Brother Hamza on Making Good on His Mistakes

"I got home on November 30, 2009 after being incarcerated for 21 years, 6 months, and 20 days. See, I was married to a beautiful girl, Hafsa, who gave me a beautiful daughter, Ruqqiya. We had a beautiful life together. But, my daughter died of cancer at nine. Two years later, a man murdered my wife. So, I found the person who killed her and I killed him. I do not regret killing him at all. If I had my way, I would dig him up, bring him back to life, and kill him again. I will say this again, so that I am being real clear. I would dig him up, bring him back to life, and kill him again. I have no remorse whatsoever because he took away something very precious from me. You see these cracks in the sidewalk, that is how my heart feels every day. I don’t think that I will every marry again. She was the only one who made me happy. 

"I came back to Washington after I got out because this is where my problem began and, Insha’Allah, this is where my problems shall end. I came back to rectify what I f-ed up and work to change the areas I once corrupted and tainted. I was a tyrant on these streets until I bit into Islam whole heartedly while I was incarcerated.

"I came to the faith on August 25, 1980. I was walking on New Jersey and 4th St. NW on a Friday and heard the call to prayer. It pricked my heart and I walked into the Masjid and everything became as clear as day. But, I did not live as a good Muslim until I was locked up. Some of the most beautiful times that I have had in my life were when I was incarcerated, especially the Muslim holidays. I was the Imam when I was locked up in Kentucky. People looked to me for guidance, strength, and help. While I am free now, sometimes I miss those days of having such a position of responsibility now that I am living on the streets. 

"I have no family or home, but Allah places people in my path to help me. He places people in my path to feed me, clothe me, and give me knowledge. He also places people in my path, so I can give what I have back to them. There is a hadith in the Koran says that if you see a wrong, first change it with your hands. That means do something about it. If you can’t use your hands, use our mouth. That means speak on it. If not that, change it within your heart. I want to use my hands, words, and heart to spread wisdom and knowledge to people here. Allah has a purpose for me, which is to help my brothers and sisters and make good on my mistakes."

Lloyd on Washington's Other Monuments

"I was born in Dayton, Ohio. My Dad was an aircraft engineer at the Wright-Patterson Air Force base. He eventually got a job on some new thing called computers and we moved around a bit before settling in the D.C. area in 1965. 

"By hit or miss, I became a photographer while in college in Connecticut. When I came back to the area, my work was taking me all over the city and I started seeing these shrines to people who were killed on the streets. To me, it was like watching someone’s heart bleed in public. There is a huge amount of emotional content in them. They are homemade folk art and very specific to D.C. From my relatively small research, there have been shrines recorded back to the early Middle Ages in Europe. The instinct to build shrines varies from place to place, but they are immediately recognizable no matter where you are.

"I started photographing the shrines seven years ago. I have been to over 500 and documented over 200 of them. Many of them are very modest, just some police tape and a teddy bear, but others are huge. I have seen panties and condoms, but typically it is plush toys, balloons, and liquor bottles. I think that a lot of these items represent someone's hope for the deceased and for the community. Maybe it is a hope for a better, safer, and heavenly place for the deceased and a call against violence in the community.

"When newspapers were strong, you could find information about every shooting in the Washington Post. Now, someone getting shot doesn’t make the paper. Three or four people have to get shot before that becomes news. I still drive around looking for the shrines and also use the area police resources to keep up with what is happening. I think that I have been to almost every shrine in the area since I started. I do not document the vigils out of respect for the families, but I take photos of the shrines to capture crime’s aftermaths and how it affects people. I am interested in documenting and sharing the healing aspects of shrines and how people try and rebuild themselves using this folk art.

"Doing this is part of my own way of keeping my priorities straight. I think that our job in life, if we have a job, is to learn and enlarge the consciousness of ourselves and others. I do this with no support, but because it is the right thing to do. I would like to bring this work into a public awareness program and to people who can make use of it, like survivors of street violence.

"As one guy said to me at one of the shrines, 'No matter how bad you are, no one deserves this.' When someone is murdered, you don’t just kill a person. You are also killing their entire family. Life is a short, complicated, and mysterious gift. Some lives end too soon. I can’t imagine ending this work unless the murders disappear in this city."

Read more about Lloyd Wolf's work here.

