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Washington, DC—Four peace activists who remained in the Venezuelan embassy for 36 days were released from police custody on Friday afternoon, just over 24 hours after federal agents raided the embassy in Georgetown. They were charged with “interfering with a federal law enforcement agent engaged in a protective function,” a class A misdemeanor. They are staying at a safe house in the District, recovering from their ordeal.

At about 9 am on Wednesday morning, Federal Protection Service officers of the Department of Homeland Security entered the Venezuelan embassy and arrested the four activists who were the last of a group of 30 individuals calling themselves the Embassy Protection Collective. The operation took about two hours as dozens of agents from at least four agencies, some dressed in full tactical gear, went from room to room with battering rams. They cleared each room making sure no one was inside.



With the raid and arrests, the dramatic 36-day stand-off at the embassy was over. However, it begins the the next chapter in an international struggle to keep the democratically elected government of Venezuela from being ousted.

The siege produced dramatic scenes between supporters and opposition that spread across social media. U.S. mainstream media effectively blacked out coverage of this story from its beginning.

Activists had repeatedly stated during the siege they were in the embassy at the invitation and pleasure of the democratically elected government of Venezuela. Any attempt to remove them, they argued, was illegal under the Vienna Convention which the U.S. co-signed with 32 other nations in 1961.

Those arrested were Kevin Zeese and Dr. Margaret Flowers, co-founders of Popular Resistance; Dr. Adrienne Pine, a medical anthropologist and Professor at American University; and David Paul, a member of Code Pink.

“The fact that the State Department has broken into a protected diplomatic mission to arrest peace activists will have repercussions the world over,” said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, an attorney representing the interests of the activists. “This is an extraordinary violation of the Vienna Convention.”

The embassy of Venezuela under siege by “the opposition,” or Juan Guaido supporters near front door./Photo by John Zangas Tuesday Afternoon Drama May Have Sparked Wednesday Morning Raid

On Tuesday, Reverend Jessie Jackson joined a rally in support of the activists from outside the embassy. He participated in a food delivery across opposition lines, in which supporters wrestled with opposition after activists in the embassy dropped a rope from a window to pull up a backpack of food. While supporters grabbed the rope thrown down to them, opposition tried to stop the delivery. Reverend Jackson could be seen in the video carrying food to the embassy.

Ajamu Baraka, former 2016 Green Party candidate for Vice President, intervened as several opposition members placed hands on and tried to wrestle food packages from Reverend Jackson. Baraka and several other supporters pulled opposition away from Jackson as he attempted a humanitarian food delivery, allowing supporters to allow activists above to pull up a backpack of food. The delivery would have extended the ability of the activists to remain in the embassy. DC Metropolitan police stood by watching and there were no arrests, despite clear video evidence that the opposition assaulted supporters.

Activists Already Stood Down a Raid by Federal Agents Monday Night

On Monday night, federal agents massed outside the embassy for a raid, and cut the chains on the doors. Carlos Vecchio, the man the Trump administration would like to install as ambassador of Venezuela, and his staff waited to gain access to the embassy. But attorney Verheyden-Hilliard intervened and warned the officers of the consequences of violating a treaty without having produced an authentic document or having substantive authority. They went inside anyway, but about 20 minutes later, they left without arresting the activists. She had effectively stopped the raid in its tracks.

Embassy Raid Has International Implications

The forced removal of the activists could potentially set in motion a precedent in future disputes between governments. PPAs will not hold as much weight if other government take the lead of the U.S. to allow a takeover an embassy by force. By going against the Vienna Convention, the U.S. has signaled it no longer regards foreign embassies as inviolable territory. This could endanger personnel in embassies of other nations where governments have disputes, according to Kevin Zeese.

An ironic development in the raid and subsequent charge against the activists is that they were not charged with trespassing, although it was the basis for federal agents ordering them to leave and eventually returning to arrest them in the embassy. “They were not charged with trespassing because the US government does not want to explain who is lawfully in charge of these premises,” said Attorney Mara Verheyden Hilliard.

For now, the activists are recovering and resting and preparing for the next phase in the Venezuelan Embassy takeover. They have been issued an 100 foot stay-away order from all Venezuelan missions.

Demonstrations at the Venezuelan embassy are planned in the coming days to pressure on the Trump administration from allowing self-declared Ambassador Carlos Vecchio and his staff from entering the embassy.

The post Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Arrested After Feds Raid Building appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington, DC–Activists opposed to the Trump administration’s plans to overthrow the Venezuelan government returned to the Venezuelan embassy Saturday afternoon to express their support for the group of people known as the Embassy Protection Collective, four of whom were arrested Thursday by U.S. police agents who entered the embassy without the permission of the government of Venezuela.

One day after their release from jail, the four collective members were among the nearly 200 people who rallied and marched to the White House. Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese of activist group Popular Resistance, academic Adrienne Pine and Code Pink member David Paul were released from jail Friday afternoon after appearing in federal court on a misdemeanor charge of interfering with State Department diplomatic protective functions.

Rally and protest at the Venezuelan embassy against U.S. attempts to install an illegitimate ambassador/Photo by Ted Majdosz

A federal judge ordered the activists to keep at least 100 feet away from the Venezuelan embassy and other buildings owned by what the judge referred to as the Trump administration-recognized government of Venezuela. The defendants’ next court date before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia is scheduled for June 12.

On Saturday, the four activists followed the judge’s order not to go within 100 feet of the embassy. Instead, the four joined the march as it made its way toward M Street in the heart of the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington on its way to the White House.

Embassy Protector Kevin Zeese hopes to make U.S. hostility toward Venezuela and Iran an election issue./Photo by Ted Majdosz

After marching for about a mile, Zeese said in a speech on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House that the actions of the Trump administration against the Embassy Protection Collective would not deter future protests against U.S. policy toward Venezuela, Iran and other countries.

The protests are “going to escalate and grow,” Zeese said.

“This is just the beginning of a movement that is going to be growing over the next half-dozen months,” Zeese said. “It’s a major issue in the 2020 elections so that no one running for office can be in support of a U.S. coup in Venezuela. We are going to change the narrative.”

Embassy Protector Dr. Margaret Flowers say she was sustained by supporters outside the embassy/Photo by Ted Majdosz

According to legal experts, the Trump administration violated international law by sending police agents into the building without permission of the government of Venezuela.

Zeese chided the corporate news media for their lack of coverage of the standoff at the Venezuelan embassy.

“In their silence is their complicity. They are showing what side they are on by not covering an historic event. The first time ever that U.S. citizens have gone into a foreign embassy to stop a U.S.coup. Never happened before. But it’s not good enough for CNN or MSNBC to be out there,” he said, citing the virtual news blackout of the standoff.

In the few instances in which the corporate news media covered the event, they neglected to explain that the U.S. government’s raid on the Venezuelan embassy–protected diplomatic territory under the Vienna Convention–represented the first time the United States has violated this particular treaty.

“We denounce these arrests, as the people inside were there with our permission, and we consider it a violation of the Vienna Conventions,” Venezuela Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Ron said Friday in a statement. “We do not authorize any of the coup leaders to enter our embassy in Washington, DC. We call on the U.S. government to respect the Vienna Conventions and sign a Protecting Power Agreement with us that would ensure the integrity of both our Embassy in Washington, DC and the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.”

Outside the Venezuelan embassy Saturday, there were no signs of pro-coup Venezuelans who had spent the past few weeks continuously blowing their sirens and horns, disturbing residents of the Georgetown neighborhood.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration recognized Juan Guaidó as the president of Venezuela after he proclaimed himself leader of the country. Allies of the Trump administration and countries that receive large amounts of U.S. aid quickly followed Trump’s lead.

Protesters act out roles of John Bolton and puppet ambassador Juan Vecchio/Photo by Ted Majdosz

In her address to the crowd, Flowers thanked the people who showed up to demonstrate their opposition to the takeover of the embassy by the Trump administration and its pro-coup allies in Venezuela.

“Your presence here every day literally gave us the strength to continue to be inside of this building. We have so much love and gratitude for every one of you who was outside facing these violent, racist, homophobic pro-coup people,” Flowers said. “We are saddened that we were unable to hold the embassy until a peaceful path was achieved. But we’re glad that we held it off for 37 days.”

The post Activists to ‘Escalate’ Opposition to Trump’s Pro-War Policies Toward Venezuela, Iran appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Update:

Building plans including foundations for three “stacks” are permitted for the Rockwool plant. Two foundations are intended for 210-feet tall smokestacks, and the third is for a 115-feet tall, 4-foot diameter “chimney,” according to Michael Zarin, Vice President of Group Communications at Rockwool, in an email to DC Media Group. When the mineral wool is cut during the manufacturing process, the chimney will vent “a small amount of particulate matter” after exhaust passes through a “de-dust” filter, Zarin says. He also says that the chimney is part of the original plans.

On August 1, 2017, the Ranson City Council passed an ordinance approved by the Building Commission which amended the building code regarding height limits. The regular height limit is 90 feet for all structures, but the regulation does not apply to certain structures such as water tanks and chimney flues. In the amended ordinance, the City Council added “stacks” to this list of exceptions.

Rockwool does not have plans for a second insulation production line, Zarin says, nor is it currently planning to manufacture acoustic ceiling tiles under the brand name Rockfon, even though the air permit from the West Virginia Department of Environment allows for the ceiling tiles.

_______

Above-ground construction of the Rockwool manufacturing facility in Ranson, W.Va., is moving forward. Concrete walls have become plainly visible at the site of the insulation manufacturing plant in recent days, and permitting shows that the company is making substantial progress toward its goal of erecting the factory amid significant local protest against it.

Concrete walls and a crane are visible on the Rockwool construction site. In the foreground is the area where the Mountaineer Gas pipeline is buried.

On May 5, the City of Ranson issued a permit allowing Rockwool to build steel and concrete structures on the foundations for the furnace, the “cold end” building and a materials storage building. The “hot end” of the factory consists of the furnace where rock and slag are melted, the spinning chamber, oven and cooling zone, while the large, 130,500 sq. ft. “cold end” building is where slicing, dicing and packaging of the mineral wool insulation takes place.

Ranson has also issued permits for construction of underground utilities–including HVAC, electric, and plumbing–for the cold end building and the furnace.

The large “cold end” building is highlighted. The furnace is on the lefthand side of the diagram.

