Arnold on Spreading the Joy

"I grew up on a farm in Foster, Rhode Island, or 'Fostah' as we call it. I dropped out of high school at 18 to work and was drafted to be in the war that same year. I was trained as Military Police (MP) up in Augusta, Maine. They had me guarding German soldiers in Fort Devens, Massachusetts. These were guys from the Africa core who were older and pretty calm because they weren't in the desert and no one was shooting at them anymore. After that, they sent me to Fort Edwards where I was guarding the young, tough Germans who were off of Normandy Beach. These were some serious guys. They would come over to me and fold a bottle cap in half with their hands just to show off. You try that sometime. It ain't easy. 

"Next, they sent me to Germany. I was an MP in Germany, which was a really dangerous job because about 75% of us got knocked off by sniper fire. A few weeks into my service, the war ended. When I heard, it didn't register. I couldn't believe it. One of the stories that really sticks with me from Germany was when we were patrolling an area and came across a house. We hadn't had a shower, hot meal, or decent shelter in weeks, so we took over the place and sent the lady living there to sleep in the barn. This woman had the same stature as my mother and took to me for some reason. She asked if she could wash my clothes and make me something to eat, so I let her do it. As we were leaving the house the next day, she took me by the hand over to a photo of her son who was about my age and wearing a Nazi uniform. She said in German, 'The war is over, but my son is not coming home.' We hugged and cried. In 1987, I went back to Germany with my wife to find that woman and say, 'thank you.' Turns out, a year before, she was killed in a traffic accident. I will never be able to tell her thank you. That always urinates me off. 

"When I finally got out of the service, I came back to Rhode Island. I got a job digging ditches, but  figured there was something better for me. I decided to finish high school and go to college at Pacific University in Portland, Oregon to study journalism. I got a job with the Evening Star in Washington as a news photographer in 1951. I covered everything in this town during my 13 years there. I got pictures of presidents, high society, criminals, you name it. I was a bachelor at the time and took all of the evening and weekend jobs. Went to parties that never quit with plenty of liquor and I danced with all of the high society people. 

"After my service here, I decided to go to seminary and be an Episcopal priest. That took me away from Washington to southern Maryland for 22 years. My community was all pig farmers. But after growing up on a farm and taking pictures in Washington, I could talk to anyone. When I retired, I came back to D.C. because I love it here. I am an avid swing dancer and love that there is dancing every night of the week here. I used to dance for three hours straight when I was younger. I would finish dancing with some gal and before I got to the side, there would be a different gal tapping me on the shoulder for another dance. Now that I am 84, I can't dance like I used to, but still think that it is important to spread the joy with my dancing when I can."

Jahi on Listening

"My parents moved down to Atlanta, Georgia from the D.C. area a few years before I was born. We spent a few years there and then came back up to the area. My Mom is a health practitioner and my father is a teacher, but was trained as a goldsmith. Interesting story, my grandfather was a goldsmith in D.C. He had one of the first black-owned jewelry stores, called Lee Jewelers, on 14th and L St. He then went and opened one in Atlanta. He died of an aneurysm at 45, which always reminded me not to work too hard. My father and uncle trained under him. They tried to teach me, but I never took to it. I was less of a hands on person and more into using my mind to address things like social justice.

"After college, I got a job teaching students advocacy through S.T.E.P Up DC. The idea was to bring youth voices into policy making in this city. In this city, we are used to certain communities dictating the agenda for most of the city. We are trying to change that. For example, a majority of students in SE commute out of SE for school. A lot of students choose to travel around the District for school rather than fight to make their neighborhood schools better. That breaks up a community and has really negative impacts on the surroundings. We help these kids develop their voices and share their words with people who are making the decisions.

"Since starting this work, one thing that I have found difficult is getting people to understand why we need to work to build better neighborhood schools in low-income black and Latino areas. Some people say, 'Well, aren't they just lazy? I mean, we made it. Can't they just get themselves together.' There is lack of understanding between communities in this city. I first saw this when I went away to Morehouse College in Atlanta and came into contact with the wealthier side of black D.C. I met and learned with people who didn’t experience the city the same way I did. People always talk about how D.C. can be a very racially segregated city, but it can even be segregated among people of the same race. I think my main point is that sharing and learning from each other’s experiences is one thing that will bring us together as a city. I learned a lot from those guys I went to school with and I feel they learned a lot from me.

"That makes this work difficult, but as Ella Baker said, 'The struggle is eternal. The tribe increase. Somebody else carries on.' Social justice is a long fight, but there is hope in the fact that you can fight. I get angry driving around town and seeing a lot of the things that go on. But there is hope in seeing how many people, especially youth, want to give back and make this a better place. It's pretty amazing to meet 19 year olds who are thinking about the next generation and want to make life better for them.

"I love building community and interacting with people. I think that one of the things that is really undervalued is the power of other people. I have learned so much from kids and the other people around me. To build a better world, we need to listen and learn from those around us. My lesson from all of this is to always listen and ask good questions. That is the key to everything."

Learn more about S.T.E.P. Up DC here.

Paula on Where Heroes Are Buried

“When Justin finished high school, he decided that he wanted to join the infantry. I just blew up and said, 'You are my only kid, and the country is at war. Why would you put yourself in harms way?' He said, 'Mom, you should have had more kids. This is my dream and you need to man up and be strong.' I supported him, but I also used to clip news articles about war casualties for him to try and dissuade him, but he didn’t care.

"For all of his life, I preached college. He promised that when he got out of the Army, he would go to UCLA and then be a movie star. He was going to be the next Bruce Lee. It's funny, when he came back from basic training, he wanted to show me hand-to-hand combat, so he tried out his new moves on me. 

"When he was first sent to Afghanistan, I was happy because I thought it was a safer place than Iraq. I barely even knew that the war was still going on in Afghanistan because we only heard about Iraq in the news. He was so excited because he was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division, which was one of the most deployed units in the military. He was being trained to fight and wanted to be deployed. He was sent to the Korengal Valley, which they call the valley of death.

"He was four months into his first deployment when he was killed by friendly fire on June 25, 2006 at the age of 19. I didn’t even know what that term meant until this happened. They were coming back from a mission and were being followed by the enemy. Justin's unit called for a mortar attack and someone got the coordinates wrong. He was the only one in his unit who was killed that day. The last time I spoke with Justin was on May 3oth, a month before he died. He said, ‘Don’t worry about me. You won’t hear from me for a while because we are going out on a mission. I'll be okay.’ 

