quality of life

“Block Party for Community Dialogue” this Saturday at Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park

By Prince Of Petworth

BlockParty2

From their Facebook invite:

“Let’s change the script that’s happening in the media right now. Let’s start to put an actual plan in to action to prevent more senseless killings and violence.

Performers: Nasim Siddeeq, Ace Reign, Mark Anthony Montgomery, Andy Niaina Raveloarinivo

Panel Host: Mercy Imahiyerobo

Food: Oohhs & Aahhs Soul Food, Snacks, Water

Activities: Lawn games, face painting, coloring, and more

The purpose of this block party is to facilitate positive communication between the DC community and police officers. We worked with several people that felt the dialogue needed to be guided, at least initially, and so we will be starting the event with a panel discussion. We will also have several people performing during the event to help spark progressive conversation about how to take action.

Below is some more information about how this event started: (more…)

“why are contractors at a DC public school mowing grass at midnight?”

By Prince Of Petworth

pain sculpture

“Dear PoPville,

As I write this, I can still hear the mowers, weedwackers and leaf blowers …. why are contractors (anywhere) but especially at a DC public school (Raymond Elementary) mowing grass at midnight? It’s Sunday night, now after 12:15 and they are still out there – wouldn’t local noise ordinances cover this? They ended up stopping around 12:40am, still… pretty late for that kind of noise.”

“I took a deep breath, went outside, and very politely asked him to stop with the megaphone”

By Prince Of Petworth

megaphone
Photo by PoPville flickr user Rukasu1

“Dear PoPville,

I live on the corner of 11th and Mass Ave NW and have been enjoying a man selling cold water on the corner yelling “ice cold!” from mid morning through rush hour. It has been annoying when working from home, but city life is what it is.

Yesterday though he turned it up a notch with a megaphone that featured a siren and a classical music jingle in all its 8 bit glory. This made it impossible to work from home (if it was a sick day I would have lost it).

I took a deep breath, went outside, and very politely asked him to stop with the megaphone, which he seemed receptive to, but his wife was not and as soon as I went inside it continued.

Just looking for advice/suggestions or info on noise ordinance rules, this does not feel like it needs a call to the police, just lose the megaphone.“

“We are gifting treats, clones, seeds, goodie bags and more through out the city in ALL 4 Quadrants SW,NE,SE,NW!!”

By Prince Of Petworth

canabis color

So about those long lines you’ll see on Friday…

Cannabis Sees No Color:

“Cannabis is a Healer and a unifier for all. Our Cannabis Community represents healing for all. This event is to show the world that this one plant has the power to stop and prevent division and bring people together. We want people you to come share the good vibes with us. Friday July 29th from 11am to 11pm, we will host the Biggest #FreeTreatFriday that this city has ever seen. We are gifting treats, clones, seeds, goodie bags and more through out the city in ALL 4 Quadrants SW,NE,SE,NW!! Locations of the giveaways to be announced by Thursday July 28th via e-mail. REGISTER NOW!!! Please note all must be over the age of 21, we will card EVERYONE. No ID, No treat. (more…)

“This was never a great street, I’ve been working near here for 12 years. But in the last six months it has gotten insane.”

By Prince Of Petworth

MLK_Library
9th and G St, NW

“Dear PoPville,

Has anyone written in about MLK Library / G Street lately?

This was never a great street, I’ve been working near here for 12 years. But in the last six months it has gotten insane.

I’ve seen two guys being attended to by Fire/EMS for ODing in the last month. Both times drug deal were still going down within 10 feet of the medics. This is all in the middle of the day during lunch.

I don’t know if it’s synthetic drugs or something else. But addicts down there have gone from mellowed out and sitting in the shade, to full on aggressive/crazy, running around screaming.

The DEA DC field office is 2 blocks south of here, yet it’s a virtual open air drug market during work hours.”

“What is your balance between maintaining your dignity and ignoring the hate for your own safety?”

By Prince Of Petworth

peace
Photo by PoPville flickr user District Shots

“Dear PoPville,

This past weekend, my partner and I were laying on a blanket in the park at Georgia ave in between Irving and Columbia, minding our own business. We noticed a man sitting nearly who was talking/yelling to himself some nonsense, but we just ignored it. Not long afterwards, the man came over to us and started yelling at us about how “a man shouldn’t lay with a man” and that “we couldn’t even reproduce.” In addition, he told us we “weren’t even from here,” threw his birth certificate at us, and told us that we need to “stay in our place, stay down, stay powerless” along with about 5 minutes of mumbo-jumbo non-sense. Although this man clearly had a mental illness to accompany his bigotry, some of it was coherent enough to know that he was upset we were 1. Lesbians and 2. Not white.

We were both pretty scared and I was worried he had a weapon. My partner kept her gaze away and I just sat there and nodded, saying “yep” and “ok” even though I really wanted to say please leave us the F*** alone, you homophobic xenophobic a**hole. When he finally walked away, I was conflicted between the fact that I didn’t stand up for my partner and myself, but also glad that we didn’t risk escalating verbal or potentially physical harm.

As I’m sure this type of confrontation frequently affects those who are queer and/or people of color- how do you handle it? What is your balance between maintaining your dignity and ignoring the hate for your own safety? Has this happened to others, and what have you done that has made the situation better/worse?”

“I was harassed by the same man under very similar circumstances on Mt. Pleasant Street”

By Prince Of Petworth

28291637546_68806eec6b_z

“Dear PoPville,

Unfortunately, I have an update on this story posted by a reader last August.

Sunday, 7/3 evening around 5:20, I was harassed by the same man under very similar circumstances on Mt. Pleasant Street outside of Old School Hardware. I was heading north when this man approached from the opposite direction. As we were passing he began yelling at me to move aside, stating that I had bumped into him, and calling me a ‘f$%&ing bitch’ — note that I never actually bumped into him or nor was I in his way … I was parallel to him by about a foot. I had headphones on, so it took me a moment to register that he was actually yelling at me, but as I was registering this as we passed, he then aggressively and forcefully punched me and grabbed my breast.

After the shock of what had just happened set in, I approached some bystanders who said they had heard the altercation but had not seen it. Another bystander told me they had seen him heading toward The Raven so I began to head that way (critique this as you will, but I wanted to get a photo of him as the above mentioned story came to mind and I wanted to see if they matched). I then saw the man walking back up toward the other end of Mt. Pleasant Street where I had first encountered him. Upon doing so, I snapped a photo of the man (he is in the black) and immediately moved to follow up with the police officers idling on the corner of Mt. Pleasant and Lamont. The police questioned him and he apparently had no memory of the encounter (though he’d also just gotten into multiple altercations with staff and customers at Sportsman’s Liquors who also spoke to the police). The police then let him go on about his business without further follow up.

Just a reminder to be mindful when encountering this individual.”

“A random act of kindness, as seen from an S2 bus.”

By Prince Of Petworth

good people
Photo by PoPville flickr user Julian Ortiz

“Dear PoPville,

I was on a bus going up 16th St last evening and the traffic was crawling. Coming close to Columbia Rd I saw one reason for the slowdown – a car being pushed up the street by two people. No easy task in rush hour, and in today’s heat and humidity. Vehicles were making room for the car to be pushed over until it was in the curb lane.

Then I saw a pedestrian step off the curb, get behind the car and start pushing. A few feet up the street someone else got behind the car and started pushing the car. A few feet more, another person joined in to help push the car onto a side street and out of heavy traffic. The people who helped push the car then walked off in different directions. A random act of kindness, as seen from an S2 bus.

With all that happens in our sometimes not-so-fair city, there are also times when the kindness of strangers shows up in unexpected places.”

View More Stories