Mikaela Lefrak of WAMU is releasing a six-part podcast on the fight for Washington, D.C. residents to be fully enfranchised and empowered to run their own government. It’s a hip, powerful piece of reporting. The first three episodes have taken us through Alexander Hamilton’s compromise, retrocession, the 23rd Amendment, and the winning of home rule.
Category: Equal rights for D.C.
Real people vs. veiled racism
An update on the campaign to secure Congressional representation for the 700,000 residents of the District of Columbia, from Meaghan Flynn.
8 wards
51 Now
Meet Iowans for D.C. Statehood. Rachel Kurzius can make the introductions.
Some links: 80
- Craig Morris and Arne Jungjohann write about strategies for mustering grassroots support for transitions in energy sources. How did the German Energiewende reverse the rise in nuclear energy dependence, replacing nuclear power with other renewable sources?
- Andy Newman does a ride-along on New York’s century-old technology: manually operated elevators. (And a map of buildings that still use them.)
- J. F. Meils reviews what’s news in the struggle to fully enfranchise the District of Columbia.
51
It’s a little blue, and more than a little over the top, but John Oliver’s explanation of the disenfranchisement of D.C. residents (as glossed by Matt Cohen) is much appreciated.
Home rule or House rule?
WAMU’s Metro Connection devotes a complete show to the vexed problem of self-determination for the 600+ thousand citizens of the District of Columbia, and its lack of voting representation in the Congress—from the 1965 Voting Rights Act to today.
A few weeks ago, I was asked what my favorite public radio program was. Partly to remind my questioner that much of what airs is produced by local member NPR stations, I nominated Metro Connection. With the production of this hour, the show has become my favoritest.
I love ya Vermont, but this is still wrong
As of current estimates of population, 1 July 2013:
State of Wyoming
Resident men, women, and children: 582,658
Voting representatives in the U. S. Senate and U. S. House of Representatives: 3State of Vermont
Resident men, women, and children: 626,630
Voting representatives in the U. S. Senate and U. S. House of Representatives: 3District of Columbia
Resident men, women, and children: 646,449
Voting representatives in the U. S. Senate and U. S. House of Representatives: 0
North Dakota (723,393 and 3) is booming, but will D.C. catch her before full enfranchisement happens?
Voteless, now voiceless
Shameful witness stacking continues in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, as Ben Pershing reports. Buttinsky Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) refused an opportunity for Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) to testify on legislation that directly affects her constituents in the District of Columbia, contrary to traditional House practice. Franks represents an extrusion-shaped district in the Phoenix suburbs.
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) remarked sarcastically that if Franks feels strongly about how the city is run, “I would invite him to become a candidate for D.C. Council.”
No Tang for the 600,000
Martin Austermuhle pulls a screen capture from Stephen Colbert’s recent “analysis” of Newt Gingrich’s plans to enfranchise 13,000 Moon colonists, prospectively granting them statehood.
Where can I get a sticker?
Martin Austermuhle reports that D.C. Councilman Michael A. Brown will roll out a new campaign for statehood for the District, to be launched 8 November.
Free D.C.: 1
400 protesters rallied today in support of voting rights and self-determination for the District of Columbia, per Martin Austermuhle’s report.
Support where we can get it
Via Greater Greater Washington, Councilman David Catania’s office reports that New Hampshire State Representative Cindy Rosenwald (D-22nd District) has introduced a resolution “expressing support for admitting the District of Columbia as the fifty-first State” to the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
Closing in on Vermont
As of the 2010 Census:
- State of Wyoming
- Resident men, women, and children: 563,626
- Voting representatives in the U. S. Senate and U. S. House of Representatives: 3
- District of Columbia
- Resident men, women, and children: 601,723
- Voting representatives in the U. S. Senate and U. S. House of Representatives: 0
That is just gol dang wrong.