Jovonne on her 2019 Bid for Mayor

Jovonne, left, is pictured with her mother, Shirley.

"I was born in Washington D.C. and grew up on 6th St in Shaw. In my neighborhood, if you didn't have a good family or support network to help you, you would end up as another statistic. I feel blessed that I had both, but things were still hard. The first experience that made me think the world was crazy was at ten years old. I was outside playing and all of the sudden, I heard a car speeding down the street and this pop,pop..pop,pop. There were bullets everywhere and people were running in all directions. Can you imagine living in a place where the hustlers don't care who they shoot? I always wanted to tell them that it was them who made our neighborhood bad. 

"There were way worse environments that I could have been in, though. There was an apartment building on 13th and S St. called Garfield Terrace. I went to school with some kids who lived there. When I saw how these kids were living, I felt like I lived in Georgetown. The dope heads were in their hallways. My Mom couldn't make sure that the neighborhood was safe for me, but she made sure that the area from our house to the corner was a safe environment. We were the house that no one messed with because people were scared of my Mom. She never had to apologize to me about our neighborhood because we were the lucky ones. It definitely was not the best neighborhood, but it certainly wasn't the worst. 

"We lived in a nice, working class neighborhood. I felt like I was raised in a village. If a neighbor saw me jaywalking, they would tell me to go back across the street and wait for the green light, and then they would tell my Mom. My Mom allowed us to live our lives, but we had rules. The most important one was to finish high school. There was no dropping out in my house. College was an option, but high school was mandatory. I graduated from Cardoza High School in 2001 and went to college in Dover, Delaware. 

"Since I was little, everyone around me expected a lot out of me. I think a lot of that comes from starting at the New Community for Children in 1990. Their program helped me to recognize my talents and opened my eyes to the world. With time, I recognized that I was setting trends and not following them. If I could get all of my friends to follow me in doing something silly at school, I thought of what it would be like if I led them to do something positive. I started to do community service and found a love for children. Everyone is not blessed to have a good family and supportive community, so if you can help just one child, you could change someone's life just like my life was changed. 

"When I came back from college, I got a job here teaching 4th grade at New Community. I love the mission here, which is that each one teach one. I let my kids know that they can relate to me. Sometimes they are shocked that I know what things are like for them on the street. They look at me as an adult, not as someone who has been through the same things they go through everyday. 

"I would be really interested in taking my experience and talking to kids in private or suburban schools about urban life. I would love to tell people that we are not different. We just live in different worlds. A lot of people glorify that world, especially those who don't live in these neighborhoods, but people lose their lives here every day. The streets will chew you up and spit you out if you are not strong enough to survive them. You can judge the life and decisions people make here, but until you live here, it is hard to beat the odds. I don't know too many lawyers or doctors, but I do know a lot of hustlers, drug dealers, and drug users. I might not be rich or famous, but I did beat the odds. So did my sister and brother. And these kids can, too. They just need people to believe in them and give them an opportunity. 

"My goal is to be mayor and help make people's lives better and give people who want them opportunities. We don't need hand outs, but we need to help those who want to help themselves. So watch out for me in 2019. Jovonne Simpson, remember the name."

New Community for Children provides underserved children and families in Washington, DC with before school, after school, and summer programs that help them strengthen their academic skills as well as foster the self-confidence and creativity needed to realize their fullest potential. Donate your time or money here.

Laura on the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington

"My family started in the grocery business in D.C. My great-grandfather came here in 1918, just two days after World War I ended. He opened a grocery store in Trinidad. My grandmother was a bookkeeper, and my grandfather sold milk and eggs at the market. My father was always very proud of being born in Washington and his roots here. I grew up with a strong awareness of local history and an attachment to the places and people here.

"I used to work as an international tax lawyer for the IRS. I loved it, but one day when I was walking home, I thought that these multinationals and all of their tax problems are so divorced from everyday life. I always knew that I wanted to do something that was going to make our community a better place. Ever since I was a kid, I was interested in historic buildings, the environment, and creating a sense of place. When I started to volunteer at the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington in 1993, things just clicked. A year later, the curator told me that the executive director was going to retire and I should apply. There were a number of people applying and I didn't think that I would get it. But, at the age of 35, I became executive director. Since coming on, I have been working to build a strong sense of pride in our Jewish community and history in Washington and help build bridges to the wider community.

