Okay. One little break from the Washington Sanitary Improvement Co houses for Christmas. Merry Christmas/ Happy Festivus to my 3 readers.
Merry Christmas Tree
Category: Event
Heads Up for Black History Month: First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America’s First Black Public High School
Usually I recognize Black History Month by looking at the father of Negro History Week ( which became Black History Month), Dr. Carter G. Woodson and his most famous book The Mis-Education of the Negro.
Nope.
I’m not doing that.
Instead I will do some Truxton Circle based Black History and look at a very interesting book, First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America’s First Black Public High School by Dunbar alumna Alison Stewart. I first listened to the audio-book and was so blown away, I bought the dead tree version.
So that’s what’s in store for February 2024.
That and more of the 1700 block of New Jersey Ave NW.
In March I’ll get back to WSIC houses.
Memory Lane: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
MLK- Make the ghetto go away, and work together
In honor of Martin Luther King Day, I will post a few words from a speech he gave while visiting the Shaw neighborhood back in 1967.
Of course, we all recognize that if we are ultimately to improve psychological and physical conditions for minorities there must be total elimination of ghettoes and the establishment of a truly integrated society. In the meantime, however, all those working for economic and social justice are forced to address themselves to interim programs which, while not totally changing the situation, will nevertheless bring about improvement in the lives of those forced to live in ghettoes. And so, whiel [sic] many of those steps may lead to limited integration, those which do not must clearly be seen as interim steps until the objective situation makes a more fundamental approach.
and later
… Labor, Housing and the Office of Economic Opportunity, ought to work with the people of Shaw in developing, coordinating and concentrating their various programs upon social and economic problems of this area.
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at a March 13, 1967 rally for Shaw
I hope that reading this one can see the importance of integration. Segregating off into little ethnic and racial neighborhoods separate from other residents is not good for us as a whole. We need to unite and work together for the good.
Final Presentation for Langston and Slater Schools
I’m going to take a break from Dr. Carter Grumpypants Woodson to bring up a presentation regarding Truxton Circle’s eyesores of Langston and Slater schools.
I’m just going to copy/paste Bradley A. Thomas’ letter:
The final presentation of the ten proposals for the redevelopment of the Langston and Slater school buildings will take place this Thursday, February 11, 2021, beginning at 6:30 pm. Please review the slides from each of the applicants which I want to thank Bates Area Civic Association President David Hall for putting together into a single link.
To view this Thursday’s final disposition presentation, log in at the link below by 6:20 pm on February 11, 2021:
Five days later, on February 16, 2021, ANC5E will vote on a resolution specifying which elements of the various presentations our community wants to see in the final development plan. We are not being asked to state a preference for one development team over the others. We are being asked to indicate which ideas we like best. If you want to, and haven’t already done so, you can submit to me your individual preferences anytime between now and 11:59 pm on Friday, February 12, 2021. After that, over the weekend, I will put together our collective thinking into a concise resolution which I will ask the Commissioners of ANC5E to support at our public meeting on the following Tuesday night.
For the record, so far four residents have sent me their thoughts and I suspect that after the final presentation on this Thursday, I will get several more. Thank you all for participating in this process which will impact our neighborhood for decades to come.
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Because someone’s bedtime is around that time, and Destructo is the king of delay (5 more minutes!), it’s unlikely we’ll see all of this live. But for you with children who go to bed or put themselves to bed or without kids, please participate and finally do something with this. It is possible.
One Small Covid positive- Inauguration
Back in 2009 for President Barak Obama’s inauguration security and signage creeped past the southern boundaries of Mt. Vernon Square into Shaw and up to Florida Avenue.
I was very annoyed at the sight of National Guardsmen roaming New Jersey Avenue NW in Shaw. I was full of complaints that week. I understood why, with Obama being the first Black president and huge crowds, but I did not understand why Shaw got caught up in the mess.
Well fast forward to 2021 and Obama’s VP is going to be president. The security Downtown is cranked up to 11. Thankfully, that circus of crazy is south of us. And one positive of covid (besides to go booze and 5 star restaurant delivery) is that the Convention Center is unavailable for inauguration events, so there is no excuse for the National Guard to come up the street.
I was also pissy about a 2016 Nuclear Summit held at the Convention Center, which locked down the neighborhood around the center. There are still some remnants of the security from that event on manhole covers and grates to show that no one tampered with them.
You would think after that, someone would know that residential areas and super security don’t mix. People lost access to their street parking. And you know how people around here love their ability to park in front of/ near their houses (even if they have a perfectly fine parking pad in the rear of their house, another complaint for another day).
Hopefully, come Thursday morning, this is all over and we can get back to normal, 2021 normal that is.
Buy This House: The basement held up okay
I’m reminded of the flood of August 2001. I had just bought my house a few months before and my finished basement was a land of wet carpet and soggy walls. I pulled the carpet out, commiserated with my new neighbors, who had worse damage, and happily took cleaning supplies from the Red Cross.
This afternoon, while at the hairdresser, I got the blaring flood warning on my phone. I ignored it. Got a text from my landlord*, told myself I’d get to it later. Ignored voicemails from my husband. And then a neighbor came to the shop to tell me to contact my spouse because the unit below us flooded.
Like 2001, the units with basement bathrooms had water coming up through the pipes and water flooding in from the outside. I highly suspect the drains near the basement door sent water inside the units.
Our basement, did okay.
We got some dampness along the wall, thankfully. We are the first basement in the row and so ours is the first house water hits. Thankfully, the drain outside the basement door held and did not blow off due to water pressure shooting out of it like in 2001. The drain is the black dot in the photo. I should note, water from the gutter shot off the drain attachment.
I don’t want to brag because that’s just asking for the Fates to teach humility, but we’ve done several things to prevent a flooded basement like 2001. When we had the basement renovated we put in three French drains. Those catch the water coming up and divert it to the sump pump. On the advice from a neighbor we bumped up the horsepower of the sump pump. That has helped. Now the only problem is when we lose power. Without power the basement is up poop creek. Another big help is that we don’t have a basement bathroom. Water would have to come up 4+ feet through the washer drain for us to get something. We don’t have a laundry sink, so the washer is the only plumbing down there.
So the basement is just one example of where we put in all the unsexy but practical investments in the house. You won’t see the drains, or notice the sump pump, and the dehumidifier comes with the house. Upstairs there is unseen insulation and all the pipes and wires are all 21st Century. Unsexy and unseen.
Buy this house it’s worth it. Oh, and be awesome. The current residents are awesome and great and we need someone awesome to replace us.
*While our house is on the market we are renting.