07 29 2020

VOL. 17 ISSUE 20

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JULY 29 - AUG. 11, 2020

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A man who reportedly struggles with mental illness and is homeless was arrested at Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Originally founded as a street newspaper in 2003, Street Sense Media has evolved into a multimedia center using a range of creative platforms to spotlight solutions to homelessness and empower people in need. The men and women who work with us do much more than sell this paper: They use film, photography, theatre, illustration, and more to share their stories with our community.

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EVENTS

// 3

NEWS IN BRIEF Former resident of a DC overflow shelter presumed dead in homicide

Nationwide March for Black Lives Time: Saturday August 1, 12-3 p.m.

Location: Lincoln Memorial The organizations People Demand Action, Black Lives Matter-South Carolina and the National March for Black Lives are jointly organizing a march from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol Building. The event is calling for tougher hate crime laws and stronger accountability for law enforcement. RSVP not required.

THURSDAY, JULY 30

UPDATES ONLINE AT ICH.DC.GOV

THURSDAY, JULY 30

D.C.’s History of Black Power & Neighborhood Organizing

D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness Meetings

“Fly by Light” Virtual Screening and Discussion

Time: 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Location: https://tinyurl.com/ Smithsonian-event Join a virtual community discussion about Washington, D.C.’s history of Black Power and neighborhood organizing hosted by the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, Current Movements and the Visionary Organizing Lab.

Executive Committee August 11, 1:30 pm - 3:30 p.m.

***For call-in information, as well as meeting info for unlisted working groups, contact: ich.info@dc.gov.

Time: 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Location: https://tinyurl.com/flyby-light When a group of D.C. teens pack into a bus and head into the mountains of West Virginia for eight days, they embark on a journey to break the cycles of violence and rewrite their future. Hosted by It’s Our Future and the One Earth Youth Advisory Council.

Submit your event for publication by emailing editor@streetsensemedia.org

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Olga Ooro, a 34-year-old D.C. resident was reported missing on July 19. According to the missing person’s report, she was last seen three days prior in the 300 block of Mass. Ave. NW. The previous day, MPD responded to that location for the report of an unattended PHOTO COURTESY OF MPD child. “Upon arrival, officers located a juvenile male who was unaware of his mother’s whereabouts,” according to a news release about the case.

According to Jewel Stroman, a grassroots advocate for homeless families, Ooro was a former resident of the Quality Inn, which was contracted by the D.C. Department of Human Services to provide overflow shelters space for families the city could not accommodate in its shelter facilities. “DHS is supporting MPD and hoping Ms. Ooro is found safely soon,” the department’s chief of staff wrote in a July 21 email to Stroman.

Two days later, Ooro’s boyfriend, 55 year-old Darnell Sterling, was arrested and charged with her murder, according to the MPD news release.

The case has been labeled a homicide, but Ooro’s body has not been found. “Oora is described as a Black female with a dark brown complexion, 5’0” in height, 125 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes,” according to the missing person’s report.

—ericf@streetsensemedia.org Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at 202-727-9099. Anonymous information may be submitted to the MPD’s TIP LINE by sending a text message to 50411.

Some DC libraries reopen The D.C. Public Library system reopened with some restrictions on July 22 as part of Phase Two of the District’s reopening plan. Thirteen library locations are now open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a daily break for cleaning from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Masks are required for all patrons, computer access is limited to 45 minutes per session, and requested books are available by pick-up only.

Public libraries are a safe haven for people experiencing homelessness in urban communities. They are a main source of computer and internet access for many, providing opportunities for people to search for jobs and other information. Libraries can also provide shelter from harsh weather, a vital benefit through this July’s severe summer storms.

The D.C. Public Library system has embraced its role as a safe space for homeless patrons in the past, in part by appointing its first health and human services coordinator, Jean Badalamenti, in 2014. Badalamenti organized a peer outreach program through which homeless patrons can seek support from specialists who have experienced homelessness themselves. According to Badalamenti, the specialists’ shared experience with the clients they serve makes them more effective.

Peer specialist sessions are currently available at three locations: the Benning, Woodbridge and Shaw branches.

Appointments are recommended. Bathrooms are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

D.C.’s homeless population lost access to this and other crucial daytime services when libraries closed in March.

—alicia.clanton@streetsensemedia.org Visit DCLibrary.org/reopen for the full list of open libraries.

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NEWS

Budget for public housing repairs falls short of advocates’ requests

BY MARIA TROVATO // maria.trovato@streetsensemedia.org

A slide presented by DCHA Director Tyrone Garrett at the March 4 Committee on Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization oversight hearing. COURTESY OF DCCOUNCIL.US

P

aulette Matthews, one of D.C.’s more than 20,000 residents who live in public housing, often testifies at the D.C. Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners meetings, and thus is the person many other residents turn to when they face issues ranging from rat infestations to mold to holes in the floor. When Matthews reports these issues to DCHA, she usually does not get a response. And when she does hear back about a complaint, it is often too late.

Matthews said she has been trying to get her fence fixed for over a year, and was told it would be done by February 2020. When she needed to get her locks changed during an emergency, it took over a week. And there is a rat infestation in her building that has not been addressed. Often maintenance will come to fix something months after it is reported and enter her living space without her knowledge. She constantly feels unsafe in public housing. “[DCHA] doesn’t have the manpower to get this work done,” Matthews said.

“We’re going to keep seeing what we are seeing, which is needed repairs that are backlogged and little things turning into big problems.”

The Fiscal Year 2021 budget included $25 million for housing repairs this year and $15 million for repairs in Fiscal Year 2022. But even after the council added an additional $25 million to this year’s budget, this amount does not fulfill requests by several advocacy organizations for recurring annual funding of $60 million for public housing repairs.

“It is a small victory in a sense that there has been money allocated to public housing, but there is not nearly enough to meet the needs that are out there, especially during a pandemic that has perpetuated the health issues that many people in public housing were already

living with,” said Daniel del Pielago of the nonprofit Empower D.C., which organizes low-income communities.

Last year, DCHA Director Tyrone Garret estimated it would take $2.2 billion over an estimated 17 years to remedy the housing authority’s portfolio.

“Thanks to the actions of the council and the administration in the creation of the rehabilitation and maintenance fund, DCHA has received an infusion of capital over the past three years that has made a significant impact, ” Garret said during an oversight hearing this year.

He noted that HUD has made it clear additional federal capital funds are not likely to be provided to address the growing need. The $40 million of local funds available for rehabilitation and maintenance this year was expected to go toward unit renovations, “site work” and roof replacement, and other upgrades.

“While these funds are a tremendous resource to address immediate challenges, the long-term of the properties will still require investment,” Garrett said.

“With such a large sum, it may feel as though this endeavor is impossible to achieve. I cannot sit here to say that we have all the answers today, but what I can tell you is that all signs indicate that funding for public housing is going to continue to decline,” Garret said. “Maintaining our housing stock, as it continues to age, requires more and more funding.”

Poor conditions like those described by Matthews are all too common in D.C.’s public housing, according to Stephanie Sneed, the executive director of Fair Budget Coalition, a group that advocates for budget and public policy initiatives in the District. She said lead poisoning and mold are other major issues as well, and many residents have had to go to the hospital because of environmental hazards in their living spaces.

DCHA is aware of these hazards in their properties and the need to

fix them. In addition to the issues on an “accelerated timeline” and tweeted mentioned by Matthews and Sneed, that there is now a hearing scheduled for the housing authority’s “transformation Sept. 17, though it is not yet posted on the plan” for their properties identified noncouncil’s calendar. functioning smoke and carbon monoxide Advocates have asked for funding to detectors as well as deteriorating pipes be shifted to public housing from the and electric panels. extension of the D.C. streetcar from H “It’s an incredibly dangerous situation Street NE to the Benning Road Metro that D.C. residents are forced to be in right station. At-large Councilmember Robert now,” Sneed said. “Dedicated funding for White tried to pass a motion to shift $35 public housing repairs is a must.” million from this project to public housing These issues are only exacerbated repairs during the first vote on the budget during the COVID-19 global pandemic but the motion did not pass. when residents are forced to quarantine, “This gives us some real insight into according to del Pielago. the values that are guiding the budget and “By the D.C. Housing Authority’s own guiding the government in general where admission, a majority of their housing is the priorities are out of skew and the uninhabitable,” del Pielago said. “Imagine streetcar is being valued over the lives of having to quarantine in an apartment or a people who need help,” del Pielago said. house that is in a horrible condition. The “We believe that people’s lives, especially only other option is going outside where Black lives and public housing residents’ you risk contracting this virus.” lives, should have more weight.”