"The Jewish population was always small here compared to other places. The Jewish community started to form in D.C. around the 1840's. By community, I mean 20 families of around 400 Jews who came in through the ports in New York, Boston, and Baltimore. The presence of the government helped lure additional people. Until World War I, we only had about 2,000 Jews in Washington. Later, the number of Jews grew dramatically, as a lot of Jews came here to work for the New Deal or the newly-formed government agencies. Now, Washington has grown into one of the most educated and affluent Jewish communities in the country. 

"Jews have lived in all four corners of this city. While there were neighborhood enclaves, there was not one particular Jewish neighborhood in Washington that had all of the Jewish life. Jews largely spread to the thoroughfares, where they could open shops. In NW, it was 7th Street. In SW, it was along 4 1/2 Street, which isn't there anymore because of the urban renewal. Jews were also on H Street, NE, and in Anacostia. These were mostly mom-and-pop stores, but a number of the smaller shops ended up becoming department stores like Lansburgh's, Saks, Hechts, and King's Palace.

"In the 1920's, Jews started to move uptown to Petworth, Shepherd Park, and Silver Spring. As more and more Jews were living uptown, many of the synagogues left downtown - specifically I St between 5th and 8th Streets where there was a synagogue on practically ever corner - for bigger spaces and to be closer to their congregants. In the 1950's, that is when the commercial area on 7th Street started to go into decline. Things got much worse after the riots. After that, people were not coming downtown, as they were afraid. In 1969, many of the remaining Jewish groups, mainly the Jewish Community Center (JCC), the Hebrew Home, and the Jewish Social Service Agency, moved out of the city to Rockville. For them, it may have seemed like the clear choice because the Jewish community was largely uptown.

"Because there has been a real push to make D.C. more of a livable city in recent years, that has helped to reestablish some of the important historical Jewish sites in the city. Who would have dreamt that in 1997, the JCC would buy back their building on 16th and Q Street and there would be a downtown JCC again. Moving forward, I would love to see more of an emphasis on arts and culture in the Jewish community here. You look at places like New York, which has a dedicated Jewish museum, and Toronto, where the Jewish Federation has a vice president for culture. We are working to be able to do those kinds of things for the community here."

Laura Cohen Apelbaum is the executive director of the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington. 

John on Doing What He Must

"I was born in Poland, but I grew up in Italy. In 1958, I was molested by a Catholic priest at the age of 15. He was the priest of a small village where I was camping in the mountains on Italy. To this day, I still do not know the name of the priest. He offered to tutor me in Latin and then he molested me. In my case, it was only once. I can't imagine what it is like for people who are molested more than once. I was so traumatized. It was literally like being hit by lightning.

"After that, I was totally crushed and helpless. My first thought was that I ruined my life forever. My personality changed. I started to stutter and it stunted my growth. It made me insecure and withdrawn. When I went back to high school, people used to ask me why I was so sad all of the time. I used to tell them that my best friend died to get them off my back. The worst thing is that I blocked it out of my mind for 39 years.

"When I was 20, I left home and went to Canada by myself to get away from everything. When my younger brother wanted to join me, he was not able to get a Canadian visa, so we moved to Washington in 1963 because the American government was still issuing visas. We served in the U.S. Army together and then I went on to work in construction. I never really made anything of my life as I was so traumatized by my molestation. In my head, I was always a dish washer. My father had two Ph.D.s and a good job in Italy. I disappointed everyone in life - my parents, my wife, and my children.

"In 1997, there was a scandal in Texas and a boy committed suicide over molestation. I learned about the scandal in the news and that was the first moment that I started to recall my experience. I went to talk with a priest in Maryland about it. I was so nervous that I drove miles from my home so nobody I knew would see me, parked in a shopping center nearby and then walked to the church to to see the priest. He sent me to therapy, but the therapist was a religious Catholic. You can't be a religious Catholic and an impartial therapist about an issue like this.

"The priest told me to write a letter to the Diocese and send a copy to the Vatican's Embassy. In the fall of 1997, that is what I did. Sometime later, I received a letter from a bishop who seemed concerned and asked for more information. I wrote another letter with all of the details I had. No answer. I wrote another letter. No answer. I wrote a third letter. No answer. They were ignoring me. By then, I realized how much damage this had done to my life. I could not let this go by.

