Organizing in the Belly of the Beast

Most people only know the District of Columbia as the area around the National Mall — a view shaped in large part by the national media, which often treats the District as the backdrop to national politics rather than a place where real people live and work. 

But DC is home to over 700,000 residents, a population larger than some states, and it boasts a budget of nearly $17 billion. Thanks to local organizing efforts, DC is also at the forefront of local political change, with a vibrant progressive movement that is making inroads into the political establishment. 

Like many places in America right now, the District is also up against serious challenges. Gentrification has already displaced many long-term Black residents, and housing costs continue to skyrocket. A report released in 2018 showed that white households in the District have a net worth nearly 81 times that of Black households — a gap that is only widening with the economic devastation wrought by COVID-19. The impact of growing racial and economic inequality can be seen and felt in nearly every facet of life. 

In this issue, we talk with some of the District’s most innovative progressive organizers about their fights to defund the police, win more power on the District Council, and make DC the nation’s 51st state. 

• We debriefed the campaign to elect Janeese Lewis George — a socialist calling to defund the police — to the District Council. We also interviewed Lewis George’s campaign manager, Michelle Whittaker, about how she ran a successful field operation during COVID and the beginning of the uprisings. 

• Makia Green, the head of the DC Working Families Party, a leader in DC Black Lives Matter, and a trainer with Momentum, talked with us about the relationships between community, movement, and electoral organizing and what we can learn from each other about successfully escalating and sustaining campaigns.  

• Jeremiah Lowery, the Chair of DC for Democracy, discussed the group’s political education programs, grassroots organizing on local issues, and the fight for statehood.

• Two members of the Metro DC Democratic Socialists of America talked about the group’s electoral campaigning, the challenges of organizing during COVID, and their vision for a more just DC.   

• George Derek Musgrove told us about the history of the DC statehood movement and why winning is more possible now than ever before. 

The District has a long and venerable history of local organizing that offers important lessons for how to push for change at the local level, take on powerful interests, and challenge an entrenched political establishment. Even without voting rights in Congress (yet), local organizing efforts — whether protests outside the White House or long-term campaigns — often spark important national conversations.  We hope these pieces will also spark conversation and offer valuable lessons for organizers seeking to create communities and build the power necessary to deliver change.