I AM WARD 8: Nathan Harrington of Congress Heights
Nathan is all about what is great about living East of the River - the people. I first became familiar with Nathan (along with his really awesome roommates) while they were being really great community stakeholders. You may recall the Shepherd Park clean up a few months ago, this month's honoree and his roommates organized it. That type of initiative really exemplifies how community support comes from all parts of the community - even new residents.
Shortly after the park cleanup I was invited over for a delicious, vegetarian dinner which had been grown in their own backyard! (I had never seen a collard green plant before) Over dinner with Nathan, one of his super nice roommates Anna, and a delightful neighbor Mr. Maurice (who couldn't stop raving about his new family of neighbors) we discussed and laughed about what makes life in Congress Heights so great, and what we can do as residents and neighbors to support our community. Regardless of how many people I meet or how long I live East of the River I am constantly amazed by the wonderful, dedicated, and truly authentic people in my community.
Nathan's latest project:
Volunteer Mentors and Tutors Needed for Ballou 9th Graders
Are you concerned about the high rate of juvenile crime in DC? Shocked by the senseless violence on the streets? Do you love living in the city and want to give something back?
I am a 9th grade history teach at Ballou High School in far SE DC, and I am looking for two types of volunteers for the coming school year:
· Tutors to help students with homework and class work in all subjects during the school day and after school until 5 pm.
· Mentors, who will be matched with individual students and spend at least two hours a week with them outside of school. Mentors will meet students at the end of school (if meeting on a week day) or at their homes (if meeting on the weekends) and provide positive support and guidance to the youth. This may include helping them with school work, playing basketball, visiting museums or going out to eat.The Advoc8te is so please to present this month's "I am Ward 8" honoree, Nathan Harrington of Congress Heights.
If you are interested, please email Nathan Harrington at nbharrington@yahoo.com for more information.
Nathan Harrington
Teacher
Urban Gardener
Community Advocate
Nathan Harrington
Age 27
High School History Teacher
2. Your Neighborhood?
Congress Heights
3. What brought you to Ward 8?
It was part starry-eyed rebellion and part naked self-interest. I grew up a sheltered middle-class white kid in Rockville, Maryland in the 1980s, and 1990s, with parents and grandparents who left the city in the 1960s and considered anything east of Rock Creek Park as a dangerous adventure. My experience East of the River was limited to visiting Fredrick Douglas House, until I came home after college in Maine, when the only teaching job I could find was at Merritt Educational Center in Deanwood. My fellow teachers all warned me not to walk around the neighborhood. That seemed absurd to me; how can we teach the kids if we scared of their neighborhood? So I made a point of getting to know the area. Folks were extremely friendly to me, and I fell in love with East of the River neighborhoods, even though the school and my time teaching in it were a fiasco.
After several years of renting from psycho landlords, I decided to save up and buy in the city. I wanted a decent-sized house where I could live communally with my friends. I knew that DC was being rapidly gentrified by people with a lot more money than me, and feared that I would be price out for good if I didn’t act. I wanted historic charm near metro, with enough land to go some serious gardening. It became apparent pretty quickly that the only place I could find all of that on a teacher’s salary was East of the River.
At first the real estate agent- who was black- didn’t want to take me to see places over here; they kept steering me towards Petworth. I had to make it very clear to them that my priorities were not those of your typical gentrifying yuppie. Rich people scare me a lot more than poor people, and having taught in the public schools in Prince George’s County for three years and traveled in Africa and Latin America, I was pretty used to being the only white person around. I’ve always been bothered by the segregation in this city, and I saw my decision to live here as to rebel against it.
The overhyped fear of crime, and the idea that white people are not welcome. My white friends and family are all good liberal folk who have simply been trained -by the media and, in a few cases, personal experience) - to be terrified of black neighborhoods. I have people who are reluctant to visit my house because they think they’ll be shot at. Most white people are used to being in the majority, and when they’re not, they feel self-conscious and out of place, and mistake that for physical danger. I have to explain to them that the discomfort is an opportunity to grow, and that the vast majority of violent crime is either domestic or beef-related. If you’re not in an abusive relationship or a gang, and are not beefin’ with anyone, it’s really unlikely that anyone will bother you. When I do get white friends to come and visit, they see the green space, the cute houses, and it changes their view of SE completely.
That would have to be a tie between the hills and the people. I love the parks. The Fort Circle trail goes the way from Anacostia Museum to the Minnesota Avenue Metro Station. With the exception of a few street crossings, you are on a winding trail through the woods the whole way. It’s the best kept secret in DC, as nice as anything Rock Creek Park but without all the people.
I’ve found that my neighbors are unpretentious and non-judgmental. In the yuppie parts of town, everyone wants to know what kind of job you have, where you went to school, how much money you have. Down here, people are more genuinely friendly and interested in making a personal connection than in sizing up your social status.
I know this is a predictable thing for me to say, but I sure would like to see us elect a council rep who can actually fights for our neighborhoods and be a role model for our kids instead of constantly embarrassing us and the city.
It would be nice to have more food and shopping options, but I also want it to stay affordable for working people. History suggests that it is extremely difficult to have it both ways, so I honestly feel conflicted about a lot of new investment. I try to be a good neighbor, but the reality is that regardless of what I do, mere presence of white faces will drive property values up and may ultimately displace people. That’s how dysfunctional and racist real estate market still is.
I recently decided to leave the school in PG County where I’ve been that last four years and teach at Ballou. My mission there will be to guide our young people in Ward 8 on a positive path. Too many of them get to the 9th grade lacking not only skills, but an understanding of the value of education as a means of liberation. They’ve bought into, and are playing into, some of the worst racial stereotypes. Civilization started in Africa, and we have a black president, but they still think doing well in school is a “white thing!” WTF? We’ve got a lot of work to do.
For those of us who are newer EOR residents, I think it is extremely important to honor and learn from those who have been here and fought to make it better. I can understand why some of them might not appreciate a name-changed. I don’t see Wards 7 and 8 as a “product” that needs to be “rebranded,” so I usually stick with East of the River. At the same time, I think the whole class conflict spin on the name issue as presented in the City Paper article is a half-baked over-simplification of the reality.
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