"At the time, I was not ready to talk about my molestation publicly, so I stood outside the embassy with a huge question mark and a sign that said, 'Bishop, why don't you recognize my letter?' The bishop eventually wrote me back saying that the priest who allegedly molested me died ten years ago, but he would pray for me and the church would pay for my therapy. I thought that prayers of the Bishop were not quite good enough for a wasted life. So, in 1998, I made this big sign that said, 'My life was ruined by a Catholic pedophile priest.' I stood on this corner where I still stand today. There were many intelligent people who would give me a thumbs up or a victory sign. But, every day people would yell, 'Hey, loser' to me. Can you imagine standing with that sign and people yell, 'Hey, loser' to you? I have also had people give me the finger and insult me, including priests. Can you imagine?

"I have been here everyday, seven days a week, since 1998. I want reparations. The money would show that they suffer a little bit. If I got reparations, I would stop doing this. They are scared of paying me, though, because of the precedent. There are thousands of kids who were molested in Italy alone. And look at all of the cases that are coming out now around the world.

"There is a quote by John F. Kennedy that has guided me through all of this, 'A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality.'

"Would you give up? I couldn't live with myself if I did. Life would make no sense if I didn't do this."

Read more about John here.

Lonnie on Letting People See Your Greatness

“I love music. I just play music wherever I go and am always carrying an instrument around with me. Today, I got a harmonica, which some people call a mouth organ or harp. I would love to take a piano around, but I can't fit that in my pocket. See, music is healthy for you. I play gospel music, which is good for running the evil spiritsfrom you. I ain't trying to impress nobody when I play on the street, this is just how I am. I don't like to hear all of the negative talking out here, so I prefer to play my music while I am walking on the street. People stop me all of the time and some even give me money. I never ask for it, though. I just play out of love. That is God's honest truth. 

"Whenever I see a mother or father, I stop to tell them to teach their kids to play an instrument. Music helps children be smart in school. It does something to both sides of your brain and will help make your child an A student. Every one of us has so much good stuff inside. You got a gold mine, a diamond mine, and all other kinds of mines down there inside of you. God gives everyone something special. For me, it is music. I know he gave you something, too. 

"I tell you, the graveyard is the richest place in the world. People take with them all kinds of things that they could have done during life: a business they could have done or something to elevate humanity. Don't let your talent die with you. Let people see your greatness."

Etienne on Seeing His Son Again

"I am the 1963 model of Etienne. So, I will be 47 this year. I was born in Baltimore and came to D.C. a while back. I came here because I lost my family and my home. I used to represent people's Social Security claims in court, so that they could get the benefits they deserved. I used to have money, cars, and everything. Looking back, I used to be such a ho. Ladies, oh my, they are so lovely and I was always with them. I could talk to any woman. I finally met the right one and she introduced me to the Gospel. She got pregnant with my son in 2001. 

"But, I made some mistakes and my wife and the courts took my son away from me, so I now have no connection with my family. Since then, I can't sleep. I have no taste. I feel no joy. I remember my youngest son. I used to speak to him in the womb. I cut his umbilical cord. I love him so much. My youngest son will be nine on June 22. I try not to think about it, though. I have done everything that I can to get him back, but there is nothing that I can do. 

"What a boo-hoo story I could weave, but I figured that I would channel all of my energy and my broken heart to God. The only thing that brings me relief, peace, joy, and love is to bear witness to him and to preach the good word to other men out here, so they don't make the same mistakes that I did. That's why I am out here huffing-and-puffing on my megaphone until my batteries go dead. Not everyone is church going, so you got to meet the men where they are at and spread the Gospel. Men, you need to lead with the head above, not the head below. You know what I am saying. Once you start to ho, the whole thing gets all messed up. Trust me. I want to plant seeds of goodness and purity and the Gospel in everyone, especially men. 

"I originally had two megaphones. The other one was much bigger and so much louder, too. An officer decided that she wanted to take it from me. Mind you, it was 1am when I was using it, but God's word does not sleep. I will continue to be out here using what I use to preach the good news. Hopefully, God and the courts will let me see my son again."

"God bless you, amen."

Carol on Showing the Beauty of D.C.

