{"id":10661,"date":"2023-12-21T19:38:16","date_gmt":"2023-12-21T19:38:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=10661"},"modified":"2023-12-21T19:38:16","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T19:38:16","slug":"d-c-renames-anacostia-street-after-mayor-for-life-marion-barry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2023\/12\/21\/d-c-renames-anacostia-street-after-mayor-for-life-marion-barry\/","title":{"rendered":"D.C. Renames Anacostia Street After \u2018Mayor for Life\u2019 Marion Barry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Screen with the event program overlooks the day\u2019s festivities\/Photo by Nya O\u2019Neal \/ HUNewsService.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Afia Barrie and Nya O\u2019Neal<\/strong><\/em>
\nHoward University News Service<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hundreds gathered in D.C.\u2019s Ward 8 at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Anacostia on Saturday to see the reveal of a new street sign: Marion Barry Avenue.<\/p>\n

Set to the backdrop of Go-go music from Experience Unlimited, fronted by Gregory \u2018Sugar Bear\u2019 Elliot, the street-naming ceremony was filled with families roaming the event. Vendors, food trucks and booths with free snacks and activities for youth set up by the Department of Parks and Recreation lined the streets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWard 8, unofficially known as the Great Ward 8, is east of the river, the heart of the city,\u201d said Thennie Freeman, acting director of the parks department. \u201cIt is the home of former Mayor Marion Barry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of talent and rich history located in Anacostia. \u2026 So, anytime that the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation has an opportunity to have an activation at Ward 8, we\u2019re extremely excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barry, affectionately nicknamed \u201cour forever mayor\u201d by local residents, was the mayor of D.C. for four terms. In the middle of his third term in 1990, Barry was arrested in a sting operation by the FBI and the Metropolitan Police Department for crack cocaine use and possession. He served six months in federal prison. In 1995, after his release from prison, Barry ran for mayor and won. He then served as a Ward 8 councilman from 2000 until his death in 2014.<\/p>\n

His various programs, like the Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program and his commitment to serving Ward 8, has left a lasting impact on Washingtonians. The phrase \u201cMarion Barry gave me my first job\u201d rang throughout the event, with everyone sharing how the late mayor impacted their lives.<\/p>\n

The renaming of the avenue comes as another effort to recognize the Barry\u2019s impact on the city. In 2014, an eight-foot statue of Marion Barry was unveiled<\/a> at the John A. Wilson building. The One Judiciary Square Building was renamed in Barry\u2019s honor<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n

Speakers for the Anacostia event included Barry\u2019s wife, Cora Masters Barry, Mayor Muriel Bowser, Ward 8 Councilman Trayon White and Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that Marion Barry challenges us to do more, to be bigger, to get up when we\u2019ve been knocked down and to show the world who we are as Washingtonians,\u201d Bowser said. \u201cAnd who we are, are people. We take care of ourselves, we take care of each other, we fight back when picked on and we love each other like Marion Barry loved us.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the speeches, audience members and distinguished guests gathered underneath a blue tarp and pulled a string to reveal the new sign.<\/p>\n

Southeast native Tammy Rogers regarded the day with a sense of pride. \u201cHe was one of those guys that I saw fall down and get back up and he let us know that we all can do that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can all rise above any adversities that come in our lives,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cHe did a lot for this city and I\u2019m so, I\u2019m so proud I\u2019m able to be here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Sterling and daughter, Assata, enjoyed the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good family event,\u201d Sterling said. \u201cIt was a positive day. The weather turned out well, and it\u2019s good to see a lot of families, a lot of kids, just a lot of these people in general out and about for a good day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afia Barrie and Nya O\u2019Neal are reporters for HUNewsService.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Afia Barrie and Nya O\u2019Neal Howard University News Service Hundreds gathered in D.C.\u2019s Ward 8 at the intersection of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Anacostia on Saturday to see the reveal of a new street sign: Marion Barry Avenue. Set to the backdrop of Go-go music from Experience Unlimited, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"wf_post_folders":[207],"class_list":["post-10661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10661"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10663,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10661\/revisions\/10663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10661"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=10661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}