"I was on a business trip out in Wyoming when this happened. When I was told I had to go, I was thinking, what if something happens to Justin? How are they going to find me? People told me not to think like that and take the trip. I had this anxiety and the worst thing that I thought could happen, happened. The Army eventually tracked me down and said they needed to send someone over to talk to me. I begged them to tell me over the phone, but they wouldn't. I thought they were coming to tell me that Justin was hurt and I would have to go to Germany, where the main hospital was. 

"Finally, a few hours later, someone came over in dress uniform and asked, 'Are you Mrs. Davis.' I said, 'Yes.' The commander said, “Mrs. Davis, The United States Army is sorry.’ I just lost it and said this can’t be. I sat in a chair crying and crying. You always hear about that knock on the door. Mine came when I was thousands of miles away from home, in Wyoming of all places.

"After he died, the Army asked me where I wanted to bury him. Justin and I never talked about the what ifs. I remember him telling me once that all of the heroes are buried at Arlington Cemetery, so I knew that this is where he would want to be. Since he passed, I come here every weekend with my chair, Justin’s old backpack from school, some flowers, and my bible. I rush and work a lot during the week, so this is a nice time for me to slow down and reflect. I so feel Justin's presence when I am here. There are a number of people who also come here every weekend to see their loved ones. We take care of each other. We laugh and cry together and check up on each other. We have an informal support group.

"Since Justin, there have been so many other people buried here. I look out into the distance and think about all of the free land here just waiting for graves. I think about those families that will come here and grieve a loved one. I understand that there has to be war sometimes, but I think we should only go because nothing else that we have tried works."

Pfc Justin Ray Davis

1st PLT A Co 1-32 Infantry

1/28/87 - 6/25/06

Killed in Action in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan

Andrew on Reading D.C.'s Cards

"I am originally from Texas and will spend the next few months travelling around the country. D.C. was my first stop because I had an audition for the television quiz show Jeopardy. I think it went really well and I will hear back sometime in the next 18 months if I made the show or not. I like to read and think a lot and play trivia with friends, so I hope that will help me out. If not, I will keep trying until I get on the show. Oddly enough, as a tarot reader, I really want to get a bible category if I do get on the show. I grew up with all of that stuff and usually get them all right. 

"I remember when I was a lot younger and got my first tarot deck. I practiced a lot, but burned out on it. It can be a very intense experience. I ended up picking it up again when I started studying things of a more esoteric nature recently. There were a lot of similar patterns to what I was studying and tarot. It's an art form more than anything else. Now that I am traveling, I use tarot as a way to meet people, make some money, and learn about a place. 

"I am not a fortune teller. I don't tell the future, but I believe that there are echos of the future in tarot. When someone comes to me with a question, we take a few slow and even breaths together and then look to the cards for the answers. I like to touch the person 's hand as I am doing this to get a feel for their energy as I am going through the cards. When I lay the eight cards out, I look at the Major Arcana or the trump cards of the deck as the vowels of the sentence. The Minor Arcana are the consonants. Tarot is looking for the meaning of and between the cards and reading into the person while you read the cards. Seeing their reactions to things can be amazing and helps to add context to the additional cards and meanings behind them. 

(I asked Andrew to read cards for the city. He touched the deck to the ground, took a few breaths, and then laid out eight cards.)

"I think that D.C. is a place that has a lot going on. It is experiencing a rebirth and revitalization. But it is a place that is always under attack from people on the outside because it can be very abstract and elitist until you get here and see that is really a very honest, flesh-and-blood, and brick-and-mortar place. It is also under attack from people on the inside because of the segregation. There is a comfortable rythme that people have with the segregation and vast social and economic differences, but if three of four things go wrong in rapid succession, it could throw everything off in this city. People need to get to know their neighbors and realize that we have much more in common that we do in different. I think that humility is something that is good for everyone, but I wonder if there may be a deficit of it here. This city has so much potential to do great things." 

Frank on Buttons

"I was born in Baltimore and moved to Washington when I was five years old with my family. My parents had two grocery stores, real Mom-and-Pop stores, on the 1700 block of 10th Street NW and one on 5th and N St. As soon as I could count change, I was working at the counter. We didn't make much money, but everybody ate good. Back then, we had a book that people used to buy things. You bought things on credit and settled up at the end of the month. You don't see stuff like that anymore. People aren't as trusting as they used to be.

"I stayed in D.C. until I joined the National Guard and then went off to fight in Korea. I think that everyone should provide a year of some kind of service after high school. So many kids end up lost and don't know what to do. Public service is a good direction and an important way to help your country.

"When I got out of the Army, I came back to the area and got married at 25. My first job was selling insurance. Back then, I used to cold canvas. I went to a building and started at the top floor and talked my way down through every office trying to sell stuff. At the time, I could even go into the government buildings and walk around, too. I did get asked to leave the CIA because it was a secure building, but otherwise I could go most everywhere else.

"When I got fired from New York Life, I started selling buttons as souvenirs. Turns out I liked it a lot better. It started when my kids were in school and I went down to the government printing office to pick them up a copy of Kennedy's inaugural address for $o.50. I love history and thought it would be a nice present. When I came home, I told my wife, 'These look nice. I'll bet you can sell them.' She thought I was crazy. The first two people I showed them to wanted to buy them, so I bought 50 more and started selling them down at the Capitol. That was about forty years ago.

"I started selling all kinds of souvenirs and then I got really into buttons, especially the campaign buttons. I am the only guy in town who sells this stuff on the street. I got original stuff going back to McKinley and Teddy Roosevelt. I have Democrat, Republican, Vietnam War, peace and love, and even Socialist buttons. I try to have every button, so people don't have to argue with me about my politics. The average person will spend $10-15 on my buttons. Now, my most expensive button is $75. It is not super expensive, but some of this stuff gets up there. A Lincoln button could go for $1500.

"Buttons have been good to me. In 1984, I produced over one million buttons for the Reagan campaign. They were mostly those ethnic buttons, things like Greek-Americans for Reagan. Because of it, I was invited to both conventions and they called me up for a photo op with Nancy Reagan, so that was my 15 minutes of fame.