"I am 60 years young. I have been living in Northeast for about 50-some years. I left once to go to Newark, New Jersey and stayed gone for eight years. I came back because I could not live no place else but D.C. The people in New Jersey were fine and everything, but there wasn't a sense of closeness. If I walk down the street and look at you and say, "Good morning,' what would your reply to me be? In New Jersey, they don't know. You say good morning and they don't say nothing. Here in Washington, even the winos say good morning to you.

"Today, I am taking my granddaughter, my great niece, and the two girls I take care of out on a stroll. These girls have no connection to D.C. because no one has taught them anything about this city. What they know about this city is that if you hear gun shots, you hit the floor. But there is so much beauty here, especially on H Street, that I am trying to show them. Back in the 60's, H Street was a beautiful place to walk and go shopping. On Sundays, parents would stroll up and down the street after church. After the riots, it all changed. 

"As I look around, our black children need help. There are a lot of bright, young black kids out here, but there is not a lot out there for them. All they need is something to do and somewhere to go, so that they can be proud of themselves. I am so proud that my granddaughter wants to be a doctor and my great niece wants to be a lawyer. But no one talks about that - what black children want to be. They talk about what they do that is not right. Like I said, there are a lot of positive black children out there. We need to help them for a change. 

"I would like to get a hold of the people passing laws and just shake 'em. Some of those people have no knowledge of what life is really like in the inner city of Washington, D.C. They just pass these laws. I mean, laws are fine, but if they are not working year-after-year, why are you keeping them? Some of them are as silly as silly can be. Look at what is going on with H Street. Why are you going to put in a streetcar? We already have buses and cabs. Instead of putting in this nonsense, build some schools. Streetcars were on H St. when I was a little girl. You decided to tear them down once already. Now, you want them back? This is silly nonsense. If you want to develop this area, develop the schools and help our children.

"When I went to school, you could play in peace. There was no cussing and fighting going on like you have today. You didn't have children running for their lives. I lost my son to these streets. He was a professional boxer and had been accepted to the University of Maryland. He got caught up with the wrong crowd. You know, the day he died, I had a bad feeling. Mothers can sense things. I remember driving to work and seeing an ambulance pass. I said, 'Lord, someone just lost their baby.' It turns out that it was my son in the ambulance. He had been shot. I was working as a nurse at the time, so they let me see my boy at the hospital. He was shot in the head and up and down his arm. I knew my baby was gone. People say that this is part of life on the streets, but I won't accept that. See, I believe in God. My son did not belong to me, but to God. I guess God wanted to take him back. I accept that, but I will never accept the violence in my community."

From left to right, Precious, Dominique, Oluwaferanmi, Leondria, and Carol. 

Damian on Finding Peace

"I have been in D.C. all of my life. D.C. is a busy place, but it has its secrets that some people know about and others don't. Once you experience everything with everybody, it is a very different place than it seems on the surface. I am 16, but I've seen a lot. 

"In this city, I think that everybody is kind of the same. Because of that, I just label myself unique as compared to everyone else. Nobody here is like me. I hang out with people who are also unique. In our group, everybody is a different race and dresses differently, but we still crack jokes and chill. My parents are from El Salvador and my friends are from all over, which is nice about D.C. 

"I think about the world a lot and what is out in space. I think about why are we going through all of this and what is our purpose in life. Sometimes I feel like I have to save the world or do something like that. I talked to this Christian girl one day and she changed my life. Now, Christianity is an important part of my life. I saw the world different after that conversation. Now, I feel like people are looking to me for answers and I have to do something. I really want to, but I am also lazy. 

"Still, I do try to change my life, but I keep getting caught up because of this city and the life here. I think that I would have to make my house in a rain forest to find peace. I would love to do that, but I don't know if it's possible. I don't care about material objects, there's no point. Money is not a thing for me. I don't care about it. I care about what I do have and try not to waste it. I just want to find peace and make change in this world." 

Evelyn on Talking about the Future

"In my country, Nigeria, my father was a deputy in the police force and my mother sold things in the market. I used to help my Mom sell bread in the market. My family lived in the police barracks with my father. But things happened that I don't want to talk about and I came to the United States alone, and as a refugee. It was very tough. When I came here, I realized that America was a crazy place. It was totally different than Nigeria. 

