CITIZEN TESTIMONY TO PROTEST MART LIQUOR HAVING THEIR LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWED

The following statement was crafted by Malcolm Woodland, a truly wonderful, articulate and insightful ANC 8C resident, property owner and supporter following a brainstorming session by some residents this weekend who were united in protest of the Mart Liquor having it's liquor license renewed. Unfortunately since the community was once again hamstrung by it's own ANC the public hearing for Mart Liquor's was cancelled and this testimony was not presented but it's such a great statement that it deserves to be shared

We will not be deterred.

This is River East.
This is Congress Heights.

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Last Call for Mart Liquors

Rundown, poorly regulated liquor stores have long been a nuisance in communities around the country. However, because of certain dynamics and contextual factors in particular neighborhoods, liquor stores can exaggerate existing problems and pose new and more complex problems. The Mart Liquors liquor store at the corner of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Avenues in the Congress Heights section of Washington, DC is one of those liquor stores that exacerbates existing problems and spurs new ones. Although the social, psychological, and physical toll that Mart Liquors has cost this section of Congress Heights has been high, I will just point out four reasons why Mart Liquors’ alcohol license should be revoked.

First, researchers have identified a consistent and robust relationship between the amount of alcohol outlets in an area and the associated violence that occurs in the neighborhoods surrounding the alcohol outlet. Mart Liquor’s relationship with the surrounding neighborhood is no different. On any given day, one can review the available city statistics to see the increased violence that occurs near Mart Liquor. In the park across the street from Mart Liquor, where most of the store’s patrons go to consume their alcohol, fights are commonplace and substance abuse is rampant. Children rarely if ever play in this park, which is typically controlled by the men and women who suffer from substance abuse and patron Mart Liquor. Similarly, the blocks surrounding Mart Liquor are littered with trash from that store as well as the violence associated with intoxication.

Researchers have also commented on the relationship between alcohol outlets and confirmed cases of child maltreatment in the surrounding area. Most studies indicate that an increased volume of liquor stores and other liquor outlets in an area leads to additional cases of child abuse and child maltreatment in the neighborhoods surrounding the store(s). Given that the neighborhoods in Ward 7 and Ward 8 of Washington, DC which includes Congress Heights harbor the most children in the District, liquor stores in these areas are a particular threat to the health and well-being of the Wards’ children. One can stand at the corner of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and witness this threat by watching children weave their way between intoxicated men lying on the street in front of the liquor store and the violent skirmishes that occur in front of the store on a daily basis.

This liquor store is also a particular problem because it is located amid a park, a school (soon to be opened at the Old Congress Heights school site), and the Saint Elizabeth’s Mental Hospital, which treats DC residents who suffer from substance abuse, psychiatric illness, and who are often homeless. Thus, Mart Liquor is placed in the middle of several populations who are at heightened vulnerability to the negative effects of alcohol (i.e., substance abusers, individuals with psychiatric illness, children, and the homeless). Simply put, having a liquor store in the middle of these populations is a bad idea that continues to wreak havoc on the surrounding neighborhood.

Finally, the fourth reason for revoking the liquor license for Mart Liquors deals with the placement of a liquor store at this particular intersection; specifically, what do you think is the psychological toll that a community pays for having a filthy liquor store at the intersection of two streets named for arguably two of that community’s greatest leaders (Malcolm X and Martin Luther King)? I am not quite sure if I know the answer to that question but I believe part of the answer is hidden in the violence and substance abuse that unfolds in front of Malt Liquor on a daily basis. Nevertheless, I do know that the legacy of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King should not be marked by a liquor store at the intersection of streets named on their behalf. I think that site would be a much better home to the Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Memorial Public Library.

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