ Noon Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Speakers include:
Rev. Graylan Hagler, Plymouth Congregational
Etan Thomas, activist and former Washington Wizards player
Perry Redd, Ex-prisoner, activist, and former DC Council candidate
A representative from The Washington Lawyers Committee
Seema Sananandan, of the DC American Civil Liberties Union and author of a recent study on marijuana arrests
Andy Shallal, anti-war activist and owner of Busboys & Poets
Jamal Muhammed, host of the Luv Lounge show on WeAct Radio
Plans will be made to add an End Racial Profiling in DC component to the 50th Anniversary March on Washington. For more information please call (410) 635-0235.
By Grassroots DC, on July 26th, 2013 
Washington, DC – On July 22, 2013 Mayor Vincent Gray, along with a handful of aides and scores of reporters, paid a visit to Petworth with the intention of cracking down on synthetic marijuana and drug paraphernalia being sold at small businesses in the neighborhood. “That’s illegal, man. Can’t do that. That’s drug paraphernalia,” warned the Mayor. This isn’t the first time that Mayor Gray has posed as a law enforcement official in order to bust local shops, in his effort with the group Advocates for Drug-free Youth.
The visit took an unexpected turn, however, when Gray encountered an Ethiopian clerk who had trouble understanding English. “You don’t understand? How do you sell anything if you don’t understand? If somebody asks you for something, do you know what they’re asking you for?” Mayor Gray chided. At one point, visibly frustrated by the language barrier, the Mayor told the clerk “I don’t even, I really don’t know how you are working here if you can’t communicate with the people who come in here.” Despite criticism from NBC4 reporter Mark Segrave, the Mayor denied that his remarks could be considered insensitive and said that the language barrier was “irrelevant.”
According to federal and local laws, DC government must provide interpretation and translation when interacting with limited- and non-English proficient individuals. By asking for interpretation and having his request denied, the clerk was deprived of his right to “equal and meaningful” access protected by Title XI of the Civil Rights Act and the DC Language Access Act of 2004.
Over 85,000 DC residents speak a language other than English at home, according to the 2010 Census. The most common languages include Spanish, Amharic, French, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. With these facts in mind and the law on his side, it is difficult to watch the Mayor tell the young clerk that his actions are illegal — not to mention while Mr. Gray himself is under federal investigation for corruption charges.
It isn’t the first time a PR move like this has gone wrong for the Mayor. Just this time last year, he brought a small army of city officials with him to Martin Luther King Boulevard in SE to demand that shop-owners stop carrying rolling papers and selling loose cigarettes. In many of the stores, Mr. Gray and the Director of the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) Nicholas Majett also encountered language barriers. Then too, the City Paper’s Alan Suderman picked up on the Mayor’s disregard of language access laws:
It did not seem like many of the foreign-born clerks would be able to read the letters without some assistance, as they often appeared to have no idea what the mayor was saying. Majett said it’s a common ploy for immigrant clerks to claim poor English skills whenever dealing with the DCRA. “We always get that,” he said. And Gray said they were still getting the message. “They don’t speak English well, but they understand this is an enforcement visit,” he said.
Following the Suderman piece, the DC-based organization Many Languages, One Voice revisited the stores to get reactions from the owners, most of whom were Korean and spoke little English. MLOV also responded to the most recent incident in Petworth in a video made by English language learner youth in their student organizing program, S.M.A.R.T. (Student Multiethnic Action Research Team):
Lidya Abune, a former S.M.A.R.T. member was surprised by the Mayor’s actions, saying:
“The fact that he’s making fun of him, I don’t expect that from the Mayor. I really respect Vincent Gray, but this is really immature. And definitely in DC, we have the Language Access Act and we have to respect it. DC is very diverse. We have a large immigrant community and you will be respected if you respect someone’s language, culture…it’s really critical. It is someone’s identity…You have to show respect for the people that you’re serving.”
Laws are on the books for a reason. As progressive as the DC Language Access Act is, it is born partly out of the violence and bloodshed of the 1991 Mount Pleasant riots. Incited when police openly shot and killed a handcuffed Latino man, the riots catalyzed big changes in the way government worked with non-English speakers, and immigrants more generally:
Ultimately, government and community leaders realized that language barriers, discrimination, and unequal access to services in the Latino community had created the conditions . . . → Read More: Mayor Gray Must Understand, Our Language is Our Right
By John Tuzcu, on July 24th, 2013 
Family and Friends of Incarcerated People (FFOIP) is an organization that was formed in prison by fathers trying to maintain strong bonds with their children while locked behind bars. Today, FFOIP continues it’s work on the outside. Their primary mission is to foster community support that effectively meets the needs of today’s at-risk children and families of those incarcerated. It operates solely to promote charity, literacy, public safety, and to prevent inter-generational incarceration.
