Gunnery Sergeant Paulk on the Young Marines

"I've been in the Marine Corps for 17 years and have been working with the Young Marines in this area for 16 years. I was stationed at the 8th and I Marine Barracks and saw the kids there training. I just started volunteering my time and have been helping ever since. I like to describe the Young Marines as being the Boy Scouts with a Marine Corps structure to it. We do a lot of the same things as the Boy Scouts, like camping and community service projects. We also teach the Marine Corps customs and courtesies, without the war fighting. Young Marines are between 8 and 17, or whenever they finish high school, and have to maintain a 2.0 grade point average. The goal of the Young Marines is to provide better citizens in all aspects of their lives: at home, at play, in their communities, at church, and in their families. This is also a drug demand reduction program to make kids aware of the impact of drugs on themselves and their communities. 

"We meet once a week, so we can monitor the kids' progress. The parents also give us a lot of feedback. I like to call this program a triangle evolution. You need to have the instructor, parent, and kid working together to make this an effective program. A lot of these kids haven't developed their morals yet. The Young Marines can provide ethics, but the community and parents need to play a role in developing morals. Ultimately, it is their morals that will carry these kids throughout their entire lives. 

"Our goal is not to put these kids into the military. We aim to teach these kids to play positive roles in their communities. A lot of them go to college. A lot of them take the leadership and discipline and go on to prosper in other aspects of life. Many of them do develop that spirit for the Marine Corps and join.

"My reward is to see that we are helping these kids. If you can volunteer your time and do more than your part to help even one kid, that is important. This is a wonderful program that many people don't know about. There are four units in the D.C. metro area." 

Learn more about the Young Marines here.

GySgt Paulk, right, is pictured with his unit at the D.C. Armory. 

Craig on Wheelchair Rugby

"I'm 32 and work for Lockheed Martin in information research. I started using a wheelchair when I was 21. I have a neurological condition where I can't really feel pain. I used to walk, but my legs have been getting weaker and weaker with time. My doctor said that I should start using a wheelchair, as I get really tired from walking. Now, I use the wheelchair 95-98% of the time to save my energy and legs.

"About three years ago, I started playing wheelchair rugby. The team started in about 2006 with support from the National Institute of Health. I started showing up for practices and eventually got my chair, which is custom made out of aircraft aluminum. This chair is only 25 lbs and costs $3,000. The chair is made specifically for wheelchair rugby and designed for a lot of impact. In this sport, you are trying to hunt down people and hit them.

"I tried out wheelchair basketball, but rugby is more active and high contact. It is kill or be killed. It is like football, almost. We have about 12 people on our team. You only need four people on the court at a time. I was born hard of hearing, which makes this sport even more interesting. In wheelchair rugby, everything is about communication and yelling: go left, go right, pick, he's coming up behind you, stuff like that. I can't hear well, so I have to be constantly paying attention to everything.

"Most of the guys on the team have their injuries from car or diving accidents. Fortunately, I'm on the higher end as I can take care of myself, but there are guys on the team who need help getting in-and-out of their chairs. But, we don't really look at each other as being disabled. We are just normal people who get together to play rugby. That's all it is."

Hollywood on Being in the Position to Have No Competition

"I came up in Philadelphia. I like that town, it really is the City of Brotherly Love. As kid, my family was not interested in what I was doing. When you are young, you can't say or do anything about that, but as soon as I was old enough to walk away, I did. I was about sixteen when I left home. After that, I went traveling and saw some crazy stuff: Ku Klux Klan members in South Carolina and go-go girls in New Jersey.

