WE MADE HISTORY!!
Over TWO HUNDRED years. No representation. Openly racist reasons for why the people of DC should not be a state.
We organized. We built our coalition. We got our friends and families from across the country involved. We showed up, shouted out, wore red and white, honked our horns. We educated more and more people. We helped Congress members and their staffs understand that suppressing the voters of DC was wrong, taxation without representation was wrong, and giving the people of DC the freedom to be a state just like the 37 territories did was right.
Our efforts to strategize effective ways to talk about how we just want equality, about how to best educate Americans that our plan includes keeping a beautiful federal district made up of the pillars of our democracy, about how we are just like the people all across the American land. Our efforts worked and the Washington DC Admission Act passed the House of Representatives on for only the second time in history on April 22nd.
This past month we organized 19 Statehood Visibility events with over 200 supporters turning out for early morning rallies in their neighborhoods. We organized two zoom watch parties, first for the mark up then for the vote. We established a powerful marker, Statehood can pass a Chamber of Congress.
We can make history. Watch this space for some great stories as we take on the Senate.
We Need to Have What to be a State?
When we organize for Statehood, we like to focus on what we gain. Like having two Senators who represent our interests in critical national issues. Like having true self-government where Congress can NOT change or meddle with the laws our duly elected Council passes and our Mayor signs. Like truly having the promise of democracy fully apply to us.
We often ignore the bizarre arguments against Statehood. But sometimes, they are so rich in ridiculousness that we just have to clap back (in a good way). For example, when the House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee held a hearing on our Statehood bill last month, there were a few absurd issues brought up by opponents to Statehood.
You should have seen Mayor Bowser’s face when Representative Glenn S. Grothman of Wisconsin asked her if DC had any mines.
Then there was Representative Jody Hice of GA who implied we shouldn’t be a state because among other things we didn’t have a car dealership. Huh? Another said we didn’t have things like bowling allies. Yeah, none of these things have anything to do with our qualifications to be a state!
Thanks to knowledgeable democracy loving Representatives, the Washington DC Admission Act safely passed out of this committee and was referred to the next step, a final committee meeting called the mark-up. Whew!
When the date of the mark up committee rolled around, DC Vote decided to have some fun.
We had over 30 of our supporters show up outside of one of DC’s car dealerships (yes, we have some). Several folks came in their bowling shirts, debating which DC bowling alley they liked best. One brought a bowling pin.
We waved our Statehood signs as cars drove past, a NBC News reporter stopped by, one of our Council Members joined in the fun.
You see the photo above. We have many places of business that sell cars. So can we be a state now?
Statehood Advocates are Loud and Clear: Pass the Washington DC Admissions Act
On the morning that the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on the Washington DC Admission Act, advocates made sure that Congress would hear the people of DC! On March 22nd, equipped with Statehood signs, bull-horns, noise makers, pom poms, and in some cases, coffee, teams dressed in red and white dispersed to every single Ward in DC. At eight busy intersections across the District, drivers honked in enthusiastic agreement, flashed thumbs up. Pedestrians stopped by, joined in, and took home statehood yard signs. Our energy captured a lot of twitter activity and many of the news stories about the hearing included photos of these passionate teams. Thanks to everyone who helped organize these and for showing up for DC!