JUSTICE FOR THE BRENTWOOD COMMUNITY

THIS MAY BE THE BIGGEST ISSUE IN OUR NEXT LOCAL ELECTIONS!

An excellent study by Sarah Shoenfeld for the D.C. Policy Center reveals that when Brentwood, in Northeast Washington, was all White, during the 1930s, the Government protected that Community, even as restrictive covenants. "Mapping Segregation," according to Ms. Shoenfeld, kept Blacks out.

After Mapping Segregation was declared unconstitutional by a federal court in 1948, Blacks moved in; but so did multitudinous, toxic, Industrial Facilities.

MORE THAN HALF OF SUCH FACILITIES IN D.C. TODAY PLAGUE WARD FIVE WHERE THE BRENTWOOD COMMUNITY IS LOCATED.

If you live in Brentwood, due to the suffocating industrial pollution, you are more likely to be afflicted with severe asthma, respiratory illness, cancer, lung disease, heart ailments and other related health challenges than in any other place in Washington, D.C. Aggregate those health challenges by the invasion of the COVID Pandemic!

Now, the D.C. Government wants to put 250 buses, 500 employees who drive to work, a fueling station and a training facility for bus drivers in the middle of this residential neighborhood, at the vortex of Montana Avenue and "W" Street, one block from New York Avenue and the Amtrak trains that assemble on that Yard.

We can stop this. You have a role. The first thing to do is become a Member of EMPOWER D.C. - https://www.empowerdc.org. It only costs $10 a year. Empower D.C., one of the most effective community organizations, is involved. They will keep you informed and let you know when direct action is needed. It was Empower D.C. that carried the 20 year struggle in Ivy City (also located in Ward 5) that just ended with a $20 million commitment to provide open and park space, training and recreational places for young people and residents, instead of the big MEGA buses that are housed at Union Station.

Disclosure - I am part of the Legal Team helping our fellow citizens.

One of the modern day "Protected Classes" under the D.C. Human Rights Law is residency, where one lives. The proliferation of these disparate, disproportionate and discriminatory industrial pollutants in Ward Five would seem to violate that Law. Other laws too seem to be implicated by this narrow and callous plan.

JOIN YOUR NEIGHBORS. HELP END THIS SUFFOCATION. GET THE INFORMATION. THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE IS STRONGER THAN THE PEOPLE IN POWER.