C A P I C O S T I A

by Edgar Miraculous Dyer Who  do  we  think  we are? There are perfectly sensible people living along Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Sousa Bridge and the Southern Avenue D.C. State Line - in Naylor Dupont, ANC-7B - who think that they live in as colorful a scattering of socially and politically diverse neighborhoods, as to be found, anywhere else in Washington. They  think  they live in neighborhoods, called  Greenway, Penn Branch, Fairfax Village, Hillcrest  and  Skyland , ..in spite of the fact that so many Washingtonians, west of the Anacostia River, persist in dismissively referring to these neighborhoods, as .. 'Anacostia'. There are people living on exclusive  Westover Drive,  secluded in the emerald majesty of historic Fort Davis Park, where Ohio Representative, Dennis Kusinich, presently resides, who are so removed from the fabled, urban grit of Southeast Washington...they might think they're ...

by Edgar Miraculous Dyer Jamaican American journalist, ANDREW RICKETTS, recently wrote an article, presently featured on MSN.com - HOW MANY DARK WOMEN SHOULD I DATE TO CURE MY COLORISM? I have a BIG problem with the question posed in that title. I will try to be sensitive in addressing my problem with the titular question. I will try to court clarity and eloquence in my exposition on it, ..but bear with me. A wide berth below will be appreciated, where you can intellectually afford it. Thank you in advance. I am an unremarkably orangish-looking (but proud) American man of Afro-American, Mexican and Near Eastern ancestry - light-skinned, but not the lightest - and I have dated more than a few women of almost any color, you can think of. My maternal grandmother was a regal, brown-skinned, Afro-American woman, whose gentle beauty, just yesterday, was compared to a Disney princess's...by me. [Ha'ha.] Her daughter, my mother, was a brass-toned beauty, alternately compared to Halle B...

by Edgar Miraculous Dyer COYOTES are loose in Southeast Washington, D.C. ..and ANC-7B, most specifically! We're surrounded by deep, unspoiled, picturesque woodlands in Fort Davis, Dupont Park, Penn Branch, Randle Highlands, Pope Branch Park, Hillcrest and Westover! That's charming...even comforting to some of us, ..but these areas also offer shelter and food resources - Nature's supermarkets - to our resident wildlife. So let's be careful, out there, coming home or taking out our garbage after dark. No, amigo--that's NOT the neighbor's COLLIE. Where'd Mr. Paul's Collie go? Lassie...? Oh, no. (Original photo from Wikipedia ) Do you know how long I've been telling my Fairfax Village neighbors that we've got coyotes passing through, along our patios, back doors, parking lots and back walkways? They have been sniffing around and foraging from our trash, since at least 2012, ..and spotted as far Southeast as Savannah Terrace, just off of Stanton Roa...

The gentlemen of 'East Washington Heights', had big plans for the land between the Hill and Anacostia. [Photo from PennAveEast.com] If I had a nickel for every time someone in the blogosphere outright dismissed the authenticity of this blog's title, Capicostia, ..or asked me what the hell it pointed to in Washington, D.C. - well, I wouldn't be publishing an obscure blog on a Friday night, let me tell you... Ha. In the 1980s, at Jefferson Junior High School in DC's Southwest Waterfront District, ..if your East-of-the-Anacostia-River home's close proximity to the John Philip Sousa Bridge, the Anacostia River beneath it or Capitol Hill on the other side of that bridge ..confused you enough to think you actually  lived on Capitol Hill...no worries! If you said it out loud in a classroom, after being told that by sympathetic elders, hoping to give your or their egos, a boost,  ..there was always someone happy to correct you - tp talk you down..."Nau-uuw, son. ...

The Poowe Brothers, Hubble and Kirby, patrolling historic Peace Landing in happier times. [Photo, Mel Dyer collection.] by Edgar Miraculous Dyer SNOWSTORM...this one, forecast to be one of the worst our region has ever seen. The following shares some thoughts I recently shared on Facebook: Thinking about it coming here, to Washington, D.C. and the foot and a half of snow, local news says it will dump on us, ..depresses me, greatly. Our cottage in Penn Branch has been a difficult place to be in storms, like this, ..because we are on the backstreet of a side street, off of Pennsylvania Avenue and a good hike from Capitol Hill. DC Government has historically been slow in servicing/clearing our streets, which, in spite of our BEST individual efforts to prepare to be ready for the WORST outcomes, ..leaves us trapped on our hill and cut off from speedy response by emergency services and resources. I cannot watch the local TV news coverage of the storm, anymore. It's simply too much to ke...