Garrett testified in March that 14 public Public housing has historically been housing properties had been identified as funded at the federal level. But there has in “extremely urgent condition” and could been massive disinvestment in recent soon present physical and environmental decades, leaving almost no money hazards to the families that live there if not for repairs. The U.S. Department of addressed. According to Housing and Urban a slide displayed during Development’s budget Garrett’s testimony, those authority went from 14 properties account for $83 billion to a little 2,603 units that house over $18 billion 5,047 residents. between 1978 and A recurring fund 1983, according to a for public housing is fact sheet published by not only necessary to the Western Regional make existing spaces Advocacy Project. habitable. It could allow It has continued to for investment in new decrease by 2% each projects if DCHA has year. Advocates are a reliable source of increasingly focusing income to fall back on, on local funding according to del Pielago. sources to make up He stressed that any new the difference. projects the housing Local funding is authority invests in need going to be needed even to be resident-led. more in the upcoming When DCHA moves year as the federal forward with new government continues Daniel del Pielago projects that are not to decrease funding resident-led, this can be for public housing. actively harmful to residents, del Pielago President Donald Trump announced in and Sneed agreed. For example, critics February that he would cut funding for have said the District government is the Department of Housing and Urban overriding residents’ concerns at the Park Development by $8.6 billion, or 15%, Morton public housing development, in the FY 2021 budget. This would which was scheduled to be torn down and eliminate all funding for public housing renovated while its residents were housed capital repairs, according to the National in a new nearby building. While opposition Low-Income Housing Coalition. The from neighbors has delayed construction House and Senate appropriations of the replacement housing, D.C. has committees are still marking up the continued to press on with the renovation president’s proposal. plans, forcing some residents to accept The D.C. Council unanimously housing vouchers to move elsewhere in approved the financial core of the multithe city. Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne bill budget package for Fiscal Year 2021 Nadeau pushed for the project to be put on July 23.

“It is a small victory in a sense that there has been money allocated to public housing, but there is not nearly enough to meet the needs that are out there.”

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// 5

STREET SENSE MEDIA FAMILY UPDATES

Homeless service providers receive millions in PPP loans

BY AVI BAJPAI avi.bajpai@streetsensemedia.org

A

s the rest of D.C. was shutting down amid rising cases of the coronavirus this spring, at least 14 homeless service providers and community organizations received support from the Paycheck Protection Program, a relief measure designed to help cover payroll costs and keep workers employed during the pandemic.

[Disclosure: Street Sense Media received funds from the Paycheck Protection Program] The organizations, which provide the District’s most vulnerable residents with critical services spanning case management, free meals, medical clinics and matches to housing programs, received millions in PPP loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, according to data released on July 6. Multiple organizations that returned requests for comment said they used the loans to cover payroll costs and other operating expenses like utilities.

Catholic Charities, which offers a whole host of services in addition to operating low-barrier shelters across the city, received a loan between $2 million and $5 million and was able to retain a total of 439 jobs, according to the data. Among those jobs were more than 100 employees who were brought back from furlough, a spokesperson wrote in an email.

“The ability to have staff working allowed the agency to keep most of our almost 60 programs open, including medical clinics and mental health services, and to expand food programs to meet an unprecedented demand for food,” the spokesperson said. Since March, Catholic Charities has served more than 500,000 meals through its expanded food programs.

Bread for the City had to make extensive changes to its services due to the public health emergency, according to Kristen Kozlowski, the associate director of development. The nonprofit provides meals, clothing, health care and social and legal services.

Instead of distributing groceries at its two food pantries, the organization is now delivering them to residents at their homes, Kozlowski said. The medical clinic remains open but is only offering COVID-19 testing and urgent care. Primary care and behavioral health visits have been shifted to telehealth appointments. And most legal and social services are being offered remotely.

Kozlowski said the organization applied for its loan, which was for between $1 million and $2 million, in April and received approval within a week. The loan allowed Bread for the City to retain all of its 108 employees and was used for payroll and utilities.

In addition to the PPP loan, the organization has also applied for

The Bread for the City center in Northwest D.C. in April 2011.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE/LANCE CHEUNG

federal and local grant funding and has “actively fundraised” from private foundations and individual donors, Kozlowski said.

Since the application process opened in April, lenders have approved more than 4.9 million PPP loans totaling $518 billion in relief, with the average loan amount being $105,000. Under the SBA’s guidelines, recipients can apply to have their loans fully forgiven as long as they meet certain criteria, including using at least 60% of the loan to cover payroll costs.

But the process to apply for loan forgiveness has been confusing and time-consuming for both lenders and recipients. As of now, Bread for the City, which intends to apply for loan forgiveness, still has not received “clear guidance” on the application process, timeline and audit, Kozlowski said.

A new Senate bill introduced by Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) last month would automatically forgive PPP loans that don’t exceed $150,000 after recipients submit a one-page form.

During a congressional hearing on Friday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin endorsed the idea of automatic forgiveness for loans under a certain amount, but did not specify what the threshold should be.

N Street Village, another service provider, which offers meals and health care and is contracted by the city to operate permanent supportive housing and shelter housing, received a loan between $350,000 and $1 million. According to CEO Schroeder Stribling, the organization applied for its loan on April 21 and received the funds within 10 days.

The loan was used entirely for payroll costs, and allowed N Street Village to retain 101 employees. They’ve added a few additional employees since applying for the loan, Stribling said in an email. In addition to the PPP loan, the organization also received $30,000 in general operating grant funding from Wells Fargo early on during the pandemic.

“We are grateful that these funds were made available so quickly,” Stribling said, referring to the PPP loan. “They are absolutely necessary for the ability of N Street Village and other frontline organizations addressing homelessness in DC to continue with our mission. And we are glad that the program is being updated to address issues that became apparent during execution.”

Stribling said that while N Street Village has avoided curtailing any of its services, there have been some changes to its operations. Day services have been moved to Patricia Handy Place for Women, a women’s shelter in Chinatown, and case management has been conducted virtually — a change that may be preferable and worth making permanent.

“Tele-case management turns out to be working better — and at least as well — for some of our residents,” Stribling said. “Speaking to a FaceTime Case Manager over the phone in your apartment can feel less intrusive than the actual person in your apartment to some of our residents — especially those with a trauma history.”

As the District proceeds with phased reopening, currently in Phase Two, N Street Village is “in a position of strength,” having recently diversified its revenue and undergone a financial restructuring. But in the long-term, there remains “significant uncertainty due to the potential impact of a sustained economic recession on private donations and government contract revenue,” Stribling added.

In the meantime, Stribling said N Street Village is focused on continuing its services unimpeded for its current clients while preparing for a greater demand in the coming months. “Those already on the margins will be further destabilized and there will be more need – at least in the short-term – for our services.”

Artist/Vendor James Davis. PHOTO BY ROLANDO APARICIO VELASCO

ACCOMPLISHMENTS James Davis Moving into a new apartment!

ARTIST/VENDOR

BIRTHDAYS Anthony Crawford July 29 ARTIST/VENDOR

James Davis August 1 ARTIST/VENDOR

Dele Akerejah August 4 ARTIST/VENDOR

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NEWS

What can happen when the police are asked to respond to a mental health crisis in DC?

BY ERIC FALQUERO ericf@streetsensemedia.org

Editor’s Note: During the reporting process for this article, the full name of the man whose mental health and arrest history are discussed in detail here was revealed, which allowed for the review of dozens of public records. Because he was not interviewed and did not consent to sharing this information, Street Sense Media has chosen to refer to him using the nickname provided in an interview with his friend.

O

n June 20, 15 days after Mayor Muriel Bowser named a portion of 16th Street NW in front of the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” a Black man who reportedly struggles with schizophrenia and homelessness was handcuffed and shackled by the ankles at the plaza. As he lay on the ground he yelled to bystanders for help. He was then carried by four Metropolitan Police Department officers who attempted to slide him into a squad car but, due to his attempts to resist and the way he was bound, the short man could not be forced into the back seat.