Surprisingly, building plans showing foundations for a third smokestack have been permitted. Rockwool’s intention to erect two 21-story smokestacks has been one of the most highly contentious aspects of the factory. They will be highly visible in the valley and spoil the viewshed of the Appalachian Trail and many other tourist attractions. The possibility of a third smokestack has never been mentioned.

One explanation for the construction of a foundation for a third smokestack–and the lack of a public announcement about it from Rockwool–may be because it is preparation for expansion.  Susan April, a resident of Myersville, Md. who has been researching the inner workings of the Rockwool factories, speculates that a second mineral wool production line will be added in the future.

The Rockwool factory, sited across from North Jefferson Elementary School. The three circles indicate the locations of the three smokestack foundations.

The stack is consistent with dual production lines with the Byhalia plant and other, newer Rockwool plants abroad, she says.

“A second mineral wool line would require installing a second Aquila furnace and a second gutter zone parallel to the present one,” she told DC Media Group in an email. “Both could use the single larger flue-gas cooling tower stack that sits separately in the diagram [pictured above].” April stresses that she is not an architect or a civil engineer.

The possibility of a third smokestack has not been confirmed by Rockwool.

A view of construction from the air on May 11/Photo by Brent Walls, Upper Potomac Riverkeeper

 

The post Ranson Gives Rockwool Go-Ahead for Vertical Construction appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington, DC–The opposition cheered as federal agents Monday night cut the chains on the front doors of the Venezuelan Embassy and prepared to raid the diplomatic mission. As they entered the dark building with flashlights to arrest activists for refusing to leave, it was unclear what would happen next. Such a raid would mark an unprecedented breach of the U.S. obligation involving the Vienna Convention of diplomatic relations and the inviolability of the Embassy. It would put the U.S. on an uncharted course of turning back international norms regarding diplomatic missions.



But the unthinkable happened. At about 2 hours into the raid federal agents were forced to stand down from the operation, although it appeared all but certain to activists that they would be arrested and charged with trespassing into an Embassy. Several journalists voluntarily left the Embassy Monday in anticipation of being arrested during an expected raid.

But Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, an attorney representing the activists interests at the Embassy, challenged the federal agents to explain what authority they had to enter the Embassy or to produce a warrant showing just cause to enter the building and arrest those inside. They had none.

Even the order agents had posted on the Embassy and later read over a loudspeaker, had no signature, no official stamp identifying the authority of the order, and no letterhead of authenticity. It was simply a laminated one-page statement Agents put up which could have been written by anyone. It looked official but it was not.

As Verheyden-Hilliard challenged the agents, they were forced to contend with the one legal choice they had left: request the activists leave of their own free will. The activists refused to leave.

Mara Verheyden-Heller, an attorney representing the activists, peaks to police at Venezuelan Embassy. Photo: John Zangas

Outside opposition grew impatient as Carlos Vecchio and his staff, dressed in immaculate dark suits, stood waiting to take control of the Embassy. Agents were forced to leave the Embassy without arresting anyone or ending the standoff. Opposition repeatedly chanted “Fuera!” (Get out) but the night would pass with the activists still inside.

The four remaining activists Adrienne Pine, an anthropologist, Margaret Flowers, a pediatrician, Kevin Zeese, co-founder of Popular Resistance, and another activist. They released a joint recorded message in essence asserting their right as lawfully invited guests of the elected Bolivarian Government of Venezuela and stated any attempt to remove them would be a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The activists seemed to realize that with food almost gone and electricity and water now turned off since Thursday, another violation of the Vienna Convention, they had less wiggle room to remain inside. But with their numbers now diminished to four, their rations would go further. It would also be less complicated for federal agents to physically enter the Embassy to arrest and remove them.

Four activists of the Embassy Protection Collective remain inside the Venezuelan Embassy.

In a carefully worded letter to the State Department, the activists offered several conditions for voluntarily leaving the Embassy. It was as much a message of Peace as much as one based on diplomacy. They set forth the following conditions for their voluntary departure:

“This is the 34th day of our living in the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC. We are prepared to stay another 34 days, or however long is needed to resolve the embassy dispute in a peaceful way consistent with international law.

“This memo is being sent to the US and Venezuela as well as members of our Collective and allies. We are encouraging people to publish this memo as a transparent process is needed to prevent the US from making a unilateral decision that could impact the security of embassies around the world and lead to military conflict.

“There are two ways to resolve the issues around the Venezuelan embassy in DC, which we will explain.

“Before doing so, we reiterate that our collective is one of independent people and organizations not affiliated with any government. While we are all US citizens, we are not agents of the United States. While we are here with permission of the Venezuelan government, we are not their agents or representatives.

“We are here in the embassy lawfully. We are breaking no laws. We did not unlawfully enter and we are not trespassing.

“1. Exiting with a Protecting Power Agreement
The exit from the embassy that best resolves issues to the benefit of the United States and Venezuela is a mutual Protecting Power Agreement. The United States wants a Protecting Power for its embassy in Caracas. Venezuela wants a Protecting Power for its embassy in DC. Such agreements are not uncommon when diplomatic relations are severed.

“A Protecting Power Agreement would avoid a military conflict that could lead to war. A war in Venezuela would be catastrophic for Venezuela, the United States, and for the region. It would lead to lives lost and mass migration from the chaos and conflict of war. It would cost the United States trillions of dollars and become a quagmire involving allied countries around the world.

“We are serving as interim protectors in the hope that the two nations can negotiate this resolution. If this occurs we will take the banners off the building, pack our materials, and leave voluntarily. The electricity could be turned on and we will drive out.

“We suggest a video walk-through with embassy officials to show that the Embassy Protection Collective did not damage the building. The only damage to the building has been inflicted by coup supporters in the course of their unprosecuted break-ins.

“2. The United States violates the Vienna Convention, makes an illegal eviction and unlawful arrests
This approach will violate international law and is fraught with risks. The United States would have to cut the chains in the front door put up by embassy staff and violate the embassy. We have put up barriers there and at other entrances to protect us from constant break-ins and threats from the trespassers whom the police are permitting outside the embassy. The police’s failure to protect the embassy and the US citizens inside has forced us to take these actions.

“The Embassy Protectors will not barricade ourselves, or hide in the embassy in the event of an unlawful entry by police. We will gather together and peacefully assert our rights to remain in the building and uphold international law.

“Any order to vacate based on a request by coup conspirators that lack governing authority will not be a lawful order. The coup has failed multiple times in Venezuela. The elected government is recognized by the Venezuelan courts under Venezuelan law and by the United Nations under international law. An order by the US-appointed coup plotters would not be legal.

“Such an entry would put embassies around the world and in the United States at risk. We are concerned about US embassies and personnel around the world if the Vienna Convention is violated at this embassy. It would set a dangerous precedent that would likely be used against US embassies.

“If an illegal eviction and unlawful arrests are made, we will hold all decision-makers in the chain of command and all officers who enforce unlawful orders accountable.

“We have taken care of this embassy and request a video tour of the building before any arrests.
We hope a wise and calm solution to this issue can be achieved so escalation of this conflict can avoided.

“There is no need for the United States and Venezuela to be enemies. Resolving this embassy dispute diplomatically should lead to negotiations over other issues between the nations.

“The Embassy Protection Collective”

The post Activists Set Conditions for Voluntarily Leaving Venezuelan Embassy appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington, DC–On Monday night Secret Service, DC Police, and State Department agents attempted a coordinated raid on the Embassy of Venezuela to arrest activists that have been inside for a month. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, an attorney representing the activists’ interests at the Embassy, intervened on their behalf as federal agents entered the building. She notified them that they had no legal authority to enter the Embassy when they did not present a signed warrant authorizing them to arrest the activists.

Beginning about 7pm, Metropolitan Police several times read an order to the activists over a loudspeaker outside the Embassy that the U.S. Government had recognized Juan Guaidó as the President of Venezuela and Carlos Vecchio as the Venezuelan Ambassador to the United States, and they were no longer welcome in the Embassy. Agents then ordered them to cease trespassing on Embassy grounds and that failure to immediately leave would result in their arrest. The activists did not appear at windows or acknowledge the order.



The activists, who call themselves the Embassy Protection Collective, are there at the invitation of the Venezuelan government. On Saturday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro tweeted his support for them. U.S.-supported coup attempts led by Juan Guaido have failed, but the U.S. government persists in recognizing Guaido as the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela and expelled Venezuelan diplomats. The U.N. recognizes the Maduro government. Maduro won reelection in May 2018 with 68% of the vote.

The activists held up signs last night reading: “Criminals break in. We have the keys.”

Secret Service Agents cut chains on the doors which had been placed there by diplomats before they left the country on April 24, then entered the Embassy with flashlights. They asked the activists to voluntarily leave, but they declined unless certain conditions were met under international law.

It turned out the order posted and read by police was produced on nondescript paper purporting to be by the order of Juan Vecchio and not authenticated with either a signature or stamp by any federal agency or authority, nor any stamp of the Venezuelan government. The agents left the Embassy after some consultation with Verheyden-Hilliard and did not arrest any of the activists remaining inside.

Earlier in the day, however, in anticipation of the coming raid, The Grayzone Project reporter Anya Parammpil and Mintpress News journalist Alex Rubinstein voluntarily left the Embassy. This left only four activists inside the Embassy. Others had left on Sunday or before.

The four members of the Embassy Protection Collective still remaining inside the embassy

Police also forced the opposition to remove all signs, tents and equipment from outside the Embassy and move back to the opposite side of the street. They put up barricades and closed sidewalks around the embassy.

After agents exited the Embassy, they put zip ties around the front door handles and placed a barricade on the front porch. The remaining activists appeared at the windows as supporters cheered: “No Coup!” while the opposition gathered below railed against them, shouting: “Fuera!, Fuera!” (get out) from across the street.

Officers labelled only as “Federal Agents” enter the embassy with attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard/Photo by John Zangas

The opposition has barricaded and besieged the activists for the past two weeks, not allowing any food or supplies to be delivered to the activists. Opposition grew enraged when they realized federal agents and other authorities outside the Embassy were not going to arrest or remove the activists.

Carlos Vecchio, the Venezuelan that the U.S. has installed as “ambassador” at the Organization for American States, had shown up at the Embassy with his staff for a short period in anticipation of being allowed to enter the building but was forced to leave without doing so. It was the second time he had been rebuffed in efforts to enter the Embassy as a result of activists refusing to leave.

