#downtown dc

[oldlinetrad]

Yesterday at the Heritage Foundation. Sen. Cruz advocated for proposed legislation against the Muslim Brotherhood. I hope he is successful.

[eyeofthelama]

[andell-flow]

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It’s definitely a vibe 💆🏽

[kymkamra]

Washington DC day his name George Floyd Matters

[ddotdc]

Women and children crossing the street on the west crosswalk at the corner of 14th Street and F Street N.W. in the mid-1940s. 

[babyjackvm]

Henry the Elephant introduces Baby Jack to all his elephant friends!

[ohgeephoto]

Untitled, 2017

[mother7mary]

Inauguration Weekend: Thoughts from a young female who is half black and half white in today’s polarized society.

I happen to live in the #DMV area, and work overnight on the weekends in downtown DC, just blocks away from the white house. Due to my insane schedule and overwhelming flood of feelings it has taken me a few days to gather my thoughts of the weekend as a whole. Today’s posts will be directly related to this #InaugurationWeekend.

The first day was made up mostly of fear. I wasn’t scared to go to work, even though I knew that alcohol mixed with opposing political views would be problematic at the least. Throughout the day I had watched the protests, riots, and the inauguration unfold, and overall it was just a sad day in history for me. As I made my way to work that night I had to walk 10 blocks due to the busses and barricades they had as road blocks. The McDonalds that everyone saw some kid bust the windows of? I passed that, and so many other buildings with pointless damage.

As I was walking, the song “Goodnight Gotham” by Rihanna just kept replaying in my head. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the riots in Baltimore, but I did feel like my city was on fire in a metaphoric sense. Maybe that was the fire I felt ignited within my own soul, I have a feeling it was a little bit of both. Seeing the police in riot gear, the protestors still out past 10pm, and hundreds of men and women waiting in line for the inaugural ball, had a whirlwind effect on me. Part of me can’t even comment completely because I'm still waiting to see if that was the day that changed everything, including my life, forever.

Saturday’s vibe was much more peaceful, and that didn’t surprise me. It was the day of the #WomensMarch on Washington and from what I saw unfold before I got to work, the women made sure the vibe was much smoother than the day before. While there were some details of the march that made #WomenOfColor feel marginalized, there was a power in seeing the masses of women flood the DC Metro and city streets. Regardless of race and political agenda, a group of all walks of life stood together for a common cause.

When I got to work that day I was met with not only protestors, but the signs they left as a symbol of their presence. As the only female on my shift I made sure we kept them up all night, it was the least I could do. That night we did get a rather large group of young, white, male trump supporters and I was nervous to even take their order. However, we were still filled with protestors and a group of (what I presume to be) lesbian women, took notice to the trump support group. When they noticed them, they began to hug, kiss, and dance right in front of the group! I loved every minute of it because there was nothing a single trump supporter could do about it. Making those trump supporters uncomfortable, simply by being exactly who they are, was the highlight of my night.

Overall the weekend left me in a daze and in a sense of utter confusion. By the end of the weekend I had come into contact with so many people who flipped my whole view of trump supporters upside down. Most of the trump supporters I met were so polite I couldn’t even tell they supported such a bigot. And because I am half black and white, with a white mother who I know is prejudged by the black community for the color of her skin, I refuse to put every white person I see into the trump supporter category. I wouldn’t want anyone to judge me or my mother because of the color of our skin, so I can't rationalize doing it to someone else. Even when I know the majority of trump supporters are white, and I know what they support is nothing but ignorance and lies, some of them do have enough composure and common sense to act right in public. While the God in me wants to understand them and try to see the good. The realist in me is scared to death that there could still be snakes in my grass, even after I cut it as low as the blade will go.