Council Bill Would Put Big Names On the Map

Age don't mean a thing if you are Chuck Brown and still have that go-go swing.

That's the sentiment of D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, who proposed Monday to name a street after the District's most legendary go-go groove master. Brown, still going strong in his 70s, responded by singing a few bars outside the council chamber Monday.

"Chuck Brown brought a new form of music that is not only known to the city but it is now known to the nation," Gray (D) said. "He is such a tremendous role model and humble and positive figure. To do this only seems fitting."

The council bill would also name streets after Duke Ellington; poet, novelist and playwright Langston Hughes; and Leonard B. "Bud" Doggett Jr., the parking lot tycoon and D.C. power broker who died this year.

The bill also would send a message to Congress in regard to the city's non-voting status by changing the name of part of South Capitol Street to Taxation Without Representation Street.

Singing "it don't mean a thing if you don't have the go-go swing," Brown said having a street named for him would be special.

"Man, I can't do nothing but cry," Brown said. "I have been home from [jail] for about 50 years. I ain't been in trouble in almost 50 years, and all I do is try to create that go-go thing with a little jazz with it, with a little blues, with a little soul. It is where I come from, you understand, the church, gospel and jazz and blues. Mixing it up. I was so glad when the other bands started to catch up to it."

The bill would designate T Street from Sixth to Seventh streets NW in Ward 1 as Duke Ellington Avenue; Seventh Street between T Street and Florida Avenue as Chuck Brown Way; and the 700 block of 10th Street NW as Bud Doggett Way.

The bill also would designate V Street from 13th to 14th streets NW as Langston Hughes Street. On the street is Busboys and Poets, a restaurant named in Hughes's honor.

The vote on the street names is scheduled for next month's legislative session.

GOP Is Ready to Rumble

The D.C. Republican Party is in a fighting mood, no matter how outnumbered it is.

In an overwhelmingly Democratic city, the party has taken on the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics and is threatening to challenge it in court. At issue is the board's certification of Michael Brown as an independent at-large member of the D.C. Council.