"I am 80 and think that I have another year or two out here. As long as my legs hold up, I will stay out here because I enjoy what I do. I meet a lot of great folks and have interesting conversations with people from all around the world. I'd much rather be doing this than staying home and watching television. I like to enjoy every day and tell people that every day that you are alive is like Christmas. If you are standing on your own two feet, you're doing good and should feel blessed." 

SPC Bryan Camacho on Saying Thank You

"I knew from the age of eight that I wanted to be in the Army. I had an uncle who was in the military who I really looked up to. He said that I had to find my own motivation and couldn’t join just because of him. As I got older, I realized that there wasn’t anything else that struck my interest like the Army did. I looked at colleges, but they didn’t appeal to me. 

"My senior year of high school, September 11th happened and then one of my best friends from high school, Giovanni Maria, died fighting in Afghanistan a few months later. People thought that his death might push me away from the military, but it didn’t. I remember talking to Giovanni before he passed and telling him to wait a few more months for me to graduate, so we could be over there together kicking some ass. He died before I could get over there. He was 19 and I felt like I owed it to him to join the Army. I joined at 18 and it still feels right eight years later, even after my injury. I plan to stay in for the full twenty.

"During my third tour in Iraq, my Humvee was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) on December 21, 2007. We were out on patrol when we heard that another Company had been hit and one of my buddies, George Howell, was killed by an IED. We were on our way to help them when my truck got hit by an IED. The vehicle flipped over and I was thrown from the Humvee. I remember the explosion and the orange fire ball and then the next thing I knew I was on the ground and couldn’t sit up. I figured that when you are wearing 60 pounds of armor and you get knocked on your back, you are like a turtle who has been turned over and can't turn back. When the other guys came to me, they wouldn’t let me sit up because they knew that I was in trouble. They put me on a board and onto a helicopter. I blacked out and woke up in Germany. I broke my back, most of my ribs, and my right lung collapsed. Now, I am completely paralyzed and will be in this chair indefinitely. Most of the other guys in my vehicle got some rather significant injuries, too. One kid lucked out and didn’t have one scratch on him.

"The most difficult thing about the injury was being in a hospital so far away from my buddies. Even though I was injured, I wanted to go back into the action. I kept fighting with the people who were trying to help me and telling them to send me back. They obviously didn't for good reason. From Germany, they sent me to do my initial rehabilitation at Walter Reed and then I was transferred to the Kessler Institute in New Jersey where they specialize in spinal chord injuries.

"I just recently finished my therapy and now I am going back to work. There was a slip up in my paperwork for my first assignment after rehabilitation. I was given orders to join an infantry brigade headed to Afghanistan. I told them I would go, but obviously they couldn't send me with my injury and assigned me to work with wounded warriors and their families at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Now, I will do what I can to help those in need.

"My one big thing that I want to tell people is to say, 'Thank you' to soldiers and veterans. You don’t have to like what is going on, but those two words mean more to us than you all realize. I remember lying in bed at Walter Reed and people came by to say, 'Thank you,' and it made me feel like people actually cared about what we do and what we go through. Sometimes people say, ‘I’m sorry’ to me because they realize that my life is difficult now, but I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I have told countless people that I am glad I took most of the physical damage rather than anyone else. Of all of the guys in the truck, I had the most combat time. Even though some of them outranked me, I still called them 'kids' because I had been all over that country and served three tours.

"Today, I am at Arlington Cemetery to see my friend, George Howell. I have been in-and-out of hospitals for the past two years, so this was my first chance to come and see his grave. I lost nine friends over there and I eventually want to get out to see their graves, too."

Support the Wounded Warrior Project here.

Mark on the Dance of Days

"The first thing to say is that I knew about the D.C. punk scene long before I came here. I grew up in one of the most rural and economically depressed areas in Montana and punk gave me the awareness of possibilities outside of what I knew. I am very proud of where I come from and I learned a lot there, but at the time, it felt like hell to me. Punk music, starting with the New York scene and Patti Smith and then the London scene with Sex Pistols and The Clash, gave me a reason to live. These were young people, more or less my age, creating this angry music that was ultimately so full of life. They were not waiting for change, they were going to make it themselves. 

"Punk music helped me go to college. College was not one of those things that everybody did where I grew up. It was extremely optional. I wanted to study things that I believed in and become an activist. I wanted to change the world. That is why D.C. grabbed me. When I left college, I was very career oriented and came to Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. It was a pipeline into the establishment, for the better or worse. 

"I was from a small town, so coming here was very overwhelming. I had never seen homelessness or racial segregation, and it just tore my heart apart. My crisis became even more profound when I went to Central America in 1985. The poverty there was at a whole new level and there was an ongoing war where the U.S. was not playing a positive role. At school, I was being trained to be a mid-level functionary in this system that was supporting these policies. I knew that I could not go forward in the direction I had just spent tens of thousands of dollars for school. At the time, the only thing that made sense to me was the D.C. punk scene. It was about doing things yourself and having a positive mental attitude. So for the second time, punk rock revolutionized my life. 

"It was at that time that I thought that someone needed to write a book about the punk music scene here. It was an incredible story that mattered a lot to me. I get New York and London, but D.C. as a punk rock center, it seemed so unexpected. I wanted to share the story of how this happened. I started doing research in 1986 and the finished product came out in 2001. The D.C. punk scene and its continuing influence around the world is an astonishing an inspirational story. 

"Punk music is a chapter of D.C. that many people don't know about, but more people should. People think that this is a buttoned-up town where we only import culture. There is a part of that stereotype that is true, but D.C. played a huge role in punk and rock music and exporting a positive mental approach towards living and tackling problems to everyone who could hear our music. For people who don't like punk music, that is cool, but you should try and embrace the spirit. This is a city built out of big dreams and D.C. punk is just another amazing representation of that."

Mark Andersen is the author of Dance of Days: Two Decades of Punk in the Nation's Capital. He is also involved with We Are Family, which is a senior citizen support network.

SM on Being the Ultimate Washington Insider

"My name is Scott, but I go by my initials SM now. I used to live in Philadelphia and would come to D.C. a lot. I always had a better time here than I did in Philadelphia, so I chose to move to D.C. in 2006 at the age of 36. Hitting a new town in my late-30's, I really wanted to make it count. I felt like it was my last real go-around to tackle and own a town, or at least my little corner of it. I really wanted to become the ultimate Washington insider. 