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, the activists’ attorney, tells reporters that federal agents could not produce an arrest warrant./Photo by John Zangas

Three black sedans with tinted glass and federal license plates remained parked in front of the Embassy, while nearly 100 police from various agencies remained in the street and around the Embassy, sealing it off from public access.

It appeared agents we’re still planning to arrest the activists but could not carry out enforcement without a warrant. It was not clear if a warrant could be produced or what jurisdiction would have authority to issue a warrant. According to Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, it would be in violation of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations for any agency or police force to either enter or remove any of the activists without permission of the elected Government of Venezuela. She stated that regardless of whether representatives the U.S. government had chosen to recognize alternative representatives as the government of Venezuela, they could not enter under the Vienna Convention, a treaty of which the U.S. was a signer in 1961.

We will update this story later on Tuesday as it further develops.

The post Attorney Stops Federal Raid Attempt on Venezuelan Embassy appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

Washington, DC–Power was cut to the Embassy of Venezuela on Wednesday night after a day of skirmishes between supporters of the activists inside and opposition blockading the building. The conflicts were sparked as activist supporters tried to deliver food to Embassy protectors inside. Supporters were confronted by opposition during each attempt they made to circumvent the blockade.

The skirmishes resulted in minor injuries for at least four activists outside the embassy. While inside, Embassy protectors have to deal with no means to cook food, communicate over WiFi or refrigerate what perishable food they have remaining. They remained sealed off from the opposition who have been trying to gain access since the Venezuela coup attempt 9 days ago.

Over two dozen Secret Service agents assigned to guard the Georgetown red-brick building watched as food deliveries were attempted but stepped in only after conflicts erupted. They arrested three activist supporters but no pro-Juan Guaidó coup supporters for their part in the confrontations.

Skirmishes erupt outside the Embassy of Venezuela as tensions spike. Authorities cut power to force Embassy Protectors to leave.

Jerry Condon, 72, President of Veterans For Peace, was thrown to the ground and his face was bloodied as he attempted to carry food past the pro-coup supporters’ blockade. Five Secret Service agents jumped on him and arrested him. He carried only a cucumber.

Jason Charter, another activist who attempted a food delivery earlier in the day, was choked and knocked to the ground, He suffered minor injuries as a crowd of opposition surrounded and flung him away from a rope he was trying to use to lift food to an window in the embassy. He was treated for injuries at a nearby hospital and released later in the evening.

A third skirmish at the front of the embassy broke out as a group of activists attempted food deliveries. Secret Service arrested Ursala Rozum, a member of CodePink, after she reacted to a person in the blockade who had already assaulted her. She was released later in the evening.

Authorities surround utility workers who appear to be cutting utility services to the Embassy of Venezuela Wednesday night. Activists say this is illegal under provisions of Article 22 of the Vienna Convention. Photo: Alex Rubinstein/Mintpress News

Embassy diplomats invited the activists to the Embassy of Venezuela as guests and later asked them to stand in for them after they were forced to leave the country on April 24. Activists named themselves the Venezuelan Embassy Protectors Collective and maintained an indefinite presence, holding nightly speaking events and lectures about the history of Venezuela and the role its vast mineral and petroleum reserves played in deteriorating relations with the U.S.

The embassy siege began 6 days later on April 30, the same day the self-appointed leader of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó attempted to overthrow democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas. As the coup attempt unfolded in Caracas. about 200 Juan Guaidó supporters attempted to take over the Venezuelan Embassy in Georgetown, triggering the present siege.

Maduro agreed to and won a special election in 2018 which was demanded by Juan Guaidó. Nicolás Maduro defeated Guaidó with a 68 percent vote majority. The Juan Guaidó coup attempt failed the next day after a majority of the Venezuelan military refused to back Guaidó.

The power cut to the Venezuelan Embassy creates difficult living conditions for activists inside, but they remained committed to staying in the embassy no matter what is thrown at them. They released a statement by video on twitter although the room from which they spoke was nearly pitch black.

“The authorities just illegally turned off our electricity. We expected this and prepared for it, and we’re not leaving,” said Kevin Zeese, one of the activists inside the embassy. Zeese compared the living conditions and treatment of the activists in the embassy by U.S. authorities to the effect sanctions are having on the Venezuelan people.

“It’s ironic that the U.S. government attacked Venezuela’s electric grid and now they’re attacking the Embassy of Venezuela’s electricity,” said Zeese. “They attacked Venezuela with sanctions that made food difficult to get. They’ve used sanctions to prevent us from getting food.” He ended by joining the other activists by singing, “We’re not leaving.”

As night fell, utility workers surrounded by police could be seen at the front of the Embassy of Venezuela descending into manholes. It was feared they would soon turn off water service to the embassy as well.

The post U.S. Government Cuts Power to Venezuelan Embassy appeared first on DCMediaGroup.

“We are only as strong as a city as the ward that struggles the most. You cannot represent the District of Columbia as a whole and not reflect that in your words, actions and budget decisions.” 

These were Mayor Muriel Bowser’s words during her State of the District address. The chart below, researched and constructed by the Fair Budget Coalition, may help you determine if her words align with her proposals.

The post Does the Mayor’s Budget Put People First? appeared first on Grassroots DC.

Each year, black consumers circulate $850 billion through the economy; 90% of those dollars are channeled to non-black owners.  Many Black-owned businesses are opened out of necessity for the community. The economic state of any community is partially related to the amount of money spent within it.  

Unfortunately, money is not put back into the black community as black-owned businesses are not supported.  This stigma derives from the thought that Black-owned merchandise is not as valuable or as high quality as products provided by big companies.  Instead of supporting multimillion dollar corporations that do not care about those who support it financially like Gucci, H&M, etc, we should discover businesses that support people of color.

To that end, Grassroots DC is hosting a Health and Beauty Expo at the Black Worker’s Center this Sunday, April 14 at 2500 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE, from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm.

It’s particularly important that we support black-owned businesses that provide health and beauty products because Black people spend a disproportionate amount of their income on those products. Despite this, the beauty industry overlooks many people with rich skin tones and thick hair textures and does not provide a variety of diverse products aimed at people of color.  This shouldn’t be unexpected.

Thanks in large part to the media, it is unacceptable to wear many natural hairstyles to school or work.  In fact, the United States has a long history of banning Afrocentric hairstyles.  The history of the tignon (a hairdresser to conceal hair) was worn by free slave creole women, the law enacted by Governor Esteban Rodriguez Miro. This law was created so men can pursue affairs with Creole women.  Even today, many brands promote white standards and perpetuate racist stereotypes that black hairstyles are unprofessional.  People of color continue to be humiliated, shamed, and banned for their hair styles even when they are trending

The booming market of $2.56 billion dollars that people of color spend on products has caused many companies to began to cater to them. You also must be aware that brands do use dark skin women as props to show they are inclusive.  An example of advertising “light is bright” notion is the 2017 Dove commercial ad. The implication of a Black woman changing into a white woman represents “clean” shows that many big companies have hidden racism.

Even when a company like MAC Cosmetics offers a wide range of products, they’re not really designed with all of the issues brought about by darker complexions.  In order to create a custom foundation many people of color mix two colors for the perfect blend. Hormones, stress levels, climate, diet and lack of sleep all affect how your foundation no longer blends with your skin.  To address this, many brands that market to women of color create dark shades in order to attract customers.

Brands such as Fenty, Bobbi Brown, Smashbox, appear to be challenging stereotypical and regressive notions of beauty by creating color swatches they claim will create.  But hexadecimal color codes show how many of these companies shades that are for dark skin people are not.

In the commercial world, brands like Fenty have Photoshopped swatches in order to create the illusion of diversity.

All this “inclusive” marketing by major corporations leaves small, black-owned companies in peril. Major corporations with unlimited resources successfully tap into the buying power of people of color without ensuring their needs.  Beauty brands are becoming inclusive because it is now mainstream, but is this a good thing?

Many products that have been advertised to African Americans actually contain hazardous chemicals that can lead to cancer. The Environmental Working Group analyzed 1,177 beauty, personality, and hair care products that are marketed towards people of color. Out of those products only, 25% were considered low hazard compared to the 40% marketed to the general public.  Hair products that are used to straighten hair actually promote hair thinning and loss. Toxic ingredients such as lye have been found in hair relaxers while formaldehyde has been found in straightening treatments.  But even products that contain no lye can cause chemical burns. Other health issues associated with beauty products include hormone disruption, allergies, reproduction damage, and even cancer.

The federal food, drug and cosmetic act of 1938 and the fair packaging and labeling act of 1967 is a government safeguard that is supposed to protect people from misbranding. Neither of these acts requires cosmetics to be approved by the FDA before hitting the market.  The gap between Black and whites health outcomes reflects a disparity of Black doctors.  By including more Black people into these professions, industries, and research, Black needs are more likely to be met.

The Health and Beauty Expo will be covering and talking about these discrepancies and products that are aimed for black women but do not hit the mark.  The goal of the Expo is to educate and uplift the community by highlighting local black owned businesses that specialize in our health and beauty needs.  The “Sip and Shop” will feature a variety of black-owned businesses that sell everything from Beauty, Hair, and Make-up services to vitamins, holistic healing, and plants, & more. Please come prepared to shop as vendors will be offering deals and you don’t want to miss! We will be discussing the “Pros and Cons of the Beauty Industry: How it Affects our Community and How can we Build.” The panel will include 5 specialists from cosmetologist to doctors that are licensed and certified. The Panel will also include you, you read it right “you”. Everyone is encouraged to join in the conversation. Topics will include colorism, common health issues in the black community, generational wealth and entrepreneurialism. The closing of the event will feature a stress-free hour to mix and mingle with other attendees and see some work showcased by some on the vendors.  This event is free and all ages are welcome.  Everyone in the community is encouraged to come.  We really hope to see you there.

Get Your Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/health-beauty-expo-tickets-58542169204?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

The federal food, drug and cosmetic act of 1938 and the fair packaging and labeling act of 1967 is a government safeguard that is supposed to protect people from misbranding. Neither of these acts requires cosmetics to be approved by the FDA before hitting the market.  The gap between Black and whites health outcomes reflects a disparity of Black doctors.  By including more Black people into these professions, industries, and research, Black needs are more likely to be met.