CENTS OIL CO is the kind of fuel delivery company that so many older, oil-burning households in Washington, DC's  Capitol Hill and  East-of-the-River neighborhoods (Capitol Hill, Skyland,  Penn Branch-Hillcrest, Marshall Heights,  Anacostia, Congress Heights and more) ..depend on. Penn Branchers, like me, choose Cents, because it's e xceptional. Nothing common about this Cents! Competent, right-on-time SERVICE with SKILLED engineers and smart PRICES ..is the standard. It's also an environmentally responsible company, ..keeping its impact on the  SAFETY of  our water and  air, right here in South and Northeast DC and the rest of our Nation's Capitol, a top priority. Capicostia's got CENTS . Get some Cents, out there!  Call CENTS at (202) 498-2367. Mel Dyer CENTS OIL COMPANY 5600 Sargent Road,  Hyattsville,   MD   20782

I wish that I had better words and means to express my thanks to and consideration of the heroic VETERANS among us. I do not... But will try most earnestly, with what I have. To the men and women, who served our country in uniform...answered a call to sacrifice their civil security to defend our collective and individual FREEDOM, ..put their bodies in harm's way, between their fellow Americans at home and this great nation's very real enemies ..to preserve DEMOCRACY, ..I cannot match in words my GRATITUDE to each and every one of you. To the brave Americans we've lost in these noble enterprises, to the people, struggling with grievous, life-long injuries...seen and unseen, incurred in BATTLE, ..and to their families...our expressed gratitude doesn't seem enough, for what you've sacrificed. Let us serve you, now, in any way we can, as selflessly as you've served all of us. For your unique courage and patriotism, when we seek the finest examples of the American ch...

From W-JLA Channel 7 News "...At a time when D.C.'s office vacancy rate has soared and many businesses have either left or are struggling – especially downtown...D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Acting Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Nina Albert...emphasized that $19.6 million in grants are available...$3 million available in grants to help businesses that want to open or expand in commercial space that has been vacant for at least six months downtown..." A patron saint for Downtown Washington's bloat, gouging, sharky office space developers? (Shark-R Salas/M Bowser-AP/C Brehman/Photomanip-Capicostia) From the Capicostia Desk... 'Bail out' may be a more fitful accounting of Mayor Muriel Bowser's valiant campaign to revitalize a Downtown Washington, underwater with vacant, overpriced office buildings and retail spaces, not accruing valuable revenue for the DC Treasury - more fitful than 'prop up', I think. The loss of revenue, being ...

By Mel Dyer At ease, with our own... Knowing our own and what it took to get us here, to this moment. Having respect for that...that's Sevenbeeism. That's part of it. The last three and a half decades, post Civil Rights Movement, post-desegregation, post-riot, post-urbanism, post-inflation, has been rough on Penn Branch ..and the rest of Seven Bee (ANC-7B), generally speaking. We want commercial development - now, it's here - and always have, ..but, not the kind that attracts people, who don’t respect or appreciate the wholesome, small-towny, slightly Cosbyesque thing we’ve got going here–the Brancher Way. If gang violence, over-crowding, loitering and the pungent fragrance of urine wafting up Carpenter Street is the price of having a cineplex and steakhouse burgers and a proper bar in the neighborhood... No thanks! We also like people! We like music, color and laughter in the air! We like carefree retirees, newlyweds, families and big, goofy dogs! We like to work hard an...

by Mel Dyer You think Liz Cheney and Mitch McConnell are catching hell from the GOP? Ha! If I said that Donald Trump' s greatest trick is presenting himself, as a fake Jack Kemp - his pretense to populism...pretending to espouse the things that distinguished Kemp, as a Republican ..and as a MAN - would the average American even know who 'Jack Kemp' was? Republicans have never shat on one of their own, the way they totally ghosted Secretary Jack Kemp, the so-called 'Bleeding Heart Conservative', who championed labor and small business, more often than was acceptable by his bloodless, soul-killing party bosses. Conservatives should be working to empower and encourage the maximum participation of their fellow Americans, in free enterprise...in capitalism. To hell, with that rugged individualism garbage! People need this encouragement from their leaders - that's the job - and Sec. Jack Kemp knew the importance of that... Saw the patriotism in it. See him, now. Here...

by Mel Dyer Has anyone asked women, why they aren't voting for women presidential candidates? Who they want to vote for? Why more women didn't vote for Elizabeth Warren, in the Democratic primaries? Considering that women still outnumber men, by roughly SEVEN percent, in the US population, must we ask how women party nominees and presidential candidates keep losing? Where were the women for Warren? Why aren't we asking women what kind of presidential candidates they want to vote for? When women want to elect a woman for president, I think women will let us know. Furthermore, there won't be a blamed thing anybody can do to stop them. For the interim, all of the speculation, as to why Senator Elizabeth Warren is not on her way to becoming the Democratic Party nominee ..is a little too late. Read... Click here and read MORE.  

by Mel Dyer For Gen-Xers, like myself, there is more to backing Vice President Joe Biden for President, than Obama Era nostalgia. College-age supporters of Bernie Sanders don't understand why so many of us are putting our bets on the Gentleman from Delaware. We remember the good, ole days, ..when watching the Old Joe Biden work his magic, in the Senate and on the campaign trail... Looked something like this.