"The thing is that I work for an ad agency in Georgetown, which is as far as you can get from politics and life on the Hill. But I started writing for the Huffington Post, which got me in a lot of doors. I'm not really sure why, though, because who doesn't write for the Huffington Post these days. Don't tell Arianna I said that! Through that, I got invited to stuff and people thought that I was someone of relevance. So, I pushed my way in to see how far into the interior of big time D.C. I could get. To me, I wanted the same thing that every high school kid wants, to be invited to the right parties, get recognized, and get photographed a lot. This is Hollywood for ugly people and I think that I am ugly enough to make it in this town. 

"The thing is that official D.C. is so boring, don't you think? I recognized that I really did not want to be the ultimate Washington wonk. I prefer the Salahi model, I guess, and started to crash parties, like the White House Correspondents dinner, which I did three times. That event is like nerd prom, which made it great for me. 

"Recently, I decided to give all of this up and stop living a lie. I came out to everyone that I had not been invited to these events and was just trying to see how far into the city I could get. You know, the Salahis should come join me on this side and be honest about everything. Now, I am happy to be in the same category as those tourists on the top of those double decker tour buses as the ultimate outsiders."

SM Shrake is also a storyteller and performer. You can see his work here. 

Rita on Not Playing the Game

"I was young and crazy when I came to this country from Ireland 20 year ago. That is really the only explanation I can give for why I am here. I had lived in so many places in my life and wanted to try New York. After some time, I wandered down to Washington for work, but I don’t think I will stay. The British Isles will always be my home. 

"I came here to work for the federal government. I started as a statistician and now I work as an economist. I am not really interested in management or administrative work, but I found a nice fit doing research. I was really nervous about moving to Washington at first. Before moving here, I had only been here for anti-war marches. I would get on a bus at 4 a.m. to come down. All that I saw of Washington were the monuments and those austere style buildings. I had never seen a neighborhood, so I always associated this town with the issues I was here protesting. 

"I eventually did move here and found the neighborhoods, but it took me a long time to settle in because my Mom died after I moved, which was very sad. But I came to like the open spaces and arts and all of the activities you can do here, like hula hooping. New York can be very pushy and noisy, but that doesn't seem to be a problem here. I do miss the mix of cultures, like they have in New York. Here, you have to go, I don’t know how many subway stops, to actually find ethnic people and restaurants. In Brooklyn, you had it on most streets. 

"In New York, I used to work for the city government, mostly under the Giuliani Administration. At work, we used to talk about the government and politics and the mayor in our cubicles. We felt very open to speak our minds. With the federal government, you don’t talk at all about this stuff. People talk about the weather and the metro and their air conditioners instead. Sometimes, I think that things here are too controlled and people do not want to get out of line. A friend of mine keeps telling me that I have to learn how to play the game, though. It is not the people who work hard or speak their minds who get promoted, but the people who are always smiling and say, 'Oh, isn't everything so wonderful.' Basically, you have to be a total ass kisser. I like my job, but I prefer not to play the game."

Clifton on the Disconnect between Findlay and Washington

"I was born in Laurel, Mississippi. I have been in labor all of my life. I started working at a Chrysler plant when I was 18. Now, I work as a laborer for the Cooper Tire and Rubber Company in Findlay, Ohio. I have been there for 28 years. Findlay is a big manufacturing town. We have Whirlpool and Marathon Oil, in addition to some smaller, non-union plants.

"I am here in Washington, as part of the Steelworkers Union, to promote green industry to help get us off foreign oil and promote American jobs. I come here pretty regularly to help promote our issues and share the realities of jobs leaving the United States with people in Washington. I really think that a lot of people in this town don't really understand the realities of what happens when manufacturing leaves American cities. Washington never fully depended on industry, so it is hard to feel its impact here. 

"There is a town about 20 miles from where I live called Fostoria. It used to have more industry than Findlay. There were 1,000 workers at the Ford spark plug plant, 1,100 workers at the Chrysler plant, 1,500 workers at the Union Carbide plant, 300 workers at Grey printing, and many others. All of those jobs have now gone overseas and the town is dead. People in Washington need to know about this stuff and take action to stop it from happening again and again. 

"There is so much potential in this great country of ours, but sometimes the policy makers here forget about that when they are looking for cheap foreign labor or foreign oil. As long as there remains a disconnect between the Findlays and Fostorias of America and Washington on our nation's priorities, we will continue to come here to support American manufacturing and American workers."

Jewell on Oral Histories

“I grew up in Arizona and Hawaii. I first came to Washington in 1956 when my husband joined the Foreign Service. We were in-and-out of Washington from 1956 to 1985, and then settled here permanently. We were posted twice in Holland, once in Sierra Leone, Morocco, Curacao, Trinidad and Tobago, and Brazil. My husband was an economic officer and I was a tag along spouse. In those days, we couldn’t work, but we gave lovely dinner parties and brought up perfect children. 

"When we came back to Washington, I was around 50 and no one would hire me. I had no resume or network, as I had been overseas for so many years. Saying that you gave a nice dinner party in Curacao didn’t do much for helping you get a job. My husband suggested that I start helping out the city. I started by helping to clean up our neighborhood and helping, in my small way, to bring my area of 16th Street back after the Martin Luther King riots. 

"I also started doing oral histories. My first one was of foreign service spouses. Foreign Service wives had, in my day, been very quiet because they did not want their words or actions to reflect on their husband’s work. We used to be included in our husband’s efficiency reports, if you can believe that. They used to look at our dinner parties, philanthropic work, and the behavior of our children. In the end, I don’t think that stuff ever really mattered, though. A foreign service officer was successful if he was good at his job, but they wanted us to believe that our behavior mattered. Now, things are so different. Many of the spouses are men and most spouses are allowed to work, either in the Embassy, or the host country. We interviewed over 200 people and published a book, Married to the Foreign Service: An Oral History of the American Diplomatic Spouse.

