Washington, DC

Potomac River

East of the River

Anacostia

Washington, DC

Potomac River

Anacostia River

Introducción

East of the River

Anacostia

Potomac River

Anacostia River

This project forms part of a collection of projects which flowed out of William and Mary’s Hispanic Studies Cultural Research Forum on memory and social justice (HISP 392) in Washington, DC over spring break in 2008 (for more information, see http://srtand.wmblogs.net/). The project is organized as a journey on foot from Capitol Hill, at the symbolic center of the nation, to Anacostia, a neighborhood only a few miles away but often considered peripheral. Although the sequence is loosely based on our pedestrian trek down Pennsylvania Avenue and across the 11th street bridge, we have freely inserted material from other neighborhoods according to our center-periphery scheme. The presentation begins with a whitewashed image of white monuments and deceptive statistics and continues to first hint at and then reveal the divisions, contradictions, and imperfections in the center. L’Enfant’s biography offers a historical example of exclusion, while our invented slogan “Washington: A City I Can Trust” hints at a hidden fear. The poem “Doors Closing” and the image of the tent under 395 explore “percepticide”, Diana Taylor’s concept of the systematic elimination of certain perceptions—in this case, of the “other side” of Washington. The pictures of the capital from the railroad tracks and the overpasses suggest the inhuman anatomy of a city which disfavors openness to pedestrians. The imagined traveler is now far enough from the center that he no longer takes it for granted; he now sees a larger context.

The 11th street bridge and Anacostia river, important physical markers in the transition between neighborhoods, serve as barriers and symbolically as a line which the traveller crosses to fully enter the periphery. The barrier is marked by the memories it evokes—psychological barriers—while a poem describes the effects of physical boundaries and a historical anecdote reports the process of division. A poem on the backdrop of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. describes the internal alienation of the displaced traveler. New construction at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. and Good Hope Rd. prompts a discussion of gentrification while the Morgan’s Family Fish Fry, a black-owned restaurant, anchors a review of the district’s “Home Rule.” The final image–a mural from Columbia Heights—invites the traveler to respond to the city’s divisions.

Population: 582,049

Median household income: $40,127

Average home cost: $429,900

Gross state product: $87.664 billion

L’Enfant Square: memorial a un patriota

•Este cuidadano de Paris se fue al nuevo mundo, y luchó al lado de George Washington en la guerra revolucionaria. Se tomó el nombre ‘Peter’ en vez de Pierre, para ser más norteamericano.

•Después de la fundación de un país nuevo, Washington encargó a L’Enfant a diseñar una cuidad capital

•L’Enfant creyó una visión de una ciudad barroca organizada alrededor de un centro de edificios gobernales, con espacio extra dejado para monumentos

•No reconoció a L’Enfant por sus planes y no le pagó; L’Enfant se murió pobre

•Sus diseños fueron modificados y implementados finalmente—el Distrito Federal es obra suya

Washington:A city I can trust

Doors Closingen mi metromundo de una plaza

mi isla desde aquí hasta la orilla el diariodesde aquí hasta el libro

desde aquí hasta la mirada vacíaa la comunidad tras verja invisible

aquella urbanización de no veren el metro concurrido

Avert thy eyes

Urban river I run downstreamUrban river I run downstreamSpurt up from the ground at the foot of the Canon Senate Office BuildingSpurt up from the ground at the foot of the Canon Senate Office BuildingTrickle around the Library of Congress, past the friendly officerTrickle around the Library of Congress, past the friendly officerCascading past liquor stores and a check-cashing joint,Cascading past liquor stores and a check-cashing joint,Floating serenely past the Eastern Market Starbucks and Chevy Chase BankFloating serenely past the Eastern Market Starbucks and Chevy Chase BankUntil the freeway-Until the freeway-The windowless schools-The windowless schools-The great industrial bridges-The great industrial bridges-I pick up cigarette butts and empty cansI pick up cigarette butts and empty cans

the rumble of trucks at 65the rumble of trucks at 65the shadow of graffiti, the stiffness of barred windowsthe shadow of graffiti, the stiffness of barred windows

And I carry them all to the seaAnd I carry them all to the sea

Of course? From the top of the stadium, look out at the skyline, toward the Capitol Dome. At first, it seems like a happy accident that it is most visible from the cheapest seats. But now look down into the neighborhoods where public schools have become dilapidated brick bunkers, their windows covered in forbidding metal mesh. It's enough to make you weep. Not about the stadium, which is as generic as it goes. But rather the cynical pragmatism that governs our priorities, socially and architecturally. Washington is a city where people can stare straight at the most powerful symbol of their democratic enfranchisement, and still feel absolutely powerless to change the course of our winner-takes-all society.