“Ahhhh — they pulling me by the chains,” the man yelled as one MPD officer was leaning into the opposite side of the car where the man’s legs would have been on the seat. “He’s pulling me by the chains!”

The man was ultimately led to a van, Wagon 22, which left the plaza roughly 15 minutes after the arrest began.

“First and foremost, he's innocent. He has schizophrenia and he was obviously in an episode,” said Hussein Heshmat, who claimed to be the man’s friend of four years. “His shirt was off, he didn't have no shoes, he was already starting a fight with somebody. And basically, for some reason in his brain, he was going to stop all media from doing what they wanted to do.”

The man in question, who goes by the nickname “D,” according to Heshmat, had been aggressively approaching a TV cameraman. A t-shirt vendor, whose tent was directly next to this interaction, said that D was carrying a stick, walking toward the cameraman, and holding his hand up in front of the lens of the camera and the man’s face.

The t-shirt vendor said D was yelling at the man with the camera, repeating, “You don’t know who you’re dealing with, you don’t know who you’re dealing with!” The cameraman

stepped behind the barriers used to block off the street for protestors and said “Get your hand out of my face,” but D continued toward him.

MPD declined the request for an interview to discuss the situation and said in a statement that “MPD members witnessed an assault that occurred.” The department has had a constant presence in the area since protesters first marched to the White House on May 29 to protest the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis.

“One of the cons to having the police block off this area and having such a large mass of people in one space is that D.C. has a very large homeless and a very large mentally-ill population that is really not taken care of,” said a 24-year-old volunteer medic who asked to remain anonymous. “We're displacing a lot of these people who only have bus shelters and other [makeshift] homes.”

A count conducted in January found that 6,380 people were homeless in D.C. on a single night, 20% of whom had a history of mental illness. Six hundred and fifty-three of those counted were unsheltered on that night.

The medic said she had been on site nearly every day since the protests started 22 days prior. She described the environment as generally helpful for people experiencing homelessness, with an abundance of free food, water, masks, and people looking out for each other. But she said the police had been preventing people from sleeping in the bus shelters within the perimeter of the street closures for protesters. MPD was presented with this assertion but neither confirmed nor denied it in the department’s statement.

Many who attend the protests aren't aware that some people in the crowd are experiencing homelessness or struggling with a mental illness, according to the volunteer medic. She said this means that when the police get called, the crowd only sees a Black man being put in cuffs. A Black man struggling.

“From a health care perspective, that's something that we try not to do because when you restrain somebody, it makes them more aggressive. That's an incredibly scary situation to be put in. I would fight back, too,” she said. “They need to bring in a healthcare professional to deescalate that situation.”

The medic said she offered to step in and talk to D, away

from the crowd and officers, to “cool him off,” if the police could manage crowd control. She said the offer was “rejected.”

Heshmat, D’s friend, said the officers did take into account the medic’s assessment of D’s mental health. He told one of the first officers on the scene that D needed to see a doctor and didn’t need to go to jail. “[The officer]’s like, ‘I got you, I hear you,” Heshmat recalled. “I checked with the cops, like even further up the block. And [the second officer he spoke to] gave me the call that he was definitely at a hospital.”

While D was lying on the ground shackled, and again as he leaned part-way out of the police car the officers had tried to push him into, Heshmat could be heard shouting to D that he should calm down and not worry, that he needed help and was not going to jail.

“Shut up, shut the f*** up!” D yelled back. “I don’t even know you. Who are you?”

Heshmat said he planned to try to contact D’s family and friends to let them know where he was.

The police report does not indicate that D was taken to a hospital. There is no court case derived from this specific incident, so there is no sworn affidavit of the arresting officer’s account publicly available. If D was provided treatment from the Department of Behavioral Health, that information is private by law, according to DBH. The department did not make anyone available to be interviewed for this story but provided a brief statement.

MPD’s statement said officers apprehended D and transported him to Central Cell Block, which is located at MPD’s Judiciary Square headquarters.

“Don’t believe what they’re telling you through the [arrest] process. They tell people what they want to hear to move them along. They’re never going to see them again,” said Joseph Scrofano, a criminal defense lawyer who has been practicing law in the District for 10 years, the first 4-5 of which he took court-appointed cases. Prior to that, he clerked in D.C. Superior Court for two years. Scrofano is not involved in any of D’s cases.

D’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.

Saturday is the worst day to be arrested, according to Scrofano. After a person is processed at an MPD district station, where they “sit in a cell for some hours, depending

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on the charges and depending on the person’s record,” the person is then taken to Central Cell Block to be detained until their arraignment at D.C. Superior Court the next day. Because court is not held on Sundays, a Saturday arrest guarantees two nights in Central Cell Block, which Scrofano describes as “a disgusting civil rights violation of a facility.” Local pastor Rev. Graylan Hagler led activists to protest the conditions in 2018 after being held in the facility for 28 hours after a civil disobedience arrest.

D’s full name and criminal case number for the June 20 incident appeared on the Monday, June 22 “lockup list,” a document sent to defense attorneys informing them of who was arrested since the last day of court and which cases they’re assigned.

The police report notes three charges against D. It states he assaulted an unknown member of the media, i.e., “Simple assault w/ personal weapons (hands / feet).” He was then stopped by the eight officers named in the report. At least 12 uniformed officers are visible on the video recording of the scene.

The report says D pushed one officer while trying to avoid arrest, which is why his legs were shackled. Despite the shackles, the report says D managed to wrap his legs around a sergeant, causing the sergeant to fall. This led to the charge “Assault on a police officer w/ personal weapons (hands / feet).”

Both of those charges were recorded as having occurred at 800 16th Street NW. The third, “threat to kidnap or injure a person,” was listed as having occurred in Wagon 22, while D was in custody.

There are no court records attached to D’s name that indicate a criminal case was filed at that time. He was released on June 22 under the condition of a stay-away order related to the White House and surrounding streets, including Black Lives Matter plaza.

More than 90% of defendants in the District of Columbia are released pretrial, according to a memo from the Pretrial Services Agency regarding fiscal year 2019 release rates. The agency recommends conditions of release for every person who will be charged in court by conducting a “risk assessment” that, the memo says, takes mental health and other factors into account.

According to the Superior Court website, some arrests may be “no papered,” where the prosecution chooses not to pursue charges in court. But the prosecutors would not use [mental health] as a basis to just not charge a case, Scrofano said.

“I've worked with [D] a number of times. He's been arrested a number of times,” said the volunteer medic. “And because he's mentally ill, what happens is he gets taken down to [detox], they give him 10 milligrams of Ativan for the day, and then he's got no healthcare. There's no system in place. He leaves and he comes back here, and it's just a big cycle.”

Demonstrating a need for help This cycle began for D on June 13, according to a sworn affidavit submitted to D.C. Superior Court by the arresting officer in a case then listed as United States v. John Doe. Around 8:30 p.m., D jumped over a temporary barrier at the south sidewalk of Lafayette Square park. He put his hands up and said to a Secret Service officer in full uniform, “Help me, help me, shoot me."

The next 12 hours were spent finding a place to put him.

He was handcuffed, at which point he repeatedly said "I can't breathe" and "my head hurts." A Secret Service certified EMT was called immediately. D refused medical attention.

Like what was observed on June 20, he resisted being removed from the area and was carried by his underarms and forced by six USSS officers into a Secret Service vehicle. The medic was called again during this process because D "went limp and did not say a word." One of the assisting officers, believing him unconscious, performed a "sternum rub" that D "responded to immediately,” causing the officers to believe

he was feigning unconsciousness. D refused medical attention a second time.

From there, the Secret Service took him to MPD's Second District. D refused to exit the vehicle and was forcibly "extracted" and moved to a processing cell. He said his wrist was injured and was “placed” back in the Secret Service vehicle by six officers and taken to Sibley Hospital.

At the hospital, D again refused to exit the vehicle and was forcibly extracted by six officers. While there, he cursed at nurses, failed to comply with staff, and attempted to headbutt an officer. D was eventually medically cleared.

“Help me, help me, shoot me."

He was then shuttled back and forth across downtown as the Secret Service tried to have him detained by local authorities.

First, he was taken to Central Cell Block, which rejected D because he “had no identifiers.”

Next, he was transported back to MPD’s Second District, which “rejected [Defendant]1 because he was combative.”