"I spent most of my time in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. Then, I came to D.C. about 20 years ago. I got tired of people with gold in their mouth in Baltimore. In Philadelphia, they were too busy. In New York, everyone seemed to think they had it all. D.C. has that executive look, you know the monkey suit with the briefcase. That drew me in here because I am a dresser. I wear clothes that make people come to me. The inclination is to keep Hollywood on your mind. I want you to say, 'I got to see him again.' I always look 'sugar sharp' as they say in Detroit. I would be unrecognizable if I put on a regular costume like everyone else. But you can see me from a distance. They know me all over the city. When people see me they go home and change their clothes and say, 'Damn, did you see what Hollywood had on? What we got on ain't gonna work!' See, I'm in the position to have no competition.

"For me, life is about understanding the circumstances of where you're at. I wouldn't live with a bear knowing that bear could attack me at any time. I wouldn't try to fight a shark. I don't need to prove things to people. You gotta be real in life. I'm real about what I do. You can wake me up at 2 a.m. and I'm gonna tell you the same thing I'm telling you now. You can't catch me in a lie because I don't know how to lie. Progress comes when people don't lie to each other and are real.

"Last thing I want to say is that I wish black people would stick together. Other nationalities do it consistently no matter what the issue is. I'm sorry that we have to get so much money from the government and we still don't stick together. If I had money and was in charge, everybody would eat, have a place to sleep and have jobs. I'd be like Leon Sullivan and help black people learn trades. I guess my problem is that I help too many people. That's why I don't get a woman or a horse or a cow. You can't get anything when you're a good guy. Because of that, I stick to myself. I eat by myself. I drink by myself. That is the safest way for me to live."

Adam Ross and I conducted this interview.

Councilmember Muriel Bowser on Being Fifth Generation D.C.

"I am fifth-generation D.C.  People from this town are in a special club and are very proud. You always know when someone is from D.C. because that is one of the first things they tell you. My family has been here for generations and has seen this city change. I am the youngest of five kids. Our parents raised us to really love this city and give back. My parents both worked for the city government for almost forty years. They taught us that if we want to change this city, we need to stay here and work to make that change. Up until last year, all of my siblings lived in D.C.  Now one of my brothers lives in North Carolina , but the rest of us are here. 

 

"I grew up in a time when D.C. was the murder capital. This city was really struck by the crack epidemic and some neighborhoods were just completely ravaged. One of the biggest things that impressed me about my father was how he waged a campaign against drugs at the time. He was a leader of the orange hats in our neighborhood. They were a community watch group that established a presence in the neighborhood. At the time, there was open-air drug dealing in the District and this was a way of taking our corners back. My father was fearless.

 

"That's just how it was in my household. Everyone did something in the neighborhood. That was what we all enjoyed doing.  Now I see it as an obligation to bring along people in my age group, as well as women, to get involved in politics.  In our city, we don't have a lot of elected offices, but there are so many opportunities to be in leadership, whether on the Parent Teacher Association or an Advisory Neighborhood Commission.

 

"I always knew that I would be in the government. I started off after college in the private sector and hated it.  I knew that it wasn't where my best talents would be used.  I went to grad school in policy and worked in local government for a number of years. But there is a point when you know that if you want to change a bureaucracy, it’s best not to be in it. Elected office is really the best way to make change. 

 

"In this position, I am more optimistic about where we’re going as a city than I was before the Council.  I see the changes we are making and how quickly reform can take root. I also see that focusing on grassroots views of how to change a community is important. You can't go from the top down. Ward 4 residents want investment, improvements and options, but don't want to wake up and say, 'Where are we?” We want to keep growing, and it is so important that in my Ward development is community-agitated. People are fearful of change unless they have a hand in it. So, we are working with them to focus on neighborhood development and schools. With time, our neighborhoods are getting safer and better looking, but we still have work to do."

 

Councilmember Bowser was first elected to the City Council in 2007. She chairs the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs. She is also a member of the Committee on Economic Development, the Committee on Human Services, and the Committee on Public World and Transportation. Learn more about Councilmember Bowser here. 