On the weekend of June 21-23, FFOIP took 25 young people from the Washington DC metropolitan area to the Wayside Center for Popular Education in rural Faber, VA. They brought youth from the city to a rural environment to quiet their minds and free them from daily obligations. The weekend consisted of a number of activities including a know-your-rights training, organizing skills and a leadership circle. The kids also had a chance to hike through the woods, swim in the lake and roast s’mores at night by the campfire.
FFOIP strongly believes that it takes a village to raise a child. This retreat is one example of FFOIP’s commitment to empowering young people in their communities. Please support FFOIP: www.gofundme.com/ffoip
By Grassroots DC, on July 23rd, 2013 
The previous post, entitled “A Lesson in Systematic Racism: Stand Your Ground, the NRA, and the American Legislative Council (ALEC),” examined the connection between the untimely death of Trayvon Martin and the powerful lobbying groups that made laws like “Stand Your Ground” possible. This post expands on the previous one by highlighting ALEC’s connection to school closures and the privatization of education.
Arlington, VA – On Thursday, July 18, 2013, a coalition of faith, labor, education and anti-gun violence groups staged a rally at the newly relocated headquarters of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC gained notoriety last year after the revelation that it was instrumental in writing the “Stand Your Ground” law used in Florida and other discriminatory legislation. In light of the recent not-guilty verdict for George Zimmerman, the protesters demanded the repeal of Stand Your Ground (aka “kill at will”) in Florida, aiming to change the system that killed Trayvon Martin.
In addition to seeking justice for Trayvon, speakers at the event drew attention to the corporate influence ALEC has on government. By bringing together business leaders and state lawmakers to write laws before they are even passed, ALEC ensures the advancement of a corporate agenda at the state level. This affects everything from worker’s rights to safety net programs. Speakers at the event talked about how ALEC’s laws perpetuate school closures, low wage jobs, and gun violence.
Josh Horwitz, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence:
Josh Horwitz
“With the George Zimmerman trial we saw that now what was once murder is no more. Saving human life is not valued. That’s not Virginia values, that’s not American values, and that’s not legal values. Instead of sitting upstairs and drinking wine and eating snacks and celebrating their move to Virginia, ALEC and the corporations that support it should humble themselves and work as hard as they can to repeal the stand your ground laws before one more kid is killed.”
Brendan Fischer, Center for Media and Democracy (publisher of ALECexposed.org):
Brendan Fischer
“This is much more than ‘Stand your ground.’ It includes efforts to push voter ID to make it harder to vote. Efforts to prohibit cities from banning ammunition or banning dangerous machine guns. They’ve also pushed harsh sentencing laws like ‘three strikes you’re out.” At the same time that they were pushing private prisons, which, as more people were flowing into prison, the profits were increasing for private prison industries like Correction Corporation of America, which just happen to be ALEC members. Not surprisingly, these bills do have a disproportionate impact on people of color. And you are probably not surprised to know that many of the people who are in these ALEC meetings deciding to adopt these bills and spread them around the country, are White.”
Sabrina Stevens, American Federation of Teachers (AFT):
Sabrina Stevens
“When we look at organizations like ALEC, especially what they have done to our entire society, that comes into classrooms every day. So, whether it’s children who are tired because they are struggling to find a place to live with their parents who don’t get paid enough, whether it’s people who because of the three strikes laws and other that they’ve helped to pass that make it easier to incarcerate people than to let them vote. All of those things show up in our classrooms. And then, they exploit that perception of failure to create even more excuses to profitize and privatize schools. Those schools in turn don’t hold teachers or the companies accountable for actually tracking students, keeping track of where they are. They do make a lot of profit. And we end up with undereducated children who are fed right into the school to prison pipeline. We have to say no. We have to stand up to this.”
ALECexposed.org lists detailed information about how ALEC has led the fight to de-fund public schools and privatize education:
“Through ALEC, corporations, ideologues, and their politician allies voted to spend public tax dollars to subsidize private K-12 education and attack professional teachers and teachers’ unions by…promoting voucher programs…segregating students with disabilities…setting up low-income students for failure in college…[and] undermining teacher’s unions.”
We’ve seen this at the local level here in DC through past and current public school closures. At the national level, school closures are happening across the country in major cities like Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York. It’s clear there is . . . → Read More: A Lesson in Systemic Racism, Part II: ALEC, School Closures, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline
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