Health and Beauty Expo will be covering and talking about these discrepancies and products that are aimed for black women but do not hit the mark.  The goal of the Expo is to educate and uplift the community by highlighting local black owned businesses that specialize in our health and beauty needs.  The “Sip and Shop” will feature a variety of black-owned businesses that sell everything from Beauty, Hair, and Make-up services to vitamins, holistic healing, and plants, & more. Please come prepared to shop as vendors will be offering deals and you don’t want to miss! We will be discussing the “Pros and Cons of the Beauty Industry: How it Affects our Community and How can we Build.” The panel will include 5 specialists from cosmetologist to doctors that are licensed and certified. The Panel will also include you, you read it right “you”. Everyone is encouraged to join in the conversation. Topics will include colorism, common health issues in the black community, generational wealth and entrepreneurialism. The closing of the event will feature a stress-free hour to mix and mingle with other attendees and see some work showcased by some on the vendors.  This event is free and all ages are welcome.  Everyone in the community is encouraged to come.  We really hope to see you there.

The post Health and Beauty Expo and Black-Owned Sip and Shop appeared first on Grassroots DC.

A young Barry with Dr. King*

Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, Black people throughout the United States snapped. Witnessing a man nationally considered a symbol of peace and hope brutally murdered became the trigger for what is known as the ‘King assassination riots’. In major cities, from Baltimore and Chicago, to smaller cities like Wilmington, Detroit, Black people across the nation unleashed their pent up rage regarding racism in the United States.

In DC in particular, there was an estimated $25 million in property damages, and innumerable businesses were forced to close. Black residents made up 50% of the city’s population in 1960, that number sky-rocketed to over 70% in 1970, due in part to the flight of white residents following the 1968 rebellions.

With certain sections of DC in a ruin-like state, millions of dollars in property damage, and the resultant injuries and deaths following the rebellions, the city was in desperate need of a strong Black leader.

Enter Marion Barry, a man who would become as beloved as he became notorious, whose vision set in place many of the safety nets low-income residents in DC are able to use to their benefit now.

Once, when speaking with a former colleague about Marion Barry, she decided Google search the phrase ‘DC mayor’. One of the search options in the bars below went on to read ‘DC mayor smokes crack’. Anyone who is remotely aware of the sting operation the FBI orchestrated with Barry’s ex-girlfriend Hazel ‘Rasheeda’ Moore would immediately understand this search option had been referring to Barry.

Before going into Barry’s history, I’d like to write my personal experiences with Barry; I’ve had the opportunity to cross paths Barry twice in my life.

Once, when David Catania set out to enact laws that would potentially have parents arrested for the accumulative tardies and absences of their children from school, I, alongside a cadre of young people in a youth program I had been apart of during my teens, decided to testify against this law before the DC Council.

While in support of the law initially, after hearing the testimony of four young Black men, Barry became vehement in his opposition to Catania’s law, changing his opinion immediately after our testimony.

Then, as an eighteen year-old just stepping into the political sphere, having my voice acknowledged by, both, a politician and an elder was a foundational moment in such a strange, turbulent, and developmental time in my life.

What may have been a year later, I attended a community gathering about the injustices the US government had committed against a group of men known as the Cuban Five.

Held at St. Stephen’s church in Columbia Heights, the drawing point for this gathering was the opportunity to hear legendary activist Angela Davis speak. People of various backgrounds participated in that evening’s event, filling the church and enduring DC’s infamous humidity to get a chance to share

Photo of Barry with wife and child being honored at the gala of the Gertrude Stein Democratic club, a gay political organization*

space with Davis.

After Davis spoke, Barry revealed himself to the crowd; strutting to the podium area in a full suit in spite of the heat. At the sight of Barry, the event’s attendees exploded into hand claps, cheers, and camera flashes. Standing beside Davis, Barry seemed content and majestic.

Of course, me at eighteen had no knowledge of Barry outside of stories I had been told by my mother and other adults. Me at seventeen had no ability to comprehend the significance of the man before me.

Born in Mississippi and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Barry was raised by his mother and step-father alongside nine other children. Demonstrating an aptitude for political organizing and resistance early on, Barry, in his memoir, recalls rallying his fellow Black paper boys to hold their employer accountable to taking them on a trip for meeting a sales quota.

Not only did Barry possess a knack for political action and leadership, Barry also harbored a deep hunger for education. Graduating from LeMoyne-Owen College in 1958, Barry acquired a Master of Science degree from Fisk University and went on to pursue a Ph.D in chemistry from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. A dissertation away from receiving his doctoral degree, Barry, experiencing discrimination as the only Black person in his program and sensing the political urgency of the times,

gave up pursuing his studies to take on more responsibilities with SNCC and other civil rights organizations.

SNCC, also known as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, is regarded as one of the most influential political organizations active during the Civil Rights era. Birthed from student-sit in protest and a meeting organized by activist Ella Baker, SNCC had been involved in nearly every historical political action against injustice in the South during its time.

From 1960 to 1961, Barry operated as chairman of SNCC, in fact, Barry was the organization’s first chairman. Familiar with positions of leadership, Barry had also been appointed the president of his college’s chapter of the NAACP. It is likely that Barry’s tenure as president of the LeMoyne Owen’s chapter of the NAACP allowed him to develop the skills necessary to work as chairman of SNCC.

Following his eventual departure from his Ph.D program, Barry held leaderships positions within numerous organizations in the field of racial justice, his work eventually taking him up North. At the request of Civil RIghts leader James Forman, Barry moved to DC to begin, and manage, the city’s chapter of SNCC.

While often considered Washington, DC’s first Black mayor, Barry doesn’t actually hold that official title. Before Barry’s term as mayor of the District, Walter Washington, holding a law degree from Howard University, became DC’s first Black mayor in 1971.

Before his mayoral campaign in 1978, Barry co-founded an organization known as Pride Inc. Pride Inc. gave jobs to people of all ages work opportunities in the field of public sanitation. Some sources report that Pride Inc. employees were being paid the equivalent of more than $700 per week for their labor. Pride Inc. was, essentially, the prototype for Barry’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), often cited as the first job experience for many DC youth.

Not only did Barry create groundwork for DC youth to acquire opportunities to work during, and before, his tenure as mayor, Barry also enacted legislation that would benefit poor and working-class DC resid

A photo of Barry bearing his autograph*

ents as well. Barry signed into law the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA laws), which, after a change made by the DC Council last year, only gives the tenants of multi-family apartment units the right to purchase a property once the owner decides to sell the unit.

Often overlooked is Barry’s enthusiastic support of the LGBT community during the early years of his political career in Washington. Amidst cultural myths of heterosexual Black men being the ‘most homophobic’ members of our society, I believe it important to place Barry in league with Dr. Huey P. Newton and other heterosexual Black men who have spoken out against homophobia.  

None of this is to say Barry deserves a pass for some of the more disturbing allegations against him, such as stalking and, even, multiple accounts of sexual assault dating back to his time at SNCC.

What I am attempting to do is create space of all of Barry’s personas to be held and considered; Barry the ‘rapist’’, Barry the ‘good samaritan’, Barry the ‘mayor for life’, Barry the ‘civil rights activist’, and Barry the ‘substance abuser’. Before we apply any values judgement upon Barry’s character, may we first ask ‘Who was Marion Barry?’

 

*I am grateful for the Special Collections Office at George Washington University’s Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library for allowing me the opportunity to look through their archive of Marion Barry’s 1978 mayoral campaign

The post Honoring Marion Barry: A Recollection appeared first on Grassroots DC.

February may be the shortest month of the year, but Black History Month really begins on the third Monday of January, which is the day we honor Martin Luther King, Jr.  The federal government encourages citizens to celebrate the day through volunteerism, calling it a “day of national service.”  But many District of Columbia residents understand that we truly honor Martin Luther King, Jr. through political activism and not volunteerism.

Today, every elected official wants to hang their hat on the mantle of Martin Luther King, but many can’t claim that position without some hypocrisy.  In the fall of 2018, an overwhelming majority of District of Columbia council members overturned Initiative 77, a proposal placed on the ballot by District residents that would have gradually raised the minimum wage for tipped minimum workers from $3.89 to $15 per hour in eight years time.  Would Martin Luther King, Jr., have backed Initiative 77?  His support for Memphis sanitation workers, right before his assassination, suggests that he would have.

Most of the citizens who showed up in Anacostia to participate in this year’s Martin Luther King Jr Peace March despite this year’s frigid cold, were to honor King’s activism.  The video below is a testament to the continuing struggle not only for civil rights but also human rights in the District of Columbia.

Props to Di Luong, first-time Grassroots DC videographer, and John Goodine, whose editing skills get better and better every day.

The post Martin Luther King Peace March in 2019 appeared first on Grassroots DC.

With the deconstruction and rebuilding of Barry Farm (most commonly referenced as Barry Farms to residents and longtime D.C citizens) under way, it is important to understand some of the key factors of this process, what led up to it and how it has been affecting the existing community. Here is a somewhat concise timeline of events to provide context and stay updated on the fast-changing neighborhood.

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

Image credits: Joy Sharon Yi

 

HOPE VI:

• The HOPE VI program was created in 1992 by the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development to redevelop public housing across the U.S into mixed-income housing. The goal of HOPE VI was to renovate and revitalize public housing to reduce crime and diversify living conditions. The intention was to create less dense living environments.
• Many residents across the U.S that were affected by the reconstruction found problems with HOPE VI, seeing it as a process of gentrification. According to “The Urban Institute”, less than 12% of existing residents were able to move back into the renovated homes. Because HOPE VI did not require a 1 to 1 replacement for lower income residents, the program did eventually end up weeding out a lot of those residents altogether.
• Through HOPE VI over 96,000 public housing complexes were destroyed and a little more than 107,000 were created; only 56,800 of those being affordable housing.
• Arthur Capper and Carrollsburg Gardens were among the affordable housing in DC (formerly located in Navy Yard) that were lost as a result of HOPE VI.


New Communities Initiative (NCI):  

• NCI was brought forth in 2005 as a response to budget cuts directly impacting D.C.’s public housing complexes and the maintenance of them.
  • Resident pushback was one of the many reasons that this process was delayed until 2014.
• NCI was meant to be a revamped and more effective version of HOPE VI with a promise of 1 for 1 replacement for affordable housing tenants and units; an effort to make sure current residents could stay in their neighborhoods and have priority for the newly developed units.
• Much like HOPE VI, NCI was created to redevelop public housing in D.C., to decrease crime, reduce concentrated poverty and eliminate economic segregation in neighborhoods in an effort to reintroduce the idea of mixed-income communities.
  • There is a common theory that concentrated poverty is why public housing is not as effective as it should be (as opposed to lack of funding being put towards the housing properties and overall negligence).
• In addition to the idea of having a diverse community in terms of population, NCI plans on the new buildings looking diverse; ranging in size and style.
• The initiative is specific to four DC neighborhoods; Barry Farm (located in Anacostia), Lincoln Heights (located in N.E), Northwest One (located in N.W in ward 6) and Park Morton (located in N.W in ward 1).