 

Maestro Berard on the DC Youth Orchestra

"I grew up in a house where my Dad was a phenomenal music freak. He had a massive record collection and music was always on at home. My first instrument was voice. I was lucky enough to attend a choir school in New York and was a soprano soloist at a very young age. After that, I studied piano and violin, and played rock guitar in a band. I entered the New England Conservatory of Music as a composition student. I went through a creative crisis in my second year, as I was more interested in studying the music of the masters than in composing my own. That's what drew me into analysis and theory and, ultimately, conducting. 

"I first came to D.C. in 2004 to be the Director of Orchestral Activities and conductor of the American University Symphony Orchestra. The Dean of Academic Affairs at American called my attention to the DC Youth Orchestra. It so happened that the DC Youth Orchestra was looking for a conductor for their top orchestra. I applied. Now, here I am. This is my first experience working with kids this young, but it's been a nice adjustment. They're very serious about what they're doing. 

"We have over 600 students from 4 1/2 to 21 years old. The orchestra is diverse geographically, and we have kids of all ethnicities, races and religions. It's a rainbow organization. The mission of this organization is that we turn no one away. The student has to have interest and a sense of responsibility. We do the rest. We even provide instruments if they can't afford them. The DC Youth Orchestra is a twelve-level program. Every year, we start with a petting zoo of kids who are all two feet tall. They pick an instrument that speaks to them and, usually, they stick with it. We have a lot of kids who are lifers. They come in early and stick with it all the way through high school. This program becomes a very meaningful and essential part of their lives. 

"We can boast that 100 percent of our students graduate from high school and most of them go to college. Some even go on to the great musical conservatories. One of the things we take great pride in is the values our students learn by being exposed to the great musical idea, rehearsing as an ensemble, and taking responsibility for themselves. All of these things serve them well in life. There are a number of studies which demonstrate that kids who grow up doing music really wind up excelling in life. Music teaches fundamental values that apply across all disciplines." 

Learn more about the DC Youth Orchestra here. See more of my photos of the DC Youth Orchestra here. 

Scarlet O'Snap on the D.C. Rollergirls

"I grew up in Baltimore. Every Saturday, I used to skate at the Putty Hill Skateland, where the Charm City Roller Girls started. When I was younger, I was really athletic and then, in college, I basically did absolutely nothing until I joined the derby four years ago. That was around the same time that the league got started. One of my good friends lives in Chicago, where I went to undergrad, and started the Windy City Rollers. She said, 'When D.C. gets a roller league, you need to join.' I finally saw something on Craigslist and joined the derby because I wanted a different social scene. I really stuck with it because I liked the athletic part.

"D.C. used to have a derby league called the Washington Jets, which was a co-ed, banked-track derby league in the 70's. I don't know what happened to them, but what we do is obviously very different. Our league started after the Rollergirls TV series on A&E, but the whole movement began well before that. The Texas Roller Girls were really the first modern derby league. It was very theatrical and wrestling-like. Rather than a penalty box, they had a spank alley where you would get spanked. Now, it draws more athletic people who don't want an alter ego on the track or all the theatrics. I am the same on and off the track. I do have a derby name, Scarlet O'Snap, but I'm kind of over it now. I wanted something recognizable and sassy, and thought it was really funny four years ago when I picked it. 

"The thing that makes D.C. really different from other leagues is how transient of a city this is. It is hard to keep people on for more than one season. We have three home teams: Scare Force One, The Cherry Blossom Bombshells and the D.C. Demoncats. We did have a fourth team, the Secretaries of Hate, which we had to fold because we didn't have enough people. We are also known as a conservative league around the country because we're not all covered in tattoos, and we all have 9-5 jobs as lawyers and teachers, or work for non-profits. I don't think there's one person in this league who does not have a 9-5 career, whereas in other leagues, it's more the counterculture: bartenders and artists. But that is not what D.C. is like at all.

