Washington, D.C

“Yes, We Will See Statehood for D.C.”: Anise Jenkins and D.C.’s Fight for Civil Rights

Published

2 years ago

February 20, 2024

“Yes, We Will See Statehood for D.C.”: Anise Jenkins and D.C.’s Fight for Civil Rights

Fifty years ago, the residents of the majority-Black District of Columbia headed to the polls to elect their first council and mayor in nearly 100 years. After decades of organizing by Black District residents and allies across the country, the federal government passed the Home Rule Act in 1973, and residents cast their ballots in November 1974. This law was a monumental democratic shift toward self-governance for the majority-Black District, but it stopped just short of granting full rights to the people of D.C.

Washington, D.C. is the only national capital in the democratic world whose citizens do not have equal voting and representation rights. The denial of full voting rights to the 700,000 residents of D.C., the majority of whom are Black and brown, is an egregious example of ongoing voter suppression happening in our country today.

The truth is that denying District residents statehood is rooted in racism. In 1867, right after the Civil War, President Andrew Johnson vetoed a bill that would grant citizens of the District – including Black men – the right to vote. Congress overrode the veto, briefly granting notable and historic political influence to Black Washingtonians. But just as Black voters started to exercise their political power in D.C., Congress quickly replaced D.C.’s local government with federally appointed commissioners, blocking the heavily Black region from having full voting rights or control over its local government.

Today, the struggle for D.C. statehood continues and is deeply anchored in the fight for racial justice. At the heart of this movement is Black residents’ hope, love, and relentless efforts to compel the nation to fulfill its promises of freedom and justice for all. It’s not just about gaining equal representation in Congress for the 700,000 residents of D.C.; it’s about honoring and safeguarding the rich Black cultural heritage of the District, from Go-Go music to mumbo sauce, as integral to the American fabric.

Advocating for D.C. statehood celebrates the work of Black leaders to further our democracy and civil rights for all. And it is the only way to enfranchise the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been wrongly denied our full voting rights for over 200 years.

As we continue the fight for statehood, we give thanks to the organizing efforts of Black D.C. residents like Anise Jenkins, the Executive Director of Stand Up! for Democracy in D.C. (Free D.C.). Jenkins has been a leading voice advocating for statehood for District residents for decades, and she recently sat down with us to share her history in the movement and her view of the future of statehood.

How long have you lived in the District?

Anise Jenkins: I’m a native Washingtonian. I was born here and will continue to live here. I grew up right around the corner from Grimke Elementary and went to Howard University, which is right down the street. The capital of the nation is my origin.

What are some of your poignant memories about the fight for statehood?

AJ: Well, I remember we did a lot of nonviolent civil disobedience. We would go up to Capitol Hill and voice our opinion on D.C. statehood, and we would get arrested. That was fine with us. We would get arrested. The police would drag us up the steps inside the Capitol during the hearings, and we enjoyed that. We thought it was right to be there protesting for our rights. We would call Representative Norton and tell her we had been arrested. She said, “Oh, they’re just acting like we did in SNCC.” That is the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. She was a member of SNCC back in the 1960s. I remember that so well, I’m very proud of it. She gave us credit for acting like they did in the civil rights era.

What do you want people around the country to understand about statehood?

AJ: I hope they understand that our fight for D.C. Statehood is their fight. I hope they understand that it is a civil rights entitlement that we don’t have. I hope that they understand that with no vote in the House or the Senate, we have no say, but we pay some of the highest federal taxes in the country. I hope that they understand that they can get involved, and that they have the power to grant us this right.

For folks who are interested in getting involved, and getting their friends and the family involved, what do you think is the biggest thing that they can do?

AJ: I want them to participate, to speak out, speak up. And to care. We don’t want to be forgotten. We don’t want to be an afterthought. We are very crucial to the progress of this country, and we have to stand up and speak out.

What keeps you hopeful about the fight for D.C. statehood?

AJ: The fact that the United States House of Representatives voted and passed statehood bills in 2019 and 2021. The fact that we get so many cosponsors for the bill every time we ask for it. The fact that it’s discussed, the fact that we had a national protest on the National Mall, and for statehood, this is all very encouraging, and we have to keep the fight going. We have to. It is a fight. It is a civil rights struggle, but it’s a civil rights accomplishment we can definitely see in our lifetime. I have no question about that. And we have younger people getting involved, people around your age who are getting really involved, who are carrying the Free D.C. signs. Yes, we will see statehood for D.C. It will happen.

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Washington, D.C

Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week

Published

11 minutes ago

April 19, 2026

Press Room

Storm Team4 Forecast: A chilly, gusty Sunday before a cool start to the week

4 things to know about the weather:

Chances of rain in the morning
Gusty Sunday
Chilly Monday
Temps will rise again through the work week

Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.

After a nice and warm Saturday, changes arrive for part two of the weekend.

The first half of your Sunday will have a chance for showers. Winds will pick up with our next system and are expected to gust to about 20-30 mph. Cooler air will settle in, and lows Sunday night fall into the 40s.

Highs temps Monday will reach only into the mid to upper 50s.

However, temperatures will rise through the week, so you won’t need your jackets every day.