Barry Farm:

• Barry Farm is a historic landmark in D.C, it started off as a settlement area for newly freed Black people after the Civil War in 1867. Barry Farm became the first public housing during WWII.
• Barry Farm is located in Anacostia and (before deconstruction) had about 432 public housing units
• The application for the first stages of the Barry Farm redevelopment were approved by the zoning commission in October 2014.
  • The plan would tear down any existing properties in Barry Farm and create 1,400 new housing (from low/mid rise buildings, townhouses and retail spaces).
• In December of 2014 the Barry Farm aquatic center was opened (a part of NCI). This was the first stage of a larger process to renovate the Barry Farm recreational center (an estimated $26 million project). Many Barry Farm residents were unsettled by the renovated rec center as it is only available to residents with an ID which requires certain documents and resources that some families no longer have access (or easy access) to.
• March 2016 the DC Housing Authority passed Resolution 16-06 “right to return”, which was meant to protect existing residents and their places within the community. This would make sure there was no confusion about the residents’ eligibility status and protect their entry into the newly renovated developments.
• June 2017 “Resident Design Workshop” held by DCHA and DCMPED. Intended to get community feedback and input about plans regarding development features and layout.
• August 2017 residents from Barry Farm filed a class action lawsuit against DCHA. The lawsuit was created in a pursuit to stall the redevelopment process and ensure that there would be enough housing for all of the current residents of Barry Farm. The lawsuit also mentions the horrid conditions of Barry Farm currently.
• April 2018 Barry Farm is nominated to become an Opportunity Zone which would allow “tax incentives for investments in new businesses and commercial projects in low income communities” with the goal to help promote investments in new public infrastructure, affordable housing, businesses and capital improvement”
  • Many Barry Farm residents have talked about the need for prioritizing grocery stores (as there are VERY few in wards 7 and 8) over opening luxury retail stores.
• In May 2018 residents push to preserve the beauty of their neighborhoods, as a response NCI commissioned art pieces to be made that represent the Barry Farm neighborhoods.

**Since news broke of the redevelopment of Barry Farm, over 70 residents have since relocated to Highland Dwellings and Sheridan station. The specific location of the other residents who have relocated have been unaccounted for.

 

The post A Timeline of Events Leading Up to The “Revitalization” of Barry Farm appeared first on Grassroots DC.

The current minimum wage for most hourly workers in the District of Columbia is $13.25, which is set to increase to $15 come 2020. Tipped workers, however, receive a fraction of that amount per hour.  As of July 1, 2018, tipped workers (which can include servers, valets, and bartenders) receive $3.89 per hour, with an anticipated increase to $5.00 by 2020. The justification for this low hourly wage is the understanding that, in the case that an employee is unable to meet DC’s minimum wage with their tips, the employer will cover the difference. Therefore, a tipped worker who is unable to make $13.25 per hour in tips will have their wage supplemented by their employer under the Fair Shot Minimum Wage Amendment Act of 2016. However, restaurants in the DC area have been under fire for charges of wage theft, putting into question workers’ lived experience of this law.

Research done by the United States Department of Labor reveals that, nationally, the US food service industry has had higher rates of wage violation than any other low wage industry since 2008. In fiscal year 2018 alone, over 41,000 food service workers reported nearly $43 million in thefted wages.

Research done in 2011 by the Washington, DC chapter of the Restaurant Opportunities Center (also known as ROC), a non-profit based in Manhattan whose stated mission is to “improve wages and working conditions for the nation’s restaurant workforce.”, gives us a local perspective on wage violations in the restaurant industry. Following a year’s worth of research, ROC’s DC chapter released a 76 page report on DC’s restaurant industry. Table 7 (which can be found on page 25) of the report reveals that 33.5% of restaurant workers in DC report having experienced overtime wage violations and 11.4% report having experienced minimum wage violations.

As further detailed  in ROC’s report:

 

• 11.4% of the workers spoken with reported earning less than $8.25 per hour, which violated DC’s 2011 minimum wage laws
  
• Only 18.5% of tipped workers were able to correctly recall the correct minimum wage and only 9.7% knew the amount of the tipped minimum wage, even though it is the employer’s responsibility to post bilingual signs in the workplace detailing this information

A briefer report published by the Economic Policy Institute further reveals that:

 

• Tipped workers in DC are largely people of color (70% of the tipped workforce while only 55% of the general workforce)
• The median annual wage for servers and bartenders in DC is $22,763.
• 13.7% of tipped workers live below the poverty line

Of course, given the unsavory conditions tipped workers were experiencing in the restaurant industry, movement to make change was inevitable.

In the spring of 2018, a campaign promoting Initiative 77 began. Initiative 77 was a ballot initiative (meaning that an adequate number of registered voters signed a petition to get a statute or amendment voted on publicly) that would rework DC’s minimum wage laws for tipped workers. Under Initiative 77, the tipped minimum wage would increase each year so that, by 2026, tipped workers would be making $15 an hour, the same as other workers in DC receiving an hourly wage. It seems that, in the frenzied coverage of the Initiative, many people assumed that tipped workers would begin receiving the minimum wage immediately, not understanding that employers would have 8 years to pay their employees the eventual $15 minimum wage.

The Washington, DC chapter of ROC became the primary driving force in support of Initiative 77 in DC. Faced with opposition from, both, restaurant owners and tipped workers themselves, Initiative 77 became one of the most discussed and controversial political topics in DC during the 2018 local election season. The proposal of Initiative 77 left the city cleaved into two camps; those in support of the initiative and those against it. A cursory glance through a DC area resident’s Facebook or Twitter feed from that period of time would very likely contain at least one charged debate over the initiative.  

Alongside the business owners and tipped workers opposing Initiative 77, Mayor Muriel Bowser and various members of the DC Council publicly opposed the Initiative as well. It must be stated, however, that many of the politicians in opposition to Initiative 77 have, at various points, received money from restaurants for their campaigns.

After being passed by voters by a more than 10% margin, Initiative 77 was repealed by eight members of the DC Council on Oct. 2nd, 2018.

I find myself clearly seeing the concerns raised by both parties regarding the pros and cons of Initiative 77; working as a cashier in an independent restaurant, I reap the benefits of the current minimum wage as well as tips. As a cashier, my job is far less complex than that of a server, however, I have far more security and ease regarding my wage. This level of security regarding pay is something I desire for each of my fellow restaurant workers, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet. As stated by the anonymous author of this Vox article “Living on tips does not guarantee me a sufficient income or economic security. Tipped workers experience a poverty rate nearly twice that of other workers. Currently, the median hourly wage for servers in DC is only $11.89… Relying on customer tips results in unpredictable income and makes workers more vulnerable to being sexually harassed or discriminated against by the very customers on whose tips we depend.”

 

This said, my very strong relationship with my employer in the restaurant I work in makes me consider concerns raised by restaurant owners about keeping their establishments open as well. While I don’t want to disregard the reality of greed our culture intentionally cultivates in each of us, I would like to believe that most business owners would choose to give generously to their employees if the resources were available.

Compass Coffee, a local coffee shop with a number of locations throughout DC, pays its starting baristas $13.25 an hour, and, once they’re passed the apprenticeship stage, they go on to receive a 25¢ raise. This pay is received alongside tips, which, based on information in this article from the dcist, averages around $5.71 an hour.

More prominently, in the same article, the author discusses changes Dolcezza Gelato has had to make to their payment structure in order, according to their owner, to continue to do business in DC. Now categorizing their hourly employees as tipped workers, Dolcezza’s baristas receive $10.50 an hour while the company’s gelato scoopers make $9.75 an hour, these wages being supplemented by tips.  

Robb Duncan is reported as saying “It totally, totally sucks. If I could pay my employees twice the minimum wage and give them health benefits, I would do it in two seconds. But for any small business, especially in D.C. right now, one needs to make adjustments. We’re doing what we feel is necessary to stay strong in D.C.”

Sips of Seattle, a family owned coffee shop located in downtown DC, shut down its business on on the 14th of December due to increases in rent, after 22 years of being a favorite of many DC residents. One of the co-owners of Sips of Seattle has a Spanish last name; Escobar. While I do not know the racial or ethnic origins of this particular business owner, I would like to use this information to highlight the reality that the businesses that are most vulnerable to increases of rents and wages are those owned by people of color. Even though Initiative 77 hasn’t passed, I’d be concerned about the ability of business owners of color to stay afloat amidst rising rent and labor costs.

Rents for businesses are based upon the square feet of the establishment multiplied by a dollar amount that averages somewhere between $50 – $80. The annual rent of a space of 800 square foot, priced at $55 per square foot, would be $44,000 a year, requiring monthly payments of $3,666 to maintain usage of the space.

Ultimately, I find myself disappointed by this entire debate. When this issue over whether a minimum wage or a lowered tipped wage is best for DC’s restaurants is boiled down, we are, essentially, choosing one group of people’s livelihoods over another. Another point of contention for me is the responsibility of this decision placed into the hands of DC residents, many of whom have never worked in restaurants and know little-to-nothing about the industry. In an act of compromise, Mary Cheh, Councilmember of Ward 3, suggests that the the increase in tipped servers’ minimum wage take place over a 15 year period; increasing the tipped minimum wage by 66¢ per year as a way to safely gauge any burdens the increased wage would bring upon restaurant owners.

While I am appreciative of Councilmember Cheh’s attempt to consider the needs of all parties involved, I believe that this compromise fails to consider the reality of rising rents, nor does it center the experiences/demands of restaurant workers. The issue of Initiative 77 ties into much larger issues regarding affordable housing and living wages that are affecting every major city across the country.

In the long run, tipped workers on both sides of the Initiative and restaurant workers must understand that if they’re going to remain in a city with increasingly high rent prices, than they’d do well to band together with organizers working on affordable housing initiatives in their neighborhoods. Some organizations working on affordable housing campaigns across the city are Empower DC, One DC, and Keep DC 4 Me. Alongside participating in political action in the city, tipped workers should also rally together to ensure their employers comply with DC’s minimum wage laws.  As individuals, tipped workers can also contact the District’s Restaurant Opportunities Center if they have questions about their rights or join them on the third Thursday of every month for their Legal Clinic for Restaurant Workers.

