C A P I C O S T I A

by Edgar Miraculous Dyer Consider that Star Trek' s beautiful Lieutenant Uhura (played by actress Nichelle Nichols), one of the first African American women with a major role on an American television show, is positively ADORED by sci-fi fans . Furthermore, the television show, which spawned an immeasurably more successful movie franchise, is an American television and film genre institution. What does that have to do with VIDEOs like the one that I just watched, posted by Afro-American YouTuber and wellness enthusiast, Ruth Whitfield? Well...I have noticed that the peculiar tone of pushback, resentment, dismissiveness and hostility to any identifiably Black American rallying or showing care for their ethnic group (not race) is unmatched by what we typically find in responses to videos shared by almost any other group. It is particularly nasty, when the Afro-American content creator is trying to right a wrong or offer help with a problem, specific to other Afro-Americans. I don...

"...WHAT IS SEX THERAPY? Sex therapy, at its core, is a specialized form of psychotherapy aimed at addressing sexual issues and improving sexual health. Think of it as the emotional and psychological component of sexual and reproductive health. Whether it’s concerns about libido, sexual intercourse, or emotional connectivity in intimate relationships, sex therapy offers a safe space for exploration and resolution..." Therapy Group of DC NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR PENIS? NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR GAME OR APPROACH? THIS has nothing to do with THAT. Sexual HEALTH is LIVING HEALTH. Sexuality is how men and women form relationships to make more people, solve social problems, model healthy relationships for others (esp. younger people) and a way, though not the only way, that humans keep each other happy and healthy and keeping our WORLD going. When something, anything, gets in the way of all of that happening, and people aren't or don't know how to get together... We've go...

by Edgar Miraculous Dyer COLORISM (complexionism) is RACISM... And when we - white, tan, olive-skinned, brown-skinned, light-skinned, dark-skinned - act on colorist ideas, we willfully BOW to the status-obsessive pathology that is white supremacist racism. It's a willful, intentional bow - we don't need any help or force or historical victimization to do it. All we need is IGNORANCE and the will to keep it going, with all of us non-whites securely, comfortably at the bottom, ..with no accountability to stop it. Ever. Colorism is very powerful in America, among a broad, diverse array of ethnic groups, because we make it powerful and impactful. Latino people, Asian people, white and European people, black or African people and Arab people. We all do it. We cannot be too Latino, Asian, white, black, Arab , mixed race, light-skinned or rich to recognize racism, when we see it . As I see it, colorism is the idea that one skin color or likeness to a race (looking a little white or Sp...

  by Edgar Miraculous Dyer Ward Seven and the Pennsylvania Avenue East Corridor (region between Capitol Hill and Anacostia) needs an off-ramp, from Interstate 295 South onto East Capitol Street East. Presently, folks travelling on 295 South, heading (or returning) to our Corridor neighborhoods, have TWO wasteful, environmentally destructive options. One: get off 295 and take pothole-ridden East Capitol, over the Anacostia River, a mile around RFK Stadium and  back  over the river, to get to a tiny loop that spits you out, a block from Minnesota Avenue, ..in Fort Dupont. The other: stay on 295 South and ride it [God help you, in rush hour traffic!], all the way, nearly  two, potholey miles,  ..down to Pennsylvania Ave. The resulting air pollution, clutter of traffic, wasted time, commuter stress and wear and tear on East Capitol Street (East and West) and that mile-plus on 295 South ..is utterly ridiculous. It's an environmentally wasteful, mile-plus ha...