"I don't think a lot of people recognize how much of a time commitment this is. We practice four-to-five times a week. We have nine bouts a season, plus a championship. We also all have responsibilities off the track. We're all required to do stuff to support the league. It is very D.C.-ish that we have a highly structured board and everyone knows how to run non-profits. It's also a very D.C. thing that we have people who work from 9-6, have kids and do this, too. D.C. is actually a bit of an older league, with most people being in their late 20s and 30's. The league has no coaches and we are all self-taught. We run our own practices and have our own trainers. The refs are mostly people's boyfriends, husbands, or fans who want to get more involved. All of this creates a well-oiled machine of awesomeness!"

Read more about the D.C. Rollergirls here. 

Jan on the Vietnam Memorial

"I was born in Washington, D.C and spent my childhood in Bowie, Maryland. When I got out of high school, I volunteered for the draft. There were certain advantages to the draft at the time. It got your military commitment over with sooner and you could choose the time you went in as opposed to the Army just picking you up. I went in at age 18 and ended up in Vietnam at 19. I was trained as an infantrymen with a speciality in heavy weapons, the 81mm mortar, and a couple of other weapons. My unit was first placed in charge of the defense of Saigon in 1969. There wasn't much enemy activity, so they moved us Northeast to a place called Swan Loc. In May, we had our first encounter with the enemy and I had twelve friends die at the same time. I was there when it happened. High explosives just scatter body parts. I was not prepared for that experience, which took place in January 1970. 

"Shortly after that, I was wounded. I was behind a tree and we were firing our rifles. The guys around me got hit. One of the guys panicked and ran. Another guy went after him and left me by myself for ten minutes; it seemed like an eternity. I remember praying and it just seemed to me so unfair that I would have to die after my 19th birthday in this mud hole, next to a tree in the middle of forest, miles from the closest road in Vietnam. I remember praying that I would not die. I survived and felt I owed some kind of payback. 

"After the Army, I received my degrees in counseling and psychology. During that time, I worked to better understand post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and published a couple of articles and testified in front of the Senate. I became an authority on the subject. PTSD is a normal response to experiencing trauma and violence. One day, I went to see a movie called the Deer Hunter, which was about the war and PTSD. I had thought about building a memorial before, but just decided that I was going to do it after seeing the movie. It became my mission in life. Before the memorial, we had a commemorative stamp and a couple of local memorials. But, by and large, there was nothing tangible to recognize Vietnam. 

"For me, the primary purpose of the memorial was to have a place were the veterans of Vietnam would be recognized for the honorable service they rendered for the country. The site near the Lincoln memorial was perfect because of the symbolism. The Lincoln Memorial was built after and because of the Civil War. There was also a deeper meaning to me, which was rooted in the thinking of Carl Jung, who was a student of Sigmund Freud. Jung wrote about the collective psyche we have as a nation. The hope was that displaying the names of the casualties would have a positive healing effect on the nation, as well. 

"There was a lot of controversy with the memorial because what is the appropriate monument for the Vietnam War. The rallying cry against us was that this was black and below ground. All of the other monuments were white and above ground. Immediately, people had this image that it was an insult to military service. People said, 'They are hiding it and painting it black.' We were temporarily stopped by Congress from building it. They made us find a compromise with our opponents, which we did with the addition of the three servicemen statue. In November 1982, the Vietnam Memorial was built and dedicated. We had the largest architectural competition in the history of western civilization, which has been recently eclipsed by the competition for the World Trade Center. Maya Lin was the winning design. 

"Now, when I go to the memorial, I like to listen to people talk. What I find as an overwhelming comment, and I hear it all the time, is 'Isn't it wonderful that the government built this for these guys'. Everyone thinks the government built the Vietnam Memorial. But, in fact, we did it in spite of the government. We had to raise the money and seek permission from the government to do this. 

"The message of this whole thing is that people are capable of doing far more than they think they are capable of doing. If someone has a real passion to do something in life, they should. If you put together the right team, you can accomplish anything."  

Jan Scruggs is the Founder and President of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. 

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. 

