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Anacostia​

“Like bringing the galleries and museums to your neighborhood”: Three artists east of Anacostia River promote important messages in D.C.’s oldest neighborhoods

By Cate Burgan and Ayah Mahana

Washington, D.C. became known as the “Chocolate City” because of The District’s large Black population, with it being recognized in 1957 as the first major U.S. city to be primarily made up of Black residents. Nearly 65 years later, Washingtonians in the still-majority Black historical neighborhood of Anacostia are trying to preserve the memory of Chocolate City. 

Portrait of Charletta Alexander

By Ayah Mahana

Charletta Alexander rides a bus 25 minutes to the Giant grocery store in the Douglass neighborhood in southeast Washington, D.C. to find fresh produce. 

By Cate Burgan

From Frederick Douglass’ home Cedar Hill from the late 1800s to The Big Chair sculpture from the 1950s, Anacostia is bursting at the seams with antiquity, heritage and opportunity. 

By Cate Burgan

D.C. Public School (DCPS) teachers in Anacostia started 2022 off with protests, walkouts and demands over their unsafe working environments –– and they said they’re not stopping until they see change.