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Can DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson handle the coming collisions over policy, politics and money?
WARD 3 State Board of Education member Eric Goulet publicly asked on Twitter whether DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson has become...

jonetta rose barras
Mar 17, 20238 min read


The Radical Historian Among Us
LONG before Stokely Carmichael (aka Kwame Ture) shouted the phrase “Black Power” in 1966; before James Brown, sans his famous processed...

jonetta rose barras
Mar 17, 20237 min read



jonetta rose barras
Feb 10, 20230 min read


Taking on the Symptom that is Gun Violence and the Disease Behind It
WE'VE had more mass shootings this year than we’ve had days this year. It’s sad to imagine that Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park will join...

Ben Jealous
Feb 2, 20233 min read


Disposing of Division, Not People and Places
AS an organizer who’s spent much of my life fighting for civil rights and access to the ballot box, I reflect on the work and words of...

Ben Jealous
Jan 28, 20233 min read


A City Traumatized By Crime
I am on the telephone listening to my granddaughter discuss the week’s events. Normally she is a confident, self-assured, sassy high...

jonetta rose barras
Jan 28, 20237 min read


Transform this!
AFTER winning her historic third term as mayor of the nation’s capital and chief executive officer of the DC government, Muriel Bowser...

jonetta rose barras
Nov 24, 20226 min read


A new beginning in DC or the same old thing?
WHEW! Raise your hand if, like me, you are happy to see the end of DC’s 2022 election season. Don’t get too comfortable, though. There...

jonetta rose barras
Nov 24, 20228 min read


Voters Make an Important Down Payment on Democracy’s Future
A lot of good news came out of this month’s elections—and enough bad news to remind us that we can never let our guard down when freedom...

Ben Jealous
Nov 24, 20223 min read


Press Release (Nov. 1, 2022)
Former DC Council Candidate Eric Goulet Calls on the U.S. Attorney to Investigate Potential Crimes Committed by D.C. Councilmember Elissa...

jonetta rose barras
Nov 1, 20223 min read


Building a Political Syndicate and Violating Local Campaign Laws
THE DC Office of Campaign Finance (OCF) decision in its investigation of At-large DC Council member Elissa Silverman’s actions during the...

jonetta rose barras
Oct 30, 202212 min read


Georgia Is Ground Zero for Democracy
By Ben Jealous LIKE so many of us right now, I’ve got Georgia on my mind. As I write this, I’ve just gotten back from meeting with Black...

Ben Jealous
Oct 21, 20223 min read


A hot at-large DC Council race gets hotter
DC voters began receiving their ballots for the November general election this week. The contests for mayor, DC Council chair and council...

jonetta rose barras
Oct 21, 20227 min read


DC elected officials claim to care about poor people, but the HUD report says otherwise
DON’T expect me to mince words here. The DC government and, thus, the entire city, particularly low-income residents, have been drowning...

jonetta rose barras
Oct 21, 20228 min read


THE BARRAS REPORT
IF YOU DON’T WIN A DC CONTRACT, START A CITIZEN PROTEST THAT surely must be the thinking of leaders at CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield...

jonetta rose barras
Oct 2, 20227 min read


Finding the truth, passing the word
“[T]HE highway was lined with yellow wildflowers that danced from their roots every time a car drove by. Smoke seeped up into the sky...

jonetta rose barras
Oct 1, 20228 min read


The Coming D.C. Financial Crisis
FISCAL Year 2023 for the District of Columbia started today, October l, 2022. The D.C. Council just passed a $20 billion budget in...

Jack Evans
Oct 1, 20222 min read


The Cruelty of Exploiting Vulnerable People for Political Advantage
THERE is always a new low for Trump Republicans. And that is pretty frightening. Take the latest exercise in lawlessness, dishonesty, and...

Ben Jealous
Oct 1, 20223 min read


Mail In Voting and The Breach of the Civic Culture
“It is easy to see the beginnings of things, and harder to see the ends,” Joan Didion wrote in her 1967 essay, “Goodbye to All That.”...

jonetta rose barras
Jul 10, 20227 min read


Start Now to Take Back the Supreme Court
DID you ever wonder whether elections really matter? Well, the Trump Supreme Court majority has answered that question for good. Or, more...

Ben Jealous
Jul 10, 20223 min read
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