Michael on Keeping Your Eyes Open

"I have been working for the Downtown BID for three years. I'm always learning about this city. One of the important things to know is that there is no J Street in D.C.. That is because the 'j' and the 'i' look similar in old English. They didn't want to confuse people, so they eliminated J Street. I've also learned that people ask you all kinds of weird questions out here. I had one gentleman ask me where to buy coke. I said, 'Are you serious!?' The guy said, 'Well, you seem to know everything else about this city.' 

"Otherwise, most tourists ask about the usual stuff. People don't come over and ask me about Southeast or Northeast, it is usually the sites in Northwest and where the celebrities go, like Ben's Chili Bowl. Even during July 4th, everyone rushes down to the Mall to see the fireworks, but the best views are from Southeast because of all the hills there. Everyone comes here and strains their necks looking up when they could could just sit atop one of the hills in Southeast and look out. But, Southeast has a bad rap and many people don't want to go there. It's a shame because it is so beautiful. 

"The best thing about working for the BID is that they always tell us about stuff in this city before it happens. I knew about the H Street trolley before my friends did. Those are the little things about this job that make it interesting. My own prediction is that downtown will have a big shopping area soon. People complain about the lack of shopping opportunities in this city and I think that there will be lots of retail, restaurants and places to spend your money downtown soon. I mean, who likes going to indoor malls when you could do your shopping outdoors. 

"Overall, my experience in D.C. has been a good one. People always talk about how expensive this city is, but you could entertain yourself for days for free here. I think that the more you get out in D.C., the more you realize all of these great things that you didn't know existed. Just walk around with your eyes open and you'll see how amazing this place is. And the people are friendly here. People from out of town always tell me how friendly D.C. is. We get a bad rap, but we really are friendly people."

Justin on Captain White's

"I grew up in Annandale, Virginia. My family owns Captain White's at the Maine Avenue Fish Market. We've owned it for 38 years or so. It originated with my grandfather selling fish off of a picnic table here and just expanded. I started working at the market when I was eight years old and was pretty much raised here. When my parents were here, I was here, unless I was at school. After school, my Mom would bring me down and I spent all of my weekends around fish. Owning this market, we ate our share of fish growing up.

"In the last twenty years, the market hasn't changed all that much. We've expanded a little bit, but otherwise there have not been big changes. We still get the seafood from all over, with about 90% of it coming in fresh daily. The different stands are owned by different families, and we are all pretty competitive. Most of us have been around for a while.

"This market has become my family. Without this place, we wouldn't have anything. I didn't go to college, I don't know anything else."

D'von on Enjoying the Trip

"Right now, I work as a bike messenger to make money, so I can go to school. I've worked in construction, mail rooms, law firms, and the military, but this is the best job yet. I am going to hate to give this up. See, I am one of the crazier ones out here. The other messengers call me 'Hood Ornament.' I ride around these streets like the devil! All of my life, I've been riding. People always called me crazy because I would ride from Southeast to Northwest, like that was some long-ass trip. Come on man, D.C. is eight miles by ten miles. That's nothing on a bike. I get around everywhere in 15 minutes flat.

"While D.C. has bike lanes, people don't look out for bikers here. I've been in two crazy accidents. Once, a black luxury cab hit me on purpose. The cops did nothing about it. Another time, I got cut off by a car and thrown 15 feet into the air. I woke up with a neck brace on and a dislocated shoulder. I can't always blame the drivers, though. When I am driving, I'm not always looking for bikes either. You'll think I'm crazy, but I still never wear a helmet. They are bulky, make me sweat, and make my ears smell. I know, I'm crazy, but you gotta go sometime. If it's gonna happen, it's just gonna happen. You might as well enjoy the trip and let your hair flow in the wind.

"Soon, I guess, I won't have to worry about this craziness as much as I'll have a desk job. Now, I am studying information systems to work in homeland security. I have a military background and am looking to get back into that field. When I got out of the Marines in 1999, many people wouldn't hire me because I had the 'Marine mentality.' That was crazy to me! Now, with all this terrorism and homeland security, things are different and people want the 'Marine mentality.' 

