RIP Marion Barry
Nov. 24th, 2014 11:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fabrisseGuardian Obituary
New York Times Obituary
Washington Post on the DC Summer Jobs Program
I met the man. I've shaken his hand. He kept a group of us waiting for over half an hour for a meeting he'd called. Once he was in the room, though, he was laser focused on the issue at hand, and he knew the facts of the matter. He had the knack for remembering people -- maybe not their names, but why and when he'd met them -- which made him a popular politician.
There is an annual turkey giveaway in DC. In addition to providing turkeys to poor families, there's a meal for every homeless person in the city. It's financed through donations and city funds, by the way, not a penny of federal money.
Marion Barry helped make Home Rule possible. Was he a great man? Well, he certainly had great flaws. But I think he achieved some niche greatness.
This is a response to someone else's comment at The Guardian:
Let me tell you about Marion Barry. But first, let me tell you about myself. I have lived in DC for 7 years now and lived in the DC area for 12 years in my childhood and teens.
DC has a non-voting Delegate in Congress. We wouldn't have even that much, if it weren't for Marion Barry. We wouldn't have the ability to make our own laws, if it weren't for Marion Barry. We have a better city for the poorest because Marion Barry fought for them. You can be cynical and say he was only doing it for a vote, but the fact is he got people fed, clothed, and employed.
His summer jobs program continues to this day and is the biggest in the country with 14,000 getting jobs last year and we do it all with local, not federal money.
At his death, I think it's just as appropriate to remember the man who helped achieve home rule, and who did so much to improve the city as it is to remember the man who was arrested for crack.
New York Times Obituary
Washington Post on the DC Summer Jobs Program
I met the man. I've shaken his hand. He kept a group of us waiting for over half an hour for a meeting he'd called. Once he was in the room, though, he was laser focused on the issue at hand, and he knew the facts of the matter. He had the knack for remembering people -- maybe not their names, but why and when he'd met them -- which made him a popular politician.
There is an annual turkey giveaway in DC. In addition to providing turkeys to poor families, there's a meal for every homeless person in the city. It's financed through donations and city funds, by the way, not a penny of federal money.
Marion Barry helped make Home Rule possible. Was he a great man? Well, he certainly had great flaws. But I think he achieved some niche greatness.
This is a response to someone else's comment at The Guardian:
Let me tell you about Marion Barry. But first, let me tell you about myself. I have lived in DC for 7 years now and lived in the DC area for 12 years in my childhood and teens.
DC has a non-voting Delegate in Congress. We wouldn't have even that much, if it weren't for Marion Barry. We wouldn't have the ability to make our own laws, if it weren't for Marion Barry. We have a better city for the poorest because Marion Barry fought for them. You can be cynical and say he was only doing it for a vote, but the fact is he got people fed, clothed, and employed.
His summer jobs program continues to this day and is the biggest in the country with 14,000 getting jobs last year and we do it all with local, not federal money.
At his death, I think it's just as appropriate to remember the man who helped achieve home rule, and who did so much to improve the city as it is to remember the man who was arrested for crack.