He was taken back to Central Cell Block, where authorities “still rejected D1 because he has no identifiers.”

So he was taken back to Second District for electronic fingerprinting to identify him. But D was “belligerent” and “belligerent towards officers,” refusing to allow them to get his fingerprints and refusing to get back in the Secret Service vehicle.

Four officers tried to put him in the vehicle but D “kept sticking his foot inside the door jamb of the vehicle and stating 'Yes break it.’" He also repeatedly unbuckled his seat belt and said, “It's going to be a lot harder than this, I can go all day.”

It was around the time of this refusal to be fingerprinted that a mental health solution was considered. A wagon was called to transport D to the Psychiatric Institute of Washington. He refused to comply and five officers put him in the wagon and secured his seatbelt.

“During the drive to PIW, [Defendant]1 unbuckled his seat belt and was kicking and hitting his head on the inside of the transport vehicle and stating 'You guys should've shot me down' and 'shoot me,'” the affidavit says.

PIW refused to treat D “because there was no room for him.”

Around 9:15 a.m., an EMS vehicle arrived to transport D back to Sibley Hospital. He was in the hospital when this account was submitted for the court.

D received only one charge from the ordeal: unlawful entry of the White House grounds against the will of the U.S. government.

He was released under the condition of a stay-away order that defined the White House Complex as the area bounded by K Street NW, 13th Street NW, Pennsylvania Ave NW, 12th Street NW, Constitution Ave NW, and 19th Street NW. There are no court records associated with arrests prior to the June 20 incident Street Sense Media observed at Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Mental health, the police, and the courts The volunteer medic at Black Lives Matter Plaza who tried to intervene and deescalate the situation on June 20 said she wished MPD officers received better mental health training.

The statement provided by the Department of Behavioral Health highlights a sustained commitment to such training.

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“[DBH], in partnership with MPD, trains patrol officers on how best to respond to calls for people whose behavior suggests a mental health disorder. The program is in its 11th year and has trained more than 1,100 MPD patrol officers called Crisis Intervention Officers.” Some of those officers have been lost to attrition over the years, due to retirement, resignation, or separation from the department. In its March 2 responses to D.C. Council performance oversight questions, MPD listed 3,796 sworn employees. The majority of sworn staff are officers or detectives, according to the department's most recent annual report.

The CIO program has led to an overall decrease in individuals being arrested and an overall decrease in injuries to officers.

In Fiscal Year 2017, 89% of incidents a CIO responded to resulted in no injuries. Eight percent of the time, the person being responded to was injured, down from 45-56% during the FY11-FY15 review period, according to DBH trend reports on the program. Most often, CIOs are performing crisis intervention on-scene and then transporting subjects for psychiatric evaluation. People were involuntarily transported for emergency psychiatric care more than twice as often as they volunteered to be transported and assessed.

To become a Crisis Intervention Officer, law enforcement must partake in 40 hours of training in areas like conflict deescalation and mental illness education. DBH provides CIO training to additional agencies, such as the Secret Service, the D.C. Housing Authority Police, and WMATA’s Metro Transit Police.

In a 2018 report published by the Office of the D.C. Auditor, CIOs reported that disorderly or disruptive conduct made up almost half of the calls to which they responded between 2009 and 2016. Respondents also reported being met with “Hostile/uncooperative” behavior most of the time when responding to a call.

“Many communities continue to face pervasive gaps in mental health services, especially crisis services, placing a heavy burden on law enforcement agencies and, in particular, officers,” according to a 2019 Council of State Governments Justice Center report. “Without access to appropriate alternatives, officers are often left with a set of poor choices: leave people in potentially harmful situations, bring them to hospital emergency departments, or arrest them.”

The audit of DBH indicated the CIO program in itself was not adequate in serving members of the community experiencing mental health crises. While it has been “effective in connecting people with emergency psychiatric treatment,” the services that officers can provide do not stretch far beyond those available during the crisis period. In practice, this looks like an officer connecting a person with emergency treatment, but not with a program that will provide a more comprehensive, personalized treatment plan. Between 2011 and 2016, CIOs referred only 4% of individuals with whom they interacted to case management offered by DBH. The CIO program is not DBH’s only collaboration with law enforcement or the court system. There are multiple points preand post-arrest when a person may be connected to mental health services and potentially diverted away from the criminal justice system. D.C. has been wrestling with how best to navigate the overlap between these systems in a piecemeal fashion.

The department provides emergency psychiatric services in response to an acute need. It also provides a number of ongoing behavioral health services — including therapy, case management for linkage to other services, and medication — to clients of its Core Service Agencies (CSA). The audit characterized CSAs as “small to mid-sized, mostly nonprofit community mental health clinics” contracted by DBH. In the five years leading up to the audit, some CSAs had cut back on services, particularly those affecting “justice-involved consumers.”

Most emergency services fall under The Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP), which oversees (continued on next page)

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Plywood used to board up buildings at the intersection where D was arrested have been covered in art.

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24/7 emergency mental health services and the Mobile Crisis/ Homeless Outreach branch. CPEP staff and those working at local hospitals told the audit report’s authors they can handle involuntary transports of those experiencing mental health crises; however, DBH staff acknowledged that CIOs and hospital staff are “not the most adept at linking someone to ongoing services at a Core Service Agency (CSA) or another provider.”

This leads to people being referred to the psychiatric emergency system more often than is needed, resulting in an overflow of patients, and higher likelihood of repeat transfers but no more permanent solutions. Evidence also suggests that if CIO officers were more equipped to link people with long term or ongoing care and support, hospitals would not experience quite the overflow of patients in their emergency systems.

In 2017, the District was awarded a competitive U.S. Department of Justice grant to define the District’s “superutilizer” population of “individuals with mental illness and co-occurring substance abuse disorders who repeatedly cycle through multiple service systems.” The Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program grant brought six agencies together to share data and identify people who were dependent on these services, but not best served by them: DBH, MPD, the Department of Corrections, Fire and Emergency Management System, the Office of Unified Communications and the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council.

While acknowledging the promise of this collaboration, the audit report concluded D.C. “does not yet have robust programs and policies in place” to prepare law enforcement officers to identify and aid individuals experiencing mental health crises. This leads to the unnecessary criminalization of already vulnerable populations in place of offering concrete behavioral health services. An unnamed judge is quoted in the report as saying “D.C. is far, far behind on the [pre-arrest diversion] in place in other jurisdictions.”

The program was predated by the now-defunct Frequent Users Service Enhancement pilot program in 2010, a collaboration between the Department of Corrections and the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness.

The same year the audit report was published, DBH and MPD also began a $1 million pilot program for a mental health prearrest diversion service, which was required by the Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results Amendment Act of 2016. It is a

PHOTO BY ERIC FALQUERO

holistic approach intended to “support individuals in crisis due to problems associated with substance abuse, mental health, and homelessness,” and seeks to reduce repeat arrests of individuals struggling with severe mental health disorders. If successful, the program will also “free up” law enforcement officers, allowing them to focus on addressing more violent crimes.

The NEAR Act stipulates that MPD coordinate with the DBH and the Department of Human Services to pair mental and behavioral health clinicians and outreach specialists with MPD officers in teams, in order to immediately identify individuals in need of assistance and connect those who may be impacted by homelessness, mental illness, or substance abuse, with available services. MPD and DHS were expected to rely on existing officers, while DBH was allotted near $1 million to staff the program.

In the summer of 2018, 69 MPD officers in the areas targeted by the pilot program participated in training designed to familiarize them with program goals and opportunities and processes for referrals. Each new class of CIOs is also briefed on the program and encouraged to contact an MPD supervisor if they encounter someone that may be eligible, according to an overview of the program submitted to D.C. Council as part of this year’s budget oversight.

Participants are offered the chance to meet with a mental health professional the same day. Within three days, the individual and the mental health professional will have collaborated on a plan regarding what services are needed and can be offered. After 90 days an individual will be reevaluated and after 180 days they will graduate from the program.

As of Dec. 31, 2018, 83 people had accepted the pre-arrest diversion option, 95% of whom had been diagnosed with severe mental illness and 95% of whom had unstable housing.

Some of the instances when a person is eligible for pre-arrest diversion to mental health assistance are “if an individual is known to MPD to have ongoing behavioral health concerns that present risks to the community but is not at a crisis level” or when an “individual commits an eligible arrest and an MPD officer offers diversion instead of arrest.”