"I was the first person in my family to go to the Marines. I got out on December 4, 1999. That was right before the Iraq conflict, but I spent six months in Bosnia. After me, all of my cousins went to the Marines. I even have a cousin who went to Iraq twice. Now, it's a family tradition. Being a Marine doesn't make being a bike messenger easy, but it makes it easier. I am much more patient now when buses and cabs cut me off, which happens all the time. Only real bad thing about going back to that military work will be cutting my hair. But for the right amount of  money, I'll follow the rules to a 't.'" 

Councilmember Jim Graham on What it's All About

“You’ll not be surprised to hear that I think that I am a good fit as the Ward One Councilmember. Part of that fit is that I really feel that I contribute to the diversity of this ward. I come to the council as an immigrant and a naturalized citizen. My family and I came to this country from Scotland and settled in Hyattsville. What I knew about the U.S. when I was a little boy in Scotland was largely Juicy Fruit gum and of, course, the cowboy movies. I remember coming here after getting off the boat and driving down from New York. The lights were spectacular. I mean, roadways that were lit! We had nothing like that in Scotland. We came very much in pursuit of the great dream of this country. This would be a better life than in, what we called, the old country. Neither of my parents had a high school education. My brother became a Ph.D. and I have a law degree. That happened because of coming here. The great immigrant dream is that education opens the door for opportunity. It surely did for us.    

"You know, I’m an example of a little person who was decidedly impacted by a big event. The impact on me was the election of 1980 and its aftermath. In 1980, Reagan was elected. Everyone in my circle expected that Carter was going to lose, but what was astounding was that the U.S. Senate went Republican. Who would have thought that the Republicans would win a majority in the Senate after thirty years of Democratic rule? It was like the sun not rising. While I did still have a good job at the time working with a senator, I felt that I was withering in that work place. So, I started working as a volunteer at the Whitman-Walker Clinic. Those were still the first years of the AIDS epidemic. At the time, having AIDS was basically having a death sentence.

"During those years, you could not be an openly gay person in the Senate. It would have jeopardized your job. Look at how Senator Nunn fired two aides who came out. Even though I was working for a fairly enlightened senator at the time, I don't think it would have been worth the risk for him to support me being an openly gay member of his staff. So, I left my job and, having first been a volunteer, became the Administrator of the Whitman-Walker Clinic. It was very exciting for me because it was an opportunity to do something I really believed in. It was also an opportunity to be myself. From there, I made my run for office. 

"Now, the thing that I get the most satisfaction from is how, on a daily basis, I can impact the quality of life for people in this ward. In that regard, it is very much a continuation of the Whitman-Walker Clinic. In Ward One, close to 25 percent of the people live below the poverty line. A lot of people don't know that. These people and their issues are my greatest priority. These are the people who are most in need of government protection. The legislative achievements that I'm most proud of relate to helping those most in need. What it comes down to is that I've always been moved to help people. That's what it's all about.” 

Councilmember Graham was first elected to the City Council in 1998. He is the Chairman of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation. He is also a member of the Committee on Aging and Community Affairs, the Committee on Housing and Workforce Development and the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs. Mr. Graham is chairman of the Metro/WMATA board of directors. Learn more about Councilmember Graham here. 

Carl and Seshat on Kids as Therapy

Carl – “My name is Carl. Some call me Kokayi. I’m a native Washingtonian who was born and raised mainly in Southwest D.C., and partially in Mannheim, Germany. I’ve been to over 35 countries, all without being in the military, taught hip-hop clinics at prestigious universities, worked with the State Department doing cultural exchanges with my band, had two major label record deals in a foreign country, got nominated for a Grammy in 2009 — all while remaining in relative obscurity. I still work on music, but have a full-time job, mostly because I became a realist about my love affair with music and the realities of the modern music business.