By Edgar Miraculous Dyer The  NY PIZZA GRILL of CAPITOL HILL has one of the largest and most diverse menus of any restaurant, full service or takeaway, in all of Washington, ..and y ou are hungry. You are very hungry. You've got to start somewhere...choose something, but this is not a problem  here . Everything on NYPG's menu is very, very GOOD. Take the GRILLED CHICKEN CAESAR WRAP... Basically, a lightly warmed BURRITO, ..it's exceptionally loaded with the best balance of fresh, REAL Halal chicken, lettuce and a magnificently crafted, flavorful Caesar vinaigrette dressing. As it has no equal between the Hill and the Maryland state line, NYPG is your last stop for GREAT FOOD like this, before you hit South I-295 or the Beltway. As wraps and other deli classics are not hot, trendy fare in DC, right now, a good Caesar wrap is hard to find, ..you really must try this. And you must try it here ..at NY PIZZA GRILL of CAPITOL HILL! Come! Call now for quick pickup or delivery! Bu...

  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..."...

  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 Stan...

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...

  "... Jair Lynch  has set his sights on reviving the long-struggling Penn Branch Shopping Center in Southeast D.C., a site some nearby residents view as an important cog in the revitalization of the larger Pennsylvania Avenue retail corridor connecting downtown with the District’s East of the River communities...it could serve as a catalyst for a larger revitalization of the surrounding communities of Penn Branch, Hillcrest and Randle Highlands.... “We’re really trying to bring outside developers to the area to see if they have an interest in redeveloping or enhancing commercial properties in the corridor,” Robinson said. “We see ourselves as a mechanism, or in some cases even starting that conversation. There has to be somebody who takes these issues by the horns and has everybody sitting around the table to solve them.” Robinson, a planner for the town of Forest Heights in Prince George’s County, said an important factor will be getting buy-in from other Ward 7 residents. S...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/wendy-s-at-center-of-dc-s-dave-thomas-circle-to-close-tuesday-mayor/ar-AAOBNuK?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

"... Jair Lynch  has set his sights on reviving the long-struggling Penn Branch Shopping Center in Southeast D.C., a site some nearby residents view as an important cog in the revitalization of the larger Pennsylvania Avenue retail corridor connecting downtown with the District’s East of the River communities...it could serve as a catalyst for a larger revitalization of the surrounding communities of Penn Branch, Hillcrest and Randle Highlands.... “We’re really trying to bring outside developers to the area to see if they have an interest in redeveloping or enhancing commercial properties in the corridor,” Robinson said. “We see ourselves as a mechanism, or in some cases even starting that conversation. There has to be somebody who takes these issues by the horns and has everybody sitting around the table to solve them.” Robinson, a planner for the town of Forest Heights in Prince George’s County, said an important factor will be getting buy-in from other Ward 7 residents. Some ...

There're a lot of empty living rooms in Silver Spring. (Photo from ZedsCafe.com)   I like coffee, and THIS is the BEST COFFEE in the entire WESTERN WORLD! I wrote a review of Zed's Café and One Big Living Room, many years ago, on a now defunct WordPress blog, and I might have described little else, but, the coffee, ..which is phenomenal. So, this time, while there is much to praise about this legend of Silver Spring hospitality, I don't want to diminish that one, indisputable fact. Phenomenal coffee! Go anywhere else, where you are poured a cup of coffee, and the quality of the coffee that you will find at Zed's Café will surpass it, every time and at every hour of the day. How does proprietor, Zed Mekonnen, do it? He has a gold standard. Zed's Café, in Downtown Silver Spring, delivers the promise of what a cafe serves, coffee, and that standard is never compromised. Ever. The quality of the coffee - a cup of Nirvana, every time - and the paninis and ...

For the people...is it, really? [Photo from the the51st.org] by Mel Dyer I have very good reasons, being a resident of Ward 7 and ANC-7B, both in River East, to oppose DC statehood.  I'll try to state them, as plainly as possible, here. Ward 7 simply isn't ready to be a city/county.  Nor is ANC-7B. Neither have the commercial development or subsequent REVENUE to build strong enough economies to successfully sustain a city or county--to support public works, police, EMS, good schools and to attract subsequently necessary growth.  I see people Downtown, some from Wards 7 and 8, raving about DC statehood, and I continue to ask them how it would benefit Seven Bee and the rest of River East--no answer.  So long as we, east of the Anacostia, have no means of creating industry, DC statehood remains something for affluent people in thriving neighborhoods, like Capitol Hill, NoMa or Georgetown, .. west of the River. There must be s...