“If an individual is known by MPD to have a criminal history and behavioral health challenges, an officer should not have to wait to witness the individual committing a crime to make a referral,” according to the program overview. “Therefore an officer can engage the individual to encourage participation in the program.”

However, if the person declines to participate, the arrest proceeds.

The same is true for post-arrest diversion options in the judicial system.

The D.C. Superior Court Mental Health Community Court seeks to integrate community resources to meet the unique needs of persons with mental illness in the court system, according to a 2016 analysis of super-utilizers in D.C. Participation is voluntary and eligibility excludes domestic violence cases, violent felonies, and gun convictions. To be clinically eligible, a person must have a severe mental health diagnosis, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. People with a co-occuring substance abuse disorder may be accepted if they agree to cooperate with drug testing and treatment.

Mental health court is a good program, if you can get your client approved by the Pretrial Services Agency and the U.S. Attorney’s office, according to Scorfano. “It’s a very good program. If the person complies with the treatment, it can do wonders. Back when I used to routinely practice in there, the judge would come down from the bench to do a graduation ceremony, present a certificate, and shake the graduate’s hand.

It was very moving.”

Once in the court system, to be sent somewhere to receive treatment, like the District’s public psychiatric hospital, St. Elizabeths Hospital, the person must be deemed “incompetent.”

You can have a client who has severe mental health issues, but if they know who you are, that you’re their lawyer, or at least if there are no findings that they’re not competent, they go through the same system as everyone else, Scrofano said.

“I had a few clients over the years where they just kept getting arrested over and over again,” Scrofano said. “Then they get held. If you’re lucky, you can get them over to St. Es. If you’re not, then they sit in jail. And hopefully you can get it diverted.”

If someone is deemed incompetent, they are not simply referred to St. Elizabeths for treatment. They are prescribed a treatment plan to bring them up to a minimal level of competency. According to Scrofano, a common scenario is when someone is held for a nonviolent charge that would merit only a few days in jail, the prosecutor’s office sends the person for a 30-day, 50-day, or 100-day cycle of competency treatment at St. Es instead of dismissing it.

“There are definitely repeat individuals in this space,” Scrofano said. “In my experience, there’s not much sympathy in the prosecutor’s office.”

According to the 2018 DBH audit, “judges at the D.C. Superior Court ordered DBH, on several occasions throughout the latter half

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

of 2017, to appear to explain why defendants were being waitlisted at the D.C. Jail for admission to SEH. The waitlist and the defendants’ subsequent detention at the jail, the judges explained, violated court orders for admission to SEH and resulted in the unlawful detention of the people with mental illness. They went on to explain how the waitlist subsequently delayed a person’s ability to be evaluated within the 30-day statutory requirement. It was not until the judges threatened to hold DBH in contempt that the agency made changes to reduce admission wait time drastically (for pre-trial defendants) and implement a short-term jail-based competency restoration program.”

DBH also operates a jail diversion program for people with serious mental illnesses at risk of arrest. N Street Village has a contract with DBH to spearhead the program. A national survey by the Treatment Advocacy Center found that state prisons and county jails hold as many as 10 times more people with serious mental illness than state psychiatric hospitals do.

And many individuals with mental health needs are not identified. About 33% of adult D.C. residents arrested during June 2008 had some indication of mental health need in partner agency records, according to a Vera Institute of Justice report.

Many others arrested with mental health needs were not known to community mental health care providers. D.C. Jail intake data from one month in 2014 showed that 14% 142 of 992 people were diagnosed as mentally ill or severely mentally ill.

When someone is released from jail or prison, DBH staff are supposed to link them to Core Service Agencies. However, DBH does not track those linkages to determine whether that person continues to receive service after their initial appointments, according to the 2018 audit. “Once in the community, DBH has no long-term follow-up plan tailored to justice-involved consumers’ unique needs, nor an assessable outcome or quality of care analysis specific to the population,” the report says.

D’s arrests at Black Lives Matter Plaza account for four of the 470 “unrest-related arrests” MPD had tracked as of July 17.

Before the four open cases accumulated over the past month, court records show D was involved in 17 other closed cases in the District. The most recent was in 2018. The first was filed in 2013, the day after D turned 19.

Except for one case centered around an assault against a police officer, each was nonviolent. The charges included unlawful entry after a stay-away-order, failure to pay Metro fare, and not appearing for court.

The court docket for his first case, in 2013, shows that D was transferred to diversion court but did not adhere to the treatment requirements and was placed back in the regular court system.

“The multitude of social problems facing many people with serious mental illness also increases their risk of justice involvement,” according to a study published in the April 2020 edition of the American Psychiatric Association's monthly journal. “Social problems of poverty, homelessness, unemployment, and low educational attainment accompany serious mental illness. An increasing number of researchers and advocates point to poverty as a key driver of justice involvement for people with and without serious mental illness.”

Mayor Bowser’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2021 included a 7.7% decrease about $25 million less in funds allocated to the Department of Behavioral Health. This included a decrease of $32,000 for Adult Behavioral Health Services.

But, every program contained within CPEP sees a proposed increase in funding. As was the case for the past two years, there is no change to the amount of funding recommended for Homeless Outreach / Mobile Crisis services.

D.C. Council reappropriated $15 million from a proposed increase to MPD’s budget in response to the public outcry to “defund police” in the wake of the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many other unarmed Black Americans.

The department’s budget would still increase, but Police Chief Peter Newsham told The Washington Post the reduction in new funds would lead to “a hiring freeze that could reduce the 3,800-member force by 200 officers or more.” The council’s summary of its edits to the budget says $9.67 million and 50 full-time-equivalent employees were reallocated from MPD to agencies and programs doing violence interruption and prevention, restorative justice, and victim service work.

The council also invested $9.5 million “to reverse the Mayor’s cuts to the Behavioral Health rehabilitation program

at the Department of Behavioral Health,” according to the summary. “This will allow local behavioral health providers to continue to serve both Medicaid and non-Medicaid District residents who receive mental health rehabilitation services.”

The council approved the budget on July 23 and the supporting legislation on July 28. It will now go before Mayor Bowser for her signature before being transmitted to Congress for final approval.

A compounding cycle After D’s release on Monday, June 22, he was arrested again the next day, back in the protest zone around the White House.

D.C. had just entered Phase 2 of reopening from the COVID19 stay-at-home order, and Mayor Muriel Bowser wanted H Street NW reopened, too. That morning, MPD forced people out of an encampment that had been operating on the sidewalk next to St. John’s Church and extended into the street. Tents and canopies, including a pop-up restaurant for demonstrators, had occupied the space for weeks.

A man in the crowd the previous Saturday told Street Sense Media that city officials had been pressuring them to leave for several days. But a person working the pop-up grill told DCist that police had not given demonstrators a chance to collect their belongings before forcing them out.

According to an affidavit associated with a court case tied to this arrest, D "made multiple statements and advances on the police line ... provok[ing] them in an attempt to get a retaliatory response." As three civil disturbance units lined up to move protestors out of the block, D brandished a metal chair threateningly and was sprayed with "a chemical irritant" to prevent him from striking an officer after he ignored multiple requests to put the chair down.

"Come out here and I'll whoop your b a " he yelled at one specific sergeant. "I'll f you in the a " D was arrested and charged with “attempted threat” for that incident. He was also charged with contempt for violating a stay-away order. A single assault charge for the Saturday arrest was also filed, for assaulting and threatening John Doe. “It should be noted that officers and the command staff knew that [D] was arrested a couple days prior for an Assault on A Police Officer and Simple Assault where he was given a court-ordered stay-away as a condition of release,” the affidavit says.

Seven days later, on Thursday, July 2, D was again charged with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest, and contempt for violating the stay-away order associated with his June 23 arrest.

Again, or still, without a shirt, D had been the target of a “lookout” for violating the stay-away order and entering the protest area near the White House.

A uniformed officer in an unmarked van observed him talking on 16th Street NW, within the borders of the White House complex he had been ordered away from twice before. After being seen speaking to a lieutenant, D walked north toward K Street

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NW, where he would have exited the White House Complex, but he reversed course and began walking south, deeper into the area. When officers approached D to stop him, he began actively running away from them. At this point, the officer who had been in the unmarked van made "a solo tactical takedown." From there, the scene looked much like D’s three previous arrests: D refused to walk on his own, was carried by multiple officers, and was put into the back of a van to be transported.