"At the time, I was also involved with the Woman's National Democratic Club. The Hatch Act prohibited me from promoting either party when my husband was a government employee. When he retired, one of the first things I did was to join the club. I came to lunches here and joined different task forces. When my foreign service spouses book was finished, I came over and did an oral history here. With the foreign service spouses, I knew nothing about oral histories, but I knew my subject. This was the opposite. I missed the women’s movement and civil rights because we were abroad, but I knew how to do an oral history. I worked to publish Democratic Women about the amazing history of this place. 

"The Woman's National Democratic Club has been around since 1922. Our building was originally a mansion designed by Harvey Page, a notable Washington architect, and built in 1892-94 for a descendent of the noted Adams family of Massachusetts. After she died, her son rented the building to senators and cabinet secretaries. We purchased the building in 1927 and started to grow the group. One of the members gave us an interest free loan and the Democratic National Committee helped us with our mortgage, the salary for the executive director, and funding our newsletter until the depression hit. 

"This club has a lot of important history and gone through many changes. Eleanor Roosevelt was very involved with our work and we have had every sitting president here, expect for Clinton and Obama. In doing research for the book, one of my favorite stories about the club is about the musical Hair. When it was first screened in Washington, there was a lot of debate in the city about whether it was too racy. The club put on a special performance of the production and people resigned in protest that the club had sunk to such depths. The club has really been at the forefront of many important social and cultural issues, even if some of the membership moves a little slower. Now, my generation is the mainstay of the club, but there is a new youthful group, people in their 60’s, who are taking the lead here to move the club and its history forward." 

The Woman's National Democratic Club is located at 1526 New Hampshire Ave NW.  

Ajaé on Her Wish for D.C.

"I am 32 and was born in SE, Washington, D.C. The city changed a whole-whole-whole-whole-lot since I've been around. I have seen SE fall and grow. I have seen the projects change and people move in-and-out of neighborhoods. Things were torn down and condemned and they brought in a lot of new stuff. They say it is for the better, but I am not certain. In the political aspect, yes,it is better, but for the city people, no. 

"I want peace, tranquility and kindness in my neighborhood and for the city. I mean, a lot of stuff has calmed down. SE used to have a high rate for killings. Years ago, we wouldn't even be able to sit out here and have this conversation, but now the streets are safer. I am proud of the change here. Still, there is a lot stereotyping that they give SE, but there is also a lot that comes out of here. I contribute to the city by doing sexual outreach, things like handing out condoms to the community. That's how I try and make this place better. 

"Now, I do home health care work. I work with seniors, people with disabilities, or people who just need a home nurse. I went to several trade schools to get certified and I was impacted by Marion Barry's summer jobs program when I was 14 to 21. That program gave me something to do and helped my job training skills at an early age. As a teenager, you can't always depend on your parents, so it was also nice to have money in your pocket.

"Of course, Marion Barry is the longest serving mayor in D.C. He is well loved in the SE community because he did a lot and brought a lot to our communities. In terms of this new mayor, Adrian Fenty, he hasn't really stepped up to the plate. It may be because everyone is looking for another Marion Barry, but there will never be another Marion Barry. If I had a wish, I would bring him back. I don't see it happening again because he has a lot of controversy behind him, but I think that you will get a lot of positive feedback from the people in SE if he does."

Richard on the Treasury Building

"I grew up in North Hampton, Massachusetts. I did my Masters and Ph.D. in Massachusetts. I have a doctorate in American and New England studies. When I finished my coursework, I took my first job as an architectural historian with the state of Vermont. That was followed by a job in the Virginia historic preservation office as an architectural historian. From there, I got a job as the curator of the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia. Then, I crossed the Mason-Dixon line to work at the Treasury in 1990. I first worked as a collections manager and then as assistant curator and then curator and historic preservation officer for the Department of the Treasury.

"This building has a lot of history. The Treasury building is the third oldest federal building in the District of Columbia, preceded by the Capitol and the White House. The first Treasury building was built in 1800 and then burned by the British when they came to town in 1814. A second building was erected, which was burned again in 1833. After the first two burnings, Congress wised up and hired Robert Mills who was from South Carolina to come and build a fireproof building. Mills had worked on the Capitol and used the Bourse in Paris as his prototype for the Treasury building. He gave every employee his own office, and essentially created the first modern office building in the United States. Since then, the building has undergone a number of extensions and renovations and now essentially occupies an entire city block.

"Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, who served from 1921-1932, was one of the first to attempt to recognize Treasury's historical and artistic significance. He instructed one of his assistants to collect historic furnishings and was instrumental in celebrating the historical significance of this building. However, it was not until 1986, that the Treasury Department created the office of the curator. Now, comparable offices exist at the White House, Senate, Capitol, and State Department. As the curator, I am charged with the preservation, restoration, and maintenance of the Treasury building and the Treasury collection. Treasury has the most comprehensive and oldest portrait collection within the Executive Branch. We also have a large collection of antique office furnishings, as well as museum quality art that relates to Treasury's history, including serving as the temporary office of President Andrew Johnson after Lincoln's assassination."

Read more about the history of the Treasury Department  here. 

Jewel on Her First Time Voting

"When I was born at D.C. General Hospital 55 years ago, my grandmother looked at me and said that I was precious, so she named me Jewel. I have raised my four kids here and am proud of what we have accomplished. For 23 years, I have worked as a cleaner in the Senate. I cleaned the offices of Senators Clinton, Kennedy, and Obama, and a bunch of the committees. 

"You know, Obama's office was simple, but some of these senators have offices filled with antiques, fish tanks, and totem poles. A lot of these Senators are so nice to us and let us leave early on the holidays or let us play music in the offices when we are cleaning. Let me tell you about the time I met Senator Kennedy. Lord, it was so embarrassing! You know how some people need drugs for a boost. Well I need my music. I was playing my music in his office and was in the zone, dancing around. You know what music does to you. Next thing I know, I turn around to see Senator Kennedy, John John, and Caroline there. I ran to turn the music down, but Senator Kennedy was so kind and down to earth. He told me to keep playing my music and was always kind to me after that. Lord, I can tell you stories about some of these other Senators.

"One of the things that really kept me going these years was Obama. He really changed my life. I used to be a shop steward and would say to my people that you need to step up to the plate to make change. You got to do something to make a difference. I have a daughter who is a cop and a son in the military. They are making a difference. In my own way, I am, too. I knew that Obama would make a change for us. At work, I used to wear an Obama t-shirt and my 'Obama Mama' hat even though we were not allowed to wear political stuff. You know me, I had to represent. I even have a tree that someone in Obama's office threw away. I kept is as a way to feel closer to him. I call it my Obama tree.