Recently, new energy has begun to surge around Initiative 77; upset with the DC Council’s decision to repeal the Initiative, a DC bartender filed a lawsuit intending to delay the execution of the proposed repeal. Senior pastor of DC’s Plymouth United Church of Christ, Rev. Graylan Hagler, a supporter of this recent push, is reported to say “The restaurant industry filed a petition challenge at the eleventh hour. It’s their latest effort to thwart the democratic process. We will fight this delaying tactic in court, and will prevail in the end. We are not the kind of people to give up on D.C. workers who need a raise.”

Shockingly, on December 12th, DC judge Neal E. Kravitz ruled that efforts to place Initiative 77 on the spring ballot were invalid as a result of a mishap on the DC government’s part. As writer Gabe Hiatt states in the Eater article “Despite the work of petitioners to gather more than 25,000 signatures in a week, judge Neal E. Kravitz cited a procedural mistake by the D.C. Board of Elections… The elections board did not post public notice for a hearing on the referendum far enough in advance, Kravitz found, dooming the signature-gathering process from the start.” Meaning, essentially, that due to a procedural error on the part of the DC Board of Elections, the petitioners’ work was futile from the start.  

We shall see how pro-77 organizers will rally against Judge Kravitz’s ruling, however, the debate of whether Initiative 77, and the larger socio-economic contexts surrounding the debate, is far from over.

The post Initiative 77 & The Crisis of The Tipped Minimum Wage appeared first on Grassroots DC.

Racism is the result of historic actions, thoughts, and laws that still impact society. Racism is embedded in the traditions and institutions of the United States. It is especially tragic when racism shows up in spaces that were built to be havens against it. Barry Farms has a rich history in which these instances occur.

Barry Farms, also known as Hillsdale, began as a settlement established after the Civil War in 1867 for free blacks and formerly enslaved African Americans. Abolition created labor problems, loss of productivity, and efforts to restore the plantation system.  In many plantation societies, governments sought to force former slaves back to work with strict vagrancy laws, coercive labor contracts and regressive taxes. Ultimately, the abolishment of slavery did not produce many changes. Former slaves continued to do their former slave work of tobacco farming, breeding and whatever was asked of them. Because the 14th amendment was not properly enforced, Reconstruction brought about Black Codes and the Ku Klux Klan. It was difficult for the formerly enslaved blacks to adjust to being free around whites and for whites to adjust to being around free blacks.

The Origins Of Barry Farms

The Freedmen’s Bureau was created by Congress in order to help former slaves adjust to society after the abolishment of slavery. The Bureau enlisted Oliver O. Howard as the commissioner whose job was to ensure the well-being of blacks, both free-born and formerly enslaved. Hillsdale was built by Oliver O. Howard whose mission was to advance the rights of blacks. The name originated from the landowner James Barry who was an incorporator of the Washington Canal Company.  After the property was purchased, African Americans squatted on it until arrangements could be made for them to build homes for themselves. Free black people were offered $215 – $300 to buy an acre of land to build a house and $76 for lumber to construct a house from the Freedman Bureau. Slaves wages varied but they received from $100 a year for unskilled work and up to $500 for skilled work. Freedman and refugees of the war worked every day for plantations in and around the District of Columbia and came home in the evenings to build their modest 14 ft x 24ft two-room houses, using the light of bonfires or lanterns candlelight.

The neighborhood was home to activists such as Frederick Douglass Patterson, Garnet C. Wilkinson, and Dr. Georgiana R. Simpson. Many historical accounts do not acknowledge the relationship the Douglass’s have with the resident and often “whitewash” the history. Charles Douglass, the son of Frederick Douglass was a teacher in the community and advocated for the District of Columbia Emancipation Act.  If the Douglass family’s connection to Barry Farm were better known, it’s possible that the future of the community would not now be in jeopardy.

 

The Deterioration of the Site

By 1900 Barry Farm’s original landscape began to be separated for construction. The Alexandria Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad separated the community from Popular Point. Half of its original land was turned into military bases after WW2, which displaced a few of the descendants of the first tenants. The 20th century required a better means of transportation and more modern renovations, which led to many of the original homes being razed. Railroad tracks that had been laid for the construction of the Suitland Parkway, isolated Barry Farm between two traffic arteries: Suitland Parkway and Interstate 295.

Today the District of Columbia government plans to demolish and redevelop the historic site. The District’s Council wants to turn housing, that was at one time affordable, into retail space and market-rate units. These new upscale designs attract new residents while displacing the former tenants. When you observe the urban and modern surroundings of the neighborhood, non-residents view Hillsdale as the eyesore of Ward 8. But the D.C. City Council redevelopment plan, which puts the desires of new residents ahead of the needs of natives and long-term residents, is flawed. The area has been under development for over a decade as part of the New Communities Initiative to renovate dilapidated public housing. The Housing Authority has already begun to demolish the site while leaving residents with the option to relocate until the development is finished or move using a Section 8 voucher.

The citizens have had their fair share of injustice since the construction of the neighborhood. Over the years, the citizens have watched their community decrease in size. Today many health codes are violated on the property. They are often displaced only to later deal with gentrification or lack of affordable housing. Given the current health conditions, residents have experienced so much turmoil that they will fight to continue to live in horrendous conditions. The families of Barry Farms want their neighborhoods remodeled but they do not want to be displaced. The issue and fear are not to stop change, but to make sure that change benefits the people of the neighborhood. Demolishing this site will add fuel to the fire of racism and disregard the preservation of African-American heritage.

The post Barry Farms: The Destruction of a Historic Landmark appeared first on Grassroots DC.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1968 that police must have objective evidence providing “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity before they can forcibly stop a citizen, and they must have an independent basis for fearing the person is armed before they frisk him.  Reasonable suspicion is when a police officer believes that an individual has a weapon which poses a danger to the officer, the officer may stop that individual to search or frisk the individual for a weapon.

Reasonable suspicion requires objective evidence.  A reasonable suspicion is not a Black person doing things that a bigot thinks they shouldn’t be doing.  Reasonable suspicion is not an unwillingness to comply with an “unlawful” police order.  The police can’t say, he didn’t want to be searched, and therefore I came to the reasonable conclusion that he probably has a weapon, which allows me to search him against his will.  It’s this kind or circular logic that makes understanding what is and what isn’t a lawful police order difficult to determine.

Anyone, but especially Black people, risks their safety if they refuse to comply with a police order, lawful or not.  So, chances are when a police officer or several police officers stop you in the street, you’ll likely comply. Understanding your rights, as they are laid out in the really excellent video below, can help keep you safe.

If the police behave professionally, they’ll let you know why they’re stopping you.  They should say something like, we’re looking for someone who just robbed the convenience store wearing those same sneakers that you have on.  Or something like that.   In other words, what is the reasonable suspicion they have that you have or intend to commit a crime.  If they don’t give you that information and then they demand that you comply with a physical search or “frisk,” what do you do?

To be sure, if the police do not have reason to believe that an individual is armed, above and beyond their suspicion that they have or might commit a crime, then an order from the police to comply with a frisk is illegal because it violates your constitutional right against unreasonable search and seizure.   They can ask you to give up your constitutional rights, but they can’t order you to do it.  At least, they can’t legally order you to give up your constitutional rights.

But it’s just a frisk, right?  The word itself sounds benign enough.  But having a heavily armed stranger ask you to put your arms on a car or a wall and spread your legs while he or she checks your pockets and runs their hands over your body in search of a weapon, isn’t benign.  I don’t want a stranger putting their hand in my pocket, sliding their hand between my buttocks or beneath my breasts, do you?  I certainly wouldn’t want a police officer doing that to any child of mine, as they did to the children in the video below.  The entire encounter is recorded in this Facebook post.

Stop Police Terror Project-DC, one of the many groups within the DC Movement for Black Lives Coalition, has been working to end abusive stop and frisk policies for years.  They have pushed for the passage and funding of the Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results (NEAR) Act.  The main goal of the NEAR Act is to reduce violence in the District of Columbia by using a community-based public health approach to violence prevention and intervention instead of perpetuating broken and ineffective “war on drugs”-style methods like stop and frisk.

One of the key provisions of the NEAR Act is data collection.  It mandates that D.C. police officers maintain records on each stop and frisk by filling out 16 data points after each instance, including the race or ethnicity of the individual and reason for the stop.  Despite the fact that the D.C. Council has provided the DC Metropolitan Police Department with $150,000 to ensure that this data collection happens, the police department has to date failed to comply.

81.6 percent of police stops in the District of Columbia between 2010 and 2016 involved Black people.

What we do know from the limited stop-and-frisk data that the police have provided is that from 2010 to 2016, 81.6 percent of police stops involved Black people.   In addition, a report from the Office of Police Complaints, an independent body that reviews and investigates resident complaints, found that 89 percent of use-of-force incidents by police involved a Black individual from Oct. 1, 2016 through Sept. 30, 2017.  Office of Police Complaints numbers are useful, but they can only record those incidents that lead to a civilian complaint.  One has to wonder what the numbers would look like if the DC Metropolitan Police Department were actively compiling them as each incident occurred.

89 percent of use-of-force incidents by police involved a Black individuals from Oct. 1, 2016 through Sept. 30, 2017.

And then there’s the question of the policy’s effectiveness.   According to research done by Stop Police Terror Project-DC, Stop-and-Frisk does not keep people safe and is rapidly becoming the most discredited policing practice in the United States. Studies of the tactic in a wide variety of cities have revealed clear racial bias and extremely low “effectiveness” as the overwhelming majority of people stopped hadn’t committed any crimes. Almost 90% of the 5 million people stopped in New York City since 2002 have been completely innocent. Each of those years, at least 80% of those stops were of Black or Brown people. In Baltimore, police conducted several hundred thousand stops a year from 2010-2015, almost exclusively in lower-income Black neighborhoods.  But only 3.7% of these stops resulted in any sort of criminal citation or arrest.

As a result of the DC Metropolitan Police Department’s failure to comply with the data collection provision of the NEAR Act and because of the ineffectiveness of the policy itself, Stop Police Terror Project-DC,  in conjunction with the ACLU-DC, BLM-DC and other Movement for Black Lives organizations, have launched the No More Stop and Frisk Campaign.