“This Diamond isn’t a Gem.” ~ Philip Kennicott ~ Washington Post Staff Writer ~ Monday, March 31, 2008; Page C01

washington from the inside

Background photograph from the Washington Post

Estimated time to cross on foot: 5 minutesEstimated time to cross in memory: 40 years

On April 6, 1968 an average of 30 new fires were lit in Washington every hour.Martin Luther King, Jr. was dead.Washington burned.The army marched on Washington and occupied the city.The army left.The smoke still burns my eyes.

“The Warsaw ghetto wall was 11 feet tall and topped by barbed wire.”How many glances did it hold?How many peeks, how manystares cut short, howmany questions never answered, never fully voiced?

How many hopes, how much pity dammed up, how much contact, communication, reconciliation did it hold back?

Red and gray and maroon brick latticelike faces locked in concreteblank facescensored faces on the other side that I will never seeFootsteps and jackets and winter hatstraffic and longings

Blank brick facesbury human faces

“Welcome to ‘the ‘Costia’” –una historia breve

•Después de la guerra civil, el sudeste de Washington fue dividido en porciones para vender a ex-esclavos; la comunidad negra crecía con organismos comunitarios y actividad cultural

•El gobierno construyó alojamiento para trabajadores industriales durante la segunda guerra mundial; cuando se fueron estos lugares se convirtieron en viviendas públicas

•El barrio Anacostia se cambió a principalmente negro después de las leyes de integración, cuando los blancos se mudaron al centro y las urbanizaciones para que sus hijos no asistieran a escuelas multiraciales

•Como indica el cartel que se reproduce a la derecha, un plan sistemático socioeconómico reforzo la segregación racial

Mientras aumentó la población de Anacostia, la ciudad no logró aumentar los servicios sociales de manera proporcional.Al contrario, marcó gran parte del barrio en zona para edificios de departamentos. Desanimó la posesión de las viviendas por sus residentes y fomentó una actitud de desinterés civil para favorecer a la especulación y los intereses adinerados.

Mira ese chico blancoManos en los bolsillosMirando los letrerosComo si no hubiera estado aquí antesMíralo tropezando con este ladrilloMíralo con el pantalon ajustado¿Por qué cree que puede entrar aquí?¿Por qué cree que pertenece aquí?¿Qué hace?

No hay ningún blanco por aquí.Menos yo.

¿Si miro tan fijo adelante, parece extraño?¿No hay que mirar la espalda también?¿Si miro por todas partes, parezco nervioso?¿Si llevo las manos en los bolsillos, parece amenazante?¿Si llevo mi libro, me marca como extranjero?¿Si dejo las manos al lado, parezco incómodo?

Me siento incómodo.

¿Me van a disparar?

Pensamientos blancos al cruzar la frontera

GENTRIFICATION

This building has a garage under it.Parking spaces cost $99 a month.

Give me my gentrification!I’ll hold my breath! I want it bad!Push those poor people out to the suburbs!I mean, up out of poverty!I’m hungry for higher property values

(or was that taxes?)I’m hungry for a new city.C’mon! Please?Gentrification!

Scheduled for demolition The ARCH business center

“The announcement by D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) that a major city agency would move across the Anacostia River to the corner of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue drew mixed reaction from some residents in Southeast this week.”

“Anthony Muhammad, the advisory neighborhood commissioner, who represents the Anacostia community where the building is located, said he learned of the planned move about 30 minutes before the news conference. He did not attend.”

“This is going to be a traffic jam every day,” Muhammad said. “What are the citizens going to get? Why should we be so happy to accept all the social services programs?”

The Washington Post, District Extra, 6-March-2008, p.3

¿Quién maneja esta ciudad? ¿Quién la divide?

Before 1974, District residents had never Before 1974, District residents had never elected their own mayor or city council.elected their own mayor or city council.

Congress still controls the budget and vets Congress still controls the budget and vets Council legislation.Council legislation.

The District’s judges are still appointed by the The District’s judges are still appointed by the President.President.

The District has never had voting The District has never had voting representation in Congress.representation in Congress.

The District is 58% African-American. The District is 58% African-American. Congress is 8% African-American.Congress is 8% African-American.

Julie Riggs and Alexander Douglas

¿Crees que Washington es una ciudad dividida?¿Cómo se lee una ciudad?

¿Crees que Washington es una ciudad dividida?¿Cómo se lee una ciudad?

¿Es implícito la idea de centro / periferia a la idea de una ciudad dividida?

¿Crees que Washington es una ciudad dividida?¿Cómo se lee una ciudad?

¿Es implícito la idea de centro / periferia a la idea de una ciudad dividida?

¿Qué tacticas usa el centro para marginalizar a la periferia?

¿Crees que Washington es una ciudad dividida?¿Cómo se lee una ciudad?

¿Es implícito la idea de centro / periferia a la idea de una ciudad dividida?

¿Qué tacticas usa el centro para marginalizar a la periferia?

¿Qué posición toma la periferia? ¿Resisten al centro? ¿Cómo?