He was arraigned and released the next day with another pretrial stay-away order filed. At this point, D has seven charges filed against him across three separate pending misdemeanor cases, each set for a first status hearing on the same day in mid-September. Each also includes a separate stay-away order for the White House and surrounding area.

“He has mental health issues, so he may not be incompetent but he may not fully grasp or have impulse control,” Scrofano, the criminal defense attorney, wrote in an email after seeing D’s cases. “The U.S. Attorney's Office abuses these stay-away orders to trap people and set them up for failure.”

The next day, another Saturday and the Fourth of July holiday, D was arrested again for being observed within the area of the stay-away order. News2Share tweeted that “bike police crowded around and arrested a man seemingly randomly.

They picked him up and carried him handcuffed as a crowd followed and tried to film.” In a video shared with the tweet, D can be heard repeating, “Don’t let them leave with me ” as he is carried by officers. At least 14 officers can be seen in the video.

While he is not reported to have been violent or aggressive before his apprehension, having been targeted only for returning to the area outlined in his stay-away orders, D resisted arrest.

He bit one of the officers carrying him on the thigh, breaking the skin and causing swelling. Once he had been placed in the back of an MPD wagon, D attacked an officer who was in the rear of the wagon with him, kicked the officer in the right knee and headbutted him near his left eye. "B , I'll beat the sh out of you " and "I'll f ing kill you, b " D said during the altercation. The officer was transported by ambulance to Washington Hospital Center for immediate medical treatment.

D was placed under arrest for “assault with a dangerous weapon (teeth),” two counts of assault on a police officer, three counts of “contempt of court (release violations),” and resisting arrest. He was then transported to the First District for processing. Despite this list of charges from MPD, the prosecutor only filed one charge in the associated court case: assaulting, or interfering with a law enforcement officer. Unlike D’s previous cases, this one was logged at the felony level and placed on the accelerated felony trial calendar, awaiting a grand jury.

Unlike the previous arrests, D was not released. He was sent to D.C. Jail without bail on July 6 and the jail confirmed he was still there at the time of publication. He awaits the first hearing of the felony case, which is set to be held next month, 12 days after his 26th birthday.

Callie Tansill-Suddath contributed reporting.

PHOTO BY ERIC FALQUERO

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OPINION

Trump didn’t make anything great

BY ROBERT WARREN

The Black Lives Matter demonstrations on top of the coronavirus pandemic have been one of the saddest times in my life to date. The loss of loved ones and family members has left me heartbroken to a point where I wonder whether we are living in the last of days.

Being an older Black man, experiencing the impact of racist and

biased views of others on me and other Black men, has come to be just a part of living life in America. You learn to take the good with the bad. I think I have lived long enough to know people are people and we all do what we do. And evil people come in all shapes and colors. Over the years, I have met many white men and women who I have come to respect and love. I try not to find fault with them and hope they find no fault with me.

The list of people who have died unjustifiably while in the hands of law enforcement grows. It has been devastating and heartbreaking to many communities of color, and, in some respect, everyday Americans. I believe most Americans want us to get to a more perfect union where every person has the chance to live the American Dream.

I believe most Americans want to change the reality that most Black men living in America are just trying to survive a system that has been historically racist and discriminatory towards us.

The elephant in the room, where the pandemic and the demonstrations meet, is Donald Trump. With more than 100,000 Americans dead on his watch, and his politics of division working hard to pit the American people against each other during the coronavirus pandemic, I see no positive way forward as long as he is president of the United States. There will only be more protests and unrest on the streets.

As of June 1, Trump had made 19,127 false or misleading claims since taking office, according to the Washington Post. So it should be no surprise that he lied when he said he would “Make America Great Again.”

Robert Warren is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

George Floyd protesters. PHOTO COURTESY OF CODY BAHN

Welcome to the club

BY COLLY DENNIS

It’s with great sadness we see brand new faces lining up at soup kitchens all across D.C. Many look embarrassed about standing in line along with people who look like they are homeless or living in poverty.

Oh well, it’s rough out there. Welcome to the club, folks! As wild as it sounds, if you need something to eat or to learn how to survive during these hard and trying times, guess what? Ask the nearest homeless person you can find. Sure enough, you will find the help you need.

There should be no shame in seeking help. Anything can happen, whether financially or personally. You can end up on the street just like the last homeless person you walked by who was asking for some help.

The world is round and it always turns around. No one is better than anyone standing in a soup kitchen line waiting to get a meal and some aid during these hard times. We are all in the same boat. Good luck!

See you in line. And please don’t cut the line. Please. Thanks.

Colly Dennis is an artist and vendor with Street Sense Media.

Residents of Garfield Terrace in NW wait in line for food. PHOTO BY OMAR BARNES

Join the conversation, share your views • Have an opinion about how homelessness is being addressed in our community?

• Want to share firsthand experience?

• Interested in responding to what someone else has written?

Street Sense Media has maintained an open submission policy since our founding. We aim to elevate voices from across the housing spectrum and foster healthy debate.

Please send submissions to opinion@streetsensemedia.org.

STREETSENSEMEDIA.ORG

/ / 11

We need more than police reform in America today. We need a whole new system.

June 2020 Black Lives Matter Protest. PHOTO BY JOSEPH YOUNG

BY JOSEPH YOUNG

T

he uprising in response to George Floyd’s death was decades, if not centuries, in the making. The way Floyd died on his stomach while a Minneapolis police officer placed his knee on Floyd’s neck conjured up the cruelty and barbarity of slavery and memories from my childhood.

I was 12 years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered on April 4, 1968. King’s death hit me hard, because he was an advocate of peaceful, nonviolent protest who suffered the wrath of white supremacists for daring to stand up for the civil rights of African-Americans.

Other civil rights activists assassinated during the ’60s include Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and three young voter registration workers. In some ways, today feels like the 1960s all over again.

As a young person growing up in Los Angeles, I reached my teens and became numb to the persistent violence in everyday life. When I was a teenager, a police officer stopped me and put me in a chokehold. I stood there, indifferent to the violence being inflicted upon me. I wasn’t angry or fearful; I was numb. The officer released me with a casual smile I haven’t forgotten.

I’m 64, and I still feel as numb as I did coming of age. State-sanctioned violence and terrorist murder, like that committed by Dylann Roof, the Charleston church murderer, are as rampant as they were during the civil rights era.

The cellphone video of Floyd’s death sparked civil unrest that has gripped the nation. Young people have been galvanized by a racist, violent police system that kills

Black people. They have been brought together by political disappointments that do nothing to change injustice.

In June, I joined the young demonstrators at the White House protesting Floyd’s death.

The crowd looks like what America should look like: mostly young and made up of all colors and backgrounds. It is certain that the American ruling class will try and divide us.

The divide-and-conquer strategy is as old as the American republic and the Constitution.

Unprovoked police violence will follow.

The urgency of a better future compels us to act now. The rumble of discontent in the street is loud and furious. If America doesn’t listen to the calls for radical change, it will collapse under the weight of its history and its own indecision.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser received national acclaim for renaming a portion of 16th Street NW, leading to Lafayette Square and the White House, “Black Lives Matter Plaza.” Bowser also had the slogan painted on the street, in massive yellow letters, following Floyd’s death. Those are symbolic gestures.

D.C. and other cities across the United States must take immediate action to tackle systemic racism in policing. Activists are calling for the defunding of police departments around the nation and the redirection of those funds to community services, such as education, housing, and health care.

Floyd’s death proves, however, that work needs to be done beyond reforming a broken police system. Abolishing the police does not mean the end of law and order in society. It does not mean anarchy in the streets. It means the end of racist, violent policing in the United States and the beginning of a new public safety

system that protects the health, safety and wellbeing of Black people and all people. That future starts with community control — which means giving the people control of everything their communities need to grow and thrive, including being in charge of overseeing the police and determining how policing works in their communities. It’s why equity advocates favor funding communities, not cops.

The torch has been passed to a new generation of freedom fighters. Their aim must be to carry the light for the millions who want freedom and human rights for all.

In 1987, Toni Morrison wrote in Beloved, a story of slavery and racism in America: “And

O my people, out yonder, hear me they do not love your neck unnoosed and straight. So love your neck; put a hand on it, grace it, stroke it and hold it up.”