No More Stop-and-Frisk: Panel & Workshop Campaign Launch
Saturday, January 5, 2019
6:30 – 9:30 PM
Anacostia Arts Center
1231 Good Hope Road SE

Originally, Stop and Frisk was meant to interrupt crime.  But because it is so often used illegally, instead of stopping crime it is far more often the only crime being committed during an encounter with the police.  For more information about the No More Stop and Frisk Campaign, contact sptdc@gmail.com

The post Is It Time to End Stop and Frisk? appeared first on Grassroots DC.

Latest News Stories About Solar Power In Texas The following article contains important news updates about solar energy in Texas from November 2018. Contact Alba Energy – the leading solar company in Texas – to learn about saving money by powering your home or business with clean, unlimited solar energy. Texas Solar Energy News November 2018 PV Magazine USA: Alba Energy Helps IDEA Public Schools ‘Green’ Their Headquarters In Weslaco, Texas A new solar roof is helping IDEA Public Schools go green and save money in Weslaco. The Pre-K-12 public charter school recently installed a solar project that covers the roof of their educational facility.

Click to learn more about IDEA School’s solar roof in Weslaco. Community Impact:  Georgetown, Texas wins $1 million to capture and store solar energy

Georgetown, the suburb north of Austin that gets all of its energy from renewable sources, was among nine winning cities announced in November under the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2018 Mayors Challenge aimed at tackling climate change and promoting sustainability.

Georgetown will receive $1 million and a huge shot of publicity; it was the only city in Texas among the nine winners.

Contact Alba Energy of Round Rock to get a quote for going solar if you live in Georgetown. Government Technology: Luminant to develop $1M solar battery next to West Texas solar farm

Irving-based Luminant announced in November that Texas environmental regulators awarded the company a $1 million grant to build the state’s largest electricity storage facility of its kind. To be located adjacent to Luminant’s 180-megawatt Upton 2 solar power plant in West Texas, this 10-megawatt battery would be the seventh largest in the U.S., according to Luminant.

Related Reading: The BIGGEST Solar Farms in Texas Houston Chronicle: Sunnova brings SunSafe solar-plus-storage system to Texas

Sunnova Energy Corporation, a Houston-based solar energy company, said in November that it is introducing a solar-plus-storage system that will allow homeowners to store solar energy for use during nighttime. Sunnova’s residential solar-plus-storage system, SunSafe, debuted in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria caused the longest blackout in U.S. history. The service provides a 25-year performance guarantee.

Sunnova is one of Alba Energy’s local finance partners.  Wind Solar Alliance: Renewables reduced wholesale power costs by $5.7 billion in Texas

A recent report from the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) shows just how cost-competitive wind and solar are becoming. The modeling found that wind and solar have reduced wholesale power prices by an average of between $1 and $2.50 per megawatt-hour each year from 2010 through 2017, resulting in prices that were between 2.8% and 8.2% lower than they would have been without these resources. Save Money With Solar Panels In Texas!

Alba Energy is proud to be one of the premier solar installers in Texas with offices throughout the state. Alba’s services include residential solar for homeowners as well as commercial solar for business owners.

And by the way, Alba’s SMART Solar Financing means you can POWER your home with solar panels, pay LESS on electricity bills, and contribute to a CLEAN energy future. Request a FREE solar consultation today! Request A Free Solar Quote!

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Saving With Solar Panels In Pharr, Texas

The following interview was conducted with Ralph F., an Alba Energy residential solar customer from Pharr, Texas. Find out how much lower your power bills could be by requesting a free solar savings analysis from Alba Energy of McAllen today!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I live in Pharr, Texas. I was born a town over in McAllen but grew up most of my life in the Pharr area. Once I got married my wife Marti and decided this would be where we would continue to call home.

Why did you decide to switch to solar energy?

We decided to go solar because it just made sense. Our sales representative Trae Sepulveda did a great job selling it as well. We loved the fact that we could own our own electricity. The buyback from Green Mountain if we under-used energy sounded good also. And the one year free electricity promotion was pretty amazing.

How much did you know about solar energy?

I had heard about solar before but I thought it would be too complicated to switch. However, i was wrong. Alba made it very easy. 

Related Reading: How Solar Works

What kind of system did Alba Energy install for your home?

Alba installed a 10.2 kW system on our home with 34 Trina Solar panels. It should give us at least 79% power offset each year.

What made you choose Alba Energy for your solar installation?

The one year free electricity promotion was awesome, and their customer service was even better. They were also the first solar company to contact me from the multiple bids I requested.

What was the process of going solar like?

“The process was simple. Alba provided all the steps and we just did what was needed.”

What was the most difficult part of the solar process for you?

The most difficult part was making the decision. Not knowing is difficult but I’m glad my wife and I made the decision.

What benefits have you seen from going solar?

“The greatest benefit is seeing a consistent power bill every month. And only paying $10-$20 if I happen to over use electricity in a given month.”

What would you say to someone who is skeptical about going solar?

It is less complicated than you think, and Alba makes going solar really simple.

Save Money With Solar Panels In Texas!!

Alba Energy is proud to be one of the premier solar installers in Texas with offices throughout the state. Alba’s SMART Solar Financing means you can POWER your home with solar panels, pay LESS on electricity bills, and contribute to a CLEAN energy future. Request a FREE solar consultation today! Request A Free Solar Quote!

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Cross-Posted from Education DC
Written by Valerie Jablow

At last week’s November 15 council hearing, on the plan to build a new Banneker high school at the site of the closed Shaw Junior High, dozens of public witnesses testified, advocating for either Banneker or a Shaw middle school of right on the site.

But after more than four hours of their testimony, it took less than 10 minutes for the two government witnesses to outline DC’s newest educational initiative–which would be doing whatever someone in power wants.

The opening 5-minute salvo came during acting DME Paul Kihn’s opening testimony, in which he presented a rationale for not putting a Shaw middle school of right in Shaw–as called for in multiple capital plans as well as the 2014 boundaries study.

Cautioning about “using data” to determine a need for a Shaw middle school, Kihn recited population forecasts from the office of planning as well as current and expected enrollments, the “average boundary participation rate” in DCPS (24%), and available capacity at Cardozo.

After blithely concluding that all that “data” show that there is no need at all for a Shaw middle school of right, Kihn amazingly floated the idea of a citywide middle school at the Shaw site because, uh, no boundaries!

It’s hard to imagine that Kihn really does not know that the lottery works for schools of right as well as for schools of choice.

As it is, boundary participation rates are not indicative of enrollment–as the staff in his own office know very well because by using their own data, I can see that DCPS’s Sousa middle school has a 68% in boundary participation rate–and is underenrolled. While Stuart-Hobson, fully enrolled for the last several decades, has a 25% in boundary participation rate.

Yeah.

The other seminal moment of testimony was this 2-minute clip of interim chancellor Amanda Alexander (who in that role is subordinate to the acting DME).

In it, Alexander responds to a question from education committee chair David Grosso, who asked her to explicate the meetings DCPS held with the Banneker and Shaw communities about the plan to locate Banneker at Shaw. While explaining (eventually) that the decision to locate Banneker at Shaw was made after the feasibility study was completed (August 15, 2018), the interim chancellor stated that the Shaw community was engaged on the subject starting in May 2018.

This sounds good until you realize that the idea of Banneker at Shaw had been raised months before, in February 2018 (see here for all the Banneker modernization plans), when the Banneker feasibility study was undertaken.

But the feasibility study strangely explored only two options: Banneker at its current building and Banneker at Shaw. As thorough as it is in its examination of those options, the study contains nothing about a Shaw middle school in Shaw nor any discussion about other sites for Banneker–or data to justify expanding it to almost twice its current size.

It appears that someone somewhere ruled all of that out well before February 2018–something no official at the hearing ever raised.

The sad truth behind all of this public obfuscation is that Banneker still needs a renovation and an appropriate facility.

More to the point, Banneker’s renovation has been deferred for so long that it falls in the same disturbing pattern of inequity that we have already seen in our city for school resourcing and modernizations. It was that pattern, in fact, that led the council to enact the PACE Act in the first place, to ensure political power was not the driver of modernized, adequate, and safe school spaces.

Yet, instead of focusing on that urgency and the fact that no one in his own office pursued a fulsome feasibility study examining all the “data” for Banneker around the city, the acting DME used his time at the hearing to admonish advocates for a Shaw middle school of right for not being “practical” and “fiscally responsible.”

This was pretty rich, given that later in the hearing the acting DME had no accurate cost estimate whatsoever to share with the council on the new Banneker at Shaw.

And it was also pretty rich given that Kihn spent time talking about how he thought some Shaw residents “feel excluded” from the planning and the importance of public officials not going into public meetings with a “predetermined outcome.”

Now, it is possible that hundreds of people complaining for weeks before the hearing–and testifying in droves during the hearing–about the lack of public engagement in Shaw on this subject suffer from mass hallucination. (See their apparently non-hallucinatory petition here.)

Nonetheless, the fact remains that the acting DME used his time at that hearing to characterize the actual disenfranchisement of actual DC residents in the alteration of an actual plan for an actual school in their own neighborhood as one of mere hurt feelings–and politely promised to do better and engage well going forward.

There were other disturbing notes as well.

For instance, no city leader even mentioned the new Bard high school, whose plan is publicly amorphous: we don’t know what it will be or even where it will be and whether its creation (in conjunction with an expanded Banneker) will necessitate closing one or more DCPS high schools. For all anyone in the public knows, that is the intended outcome of both projects. Data, schmata!

Also, when asked about keeping Banneker at its current building, Alexander noted that the building is “not fit pedagogically” to suit high school students because it was built as a middle school. (Thank goodness no DCPS high school is in, say, a repurposed elementary! Oh, wait.)

Then, when asked if she considered St. Elizabeth’s as a location for a new Banneker, Alexander responded that it would be “disruptive” to the Banneker community, since many of Banneker’s students come from wards 4 and 5.

Having heard public witnesses at the same hearing opine about what they considered the silliness of Shaw parents not wanting their middle school students to travel far from home, I can only think that there is no way that this hearing was ever intended to question the decision made by someone, somewhere, that Banneker will go at Shaw.

After all, only two council members were present for most of the hearing (Grosso, there the entire time, and Ward 6’s Charles Allen for most of it), despite the fact that the Banneker at Shaw proposal is at least roundly estimated to cost $143 million–a significant sum completely outside the planning process that the council itself enacted.