“I’m a parent to two hilarious kids who are my therapy. I never thought that I’d be able to have kids. It was my biggest fear throughout my early 20’s. I feel blessed to be able to spend my time on this rock with them, watching them grow and seeing them prosper into great adults. Until I met my wife, I had very little belief in stable relationships. I wanted one, but didn’t believe they could exist for me. She helped redirect my life’s course and is my best: friend, critic, motivator, source of truth, and publicist, and is the one I’ve entrusted with my heart, fears and insecurities, all of which I know she would never harm intentionally.”

Seshat – “I was a small-town, country girl from the Eastern Shore. I graduated from a university in rural Pennsylvania and threw myself into an unknown city to live and intern at one of the largest homeless shelters on the East Coast. I created programs for the women residents, taught GED classes and worked the women’s floor. To say it was a life-changing experience is to put it mildly. Now, I’m a mama, wife, writer and playwright residing in Northeast D.C. I have a love for Ward 7. Our neighbors are friendly and look out for one another. We love walking. Our house is charming, which is a classy word for small. I hate that our only sit-down restaurant is Denny’s, though I know that the new H Street Trolley will change all of that.

“My husband and I met when I was hired by his band mate to be a publicist for their hip-hop band. We became good friends out of sharing our stories of unrequited love and failed relationships. We got married in Malcolm X Park on August 26th, 2000. My husband is my best friend. I believe being best friends has allowed our marriage to survive so far. We can tell each other everything and anything. I believe that, in a marriage, you have to agree to disagree. We go through it like anyone else because we’re both very strong-willed. But we usually get over our disagreements quickly. We both have a sick sense of humor and believe that our kids are the best entertainment in the world. My daughter, Phina, is a natural debater, music snob, public defender, bookworm and girly girl. My son, Dahvi, is a block-builder, architect, designer, mini-paleontologist, and stand-up comedian, and espouses random facts. People have come to us over time wondering how we are raising kids in such an expensive city with sucky schools. There’s no manual for this. Our parenting skills straddle somewhere between the traditional and ‘how-about-we-do-this’ approach. This is what works for us:

1) Teach our kids to always tell the truth.

2) Teach our kids not to be afraid of their own people.

3) Teach our kids to stick up for themselves.

4) No TV during the week and little on the weekends.

5) Put our kids into a great, diverse charter school that challenges them and makes them think about their place in the world. 6) Take them to every free, age-appropriate educational and cultural event we can.

“For the most part, my kids are pretty good kids. I believe my kids have some edge living in the city, yet they remain kids. They’re still sensitive, innocent and inquisitive. They also get to go visit my parents in the country a couple of times a year, which balances it out. Personally, I can live either in a city or the country. I can’t do the suburbs. We are planning to purchase a property this year. It’s not easy in this land of overpriced, big-on-features but, small-on-space condos. We’re going to make it work somehow. Laughing helps.”

Debra on Flow Yoga Center

"I was living in San Francisco and I had a terrible break up. Though I love that city more than anything in the world, I felt that nudge to do something different. I was working for a company that had an office in Berkeley and D.C. I encouraged my boss to think about opening a branch in NYC. He agreed and I moved to New York. I was the only person in the office, and I did sales and marketing for a company that sold software to non-profit organizations. I was in New York for a while and, at some point during my time there, I started to date one of my clients who was based in D.C. That was Ian, the man I ended up marrying. We started to date long distance and then a year into my time in New York, my boss said that I should come back to San Francisco or move to D.C.

"So much of me wanted to move back to San Francisco, but I came to D.C. At that point, I was only dating Ian for about six months and I don't think we had said I love you yet. But there was something that made me decide to go to D.C. I had the conversation with Ian about moving to D.C. and asked his opinion.  In a typical way, he said it would be really great if I came to D.C., but I shouldn't do it for him. So I did and moved a mile away from him. He was very welcoming and, in the end, it all worked out. 

"At the time, I was getting bored of my job and feeling the calling towards yoga. I had been practicing for about ten years. I met a bunch of women on a yoga retreat as soon as I moved to D.C. We would get together every couple of weeks and talk and support each other. We decided to read this book called 'The Artist's Way.' It is twelve steps to uncovering your passions and creativity. Throughout the workbook, there are different questions and one of them was, 'If money and time were no object, what would you do?' Out of nowhere, I blurted out that I would open a yoga studio.  I had never thought of it before. Sure enough, that following year, I opened Flow. 

"We found this place and Flow came about in 2005. I really liked this neighborhood and as I was walking around one day, I saw the liquor store, looked up and saw the empty space above. I went to the liquor store and asked who owned the building. The guy said, 'No one,' but it turned out he was not so welcoming because he didn't think that I was serious. He actually owned the building. This was a total raw space when we moved in. We had to do a full build-out. The business plan was pretty easy to make. I interviewed other studio owners, which was really helpful. The other thing that was really helpful was that I had money to open the studio because a company that I worked for in San Francisco was bought by Amazon, so I got all of this Amazon stock. A lot of people sold, but I held onto it and used that stock to open this place. I realize that not everyone has that same luxury. I feel fortunate that I was able to pursue my passion." 

Flow Yoga Center is located at 1450 P Street Northwest.  

Ian, left, is pictured with Debra. 

Duane on Anacostia's ARCH

"I first came to D.C. in 1961. I lived in Anacostia and worked as a summer intern for a Congressman from Reading, Pennsylvania. Back then, this was a thriving community. It was 50% white and 50% black. All of the stores were open and there were jazz clubs and restaurants here. Things changed after the riots. In 1980, I came back to D.C. I used to be the Director of Energy Conservation for the state of New Jersey. I was a political appointee and when my boss left, I applied for a job at the Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) in charge of their energy conservation programs and was eventually put in charge of their community economic development programs. Out of that, we started the ARCH Training Center. Marion Barry, who was Mayor at the time, and then City Council Chair John Wilson, both of whom I knew from the civil rights movement, worked with us to establish the program in an old school in Anacostia. Pepco gave me release time to develop the ARCH programs and funded them until 1996.  

"We started as an adult job training program. We expanded into a homeless organization, a housing organization, a community economic development corporation, and a construction company. Each of these programs grew out of the needs of the community. At the time, these organizations did not exist in Ward 8. There were no housing organizations, now there must be eight or nine. As more organizations here provided services, ARCH contracted to do the two things we did best: job training and small scale economic development using arts and culture and the creative economy as a way to regenerate Anacostia. 

"What ARCH is trying to do is to help develop businesses that either support the creative economy or are not totally dependent on the local population to support their businesses. There is not the disposable income in the neighborhood yet. Now, one of our projects is the Honfleur Gallery. If you took the physical facility of that art gallery and put it in SoHo, it would fit. It is a modern museum space and allows us to bring international artists, musical groups and poetry that attracts Ward 8 residents and those throughout the District. We try and combine the arts with the extremely relevant things that are going on here. 

"In the end, I think that it is more important to talk about Anacostia than to talk about me. Anacosita has a bad rap. The worst thing to ever happen to Anacostia was the Washington Post. If any crime happens east of the river, it is reported as being in Anacostia. For years, a murder would take place on Mississippi Avenue on the Maryland border and that would be Anacostia. We are working with a number of other individuals and organizations to try and bring back the feel of how this place used to be. We realize that now Anacostia is not a place of destination. People will only come here if there is something specific. People don't come her to walk around. We are trying to change that."

Duane Gautier is the founder and CEO of both ARCH Training Center and ARCH Development Corporation. Honfleur Gallery, a project of ARCH Development Corporation, opened in January 2007 as a contemporary arts space and cultural hub in Historic Anacostia. A second exhibition space and high end digital printing lab, Vivid Solutions, is dedicated specifically to photography and digital art, and opened in 2008.