"People used to tell me, 'You really think Obama is going to win.' I said, 'He is because I am going to vote.' See, I got baptized as a Jehovah's Witness 27 years ago because my husband was of the faith. Up until Obama, I made a decision not to vote and put my trust in God, as is instructed by our faith. The first time I ever voted was for Obama, and if he runs again, I will vote for a second time. I don't look for Obama to do everything, but I know that he is going to make a difference.

"I would like to meet President Obama and say, 'Thank you.' I saw so many of my black sisters and brothers say that he wouldn't make it as President. I always believed and said to them, 'What are you doing? Are you stepping up to the plate? What changes are you making?' I want to thank the President for doing something. "

Register to vote in D.C. here.

Derek on the Greatest Profession on the Planet

"Me and my brother, my father, my grandmother, and my great-grandfather are all from Washington, D.C. My family has a strong connection to the city, but, like many families, we eventually migrated out of the city to the suburbs. I grew up in Maryland and spent most of my childhood there. I grew up in the hard-core scene in D.C., which is funny to think about now that I own a bar. 

"As a teenager, I moved to Charleston, South Carolina, with my father. There is where I started to stray away from the idealistic, straight edge 14 year old and started drinking and partying with kids in high school. As soon as I could, I left South Carolina and came back to D.C. I had no plans or designs of being a wine-and-spirits professional at the time, but I got a job waiting tables at Rocky's in Adams Morgan, which is where Evolve is now. 

"At the time, I was somewhat aimless. I know this is going to come off as a little harsh, but a lot of people in the restaurant industry are aimless, which is a nice way of saying losers. It is an easy way to make cash and support substance-abuse issues. I considered myself one of those losers. Fortunately, I didn't have substance abuse issues, but I didn't know what I wanted to do. Eventually, one of the bartenders left and Rocky asked if I knew how to bartend. I said, 'Yes,' but I really had no idea. She could sense my hesitation and asked me to make her a rum punch on the spot. I grabbed every rum on the rail and threw in some juice and sour mix and garnished it with every piece of fruit I could find. Amazingly, she said it was good and that is how I got my first job bartending. After that, I fell in love with it and knew that it was the job that I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I think that bartending is the greatest profession on the planet. Sometimes it is hard because people can abuse alcohol. There have been instances when I had to cut off people who were my grandparents' age. As much as I lionize drinking culture, I recognize the need for moderation. 

"After Rocky's closed, I went to work at a number of different places and then studied to be a sommelier. In the end, I didn't love being a sommelier as much as I loved being a bartender. While I was still a sommelier, some friends and I started a speakeasy during our days off. Eventually, I came back into bartending when I got involved with The Gibson and eventually opened The Passengerwith my brother, Tom, and Paul Ruppert. When we opened this place, we wanted a bar that was of the District. We were tired of the mentality that D.C. is not good enough, so we thought there was no better way to show pride in the District than putting a D.C. flag on the door with a sign that says, 'God save the District.' We also wanted to incorporate local things, like half-smokes and rickeys.

"The rickey is actually D.C's native cocktail. The gin rickey may be the most popular rickey, but the bourbon rickey was the original, and it was invented at Shoomakers, which was on Pennsylvania Avenue, in 1893. It was described quite literally as a shit hole. One of the bartenders, George C. Williamson, was considered Washington's greatest bartender at the time. The Washington Post called him the 'King of Julep' makers and he invented the rickey. Every President visited Shoemakers except for Rutherford B. Hayes, who was dry. I went and made drinks for President Obama, but can you imagine that presidents actually used to go visit that guy to get a drink. It blows my mind. In his obituary, it said that Williamson likely had a hand in every political decision of the time, as Shoomakers was where all of the politicians and journalists hung out and talked about work. 

"Shoomakers eventually closed because of prohibition, which came to D.C. earlier than the rest of the country. Morris Sheppard, a senator from Texas, wanted to make an example of the District. D.C., now as then, drinks more per capita than any city in the country. Correspondingly, the indicators of drunkenness are 36th or 37th in the nation, which means that we can hold our alcohol." 

Derek Brown is the co-owner of The Passenger at 1021 7th Street Northwest.  He is also a regular contributor to The Atlantic.  

Natalie on Loving Who We Are

"I was born in Saint Mary, Jamaica. I spent most of my life traveling between Jamaica and the U.S., as my Dad lives in New Jersey. Please, no Jersey jokes. My husband works for the United Nations and our first post was in New York, but we lived in New Jersey. In 2008, we were posted to Washington. 

"I do community relations at the embassy. I work with Jamaicans in the D.C. metro area on things like how to give back to Jamaica and I organize our social events. The Jamaican community in D.C. is different than the Jamaican communities in New York and New Jersey. New York and New Jersey Jamaicans acts as though they own the entire United States. In D.C., the Jamaicans are a little calmer and quieter. The environment has influenced them. Because D.C. is more of a policy oriented place, the Jamaicans have evolved with the culture. In D.C., you find that Jamaicans are very organized and want to give back, which is consistent with Jamaicans across the United States. 

"There is a strong relationship between our two countries, especially because of the significant Jamaican immigration to the United States, specifically in the late 70's. Every Jamaican that you meet has at least three or four relatives in the U.S. There are speculations that there are more Jamaicans living outside of Jamaica than in Jamaica. A large number of those are in the U.S. We think that New York alone has one million Jamaicans. As much as Jamaicans here are happy to be Americans, they don't want to let go of the fact that they are Jamaicans. 

"We have a saying that within three weeks of arriving in the U.S., every Jamaican can tell you where to find salt fish and all of the things that we love to cook. Even when you move to the U.S., you still want that part of home. Jamaicans want what they are used to. There is a comedian named Russell Peters who says that you never see a Jamaican wanting to be anyone else, but you see other nationalities trying to be Jamaicans in the way they dress and speak. We just love who we are. 