More to the point, Grosso himself supports Banneker locating at Shaw and doesn’t want to pause the plans–in agreement with acting DME Kihn, who noted (without offering evidence–oh, that pesky data again!) that pausing the plan was not in the city’s or community’s interests.

And yet, while Kihn went out of his way to note that many DCPS schools of right have excess capacity, what he didn’t say was that expanding Banneker thusly might not be good for any school, even Banneker itself–and especially at Shaw, where it would be in close proximity to two under-enrolled DCPS high schools of right.

(Data on the effect of creating new schools was not the only thing happily unexamined by those in charge: Charles Allen noted that Kihn’s population analysis in the clip above was the first time he had heard those numbers, and he worried about their veracity.)

In the end, the driving interest of both Kihn and Alexander at that hearing was not doing right by this process or even examining its effect. Rather, their interest was rooted in a decision that had already been made, no matter the consequences. The public, late to the party, was left to fight it out amongst themselves.

(Not coincidentally, I heard neither Kihn nor Alexander mention “rights” with respect to schools–only “access.”)

So here is where we stand:

–No accurate cost analysis for building Banneker at the Shaw site except that it will cost at least $143 million;
–No apparent consideration of other sites for Banneker;
–No plan for a middle school of right for Shaw;
–Misleading data used to discredit a Shaw middle school of right;
–Misleading statements about public engagement on the subject;
–No analysis of the effect of the expansion and/or move of Banneker;
–Complete flaunting of the PACE Act;
–No explanation of what the existing Banneker building would be used for, much less Garnet-Patterson;
–Plenty of people in Shaw attesting to not being engaged whatsoever, while the interim chancellor says they were engaged and the acting DME says they just “feel excluded” and
–Neither David Grosso nor our education leaders wanting to even pause and ask how this fits in with the plan for Bard or a plan for the city at large to invest in its own schools.

Hmm: what was that bit about a “predetermined outcome”?

The post This Is What Democracy Doesn’t Look Like: Banneker/Shaw Edition appeared first on Grassroots DC.

A special flip-the-switch solar unveiling event has been scheduled for Thursday, November 15th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Local residents and members of the press are invited to join Alba Energy, IDEA Public Schools and Green Mountain Energy as they “flip the switch” to turn the system ‘on’ and begin energizing the school with solar power. 

Who

Public event held by Alba Energy, IDEA Public Schools and Green Mountain Energy Sun Club

What

Solar unveiling and ‘flip-the-switch’ event to turn the solar power system ‘on.’

When

Thursday, November 15th 5:30 – 7:30 PM

Where

IDEA Public Schools Weslaco Branch

2931 E Sugar Cane Dr, Weslaco, TX 78599

Why

To commemorate a 1,000+ solar panel roof recently installed atop the IDEA location in Weslaco. The new solar roof will produce over 500,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year — the equivalent to nearly 75% of the school’s needs. The system was funded in part by a $100,000 grant from the Green Mountain Energy Sun Club. This is the 6th successful project Alba Energy has completed in partnership with the Sun Club in the past 3 years.

About Alba Energy

Alba Energy is proud to be a leading solar company in Texas, with offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, McAllen, and San Antonio. Alba’s SMART Solar Financing Programs allow you to POWER your home with solar panels, pay LESS on electricity bills, and contribute to a CLEAN energy future. For more information visit www.albaenergy.com. Request A Free Solar Quote!

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Alba Energy Helps IDEA Public Schools ‘Green’ Their Headquarters In Weslaco, Texas

 A new solar roof is helping IDEA Public Schools go green and save money in Weslaco.

The Pre-K-12 public charter school recently installed a solar project that covers the roof of their educational facility.

The solar installation will provide the IDEA Public Schools headquarters with electricity from sunlight and save the company tens of thousands of dollars on power bills.

Alba Energy’s McAllen, Texas office designed and installed a 1,072-panel, 364.48-kilowatt solar array on the rooftop of IDEA Public Schools’ campus in South Texas.

The new solar roof will produce over 500,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year — the equivalent to nearly 75% of the school’s needs.

The system was funded in part by a $100,000 grant from the Green Mountain Energy Sun Club. This is the 6th successful project Alba Energy has completed in partnership with the Sun Club in the past 3 years.

“In early 2018, Sun Club approved a $100,000 donation towards the installation of a 1,072 panel solar system, saving the school money and reducing its carbon footprint. That’s money that will instead be used to continue providing the high quality educational experience that students at IDEA Public Schools are accustomed to receiving.” – Stacy Mehlhoff, Program and Marketing Manager of the Green Mountain Energy Sun Club

“Alba Energy is honored to be selected as the solar design, engineering, and installation firm for yet another project in partnership with Green Mountain Energy and the Sun Club. This system is one of the largest in the Valley, and will provide IDEA Public Schools with 25+ years of savings and carbon reduction.” – Graeme Walker, Founder and CEO of Alba Energy

A special flip-the-switch solar unveiling event has been scheduled for Thursday, November 15th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Local residents and members of the press are invited to join Alba Energy, IDEA Public Schools and Green Mountain Energy as they “flip the switch” to turn the system ‘on’ and begin energizing the school with solar power. 

About IDEA Public Schools

IDEA Public Schools  believes that each and every child can go to college. Since 2000, IDEA Public Schools has grown from a small school with 150 students to the fastest-growing network of tuition-free, Pre-K-12 public charter schools in the United States. Currently, the network serves 45,000 college-bound students in 79 schools across Texas and Louisiana. IDEA has been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” and received national rankings on The Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report’s Top High Schools lists. IDEA remains on-track to uphold its legacy of sending 100% of its graduates to college.

About Alba Energy

Alba Energy is proud to be a leading solar company in Texas, with offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, McAllen, and San Antonio. Alba’s SMART Solar Financing Programs allow you to POWER your home with solar panels, pay LESS on electricity bills, and contribute to a CLEAN energy future. For more information visit www.albaenergy.com. Request A Free Solar Quote! [contact-form-7 id=”10123″ title=”Leads Contact Form 7 – Blog”]

Alamo Solar Farms Produce MASSIVE Amounts Of Clean Energy For San Antonio Electric rates in San Antonio are among the lowest in the nation’s largest U.S. cities. And it’s no coincidence that CPS Energy, the local power utility, ranks first in the state and seventh in the nation for solar generation. CPS recently built out 400 megawatts (MW) of new solar power plants, while solar leasing and community solar power programs in San Antonio are underway to help more people and businesses benefit directly from solar installations. The Alamo Solar Project: San Antonio’s HUGE Solar Power Plant

Map view of San Antonio’s Alamo Solar locations.

Constructed from 2012 to 2016, the Alamo Solar Project will produce approximately 400 MW-ac of clean electricity to serve approximately 90,000 San Antonio, Texas homes in the CPS Energy service territory. Scroll down to learn more about the 7 sites making up the Alamo Solar project.

Alamo 1 – 39.2 MW Solar Power Plant

Aerial view of the Alamo-1 Solar Farm. Image credit: CPS Energy

The 40 MW Alamo-1 solar farm was officially completed in December 2013.  Alamo-1 is made up of 167,680 modules on 2,260 single-axis and 1,932 dual-axis tracker rows, serving approximately 8,820 homes. Alamo 2 – 4.4 MW

View of the Alamo-2 Solar Farm. Image credit: CPS Energy

The 4.4 MW Alamo-2 solar farm was officially completed in March 2014.  Alamo-2 is located northeast of downtown San Antonio on 45 acres of land. It uses  17,920 modules sitting on 448 dual-axis tracker rows. Power for approximately 900 homes.

Alamo 3 – 5.5 MW

View of the Alamo-3 Solar Farm. Image credit: OCI

The 5.5 MW Alamo-3 solar farm was officially completed in January 2015.  Alamo-3 is located on 60 acres of land and uses 21,420 modules on 510 dual-axis trackers. Power for approximately 1,200 homes. Alamo 4 – 39.6 MW

View of the Alamo-4 Solar Farm in Brackettville, Texas. Image credit: OCI

The 39.6 MW Alamo-4 solar farm was officially completed in August 2014.  Alamo-4 is located on 600 acres of land in Brackettville, TX and uses 161,280 modules on 4,032 dual-axis tracker rows. Power for approximately 8,500 homes.

Alamo 5 – 95 MW

View of the Alamo-5 Solar Farm in Uvalde, Texas. Image credit: Mortenson

The 95 MW Alamo-5 solar farm was completed in December 2015.  Alamo-5 is located on 1,000 acres of land in Uvalde, TX and uses 378,000 modules on 9,000 dual-axis trackers. Power for approximately 21,375 homes.

Alamo 6 – 110 MW

View of the Alamo-6 Solar Farm in Iraan, Texas. Image credit: OCI

The 110 MW Alamo-6 solar farm was completed in March 2017.  Alamo-6 is located on 1,250 acres of land in Iraan, TX and uses 438,480 modules on 10,440 dual-axis trackers, the largest dual-axis tracking solar project in the U.S. Power for approximately 24,795 homes. Alamo 7 – 106 MW

View of the Alamo-7 Solar Farm in Haskell, Texas. Image credit: OCI

The 106 MW Alamo-7 solar farm was completed in September 2016.  Alamo-7 is located on 1,230 acres of land in Haskell, TX and uses 423,360 modules on 10,080 dual-axis trackers. Power for approximately 24,000 homes. 

As you can see from above, San Antonians derive a relatively large amount of power needs from solar energy (and you probably never knew it)!

What’s better, CPS Energy is offering one of the best solar rebate programs currently available in Texas – Up to $25,000 in rebates for going solar! Find out how much your CPS Energy Solar Rebate is worth by contacting us below!  Join the solar movement happening in San Antonio, Texas!

Alba Energy is proud to be one of the top solar panel installers in San Antonio, Texas. Our in-house team of NABCEP certified solar experts are trained to design beautiful solar energy systems that can produce as much power from the sun as your home requires, and at a cost that will allow you to save money from day one!

With SMART Solar Financing from Alba Energy you can POWER your home with solar panels, pay LESS on electricity bills, and contribute to a CLEAN energy future. Request a FREE solar consultation today! Request A Free Solar Quote! [contact-form-7 id=”10123″ title=”Leads Contact Form 7 – Blog”] Alba Energy Locations

Austin  |  Dallas  |  Houston  |  McAllen  | San Antonio

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800-238-3112

         

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