Gentrification. It’s sadly nothing new to D.C. and the many Black historic neighborhoods that have been infiltrated by legions of colonizers.
Howard University is no exception, a fact made clear by one white man in the most disrespectful way.
“The Yard,” a gathering space for Black students at Howard, has become nothing more than a dog park to many gentrifying neighbors.
But Howard has done far more for the community than ANY gentrifier ever has.
Howard was established in 1867 to provide a safe space for Black people to get the education they deserved during a time when brutal inequality always lurked.
Since then, Howard has fostered the values of social activism within its student body and produced some of America’s most renowned freedom fighters and Black voices in entertainment, including Thurgood Marshall, Toni Morrison, Stokely Carmichael, Zora Neale Hurston, and P. Diddy.
While serving its own D.C. community, Howard students’ spirit of communalism also extends beyond city limits. During Hurricane Katrina and Haiti’s 2010 earthquake, hands of service and hard cash were offered to help such places neglected by those in power.
Howard University has done ALL of these things. What has anyone suddenly claiming this historic space done for the community lately?