"For a number of years, all we were known for was reggae music, Bob Marley and our food, but now we have the fastest man, Usain Bolt, and woman, Shelly-Ann Fraser, on earth. At the Embassy, we are working to increase people's understanding of Jamaica. We are a small island of 2.7 million people, but have a large influence. Many people think that everyone in Jamaica lives in poverty. We are so much more. Look at academics. If there are Jamaicans at a school or university, you bet they are going to be on the honor roll. A lot of these students go on to be lawyers and doctors. 

"I have enjoyed my time in Washington, This is one of those cities where you need to live in life. It is a serious place, but there is lots of stuff to do and great night life. It is also a great place to raise their kids. Being in D.C. makes me appreciate Jamaica more. Here, you feel like you are consistently on a treadmill. In Jamaica, we use the term, 'You lyme,' which means to relax and hang out with your friends. Here, you need to make plans two weeks in advance. In Jamaica, people call and say, 'Nat, open the gate. I am five minutes from your house.' In the Jamaican community here, people still do that with each other, but realize they can't always do that with non-Jamaicans. Being a diplomat, we have to take on more of the formality in our work. 

"After this posting, we will likely be posted somewhere in Africa. One of the advantages of the foreign service is seeing the world. I would love to live on most of the continents, but I am an island girl at heart." 

Natalie Campbell-Rodriques is the Community Relations Attache at the Embassy of Jamaica.

Daniel on Being the Wig Man

"I think that everyone is introduced to politics when they are little. We all read books about George Washington in elementary school. What really got me into politics is that when I was in high school, I won the titles of most talkative, most likely to have a talk show, and most likely to become president. What is unique is that I was not even in the student council. Those titles really affected my decision to enter politics later in life. 

"I graduated from college at 20 with three majors -- business, psychology and communications. After school, I worked as a reporter, and, later, editor, in Shaker Heights, Ohio. From there, I moved to Connecticut and was the editor of the weekly newspaper, the Greenwich Post. On 9/11, I was in one of the cities most impacted by what happened on that day, because so many people in Greenwich were working in or near the World Trade Center. 9/11 really hit me, and I didn't like how President Bush evolved the confusion and anger of that day into a war against Iraq. Presidents shouldn't do those things, especially under such extreme and uncertain circumstances. Statistics prove that about 95 percent of America supported the war at one point or another. I was one of only 5 percent of America who did not ever support the Iraq war. 

"Even though I was only 31 at the time and the youngest Republican in U.S. history to ever run for President, those experiences really affected me and were a direct reason why I ran for president against George W. Bush. I only campaigned in a few states: Iowa, Connecticut, Ohio, Texas, and New York. I had volunteers, but I was doing most of it myself. I lived in a truck that I called Air Ford One. My campaign slogan was, 'Small ideas for America.' Presidents should really focus on small ideas because those sometimes mean more in the end than big ideas. I never made it onto a ballot for president, but I got a lot of media attention, which I then used in future campaigns. 

"When I was doing research in Iowa for my first book, Will You Run for President?, someone told me about a Halloween party in Washington, D.C. at the Guards Restaurant.They suggested that I go dressed as George Washington to get a feel for what it was like to be president. I rented a George Washington costume, but I had to buy the wig for hygiene purposes. I went to the costume party in D.C. and it was a great experience. People really interacted with me differently, and I did feel very presidential. The next morning, I was wondering what made me feel that way - was it the outfit or the wig? I experimented by wearing the wig along with my normal clothes. My first experience was walking into an elevator with these two maids. They kept wanting to salute me. I realized they thought I was a dignitary or something because of the wig. So, I spent that day walking around Washington, D.C., with the wig on and noticed that I got a lot of attention. Years later, I used the wig for political events and in my campaigns for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois against Barack Obama and for U.S. Senator in Maryland against Michael Steele. Now, I am running for county executive in Montgomery County as Daniel 'The Wig Man' Vovak.

"Some people don't view the wig as serious. I think it's better to look in terms of who historically has not been taken seriously and their ultimate impact on America. People like Andrew Jackson, Ronald 'The Gipper' Reagan, and Gerald Ford were not taken seriously until they became president. Certainly, nobody took Jesse 'The Body' Ventura seriously until he became governor. The way to be considered serious in America is to be elected. One day, when I am elected, people will take me seriously. At that point, it will be up to the voters to decide whether or not I wear my wig in office. 

"You know, I am a Republican, but I am worried about the party. As far as I'm concerned, we need to be a party of optimism. We need to find a way to look at America's good points and help shape America's problems for the better. I don't always see that among Republicans. Now, the optimism is low, which is normally the case when a party is out of power. We need more great optimists as candidates."

Daniel 'The Wig Man' Vovak is an author, movie producer, and currently running for county executive in Montgomery Country, Maryland.

Cindy on the Congressional Cemetery

"I was born in Mayfield, Kentucky and was raised in Memphis, Tennessee. When I finished college, I got a job with the Agency for International Development in Washington. I am a Republican and very involved in politics. At the time, I was asked to become the Executive Director of the National Young Republicans. When Richard Nixon left office, I was devastated and went home to Memphis in distress. I came back ten years later when I married my husband. We moved to Capitol Hill and have been here ever since. 

"In 1984, my husband was working with the Congress and the president of the association that runs the Congressional Cemetery was a good friend of his. He said, 'Paul, I need you and Cindy to come and help us clean the cemetery on Saturday.' I thought that it would be a fun thing to do, so I showed up wearing sandals, shorts and I had my Japanese farmers knife, which is used for pulling weeds. We drove up in front of the cemetery and saw the terrible condition of the place. I said, 'This is not going to work. Take me back home.' I put on boots, long pants and used a sickle, rather than a weeding tool, as the grass was above my knees.

"At the time, the cemetery had no money and nobody to keep it up. Most of the people who are buried here don't have anyone left as we have been burying people since 1807. There used to be hookers in the east end and wild dogs in the west end and the drug dealers on the front of the property. An association was formed in 1974 to help take care of the place. The association sought help from Veterans Affairs and the National Parks Service, but both organizations could not help for different reasons. So, they decided to have a bake sale and raised $35. Then, they had a fundraiser at someone's house and raised a few hundred dollars. Then, they had a Halloween party here and raised a few thousand dollars. Then, they sent out a letter to all of the people in the neighborhood to seek members. In 1978, the Association raised enough money to mow the grass three times a year. They couldn't rake or do anything about the snow. The rest of the time, the mowing was done in pieces by volunteers.