The photographs in this essay were made near the White House where protesters are expressing their discontent over George Floyd’s brutal death in police custody.

Joseph Young is a photographer living in Washington, D.C. His work has been accepted into the Smithsonian collections and has also appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, Washington Times, Washington Afro Newspaper and Washington Informer.

The wall of protest posters is a clarion call for a new public safety system. People, such as this man, have come from around the region to view the Floyd memorial. PHOTO BY JOSEPH YOUNG

1 2 // S T REET SENS E ME DI A / / JULY 2 9 - A UG . 11, 2020

ART

Aiming for the Prize

BY REV. JOHN LITTLEJOHN Artist/Vendor PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFFERY MCNEIL

I never tell fish tales

BY JEFFERY MCNEIL Artist/Vendor

How fishing helped me cope with Covid-19: One of the things I learned through this global pandemic is finding a hobby. The difference between those who find misery in history versus me is that I find things to enjoy besides listening to doom, gloom, and pessimism.

COVID-19

BY MARCUS MCCALL Artist/Vendor

Dealing with COVID-19 has me on the edge of a breakdown. I was just incarcerated when the virus broke out and when it did, the whole compound went on lockdown.

Wardens stopped visits and all inmate movement.

Now half of the government is shut down and I need services such as mental health and access to the DMV for an ID. As a returning citizen I am kind of lost.

The Office of Returning Citizens Affairs can only do so much with this pandemic in place, so I am out being very independent by referring myself to different services.

COVID-19 was written in the Holy Bible, Deuteronomy 28:60-62. “Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the Lord thy God.”

First of all, what is the definition of a “prize?” One is an award in an athletic competition.

The Holy Bible talks about a prize in 1 Corinthians 9:24. It says, “Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.”

The Holy Bible also says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

What goes up must come down.

When praise goes up, blessings come down.

It is truly a blessing when we can give cheerfully to those in need, and receive cheerfully from those who may have more than they need. Amen!

Give and it should be given back to you. God loves a cheerful giver, so let us give to one another. Amen!

The Apostle Paul asks his readers to follow his example and run in such a way as to get the prize.

Like disciplined athletes, our running — the way we live our lives — might mean saying no to some of our pleasures.

Being willing to forgo some of our indulgences might help us reach others with the good news of our rescue from sin and death and homelessness.

With our hearts and minds, our souls, and our strength trained on the goal of inviting others to run the race alongside us, we are also assured of the ultimate prize — eternal fellowship with God. The victor’s crown God bestows will last forever. We win it by running our lives with the aim of making Him know, while relying on His strength to do so.

What a reason to run. We must turn His grace into “Amazing Grace.”

We must go from being weak into being strong. All the evil around us is no match for the God that is within us!

Service to the Lord is absolute faithfulness wherever He places you or me.

Amen!

What is your aim in life? How is it similar or different from Paul’s?

Jesus helps me stay focused on the reason I run: to share about Him with those around me. Amen.

As I close, the Holy Bible says in Psalms 51:10-13, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”

Amen! Love, always.

Like disciplined athletes, our running — the way we live our lives — might mean saying no to some of our pleasures.

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Peace Be Still

BY DARLESHA JOYNER Artist/Vendor

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The Washington Football Team’s change of name

BY ANTHONY CARNEY Artist/Vendor

I am ok with me today I love me and all my disabilities God made me different I’m content with me Thank you, God

It’s all about respecting another person’s culture. Racism hurts people very much.

The Redskins were the last team to let a Black man play for them. The team finally allowed Black players in 1962. The Native Americans are happy about the name changing. It’s the principle of the matter.

Hats off to our Native American brothers and sisters. Spread love.

My HIV is not who I am. That does not define me as a person.

I am still a human being at end of the day.

A new day of hope

A news release on WashingtonFootball.com says “On July 3rd we announced a thorough review of the team’s name in light of events in the country and feedback from our community. ...For updated brand clarity and consistency purposes, we will call ourselves the “Washington Football Team” pending adoption of our new name. The Redskins name and logo will officially be retired by the start of the 2020 season. We encourage fans, media and all other parties to use “Washington Football Team” immediately.

IMAGE COURTESY OF FERNANDO MARTELLO VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

BY CARLTON JOHNSON Artist/Vendor

The renewed Black Lives Matter demonstrations are during a time when jobs remain scarce in the United States. On one hand, think about the manifestations of the COVID-19 outbreak around the world, and on the other, how hard it hits the community here. In D.C., thousands of people, both at home waiting to get back to work and homeless looking for a way out of homelessness, have been affected. This makes you think about what the future will bring.

I have been affected with living for a new day of hope. I have neither participated in the George Floyd protests nor have I been a victim of police brutality or systemic racism. All of this will be torn down when we come up with the vaccine for the matters at hand. The homeless community has been affected just as the world has been. Our Street Sense sales have been like the decline on Wall Street, and we know the feelings of CEOs of companies looking at a downturn in business.

In all, the result from these movements should be in part one of the people’s rallying cries: to defund the police. With more than 16,000 people sending testimony to the D.C. Council calling for this, to what point would the city leaders cut the police budget? Where would the funds be invested instead?

Could this be the turning point of children going back to school?

Coronavirus precautions and news reports affect you, me, and everyone around the world with changes in our daily lives. I have come to the point of adapting—it’s something we must get through, for as in the words of Nike, “Just Do It.” We are in the championship of worldly life.

The name was changed for money, not for justice

BY MARCUS GREEN Artist/Vendor

It took money to change the name. The Redskins have always been offensive to indigenous people. But it’s only changing now that FedEx, Coca Cola and other sponsors said the endorsements (probably in the millions) are going to stop. I think FedEx was the deciding vote.

Daniel Snyder’s actions over the last 20 years would say he is a racist. Otherwise, he would have changed the name a long

time ago. Losing his endorsement money made him have a change of heart.

It’s almost like the way Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, changed his mind about Colin Kaepernick—a day late and a dollar short. There’s still not one Black partial owner of an NFL team.

Thank God for FedEx, Coca Cola and others for pressuring Daniel Snyder.

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Fill in the blank squares so that each row, each column and each 3-by-3 block contain all of theSudoku digits 1 thru 9. #7

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The Heat

BY AYUB ABDUL Artist/Vendor

The last few weeks have been extremely hot. You are hot, but think about a homeless person. No place to go. The homeless person can’t turn on the AC. Because of the virus, the only alternative now is the Ride On in Montgomery County, Maryland. The Ride On bus company has allowed homeless people to ride for free.

My question is, what happens when the bus trip ends?

They’re riding on the Ride On, it’s cool, no other place to go. Then the driver says, “Sir, this is the end of the line.”

They’re let out wherever, and likely far away from where they want to be.

When they get to the end of the line, the trip is over. The homeless person is left on the street.

Wake up, America. End homelessness.

IMAGE COURTESY OF JEFF GOLDEN / FLICKR

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Panpathy Unearthly scene seyms ur desmene.

BY FRANKLIN STERLING Artist/Vendor

Author Gene Weingarten is a college dropout and a nationally syndicated humor columnist for The Washington Post. Author Dan Weingarten is a former college dropout and a current college student majoring in information technology. Many thanks to Gene Weingarten and The Washington Post Writers Group for allowing Street Sense to run Barney & Clyde.

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SHELTER HOTLINE Línea directa de alojamiento

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All services listed are referral-free Academy of Hope Public Charter School 202-269-6623 // 2315 18th Place NE aohdc.org

Bread for the City - 1525 7th St., NW // 202-265-2400 - 1640 Good Hope Rd., SE // 202-561-8587 breadforthecity.org

Calvary Women’s Services // 202-678-2341 1217 Good Hope Rd., SE calvaryservices.org

Catholic Charities // 202-772-4300 catholiccharitiesdc.org/gethelp

Food and Friends // 202-269-2277 (home delivery for those suffering from HIV, cancer, etc) 219 Riggs Rd., NE foodandfriends.org

Foundry Methodist Church // 202-332-4010 1500 16th St., NW ID (Friday 9am–12pm only) foundryumc.org/ministry-opportunities

Friendship Place // 202-364-1419 4713 Wisconsin Ave., NW friendshipplace.org

Georgetown Ministry Center // 202-338-8301 1041 Wisconsin Ave., NW georgetownministrycenter.org

Laundry Lavandería

Samaritan Ministry 202-722-2280 // 1516 Hamilton St., NW 202-889-7702 // 1345 U St., SE samaritanministry.org

// 15

JOB BOARD Stocker Wegman’s // Arlington Part-time

Stockers are responsible for ensuring fresh Sasha Bruce Youthwork // 202-675-9340 741 8th St., SE sashabruce.org

So Others Might Eat (SOME) // 202-797-8806 71 O St., NW some.org

St. Luke’s Mission Center // 202-333-4949 3655 Calvert St., NW stlukesmissioncenter.org

and appealing aisles and cases by keeping them clean and well-stocked.