"When I came off of the plane in Washington, I met somebody who took me in as a friend to help me start my life afresh. The woman let me stay with her for some time. During that time, I had a daughter and spent a lot of time watching the TV to learn how white men and women act so I would know how to behave in America. I could not work during that time. Like I said, it was really difficult on me. My daughter really encouraged me and held my hand. Then, the woman threw me out because she said that I should be able to stand on my feet and not depend on anyone. That showed me how crazy this place is because in Nigeria we all look out for each other. 

"When the woman kicked me out, I slept in the street. Then, we went to shelters, which was tough. I couldn't handle the smell. I can't even breath there. One day, I was looking at the television when Obama was talking about how we need to employ more people. I was in the kitchen mopping a floor and thought that I needed something better for me and my daughter. He was saying that it was not going to be easy, but if we worked together, we could make change. After that speech, I went to get a job at Street Sense. With Street Sense, at least I have something to do and a way to make some money. My daughter is nine and in the fourth grade. She inspires me to be out here everyday selling papers. With this job, I can also get experience to help me find another job and get on my feet. The hard thing is that many people believe that Nigerians are thieves and liars. Look at the guy who tried to bomb the airplane. Now, who is going to try and help me? 

"But I don't want to talk about the past. I want to talk about the future. The future is my job and my daughter. I want my daughter to be the best. What I don't have, I want her to have. I like to work for Street Sense, but I want my daughter to have a job that she is really passionate about. The future is in my daughter and God's hands. God knows the best for us. Even though it is difficult, God has the best intentions for us."

Read more profiles of Street Sense vendors Andrew and Paul. Learn more about Street Sense here. 

Noor on Being a Builder

"Every person comes from somewhere and is going somewhere. Most of them don’t understand that true happiness is in the journey, though. Along the way, life presents us with a number of tests so that we can arrive at who we are. Some people become givers and some become takers, some build and some destroy. But, history shows us that the greatest people were builders. People like George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. They built this society and invented things. We need to follow them and not let people tear this society down.

"Within the city, we have a whole lot of people who make and give out the law. All we need is the golden rule to get on the right track and lead the world. In time, we will arrive and I believe that there is a lot of learning that we can do through Islam. Now, with Islam, they talk about the terrorists, but in this city you have the greatest militia of police anywhere in the world. Here, you have the FBI, the CIA, and all kinds of police you don’t even know about. I have lived in this city 61 years, all of my life, and have seen people terrorized on a daily basis by those here to protect them. Unless we become builders and love one another, we can’t live in harmony."

Tom on the Potter's House

"This place is a pretty interesting story. The Potter's House started in 1960. The name comes from Jeremiah, 'Arise and go to the potter's house and there you will hear my words.' We are getting ready to celebrate 50 years of being in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. We've been here through thick and thin. One of the things that I respect about the Potter's House is that they made a conscious decision to stay after the 1968 riots when a lot of places moved out.

"It's sponsored by a non-denominational church called the Church of The Saviour and the founding Minister, Gordon Cosby, and his wife Mary were the founders of the church. He was a Chaplain during World War II. He counseled soldiers who were potentially going to meet their death, and many of them did. After the war, he wanted to establish a church. Gordon and his wife wanted to capture the feeling of a tavern, but in a spiritual way so they had the idea of the coffeehouse church as we don't serve alcohol. We may be Washington's original coffee house. Now, we are also a book store. We sell mostly books on spirituality and social justice: poverty, hunger, war and peace, a lot of that stuff. I'm the book store manager and buy the books and I try and define social justice as broadly as possible.

"The Potter's House has always been a place where everyone is welcome regardless of background or whether people feel they have a spiritual background or not. It has always been a place for discussion groups, author events, WPFW used to broadcast from here, all kinds of things have gone on here. The Potter's House was also the birthplace to many of the Adams Morgan activist and service organizations including: Christ House, Jubilee Housing, Jubilee Jobs, Good Shepherd Ministries, Columbia Road Health Services, and Samaritan Inns.

"These are the original tabletops, as I understand it, and if they could talk, they'd tell a lot of great stories. One of the interesting stories that I heard was back in the 60's during the height of the civil rights era, students from Howard University, officials from the Justice Department, civil rights advocates and church people would meet here and talk about civil rights. As I heard it, some of the language for the civil rights legislation was drafted on napkins here. Racial reconciliation has always been one of the main interests of the Church of the Saviour. The philosophy of the church is to use your gifts for the benefit of the community and humankind. If you have an idea to help people, go for it and we will support you."

