I See Trees of Green…
Emerging Green Technology Creating Career Opportunities

Jacalyn Ward, co-chair of the Ward 8 Environmental Council, spearheaded a forum on the immense business and employment opportunities found in being environmentally friendly. The charette, Planting Seeds for a Green DC: Creating Green Collar Jobs and Green Businesses, featured a panel of the District’s leading business and environmental groups discussing how entrepreneurs and low-wage workers can be prepared to take advantage of this emerging industry. Later in the day focus groups gathered to share the latest information on starting a “green” business and the types of careers and employment options available.

Ward, who is also an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, developed the forum last year after attending a conference organized by the Greater Washington Board of Trade to address opportunities associated with the environmental agenda, including energy efficiency, alternative sources of power and more. At the conference, panelists talked about bringing in workers from Pennsylvania, eastern Maryland, and West Virginia to work in the District. At that point Ward recognized the need to get the attention of the unions, the Greater Washington Board of Trade and the environment community to corral those jobs to benefit Ward 8 and East Washington residents and stakeholders. Ward points out there is over $5 billion in development coming to Ward 8 and notes that, “East of the River has the people; we don’t have to import people from the outside.”

The timing is right for Ward and others to push the green agenda. Green-collar jobs are increasingly seen as replacements for jobs lost in manufacturing and other sectors. However, green-collar jobs range from the manual labor of installing solar power panels or maintaining wind turbines or repairing alternative energy vehicles to scientific and scholarly work researching water quality, pest management, and better and efficient use of energy.

On the national level, all the presidential campaigns are touting tax credits for renewable energy and millions of dollars for job training in green-collar careers. The District is setting a high bar on green building practices and ultimately green job creation. Later this year private and public development projects using money from the District of Columbia will be required to meet so-called “green-building standards.” This law, one of the first in the nation, sets requirements for updating building codes, establishes criteria for meeting energy and environmental certification, and establishes a fund expected to generate $750,000 a year to hire permitting staff at the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.

Keith Ware, an African American and owner of Eco-Green Living, was a forceful panelist noting that the options for African Americans are wide-open; “there is no competition.” Ware’s store located on Church Street NW sells fair-trade and organic products for lifestyle, home remodeling, and personal care.

The Ward 8 Environmental Council, the Sierra Club, and other organizers and stakeholders in East of the River believe that by advocating for a local commitment to job training, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy – especially for people from disadvantaged communities – the effort to fight both poverty and pollution at the same time will be more easily achievable.

Contact the following sources for information about how you can work, build, design, and live with environmental, organic, and fair trade products.

• Jacalyn Ward, Co-Chair Ward 8 Environmental Council, 202-359-2485
• Glen O’Gilvie, CEO/President, Earth Conservation Corps, 202-479-6710, glen@ecc1.org
• JoVita Wells, Senior Director, Workforce Development Intermediary, University of the District of Columbia, 202-274-6260, jowells@udc.edu
• Keith Ware, CEO/President, Eco-Green Living, 202-234-7110, 1469 Church St. NW, www.eco-greenliving.com
• Dennis Chestnut, Director Marvin Gaye Park, Washington Parks and People, 202-GO-2-PARK (202-462-7275), www.washingtonparks.net

Black History…Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
In 1926 the Association for the Study of the Negro Life and History founded Negro History Week, the precursor to Black History Month. Carter G. Woodson, who established the Association, chose February because the month includes the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two stalwarts that greatly influenced the black American population.

Wards 7 and 8 have an overabundance of local and national historical sites and figures.

The Francis A. Gregory Library on Alabama Ave. SE hosted a lecture series to mark the critical role African Americans have played in the history of civilization and in East Washington. The branch’s former manager, Lessie Owens-Mtewa, planned the series before her retirement last year. C.R. Gibbs, noted local author, lecturer, and historian of the African Diaspora, led the program.

Gibbs’ first lecture discussed black inventors over two million years spanning the African continent to America. Included in the inventors discussion was Solomon G. Brown, a noted Anacostia resident. Brown worked alongside Samuel F. B. Morse to invent the telegraph. Brown’s legacy will live on when the Salvation Army’s new offices on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE will be named after him.

The Francis A. Gregory Library is historical in its own right. It is named after a Ward 7 resident who was the first black President of the District of Columbia Public Library Trustees. Gregory’s wife, Nora Drew Gregory, was the sister of Dr. Charles Drew, pioneer of blood plasma preservation. The Gregorys’ son, Frederick D., was an astronaut and the third black American in space in the 1985 Challenger mission.

