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This week, in support of Bread for the City’s Holiday Helpings Campaign, People’s District will tell five stories on the people affected by and fighting against hunger and poverty in D.C. Today’s story comes from Ruby, a Bread for the City food recipient.  You can see the other stories here.

“My parents were share croppers in South Carolina. They moved us up to D.C. when I was just a child to find a better life. Thing is that when we all got up here, my Momma got a job cleaning houses in New York. My grandmother raised me over by where the Convention Center is now, and my Momma would come home on holidays. It wasn’t easy, but I appreciate the sacrifice that she made for me.

“Back then, life was good and easy, you know what I am saying. Going to the movies wasn’t nothing but nine cents and I would collect soda bottles to have enough money to see the films. I remember when the movies went up to ten cents and I was all mad because it was too darn expensive. That will tell you how old I am, even though you probably think that I am still young and beautiful.

“When I had to start working, I took a job at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and stayed until I retired on September 30, 1993. I did everything there, and I mean everything. I was an information receptionist, so I was the first person you saw in the morning and the last person you saw at night. I moved to medical maintenance, and then left there to work in the red building where they do the experiments with the animals. You know them animal people still get upset when I tell them what I did, but we needed the animals to help cure diseases. I saw a lot of people get help because of those animals.

“After I retired, I was looking forward to sitting back and enjoying life with my babies and grandbabies. But, my aunt got sick, so I left D.C and moved to Massachusetts to take care of her. When I came back in 1995, things were hard on me because I had to take care of all of my grandbabies, too. I had three kids, but one of them passed in 2004. For a lot of reasons, I had to take care of all of their kids. I did it because I had to, but it was supposed to be my retirement. I am now raising my last granbaby, and then I hope I can relax because I am 68 and tired.

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I recognize this mini balcony from Dupont but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this decked out before. Nicely done.

Thanks again to DC realtor Kevin Wood for compiling this list of home/condo sales for zip codes – 20011, 20010, 20009, 20008, 20005, 20003, 20002, and 20001. Click below on “Oct 2010 Sales” for the full list in pdf format.

Oct 2010 Sales

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. He launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. You can follow People’s District on Twitter @PeoplesDistrict, and can read his previous columns here.

“In 1971, I done had it with the south and moved up here. What with the racism and the lack of jobs, I needed some change. Up here, people be talking about how Washington is the south. Man, please, this place ain’t the real south. May have some little southern pieces, but this ain’t no southern town. Up here, we’s in the northern world. You best trust me because I be knowing these things. I may look young and handsome, but I am older than you think.

“When I left North Carolina, I knew some people here and they helped me to find a little place and some work. My first job was washing hospital clothes at a place on New York Avenue. After that, I was a roofer. Then, about 40 years ago, a friend who was working at the fish market on Florida Avenue NE told me to come and cut fish with him. See, I didn’t know nothing about cutting no fish at the time. He told me it was easy and I could learn real quick. So, I trusted him and went to cut fish all day.

“I guess I liked it because I have been doing it for 40 years. And after 40 years, I have probably cut off more fish heads and scaled and gutted more fish than anyone you will ever meet. I have seen a lot of great people come through here and have cut fish for some of this city’s greats.

“I came over to the fish market in SW about 35 years ago. I done seen the market and fish change a lot. When I first came here, seafood was real inexpensive. People used to think it was real low class to eat fish. You would see that fish like swordfish and tuna were sold for almost nothing. There used to be a place in Alexandria where we would send the fish we couldn’t sell and they would make cat food. Ain’t it crazy how things change. Next minute, you got someone saying that them fish are all fancy and expensive and now they sell the stuff for all kinds of money. Man, we couldn’t pay people to take it back then.

“The price don’t make much matter to me though, as I just cut them fish. I make sure that my knife is always nice and sharp and I cut them fish right. When I get home, I take me a good bath with some soap and clean off all of that fish and smell. That way, people still want to talk to me after gutting fish all day.”

I thought this was a pretty cool way to camouflage an HVAC unit downtown. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Anyone ever see something like this elsewhere around town?