"Alone, before a pack of wild, hungry dogs...", take their measure, stand your ground ..and, if you are House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, rip up a State of the Union speech.  

by Mel Dyer "...With Nigerians being the most educated immigrants in the US , there’s been a swelling of talent in business and professional circles, including some of the world’s biggest companies . It follows a long history of the US as a popular destination for Nigerians seeking tertiary education (economic spending of Nigerian students in the US last year reached $514 million ) with the aim of getting employed in the US and, possibly, resettling there after obtaining green cards. “That path no longer exists but, for me, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing,” says Aboyeji. One possibility could see an increase in returnees to Nigeria and possibly working remotely for US employers but there’s a more intriguing prospect for Nigeria’s tech ecosystem. “Some of these people can also decide to come and work for high growth African companies,” Aboyeji says. “That could be critical for the ecosystem going forward..." The Donald Trump Administration's speculatively ...

by Mel Dyer A few months ago, a cute vlogger couple went apartment shopping, near Washington. What does this have to do with life, between the Hill and Anacostia? Not a bloody thing. Stories about cute, optimistic couples happen, somewhere else...everywhere, but, here. Nobody wants to come here. Nothing worth sharing with the world happening, over here... Most of the time. Get used to that. Then, look at this video. [You can always send me some current news and prove me wrong, Capicostia.]

by Mel Dyer There is a good reason, why I do not feel DC's Wards Seven and Eight are not ready for statehood. Our River East wards do not presently have sufficient industry and commercial investment to generate enough revenue to adequately support police, EMS, sanitation, public schools and other services, ..on a municipal level.  We are not as ready to be towns or municipalities, as some of the other parts of town, ..like Capitol Hill and Georgetown. Presently, our Capicostia (ANC-7B) neighborhoods are poised to become the prospective 51st State's poorest, most abject districts. How will that go for us, when the folks, downtown, decide we should start shouldering more of our own economic burdens? So, when I read about these so-called 'opportunity zones', I am somewhat hopeful...encouraged. Some would argue any development is good development, for Seven and Eight. The question for us  River Easters, however, is...oppor...

by Mel Dyer I am not a fan of proposed D.C. statehood, as I do not presently think Wards Seven and Eight are poised to benefit from it, ..but imagine the possibilities for a new River East! Ever wonder what would happen to our River East neighborhoods, if Washington, D.C. became a state...was it Douglass Commonwealth (DC)? Will our eight wards become eight, new  counties?  Will the Advisory Neighborhood Councils, within those eight wards, become distinct and exciting, new  towns? Let's start, right here, ..with Seven Bee.  Presently, we're a cluster of obscure neighborhoods, between historic Anacostia and Capitol Hill, with no unifying culture, civic relevance ..or identity. Imagine us, suddenly, our own municipality, ..just like Washington, DC. What would we call ourselves? 1.  Davistown, DC - taken from historic Fort Davis 2. Hillcrest  City , DC  - named for historic first neighborhood of ANC-7B 3....

by Mel Dyer Time-travel! Of all the great super-powers I can dream of waking up with, THAT is the one that I would find most useful, ..for awhile. If only I could turn back time... If I could turn back time, every time I was about to eat something sweet, buttery, fried or fatty, ..I would just pop myself back there and knock it out of my pudgy, little hands! If only I could go back in time ..and avert the cosmic disaster of my ever becoming  fat. Seriously, ..no slice of cheesecake (my favorite), pile of Doritos, cup of coffee (my second religion), steak, ribs, Mama's spaghetti, Daddy's Dungeness crabs, a pizza, an enchilada, soul food (ALL of it) - none of it is worth the crapload of misery that comes from touching these things. I would send every morsel back to the kitchens. If you're feeding your kids this stuff, before they even know what a good life, in a fit, attractive body, has to offer them, may God have mercy on your souls... Especially, if you're f...

by Mel Dyer Just finished browsing  DCLofts.com  and found one--ONE--converted loft property in Southeast, on Capitol Hill (of course) called the  Bryan School Lofts , ..which are all  sold out .  The Bryan School  was done by award-winning  Abdo Builders , and probably cost a vital organ AND a limb to own. Frankly, they are a little too polished for my tastes--scrubbed of all the rugged, Industrial Era charm that ought to be evident in converting an old school, garage, trolley car barn or factory into functional living space. These Abdo lofts look like the  Sex In The City  ladies hang out there. They're sissy lofts, and I hate'm. Lofts used to be the large, unattractive, slate gray ruins of an obsolete industrial era that no style-conscious yuppy would be caught dead in. In the 1950's, lofts were places, where a  large , lower income, working class or struggling immigrant family could stake a claim in the steamy, jazz-scored urban e...

It's really small, not very informative ..and boring. Like Naylor Dupont ...sometimes. Have a look.