Learn more about the Potter's House here. Read more about faith in D.C. from Pastor RL Stevenson and Brother Amir.

Brother Amir on Mosque Number Four

“The history of Muslims in this area dates back to the 1730's. That was when the first person I found came through the Annapolis area. His name was Ayyub Bin Sulaiman Jallon. He was a scholar and could recite the Koran by memory. He got his freedom after three years of slavery. Another Muslim who came through this area in the 1770’s was Kunta Kinte. Many people don’t recognize that he was a Muslim.

“In the 1930’s, Elijah Muhammad moved into the DC area. There is a plaque on 9th Street that honors his presence in DC. He came here and built this mosque. In fact, this mosque was the fourth one built by the Nation of Islam and called Mosque Number Four, the first three were in Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee. Before this mosque, people in the area practiced in homes. This place was built by donations. Even Malcolm X went around the country raising money for the mosque. Mosque Number Four played a crucial role in the growth of the Nation of Islam. Elijah Muhammad used this place as a springboard to carry his message up and down the eastern seaboard. Many of the members here became leaders of mosques around the country in Baltimore, New York, Richmond and Philadelphia.

"We have had a number of prominent members in our community including the first openly Muslim woman to work in the White House. She worked with the Johnson, Nixon and Carter administrations. Out of this Community also comes the first Muslim chaplain to the U.S. Army. We also have one of the earliest judges, Judge Hassan, who is out in Prince George's County. Our imam, Imam Yusuf, was the only imam to open both the House and the Senate with prayer. He is also a police chaplain. We also have a lot members involved in civic duties like police officers, firemen, and doctors.

"In the early days, we, as members of the Nation of Islam, did not want to participate in America. But, since 1975, awareness opened for us and by us to get involved in all facets of America. The mosque does a lot of interfaith work to create a dialogue with other religious communities. We were actually one of the first to do that. We also do outreach to boy scouts, girl scouts and cub scouts. We reach out to youth to get them involved and develop a sense of worth and identity. Another program is working with Muslim veterans. We have a prison service program to help people with reentry into society after incarceration. We also do outreach programs to the community and events to share the history of Muslims in America. DC is a great place because of the diversity. As Elijah Muhammad said, 'We have friendships in all walks of life.' That is a reality here."

Brother Amir is a historian and author and president of Collections and Stories of American Muslims. Learn more about Masjid Muhammad (Mosque Number Four) here.

Pastor R. L. Stevenson on Gardening and Loving The Lord

“People always say to me, “You a Pastor? “I ain’t never seen no woman Pastor!” You know, I really just call myself Sister. I don’t like to be called Pastor, but they call me Pastor here, so I have to accept that. Titles don’t interest me, I just love the Lord enough to be in whatever place God puts me.

“We’ve had this little church ever since 1985. So, we just a family here. It’s not a big bunch of people, it’s just elders and children and whoever else will come. We feed people, we give people clothes, just whatever we can do to make the neighborhood better. We had some bad little kids around here for a while. Now, I don’t like to say bad, but they did things. We bought roses and lined them all around the church and it cost us quite a bit. But, the next morning when we came to church, the kids had pulled up one or two. The next week, the kids had maybe left one or two. That same week, they pulled them all up.

"It was sad for us because the money that the elders gathered up was not that much, mostly the little people received from social security, but it was a lot for us. So, I left the garden alone for a while, even though I love to plant flowers, and then a woman in the neighborhood came by and said that she would help us put up a fence to protect our flowers. The rest of the congregation chipped in too and that is what makes it so good around here. People are so lovely, they do whatever they can to help the church. And in return, we do our best to make people happy and keep a joyful neighborhood that looks nice. We sing our songs and we praise the Lord. Someone may read a scripture...to me, that is just heaven on earth.

“My prayer for DC is for God to bless every leader, to recognize that it is God who we have to look up to. I believe if they put God first, the District will rise from the situation it is in.”

Hear Pastor R. L. Stevenson preach the good word at the Trinity Holy Tabernacle Church on 9th and Ist NE on Sunday at 11:45 am or 7:30 pm, Wednesday at 8 pm and Friday at 8 pm.