QuickCast

SUNDAY:
Showers, then partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 30 mph
HIGH: Lower 60s

MONDAY:
Partly cloudy
Wind: NW 10-15 mph
Gusts @ 25 mph
HIGH: Upper 50s

Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.

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Washington, D.C

‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington

Published

1 day ago

April 18, 2026

Press Room

‘It’s a twilight zone’: Iran war casts deep shadows over IMF gathering in Washington

The most severe energy shock since the 1970s, the risk of a global recession and households everywhere stomaching a renewed surge in the cost of living – hitting the most vulnerable hardest.

In a sweltering hot Washington DC this week, the message at the International Monetary Fund meetings was chilling: things had been looking up for living standards around the world. But then came the Iran war.

“Some countries are in panic,” said the fund’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, addressing the finance ministers and central bank bosses in town for the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. “The sooner it [the Iran war] ends, the better for everybody.”

Such gatherings are not typically used to fight geopolitical battles. “You don’t get people shouting at one another at these things,” one senior figure remarked. But, as a record-breaking April heatwave swept the US capital, no one could ignore the mounting damage from the Iran war.

Those familiar with the mood over breakfast at a meeting of the G20’s representatives on Thursday, which included Donald Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and the outgoing US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell – said the atmosphere in the room was sombre amid an open exchange of serious views.

“It is such a twilight-zone meeting,” said Mohamed El-Erian, a former IMF deputy managing director who is now chief economic adviser at the Allianz insurance group. “There are several shadows hanging over it: one is the shadow that comes from concern about the global economy as a whole.

“The second is that some countries are going to be particularly hard hit, and it’s mostly countries that very few people are talking about. But the third concern is the adding of insult to injury: the fact that the US, which started a war of choice, is going to be hit, but by a lot less than elsewhere in relative terms.”

Before Thursday’s breakfast, Rachel Reeves had started her day with an early-morning jog. Joined by her counterparts from Spain, Australia and New Zealand for a run down the iconic National Mall, she posted an Instagram selfie with a not-so-subtle dig: “Friends that run together – work together.”

A day earlier, the chancellor had told a CNBC conference that she thought “friends are allowed to disagree on things” as she criticised Trump’s Iran war as a “mistake” and a “folly” that had not made the world safer.

Rachel Reeves posted this image on Instagram from Washington DC on Thursday with the message: ‘Friends that run together – work together.’ Photograph: Rachel Reeves/Instagram

Speaking at a venue just steps away from the White House, before a one-on-one meeting with Bessent, she said this “fair message” was needed because UK families and businesses were feeling the pain from higher energy prices triggered by the conflict.

Those close to Reeves insist her meeting remained cordial. Britain and the US have significant shared interests in AI, financial services and trade. The chancellor also said the UK government had little time for the Iranian regime.

But with the IMF having warned on Tuesday that the Iran war could risk a global recession – in which Britain would be the biggest G7 casualty – it was clear Reeves had travelled to Washington ready to pick a fight.

“I’m struck by how vocal she has been and the words she used,” said one global financier. “We know the disagreement between Bessent and [European Central Bank president] Christine Lagarde earlier in the year. But that was in private.”

At a cocktail party held at the British ambassador’s residence for hundreds of diplomats and financiers – including the Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of Barclays, CS Venkatakrishnan, and dozens of senior figures – this transatlantic tension, weeks before King Charles’s US state visit, was a major topic of conversation.

The other, in the balmy residence gardens, was one of its former occupants, Peter Mandelson, as revelations about the former ambassador’s appointment threatened to further rock the UK government.

Before the war, the agenda for the IMF had been about global cooperation; the adoption of AI, jobs and work to eradicate poverty. Each of those tasks had now been complicated, but not least the task of countries working together.

For many at the meetings, the focus was on forging closer global cooperation without the world’s pre-eminent superpower.

“Everybody is talking about how you hedge against American decisions,” said David Miliband, the former UK foreign secretary, who now runs the International Rescue Committee. “You can’t do without them, because they’re 25% of the global economy. But, in a lot of fora, they’ve pulled out.

“So everyone has to think, how does one structure international cooperation? The old west is not coming back. And so everyone has to figure out how to position themselves for that world.”

For those gathering in Washington, there was irony in the fact that they were meeting in the halls of institutions founded, under US leadership, to promote global cooperation after the second world war. The whole idea of the Bretton Woods institutions was to avoid the dire economic conditions and warfare of the 1930s and 1940s. Yet this year’s meeting was taking place amid these intertwining problems.

In their conversations about the best economic policy response to the shock of conflict, the economists also knew the real power to make a difference lay two blocks across town from the IMF and the World Bank – behind the security cordons and construction equipment blocking the White House from public view. “It is not clear they can do anything about it,” said El-Erian.

Still, with a booming economy driven by AI – including Anthropic’s powerful Mythos model, the topic of much conversation – most countries cannot afford to completely break off US ties.

“People want to find ways to insulate themselves from the mess. But, on the other hand, they admire the US private sector,” El-Erian said. “The best way I’ve heard it put, is: they want to go long the private sector and short the mess. But it’s almost impossible to do.”

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