This is a day I’m still trying to process, in all honesty: city leaders like Tony Lewis, Jr., Angel Gregorio and others have delivered a rallying cry in light of the rampant gentrification that’s pushing long-time D.C. residents out, laying destruction to the city’s culture en masse.
As a first generation D.C. resident (born in raised in Petworth, Uptown), it has definitely been surreal, to say the least…from seeing a new subway station planted in your neighborhood to watching your neighbors get evicted from a rowhouse I thought they owned (and witnessing many others follow), watching a corner restaurant go through a variety of changes (it’s currently a rock-and-roll venue, which is hilariously jarring to me) to seeing longtime Go-Go spots like the Black Hole disappear into just that…this run-on sentence could go on forever. And then to see your peers — shout-out to Yaddiya and Byrd as well — pushing back against a growing group of ignorant, entitled people who have no concern for tradition, you definitely hope that the awareness raised could kick-start a permanent shift that will ensure that D.C.’s best bits can co-exist with the new.
Yesterday saw the second big D.C. native photoshoot, a year after the first one was sparked by whatever the hell the Washingtonian thought it was doing, which went down at the Union District Oyster Bar; you can check out video and pics from what went down below. You can also click here to see what else the creators of this holiday have planned for the rest of the week.
Now that I reside in Congress Heights in SE (which feels like Zion from The Matrix right now and is on the verge of a big influx in its own right), I sit here wide-eyed to what will come from D.C. Natives day in the future, ready to contribute whatever my two hands can create to keep it moving forward.
So much love for #OurCity as we came together to celebrate on the eve of the first #DCNativesDay — May 20, 2019!
Thanks to @mrtonylewisjr, @TheSpiceSuite, @kenyanmcduffie and all who made this celebration of people, culture, & unity possible. #DCorNothing pic.twitter.com/i9bOQsYDDB
— Markus Batchelor (@MarkusBatchelor) May 20, 2019
Happy #DCNativesDay !! pic.twitter.com/bzUHpREnwf
— SUNNI (@SunniAndTheCity) May 20, 2019
Happy #DCNativesDay to all of my peeps from the D dot C!!! I love my people and our culture. We are from here. We have been here. We’re here to stay. #WeAintGoingNowhere #WeGoingToBeRightHere #GetUpDC
(Shoutout to @mrtonylewisjr and Angel for getting it done #ForTheCulture) pic.twitter.com/fiYCZwLAWB
— Michael Quander WUSA (@MikeQReports) May 20, 2019