By Liane Scott, on October 19th, 2011 Grace Ebiasah is an organizer for Different Avenues, a DC nonprofit working to change, improve, and protect the health, rights, and safety of women and girls in the region. She spent an afternoon at the Boys and Girls Club of Washington, Number 14 on Benning Road in Northeast. While there, Grace took the opportunity to survey some of the program participants about the budget cuts to social services that the city and federal government have been making in response to the down economy. One of the questions explored was why the government continues to cut programs such as for mentoring and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) that would help young people while continuing to increase funding for policing and youth rehabilitation. Results of that portion of her survey are in the following video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn4uaoX05w4
In the video, one of the participants asks, “Why is the government putting more money into locking up youth? How does that help our economy?” I asked Different Avenues director Kelli Dorsey if indeed locking up youth helps or hurts our economy. Her response was that it depends where you fall in the economy. Progressive organizers like Dorsey claim that the commonly-held belief that imprisonment will fix problems brought on by a lack of positive opportunities in low-income communities of color encourages government to put more money into policing those communities than it does in providing for their needs. Companies like Victoria’s Secret, which uses cheap prison labor to produce their products in California, or Bob Barker Company, Inc., America’s leading detention supplier, make plenty of money via the prison industrial complex. Youth and others who are locked up in prison do not profit from these relationships.
While Different Avenues works to change a system that would use youth in communities of color as a potential source of profit rather than as citizens worthy of support, they are also aware that young people need direction to help them keep from getting caught up in the prison-industrial complex. To that end, Different Avenues organizer Jasmine Archer has created a guide for youth who are stopped by the police. HEY GRRL! What Time Is It? Time To Know Your Rights!!! is geared toward youth but is useful for anybody who gets stopped by the police. Different Avenues is currently looking for funding to publish and distribute this guidebook. In the meantime, feel free to download and distribute it at will.
By Liane Scott, on October 8th, 2011 
DCPS student Quintess Bond has produced a digital story that anyone who has a child in school should see. I’ve posted it here along with her introduction below. Enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gMUou3dZK4
“I am a senior at School Without Walls Senior High in Washington, DC. S.W.W. happens to be recognized as the top public school in the area with a 100% graduation rate, 100% 4-year college acceptance rate, and 100% reading and math proficiency rate amongst it 500+ students. It is among three public high schools in the DC area that has won the National Blue Ribbon title, and is acknowledged as one of the top schools in the Nation.
With that being said, my story tells the experience as I arrive to this school. As I explained, my experience was not always the best because of the pressure I felt from my mom to be perfect, academically. This story is not to bash my mom for being a so-called ‘tiger mom,’ but to show the vital role my mom plays in my success. My parents, from the beginning, set a strong foundation for me in education and have high expectations for my brother and me; I am blessed to have parents that care.
Personally, I see parents’ lack of concern for their children’s education a problem. School Without Walls has strong parental involvement compared to that of other schools in the District. Academically, those schools with higher parental involvement tend to do better. So this is for parents who just don’t understand how much their concern can change their child’s life.”
By Binnie Katti, on September 12th, 2011 
(Cross-posted from Naji Mujahid of the DC Radio Co-op and Peoples’ MEDIA Center)
SUMMARY: Produced on 11-8-2007 and narrated by Naji Mujahid of the DC Radio Co-op/Peoples’ MEDIA Center, this work is a documentary about the plight of Troy Anthony Davis who has been on Death Row in Georgia since 1991. He has maintained his innocence throughout this time. He was convicted by the State with no material evidence and solely on the testimony of nine key witnesses. Since the recantation of seven witnesses, however, his case has garnered worldwide support and calls for a new trial.
Undated photo of Troy Anthony Davis, on death row in Georgia for more than 19 years.
CREDITS: DC Radio Co-op/Peoples’ MEDIA Center, Voices With Vision, Pacifica Radio, Naji Mujahid, Ryme Khatkouda, Thomas Ruffin, Martina Correia, Brian Stevenson, Diane Rust-Tierney, Shujaa Graham, Virginia Davis, Kirsten Bridgeford, and Marcus Garvin.
Special thanks to Free Speech Radio News, WPFW-Pacifica, Monica Lopez, Nathan Moore, and Kalonji Changa.
