Ronald “Moe” Moten is co-founder of Check It Enterprises and Don’t Mute DC.
What a slap in the face to D.C. taxpayers who subsidized this state-of-the-art facility with more than $600 million. We saw the vision. We invested. We waited patiently. We sacrificed. We were loyal before it was popular. Now, we can’t afford to be there for the celebration.
As a D.C. native, I can relate. Right now, my city is winning financially, but every day it gets harder for us to be there for the party.
I am a partner at an Anacostia retail storefront and cultural space called Check It Enterprises, formed by former gang members, who, despite the odds, still believe in the American Dream.
We are among many of the current and former business owners supporting the Nationals but who are not part of the fruits that come with the development. You have to ask, “Couldn’t the city and banks also have invested in the people and businesses who were there first and made them a part of the prosperity we see there now?"
A similar displacement has kicked in in Anacostia, with two of our favorite establishments being forced out because of landlords who wouldn’t sell the buildings to the renters or renew their leases. When Caribbean Citation and Cheers at the Big Chair got pushed out of Anacostia, it killed part of the culture. Children need to see that hard work pays off. You have to ask yourself what we can do to make this revitalization work for everybody.
I hope the ticketification of the Nationals inspires native, long-term and transit Washingtonians to work together as a team, just like the Nationals.
I am still riding the emotional high of seeing the underdogs make it to the World Series after several disappointing stints in the playoffs. It is refreshing and inspiring, to say the least, especially after the team lost star Bryce Harper.
I believe native Washingtonians and newcomers can get that win. Our victory would be a city that shares equity and opportunity for all, preserving the culture fabric that still exists while simultaneously being improved by the new wave of millennials and development.
If we don’t, somewhere down the line, many of us old and new Washingtonians might end up like John Guggenmos, former owner of the Town night club in Shaw. His club replaced a go-go-friendly called club 2k9 that was forced to shut down, in my view, by gentrification and unjust stereotypes. It was one block from Metro PSC which is the birthplace of the #DontmuteDC movement. The Town catered to a whiter, wealthier, gay and more professional D.C. clientele in 2007. The same forces that allowed the gay club to push out the go-go club eventually pushed out the gay club. A decade later, Guggenmos was quoted in The Washington Post as saying, “Gentrification is a great word until it happens to you.”
I invite Washingtonians new and old to join us at our Don’t Mute DC-A Call to Action Conference on Nov. 16 in historic Anacostia. Let’s work together as a team to brainstorm solutions and action that lead to the change we all deserve and want to see.