Another venerable East River institution held a program to remember its roots. The Smithsonian Institution’s Anacostia Community Museum celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2007. The Museum first located on Nichols Avenue (later renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue) was the result of numerous Anacostia leaders and residents. According to Caryl Marsh, an original organizer, Anacostia was vying with four other DC neighborhoods for a new Smithsonian Museum. When Smithsonian officials looked at Anacostia they found an organized community with strong leadership and strong ideas about what they wanted in a museum and a relationship.

One of the original goals of the institution as remembered by Zora Felton, former Director of Education, was “to provide an environment for open and direct learning through contact with real things.”  Felton along with founding director John Kinard shaped the museum to meet the needs of the community—keeping long hours to allow youth groups and community organizations to meet—becoming a community-gathering place. The turning point though for African American-centered exhibits, was an exhibit of African American portraits from the National Portrait Gallery. While reading comments and suggestions on this exhibit, Felton came across a comment from a young patron, “This is the most colored people I’ve seen in my life.” This observation, summed up in the simple wording of a child, solidified ACM’s focus.

Deborah Jones, a member of the Youth Advisory Council, commented that the open and welcoming environment encouraged and supported by Kinard and Felton created a village. The kids hanging on the corner were just as welcome and involved as those more academically focused.

The Anacostia Community Museum’s over 6,000 collections include artifacts, manuscripts, and photographs dating back to the 1800s.

Stop by the Francis A. Gregory Library at 3660 Alabama Avenue SE or call 202-645-4297. The Anacostia Community Museum is open 364 days of the year and is currently exhibiting East of the River: Continuity and Change, a documentation project that looks at the community life of neighborhoods east of the Anacostia. Visit the Museum at 1901 Fort Place, SE directly across from Ft. Stanton Park and on the W2/W3 bus line or online http://www.anacostia.si.edu/.

Meet in the Middle
Far NE SE Council Hosts Intergenerational Discussion

East Washington neighborhoods are teeming with residents in their 20s to mid-40s. These individuals are new residents or the returning children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews of long-time residents. Despite the influx of new blood and energy, some of the long-standing civic and community organizations in the area are not maintaining or attracting the interest of these new neighbors.

At its monthly meeting, the Far Northeast Southeast Council aimed to identify some of the reasons for the lack of participation and discuss ways to turn the tide. Council president, Edward Fisher, pointed out, “There is a lot of separation [in our community] and a lot of it is because of age.” Program panelists included Geri Averytt, a 20-something Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in 7C, Ed Fisher, a young professional and founder of a youth tutoring non-profit, Villareal Johnson, a Commissioner in 7A in his 30s, and Sylvia C. Brown, president of the Deanwood Citizens Association in her 30s. Additional participants included two students from H.D. Woodson Senior High School.

The Civil Rights Movement is often promoted as an example of young leading the old. As the younger Fisher observed, however, 20 and 30-year-olds didn’t have to fight and activism was no longer a part of their “home training.” According to Fisher, “Growing up we were told ‘go to college, get a job, go to church.’ Now, we’re doing what we were told—working, raising our families.” Balancing work and family responsibilities are issues and when faced with the choice to go to meetings that will likely run long, have no outcomes, or where there is bickering between the leadership in the middle of a meeting, the choice to stay at home is made easier.

Generally characterized as results-oriented and outcomes-based, young people tend to bring a business-oriented, cut-to-the-chase approach to conducting meetings and addressing local problems. And this method doesn’t necessarily follow the expectations of the previous generation which supports the belief that older residents are against progress. 7A Commissioner Johnson noted, however, that is likely not the case. “It is not that the previous generation is against progress. They just want to know you are in it for the long haul.” This means not trying to make drastic changes at the outset and disregarding the history and work that has been done.

Panelists agreed that being involved in community is important because it creates connectedness and makes for great neighborhoods. Averytt’s initial run for commissioner was discounted because she was youthful 20-year-old. She persisted, though, because of her exposure to activism from her grandparents. She ran for commissioner and won a few years later, and is now able to bridge the communication divide between her older and younger constituents.

Suggestions for bringing in younger residents included more efficiently run meetings and building relationships through mentoring and information-sharing. The Far Northeast Southeast Council and other Ward civic organizations have a history of civic activism and advocacy and they want to ensure the torch is passed. However, as Nakeisha Neal, a life-long Ward 7 resident and young professional noted, “Don’t just pass the torch—we need the support along the way.”