February 2021 Newsletter

Good afternoon, 6A06! Happy Black History Month! 

A constituent emailed me to ask about an outdoor event with drummers for Black History Month. I gave her the (reasonable) DC government guidelines and any noise complaints to the local commissioner will fall on Deaf ears… literally. 

Mamie “Peanut” Johnson

All 6A residents should know the story of Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, who lived in our neighborhood and is the namesake of our own Mamie Johnson Field at 1701 Gales St NE. Johnson was one of only three women to play professional baseball for the Negro leagues and stood five feet and three inches tall. She received her nickname when she was pitching and one male rival player commented, “Why, that little girl’s no bigger than a peanut. I ain’t afraid of her.” Johnson struck him out immediately afterward.

DC Streetcar Extension May be on the Chopping Block

Commissioners Keya Chatterjee (ANC 6A01), Delia Houseal (ANC 7E07), and I wrote an op-ed in Greater Greater Washington on what we can do to make transit more equitable in DC. We took the morning of February 4 to celebrate Transit Equity Day and Rosa Parks’ birthday by standing along Benning Road and H Street NE to hold up signs thanking bus drivers and bus riders. Finally, we are campaigning for an extension of the DC Streetcar into Ward 7 following polls that 61.9% of Ward 7 voters support the project.

I was moved by a Ward 7 Friends of the Streetcar press release quoting fourth-generation Ward 7 resident Greyson Mann: “The Streetcar currently stops at the city’s redline of segregation, the Anacostia River. The city will not be equitable or be able to begin to move beyond its racism until residents East of the River get equitable access to resources. Including, but not limited to the streetcar.” If you want to help support the streetcar extension, please contact your at-large councilmembers and voice your thoughts.

H Street NE Meeting Tonight & Mozzeria Crash

Today at 7:00pm, ANCs 6A and 6C – representing the entire H Street NE Corridor – will host a joint meeting to discuss H Street safety improvements, including potential transit-only lanes and conversion of long-term parking spaces to more sustainable uses. All are welcome and CART (captioning) is provided: https://anc6a.org/wp-content/uploads/TPSA0221.pdf 

We suffered yet another crash on H St NE on February 11 when a driver rammed into the outdoor dining barricades in front of Mozzeria on 13th & H St NE. These barricades saved the restaurant from the same destruction as at Atlas Theater and Joy of Motion, but they still suffered some damage. Please support them by ordering some pizza if you are able! 

DDOT has committed to ANC 6A that they will install sidewalk extensions on the H St NE intersections with 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 14th NE as well as a speeding camera in the 1300 block of H St NE in the next few months. We will continue to push for H to become a neighborhood street and not a highway for out-of-state drivers.

Of Note from February ANC 6A Meeting

On February 12, ANC 6A voted unanimously to pass two measures I have been advocating since before the term started:

  1. Remove all mentions of “loitering” from our template settlement agreement for liquor licenses.
  2. Move all ANC meetings from WebEx to Zoom.

On 1), the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized the right to loiter in public spaces, DC law prohibits loitering only if you are a minor during school hours or blocking the sidewalk, and loitering has a long history of racial profiling. We deserve more thoughtful approaches to neighborhood safety than criminalizing the act of standing outside. I began pursuing this measure after a November ANC meeting where neighbors pointed out that the corner of 8th and H St NE is a popular gathering spot for the Black community and new businesses along the corridor should not criminalize their presence. It is a relief that we were able to pass this change and I will continue to look for ways to alleviate all facets of displacement in our neighborhood, especially on the public space and affordable housing fronts.

On 2), Zoom is much more accessible for people with disabilities, such as myself, in that it grants much more flexibility on where we can position interpreter videos or other accessibility tools. The benefits of this accessibility and Zoom’s user-friendliness extend to everybody who has been telling me, “Robb, WebEx sucks for everybody, not just Deaf people!” Thank you to the neighbors who spoke up in support of these changes and thank you to my fellow commissioners for voting in support, even though Zoom currently costs slightly more than the free DC government-provided WebEx platform. One of the main reasons I ran for elected office is that making the world more accessible for Deaf folks also creates significant benefits for hearing folks. Our Zoom victory reflects that and I can’t wait to do more of the same. 

ANC 6A now has a neighborhood-wide Google Group!

I helped set up a Google Group for all of ANC 6A (map), which you can request to join here: https://groups.google.com/g/anc-6. Once you are in the group, click “My Membership Settings” to set how often you prefer to receive email.