D, left, is pictured with Alaysies.

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. He launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. You can follow People’s District on Twitter @PeoplesDistrict, and can read his previous columns here.

D – “I grew up in the metropolitan area, but this is my first drag race. I dragged my best friend, Alaysies, down here, because I was like, we have to go see this. I have always heard about how fabulous this event was and wanted to go and support the gay and lesbian community in this city.

“For me, I love what the gays stand for. They are all about acceptance and at times like this, flaunting how proud they are of who they are. I mean, out here, it is like watching a block full of celebrities. Doesn’t matter if you are gay or straight, the crowd treats all of the queens like goddesses. Being here shows me how much we are progressing as a city. I have always felt like D.C. is one of the top places in the world. The drag race lets me know how true that really is.”

Alaysies – “When D told me about the event, I was all excited, but didn’t really know what to expect. I grew up in the DMV, and know that there are certain areas in the city that are open to gays and some places that discriminate. I try and stay in the parts that are okay, but every so often, I need to venture into the parts that discriminate. It is very uncomfortable to me that there are places here where I can’t really be myself. In those areas, I will butch it up a little bit and you will hear me trying to sound tough. I’ll walk around with a swagger and say things like, don’t mess with me! But when I am around the queens, like right now, it’s all, like, Heeey girrrrl! I can act and dress as I want and just be myself. I love that.

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I thought it was pretty cool when MPD issued a press release announcing that:

On June 24, 2010, a large number (more than five hundred) of baseball cards was found in a grassy area in East Potomac Park near the Tennis Center. The person who found the cards recognized their potential value and notified the police who recovered the items as found property. Thus far, the Police Department has been unsuccessful in locating the collection’s owner.

But I find it a little disconcerting that they still include this info on their email reports (most recently, last Friday Oct. 22nd). I actually love baseball cards. Or used to anyway. But you’ve made your announcement. Noted. It was a nice gesture. But it’s time to move on.

Now if it was baseball autographs…

This home is located at 4400 Garfield St NW:

View Larger Map

The flier says:

“Completely renovated & expanded Tudor mansion boasting nearly 12,500 interior square feet on just over a half-acre (22,075 square feet) manicured lot. Main house: 7BR/7.5BA, huge living room, atrium-like family room, library, incredible kitchen w/ 3 islands. Master bedroom w/ 2 separate baths/dressing rooms. Full staff qtrs, 2BR/3BA guest house, swimming pool, 2 attached garages.”

You can find more info here and a virtual tour here.

Well, after viewing that virtual tour I think I now have a real insight on how the other half lives. Holy cow. What’d you think of the tour? It’s yours for $8,995,000.

Danny Harris is a DC-based photographer, DJ, and collector of stories. He launched People’s District, a blog that tells a people’s history of DC by sharing the stories and images of its residents. You can follow People’s District on Twitter @PeoplesDistrict, and can read his previous columns here.

“Sometimes, I still don’t know what happened to me. My life is like a bad dream. I just came to this country for three weeks, and now I can never go back to my home in Burma. It is very difficult for me to accept my situation. My family supports me and tells me that I should not go back home and spend my life in jail. My father tells me not to lose hope, and that things will change. Even though this place is heaven compared to Burma, home is home. I just wish that I could go home.

“I was born in a small city in the Delta of Burma, also called Myanmar. My father was a well educated, government officer and his family was rich from selling wood. When the military dictatorship came in, they fired all of the civil servants. My father became a part of the democracy movement of Aung San Suu Kyi. She is a very famous democracy leader who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and is now in jail. When they arrested her, they also came to arrest all of the party members.

“When I was ten years old, the police came to our door looking for my father. He escaped out of the back window and went to Thailand without even saying, ‘bye bye’ to anyone. I didn’t see him or hear from him for three years. When you make the government mad in Burma, they don’t only come after you, they destroy all of your family life. When my father escaped, the police and military came to our house and business to annoy us every day. We knew that we couldn’t live in that situation any longer, so one night, the whole family moved to Yangon.

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