It’s International Workers’ Day, coined for the Gilded-Age laborers who, while toiling in factories and railroads, organized a series of strikes to achieve the 8-hour work day. The era’s robber barons had amassed previously inconceivable levels of wealth by wiping out competition in emerging industries, violently suppressing labor activity, and tightening their leash on pay-to-play politicians. (Sound … familiar?)
By 1890, the wealthiest two percent had over half the national income, while the 88 percent of Americans who made up the poor and middle classes received just over a tenth – often without basic health care or clean water.
I offer this little history lesson today because we’re a worker-run news outlet – an identity that feels more important than it ever did. We can only do what we do because of readers like you. Help us celebrate this May Day by becoming a sustaining member?
Teachers and community members rally in front of Tubman Elementary. (Sam Delgado)
Earlier this year, the staff at Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Columbia Heights heard rumblings of bad news: the city was considering a significant cut to the school’s budget. But when they finally received word of the proposed cuts, no one was prepared for how big they would be: $1.2 million, or nearly 10 percent of the previous year’s budget.
When Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the Commanders were returning to D.C. at an event earlier this week, the music was loud and the crowd jubilant. But it wasn’t lost on anyone that missing in the crowd of former players and senior D.C. leaders were a majority of the D.C. Council. It’s up to them to ultimately approve the proposed deal — but they could just as well tank it.
A view of an intersection in Chinatown, D.C. (Chad Kainz/Flickr)
The end of Jackey Cafe’s more than 40-year run is an all-too-familiar one in Chinatown, where development and gentrification are pricing out mom-and-pop shops and Chinese residents. Some residents and activists say the city needs to do more to hang onto these community touchstones.
Start your weekend early with a May Day rally for restaurant workers tonight, and continue the celebrations by singing along with the DC Labor Chorus, marking the end of DC Climate week, and more.
After almost 30 years of incarceration, Robert Barton was released from federal prison, only to re-enter a world where decades of progress towards equality was being rapidly undone. [WCP]
Visual artist and native Washingtonian Reggie Gillumo has developed a massive fan base for his "unique braille art" – even Stevie Wonder is a patron! [AFRO]
The D.C. area has some of the highest numbers of private equity-owned apartments in the country, a trend often associated with rent hikes and evictions. [Axios]
With your help, we pursue stories that hold leaders to account, demystify opaque city and civic processes, and celebrate the idiosyncrasies that make us proud to call D.C. home. Put simply, our mission is to make it easier — and more fun — to live in the District. Our members help keep local news free and independent for all:
