The DMV region has shown the full force of its social, political and influential authority at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, igniting conversations and calls to action in the nation’s capital, the country and worldwide.
“The D.C. delegation always makes a big impact and we make it a point to bring back information about the important issues,” said former D.C. first lady Cora Masters Barry.
Stuart Anderson, second vice chair of the Ward 8 Democrats and a member of the Democratic State Committee, said the D.C. delegation has prime real estate at this year’s convention, held Aug. 19-22 at the United Center.
“[The] D.C. section is on the floor, that is huge,” Anderson emphasized. “We’re sitting right in front of New York.”
However, the hotspot on the convention floor is not the only way the District is showcasing its power. Much like the party’s national ticket, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, is at the helm of the District’s representation.
“I’m proud of D.C. and the mayor, who leads the delegation,” Barry told The Informer.
And Bowser is not the only Black woman from the DMV shining during the DNC. Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who is running for U.S. Senate, showed her support for Harris and represented for the DMV all at once.
“I am honored to be delivering a keynote address,” said Alsobrooks hours before she hit the stage. “I have known Kamala Harris for 14 years, and I look forward to sharing exactly why she is going to make an incredible president of the United States. Marylanders deserve a future we can all be proud of – one where our freedoms are protected, and our families can thrive. With Kamala Harris in the White House, and a Democratic majority in the Senate, we will fight together to deliver that future.”
For Barry, Harris’ nomination is a sign of continued progress for Democrats, and forges a path for other women of color who have big political dreams.
“My first convention was the Carter one in New York at Madison Square Garden (in 1980). From that era to now there’s been a lot of gains by the party, it is much more diverse and we’ve had a Black president so it’s only natural that we have a Black woman president,” Barry said. “I think it will help a lot of locals like Angela Alsobrooks.”
As DNC committee chair and former White House political director, Minyon Moore emphasized that Harris’ leadership is empowering the nation in more ways than one.
“We’ve all had the opportunity to not just work with Harris, but to understand her vision of America as well. And so, leading as a Black woman is part of it, but leading as a leader is the most important and best part of it,” Moore told The Informer. “She’s building on everything that she has accomplished with President Biden. So, it is historic in so many different ways as he passes the torch.”
D.C. Brings Statehood Conversation to the National Stage
While supporting the Harris-Walz ticket has been the primary focus for many of the people hailing from the DMV area, several Washingtonians have used their time in Chicago to advocate for the nation’s capital to become the 51st state.
On day two of the convention, Hip-Politics and the National Urban League hosted the Culture and Content House at Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, where breakfast and lunch were served with a helping of powerful panels and conversations that pushed toward equity and justice.
One of the first sessions was: ”The Case for DC Statehood and Congressional Representation,” featuring Jamal Holtz, president of D.C. Young Democrats, Sheika Reid, strategic partnerships and campaign strategist, Yilin Zhang, a principal strategist and member of the League of Women Voters, of, U.S. Shadow Representative Oye Owolewa, and moderated by Troy Donte Prestwood of the Prestwood Group.
“I can understand that D.C. statehood is a very political issue that could cause us a divide at the moment but I think this is an opportunity to bring us great unity when there are lots of eyes on democracy right now and this election,” Holtz, a native Washingtonian, told The Informer. “When we can root the fight for statehood into principle and a foundation based on what our country was founded on which was ‘no taxation without representation’ that has to happen in all shapes and forms which would include D.C. statehood.”
According to statistics from the District of Columbia, D.C. taxpayers pay more federal taxes per capita than any state, more total federal taxes than 12 states and pay more in total federal income tax than 22 other states. The District has 712,000 residents which accounts for more than Vermont and Wyoming in addition to other comparable states including Delaware, Alaska, and several others.
“The role is raising awareness, but it’s also getting people to understand that people – real people – live in D.C. Real people are fighting for their rights, and it is no longer acceptable to have members of Congress saying what we should do,” Zhang emphasized.
The statehood movement has been ongoing for decades with advocates like Josephine Butler, former U.S. Del. Walter Fauntroy, Julius Hobson and Calvert I. Cassell, leading a call to action for voters across the nation. Together, the group founded the D.C. Statehood Party in the early 1970s which is now known as the D.C. Statehood Green Party and boasts over 4,000 members.
Currently, D.C. elects a nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives who can draft legislation but cannot vote. On January 4, 2021, the incumbent Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, another leading Black woman, reintroduced H.R. 51 early in the 117th Congress with a record 202 co-sponsors.
The bill, cited as the Washington, D.C. Admission Act would have created the state of “Washington, Douglass Commonwealth” in honor of Frederick Douglass, and officially instate two senators and one representative in the House of Representatives based on population. The act would have also carved out a smaller federal district, dubbed “the Capital” consisting of the White House, U.S. Capitol, and other federal buildings like the National Mall. It passed in the House with a vote of 216-208, but fell dormant in the Senate.
Undefeated, Norton has reintroduced the bill to the 118th Congress for reconsideration as required and it awaits review from the Committee on Oversight and Accountability in addition to the Committees on Rules, Armed Services, the Judiciary, and Energy and Commerce.
“We have seen the best response we’ve ever had with 46 Senators supporting D.C. Statehood, we also have President Joe Biden who openly supports D.C. statehood as well, so we are as close as we’ve ever been,” Owolewa told the crowd. “But we need people like you guys who live in D.C. and those who don’t to push your legislators to also champion D.C. Statehood.”
For Reid, it’s not just about getting Washingtonians representation in the House and Senate. She noted fighting for D.C. statehood also means working to protect Washingtonians.
“If you look back in history and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, one of the follow-ups to that is that there were provisions put in place to preserve the right to vote,” Reid said. “If we do get the votes in the House and Senate for D.C. statehood, we’ll also have to consider how we can protect that right. Because if we’re really going to consider what’s going on right now, in Project 2025, one of the tenants is to remove the D.C. Home Rule Act. So we have to consider how we can protect D.C. statehood [and residents] with that success.”
As the statehood fight progresses, Owolewa has hope for the future.
“I think if everything aligns, we could possibly get statehood in 10-20 years. But we’ve faced so many strides, 20-30 years ago we didn’t even have a majority of the Democrats supporting D.C. Statehood, yet now in Congress or at least the House just about every single Democrat congressman is a co-sponsor supporting D.C. Statehood or they wish us well,” he said.
Holtz also said he hopes that nationwide efforts will inspire change to make D.C. a state.
“I think it is super important to have youth involved in the fight for D.C. statehood because it’s a fight for voting rights, it’s a fight for humanity and it’s focused on all the issues that we care about from gun violence prevention to abortion rights and young people have been at the forefront of every fight that has pushed our country forward from democracy reform to the civil rights act,” Holtz implied.
National Leaders Support D.C. Statehood Effort
Holtz, who also stars in the documentary “51 State,” told the Informer that local leaders are not the only people joining in the statehood fight, as directors of prominent national organizations have also heard advocates cries to make the District a state.
“I think it is to me a blatant contradiction that the United States would send us to Iran and Iraq to fight for independence for people to vote in their capital but we can’t vote in our capital,” the Rev. Al Sharpton, a longtime political activist, told the Informer. “I think that the matter has lost visibility not momentum over the years and part of that is they’ve gentrified a lot of people out of the District. In order for us to get statehood we have to return them.”
The NAACP, which builds Black political power to end structural racism, has strongly urged President Joe Biden to prioritize D.C.s statehood, arguing it is an issue “rooted in white supremacy,” and perpetuates the “oppression of Washingtonians of Color.”
“We long supported statehood for the District of Columbia. In fact our former Chairman Julian Bond was the Chair of the D.C. Statehood initiative so we were always supportive,” Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP told The Informer. “We think taxation without representation is unconstitutional so we support D.C. Statehood.”
Kelsye Adams, director of DC Vote, noted the domino effect the lack of D.C. statehood has on Washingtonians.
“The lack of statehood definitely discourages people from voting, people’s rhetoric is ‘why would you actively vote in a system that doesn’t represent you,’” Adams told The Informer. “For me working in this space it’s hard to push people to get out and vote when you can only get national representation in a president and lack a congressional voice. People see their ballot as meaningless, but for now we have to continue to vote locally in hopes of seeing change.”