WORD ON THE STREET

The subject comes up on the community listserv of one of those District neighborhoods labeled "in transition." We explored it with a group of girls on the basketball courts at 13th Street and Constitution Avenue NE:

The Washington Post	With the Fourth of July coming up, how do you tell the difference between --
Jasminelee Scott, 11 (interrupting)	-- a gunshot and a firecracker?
Ashlee Whitaker, 11	We was just talking about that. Last night, they was just poppin' 'em, and my sister said, What's the difference between gunshots and firecrackers? And I said, Wha'? A gunshot is a whole lotlouder.
Adriana Samuels, 11	A gunshot goes BOOOOM!
Ashlee (arguing)	A gunshot goesPOW!
Adriana	Nuh-uh. It don't goPOW. It goes BAOOW!
Jasminelee	No. For real. 'Cuz a firecracker -- first it have that little missile thing.
Cierra Simmons, 13	Like somebody screaming.
Jasminelee	And firecrackers have an echo.
Mia Evans, 11	In front of my house, they wanted to see which was louder. So they said 1-2-3 and lit the firecracker and threw it, and did the gunshot. And you couldn'ttellthe firecracker --
Ashlee	-- the gunshot was so loud.
Kavina Greene, 12	Y'know, there's a lot of gunshots these days.
Other girls (in unison)	It's more fireworks.
Kavina	But when the Fourth of July is over, it's more gunshots.
Jasmine McLendon, 11	New Year's Eve, they'll shoot guns. Or if it's a birthday or something, they'll shoot and say, Rest in peace, Homie.

-- Darragh Johnson