"After I volunteered in 1984 and 1985, I did not come back to the cemetery until 2005. When I came back, I was stunned at how much the cemetery had changed. At the time, the association was looking for someone to manage and build upon the history of the cemetery and put out a request for proposals for an executive director. The vice chairman of the board, who I had met a number of times, asked if I would consider applying . I said, 'I don't want to run a cemetery.' She said, it is more than just running a cemetery. I said, 'Well, if I can do what I want to do, I'd love to take the job.'

"When I got here, there was one nice lady who answered the phone for four hours a day, three days a week. There are now seven of us. We are working to tell the stories of the people in this cemetery who made a difference in American history and for this city.There are 55,000 people buried here, including 1,200 veterans. This cemetery still has people who own plots, but haven't used them because they are still alive. We bury around 12 people a year.

"When L'Enfant drew up plans for the city, the Southeast corner was called Reservation 13 and set aside for the insane asylum, the pauper's house, the jail, and the hospital for the terminally ill and diseased. The cemeteries were established up near Takoma Park and in upper Southeast, but the location that was chosen for this cemetery was marshland. The U.S. government swapped the original location with a piece of Reservation 13. The cemetery was originally 4 1/2 acres. The first person buried was the master stone mason of the Capitol. The third person buried was the wife of the Commandant of the Navy Yard. The fifth person buried here was Senator Uriah Tracy. By 1812, we buried 12 members of the House and Senate and a Vice President and a number of Cabinet officials and military leaders. At that time, Congress declared us the Congressional burying ground because there was no embalming. When you died, you had to go someplace pretty fast. This was the only cemetery in the federal city.

"Probably our most famous person is the March King himself, John Philip Sousa. He was the very famous director of the Marine Corps Band. Matthew Brady was a photographer in the 1800's who took pictures of the Civil War and also took the famous picture of Lincoln that is on the $5 bill. We also have J. Edgar Hoover buried here. Some people feel that he was not straight. I don't know if that is true or not, but his longtime secretary, Clyde Tolson, who was number two in the FBI and his housemate and inherited all of his property bought a site as close to Hoover as he could get, which was about 12 sites away. We also have Leonard Matlovich who was the first person kicked out to the army for being openly gay. His tombstone says, 'When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one.'

"We are still a secret in D.C. Even people on the Hill have no idea where this place is. For the last 40 years, we haven't done anything to publicize ourselves. Until ten years ago, we were embarrassed about our condition. Now, we have specialized and general tours, pageants, plays and musicals. We are also developing materials to help D.C. students learn about the history of this city. There are 26 people buried in this cemetery for whom D.C. schools are named. We have the first ten mayors of the city buried here. We have the man who designed the Washington Monument. We have editors of the first and second newspapers here. We have Senators, Congressmen, and Vice Presidents. We have the guy who designed the Navy Yard and the man who ordered it burned, so that the British couldn't get it. This cemetery is full of stories about D.C. and our nation's history."

Cindy Hays is the Executive Director of the Congressional Cemetery at 1801 E Street SE.

Councilmember Kwame Brown on Changing with the District

"My Dad came here in the 1960's. He was always involved in D.C. politics from being a part of the civil rights movement to helping Marion Barry get elected to running for school board in 1986. He was always talking about how to change things in D.C. My Mom's family is from the Alexandria area. She is an ordained minister and very religious. She didn't start wearing pants until I was 36. My parents are two very different people who exposed me to very different parts of this city. 

"During my career, I worked for the private sector and for President Clinton. After that, I really wanted to work to make a difference in D.C. I decided that instead of talking about the problems here, I was going to run for office. People said, 'You are crazy and can not win.' There had never been a graduate from the Mayor's Youth Leadership Program who was elected to City Council. No one east of the Anacostia had ever won an At-Large seat. And my name is Kwame, which some people thought was a problem. They wanted me to run as just 'Brown.' Add to that running against a 16 year incumbent. Once I started to run, I knew that losing was not an option. I wanted to show that you could be a graduate of D.C. public schools and live east of the river and participate in changing in this city. I proved that. 

"Now, I feel strongly that it is time for young people to take over the world. I am all for respecting our elder statesmen, but we need to beat a new path to the future. There is always some battle between me and my old man over approaches on how to get there. The old guard is driving and looking out of the rearview mirror. We need our younger generation, who is forward thinking, to get in the left lane and pass the older generation. You see that happening with things like same sex marriage. That never would have happened back in the day. You also see the younger generation holding up economics as a leading factor to make lasting change in this city.

"If you go back from the 60's to now in the District, we were really interested in attacking the social issues, Now, I believe, it is economic issues that should drive us forward. We need to ensure that the city is economically strong. You can't change the social issues without economics. The best way to get people off of welfare or into affordable housing is through economics. We need to build the new generation and give them skills so they can get jobs and succeed. We used to have seven vocational schools in D.C. We got rid of all of them and said we would get everyone into college. You and I know that we can't do that. That just led to a generation of people graduating from high school with no technical skills. That's why I worked to re-open the Phelps Career High School. so people could leave with technical skills. We had zero people being trained in 2009. Now, we have 145 people trained annually.

"In addition, you have so many kids who were failed by this city in the 80's. Now, there are too many grandparents raising their grandchildren. We need parents to raise their kids. We see the impact of a generation of people who got caught up in drugs, incarceration, and broken homes. The question becomes how do we deal with this. We can't socially spend our way out of this, we need economics to help people get jobs and ensure that we have mixed-use and mixed-income developments where these people can live. You used to be able to meet someone in D.C., fall in love and raise your kids here. It is not like that anymore. It's no longer the affordable, family friendly city I remember. 

"Every day, I am up here, I realize that it is not about what I want, but about how to help people, especially the young people. I want to help create the next generation of entrepreneurs, politicians, doctors, and lawyers. The younger generation here needs to kick down the door and take it because no one is going to give it to us. The District has changed and we need to change with it."

Councilmember Brown was first elected to the City Council in 2005. He is the Chairman of the Committee on Economic Development. He is also a member of the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment, Libraries, Parks and Recreation, Finance and Revenue, and Public Works and Transportation. Learn more about Councilmember Brown here.