Music by: Beanie Sigel, Cee-Lo Green, Luci Murphy, Pam Parker
By Binnie Katti, on September 8th, 2011 
(Cross-posted from Linda Leaks in Taking Action, Empower DC Newsletter Summer 2011)
THE DEAL, agreed to by the United States Congress, (House of Representatives and Senate), and the President of the United States, Barack Obama, is officially named The Budget Control Act of 2011, signed into law on August 2, 2011; THE DEAL prevents the federal government from defaulting on its debt/bills/credit. THE DEAL permits the debt ceiling (borrowing authority) to be raised by a $2.2 trillion increase which equals a total debt limit of $14.3 trillion; THE DEAL requires spending cuts to be made in two stages: First set of cuts to occur immediately and the Second set of cuts by December, 2011; THE DEAL requires the Appropriations Committee to immediately begin making $917 billion in spending cuts to the discretionary budget; THE DEAL calls for spending cuts to the federal discretionary budget up to $2.4 trillion over the next 10 years; THE DEAL calls for immediate spending cuts of $25 billion to the fiscal year 2012 which begins October 1, 2011, and $47 billion in fiscal year 2013 which begins October 1, 2012 and escalating increases thereafter; THE DEAL requires the establishment of a 12-member bipartisan committee with the responsibility of coming up with a list (recommendations) of an additional $1.5 trillion in spending cuts from the federal budget by November 23, 2011, including entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; The Committee is called the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, nicknamed the Super Committee; THE DEAL does not represent a balanced approach to long-term deficit reduction – THE DEAL takes revenue increases and Bush- era tax breaks for the wealthy off the table, and doesn’t even consider closing corporation tax loopholes or ending or even “drawing down” troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.; THE DEAL makes harmful spending cuts to affordable housing, among other safety net programs, including project-based section 8, housing vouchers, and public housing. These deep spending cuts will most likely increase homelessness for the most vulnerable people regardless of age, family composition or physical conditions; Details of the spending bills for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (facing a $5 billion cut) and other agencies, will most likely be released in September, when Congress returns from recess. TAKE ACTION: Fight for Housing
Call your Congress member at 202-224-3121: (also have your relatives and friends call ); Tell your Congressional Representative:
To take a fair approach to the budget crisis and don’t just cut spending but also, increase revenues by closing tax loopholes and require wealthy Americans and corporations to pay their share; End the wars that the United States is involved in – Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, others; Join with other tenants, both locally and nationally, and FIGHT FOR YOUR HOUSING; Debt Crisis: Terms of Empowerment Appropriation Committee: A Congressional Committee. Among other responsibilities, approves federal funds to be disbursed through a variety of government organizations, agencies and departments, such as Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Bills: A statement of money owed for goods or services; A proposed law presented to a legislature, but not yet enacted or passed and made law. Debt Ceiling: The maximum borrowing power of a governmental entity; Debt: A liability or obligation to pay; Default: failure to meet financial obligations; Discretionary Budget is the federal government spending that is negotiated between the President and Congress each year. It includes everything that is not in the mandatory budget, which are programs required by law to provide certain benefits, such as Social Security and Medicare.
By Liane Scott, on August 29th, 2011 
Vigil For Transgender Victims of Police Shooting August 26, 2011. Image provided by Washington Blade.
Violence against gays, lesbians, and especially transgender women has been a problem in the District–and the nation–for as long as I can remember. The development of a Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit within the DC Police Department is meant to address the problem, but has it done any good? Last week, WPFW’s Latino Media Collective (Wednesdays from 7:00pm-8:00pm WPFW 89.3 FM) posed the following questions on their weekly program:
What has been going on recently in DC? Based upon the Metropolitan Police Department’s statistics, anti-trans bias crimes make up about 14% of all hate crimes each year. People who identified as transgender or people of color were 2 times more likely to experience hate violence involving assault or discrimination as non-transgender white individuals. This data also shows that being both transgender and a person of color increases the risk of violence and of murder. Is there a pattern in neighborhoods where these crimes are occurring the most?
The audio interview the Latino Media Collective conducted of DC Trans Coalition member Sadie Vashti suggests that the DC Police Department does not treat violence against transgender individuals as seriously as it does others. Listen to the audio interview of Sadie Vashti which aired on WPFW’s Latino Media Collective, Wednesday August 24, 2011.
Last week’s shooting of two transgender women by an off-duty DC police officer tells us that the police are not only less likely to take violent crimes against transgender individuals seriously, they are actually contributing to the problem.
The following is cross-posted from DC Trans Coalition:
Emergency Rally in response to Transphobic Police Violence
From DC Trans Coalition: “Today, we were notified by the Metropolitan Police Department of a shooting involving transgender individuals in the area of First and Pierce Streets NW around 5:30 AM this morning. We are still attempting to gather information, but preliminary accounts indicate two vehicles collided at the site, one driven by an off-duty MPD officer, and the other containing five people, two of whom are trans. The off-duty officer fired his service weapon at the three people in the other car, hitting one victim three times, and one victim one time. Community activists have visited the two trans women in the hospital, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries. We have learned that the shooter and at least one victim may have known each other previously, and had an altercation at a nearby store before the shooting, but we do not yet know the nature of their relationship.
We are gathering at 6PM at the site of the incident to demand accountability and transparency from MPD on the clear trend of transphobic and homophobic actions coming from its officers. This incident is just another in a long line of systemic violence that trans women, and particularly trans women of color, face on a daily basis.Many members of our community have noted that this summer has been particularly violent. MPD reports at least eight violent crimes against trans people this year, but service organizations have collected information about many more. This is also the second violent attack involving an off-duty MPD officer in the past ten months. Tonight we hope to draw attention to the police department’s complicity in the ongoing violence that our communities must confront. Please spread the word and join us at First and Pierce NW. This violence must not go unacknowledged.”
The following is coverage of Friday’s vigil as per the Washington Blade:
About 70 people turned out for a 6:30 p.m. rally at the site of the shooting, which was organized by T.H.E. and DCTC. Among those who spoke at the rally were D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and Groomes, who said she was appearing on behalf of Police Chief Cathy Lanier.
DCTC member Elijah Edelman told the gathering that Friday’s shooting of at least two transgender women by an off-duty police officer was one of many attacks and assaults against trans women that have occurred in the past few months in D.C. “So I think it’s fair to say a lot of us are really pissed off,” he said. “It’s very, very frustrating. We had conversations with Chief Lanier over the past several weeks, over the past several years, and nothing changes – nothing changes,” Edelman said. “So this is a moment in which we can finally say enough – we’re not going to keep doing this.”
Two Latino . . . → Read More: DC Police Violence Against the Transgender Community
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