REQUIRED: None.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/wegmans-stocker

Bookseller (Temporary) Howard Law // D.C. Booksellers will work for the Barnes and Noble College location at Howard University Law School while the semester begins. They will stock shelves, provide customer assistance, and ring out purchases.

REQUIRED: None.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/howard-law-job

Central Union Mission // 202-745-7118 65 Massachusetts Ave., NW missiondc.org

Jobs Have Priority // 202-544-9128 425 2nd St., NW jobshavepriority.org

Thrive DC // 202-737-9311 1525 Newton St., NW thrivedc.org

Housekeeper American University Facilities // Tenleytown

Charlie’s Place // 202-232-3066 1830 Connecticut Ave., NW charliesplacedc.org

Loaves & Fishes // 202-232-0900 1525 Newton St., NW loavesandfishesdc.org

Christ House // 202-328-1100 1717 Columbia Rd., NW christhouse.org

Martha’s Table // 202-328-6608 marthastable.org

Church of the Pilgrims // 202-387-6612 2201 P St., NW food (1-1:30 on Sundays only) churchofthepilgrims.org/outreach

Community Family Life Services 202-347-0511 // 305 E St., NW cflsdc.org

2375 Elvans Road SE

2204 Martin Luther King Ave. SE

Miriam’s Kitchen // 202-452-8926 2401 Virginia Ave., NW miriamskitchen.org

My Sister’s Place // 202-529-5991 (24-hr hotline) mysistersplacedc.org Community of Hope // 202-232-7356 communityofhopedc.org

Covenant House Washington 202-610-9600 // 2001 Mississippi Ave., SE covenanthousedc.org

N Street Village // 202-939-2060 1333 N St., NW nstreetvillage.org

New York Avenue Shelter // 202-832-2359 1355-57 New York Ave., NE D.C. Coalition for the Homeless 202-347-8870 // 1234 Massachusetts Ave., NW dccfh.org

Father McKenna Center // 202-842-1112 19 Eye St., NW fathermckennacenter.org

Unity Health Care 3020 14th St., NW // unityhealthcare.org - Healthcare for the Homeless Health Center: 202-508-0500 - Community Health Centers: 202-469-4699 1500 Galen Street SE, 1500 Galen Street SE, 1251-B Saratoga Ave NE, 1660 Columbia Road NW, 4414 Benning Road NE, 3924 Minnesota Avenue NE, 765 Kenilworth Terrace NE, 555 L Street SE, 3240 Stanton Road SE, 3020 14th Street NW, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, 1717 Columbia Road NW, 1313 New York Avenue, NW BSMT Suite, 425 2nd Street NW, 4713 Wisconsin Avenue NW, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 2100 New York Avenue NE, 1333 N Street NW, 1355 New York Avenue NE, 828 Evarts Place, NE, 810 5th Street NW

Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless 1200 U St., NW // 202-328-5500 legalclinic.org

REQUIRED: None.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/au-housekeeper

Personal Shopper Harris Teeter // Arlington Part-time The personal shopper will download internet orders; shop internet orders; operate pointof-sale register; bag orders; load grocery orders; complete all required paper work; and communicate with customers.

REQUIRED: Must have a driver’s license.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/harris-teeter-personalshopper

The Welcome Table // 202-347-2635 1317 G St., NW. epiphanydc.org/thewelcometable

Host/Cashier IHOP // Columbia Heights

Whitman-Walker Health 1701 14th St., NW // 202-745-7000 2301 MLK Jr. Ave., SE // 202-797-3567 whitman-walker.org

Full-time or part-time This position will greet and seat guests, handle the cash register, answer the phone, check bathrooms, clear tables, and other tasks assigned by the manager.

APPLY: tinyurl.com/ihop-job

Patricia Handy Place for Women 202-733-5378 // 810 5th St., NW

Samaritan Inns // 202-667-8831 2523 14th St., NW samaritaninns.org

Housekeepers maintain a clean and orderly environment to project the safety and health of others, follows procedures for storage and disposal of trash, and other duties as assigned by the manager.

For further information and listings, visit our online service guide at StreetSenseMedia.org/service-guide

Hiring? Send your job postings to editor@StreetSenseMedia.org

REST IN POWER, REP. LEWIS On July 17, Rep. John Lewis died at age 80. He announced a pancreatic cancer diagnosis in December. The civil rights leader and “conscience of Congress’s” body laid in state at the U.S. Capitol building July 27 and 28. We’ve chosen to reprint this excerpt of a February 2017 opinion column at the urging of a reader who suggested it’s “as relevant today as then.” The author and several of her colleagues at Street Sense Media had interviewed Lewis the previous month. You can read that interview at StreetSenseMedia.org/Lewis.

Follow John Lewis’s lead in Trump’s America

BY ANGIE WHITEHURST // Artist/Vendor

Angie Whitehurst and Rep. John Lewis on Jan 5, 2017, immediately following an interview with Street Sense Media. PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH HAGER

No one knows where we are headed. And that doesn’t feel good.

In my heart of hearts, I believe what Democratic Georgia Rep. John Lewis said when I spoke to him in 2017 – about believing in our legislative process but working hard to make change and making our voices heard.

His normal stance would have been to let things take their natural course. But when no one else was saying anything about being nonviolent, I think he felt compelled to be the voice in the name of peace and in the name of an open democracy.

Lewis said he heard us, and he would be a voice for us because no one else decent stepped into that role. President Barack Obama certainly didn’t. He used the “I’m on my way out of here, and I’m the president of the U.S., so I’m not going to take a

stance one way or the other” excuse. He implied plenty of things but made no strong statements. We didn’t get any direction.

Lewis was as close as we had to a national leadership figure that people across the board respect and might listen to. Democrats probably needed to hear from him more than anyone else.

Lewis gave all Americans a voice. And nobody’s voice will be ignored because the Constitution gives us that right. The pursuit of happiness, freedom of speech, the legislative process. Based on our past interview, I imagine Lewis might say, thinking of the way forward, something like this: “Give me your hand, and I will hold you up. Give me your ear, and I will listen and acknowledge the people’s right to free speech and dissent. Give me your strength, as a human being, and I will stand with you and echo your voices so, so strong. It is our way and the way of our civilized existence. I will bite the bullet and bare the pain, nonviolently, of course. We as humans are exemplary. We are America. We are human beings who must strive to live together in peace with respect and dignity. I believe it is my duty to let you be heard. After all, it is written in the Constitution, and I will let you speak and you will be heard. I will be the seat at the table, and we will make a more perfect union. One voice, one party, one entity does not make a nation.

It is all of, we the people.”

Thank you, Representative Lewis, for leading the way, for I believe you paved a more peaceful path.

No one likes to be ignored.

Thank you for reading Street Sense!

For True

BY JAMES DANIEL JOHNSON Artist/Vendor

On July 17th, 2020, he breathed his last breath A leader with integrity, physically embraced death Indeed he’ll be missed, with grief so many will strive However, his memory is blessed In our hearts, this champion is still alive A remarkable individual, He adamantly advocated for what was right He endured persecution, Against social injustice did he fight Unselfish and devoted, a humble man Yet he was so strong An example of moral excellence, he spoke out against wrong This poem is written as a tribute With respect, to his legacy let us cling Peacefully he fought, side-by side with Dr. Martin Luther King He fulfilled his divine purpose, He did what God appointed him to do It’s privilege to have known, and now acknowledge This good man Which Congressman John Lewis was, for true

From your vendor JULY 29 - AUG. 11, 2020 | VOLUME 17 ISSUE 20

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James Daniel Johnson with Rep.John Lewis.

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