  Surprised and delighted to find live music and cafe life, just past the D.C. state line and sitting next to an art gallery, in Mount Rainier, Maryland. Seriously. I am not imagining this. When I recently learned that the  Urban Eats Arts and Music Cafe has just celebrated two years in business, at 3311 Rhode Island Avenue (Mount Rainier, MD), ..I was thrilled! As I'm always looking for places like this, away from the bustle of Downtown Washington and Capitol Hill, and rarely finding them, ..clearly, I have been missing out. There's a cafe area, with charming, little tables for two or three, and a couple of larger, roadhouse tables for small meetings, over coffee. There's the prerequisite, cozy, little lounge area - a coffeehouse standard - with cushy sofas and loveseats, ..where a good buddy of mine reads his comics, while locals soak up the FREE WI-FI on their laptops. The lounge area gives you a fro...

Penn Branch may be a little behind the times and short on modern amenities, but we got cars. We can drive, wherever we like. A major coffee retailer, with a name that sounds something like 'War-bucks' , will NOT be coming to Penn Branch or anywhere else in Southeast Washington, D.C. in the Fall of 2011, ..and if you read differently here, and this is a little bit of a letdown for you, I hope you aren't taking the truth too hard. Bummer, huh? It was all a big April Fool's gag , courtesy of yours truly. It might be a bitter pill to swallow, but, eventually, we're going to have to swallow it, my friends. The market research for this area (for reasons I won't get into here) is so terrible and nearly impossible to compile, that we are commercially invisible. Besides groceries, gasoline, liquor and a few other things, no retailer can determine, with any measure of certainty, what we are or aren't buying in Southeast or anywhere else, and, without the ...

Happy Turkey Day, Washington, D.C. (from Tenor.com )   For all of you, who're working so hard to make this holiday something special - in your kitchens, stuck in holiday traffic or sweating it out in the diners and big-box stores - for everything you're putting up with, out there, while the rest of us stuff our faces with turkey and Soul-style macaroni and cheese, thank you. God bless you... And Happy Thanksgiving. Mel of Seven Bee

By Mel Dyer Yes! Penn Branch has an urban legend. That of the Big Bird Witch  or Hawk-woman, who haunts our wild, emerald hills... If you're over 35 and grew up in the Southeast D.C. neighborhood, Penn Branch, in the mid-1960s, ..you've probably seen or heard of this creature, at one time in your life. You probably thought you were imagining things ..or that it was just crazy-talk. You may have even heard that it had a woman's head and white, bulging eyes, ..or that it was a witch. While I don't believe that part, I've seen the creature that might have inspired this urban legend, with my own disbelieving eyes, ..perched menacingly on a rooftop, at Carpenter Street and Highwood Drive! ...One neighbor recently told me that this thing, ..which she described as a witch in black feathers, with a chalk-white face and large, staring eyes, ..glided over a backyard family gathering, back in the mid-70s, and scared the hell out of their guests! An electrician, who no ...

  Seven Bee's Laughing Airman, ..my Uncle Stanley!   In his life, he was a warrior - a veteran of the Viet Nam War - a scholar and an artist, and he was always there for the people he cared about, when they needed them.  In the 1970s and 80s, he worked, side by side, with a Penn Brancher of long-standing - the late Mrs. Barbara Jean Harvey - in D.C.'s Department of Mental Health, bringing economically challenged citizens closer to the psychiatric care and social services that they so desperately needed to live. After living half of his life in Northwest Washington, he eventually settled into a small house in Marshall Heights and frequently visited us - me, his nephew, his niece, his sister (my mother) and our Coyote-hatin' Goldiweiller, Kirby [RIP] - and we will always remember how much laughter and wisdom he brought us, ..right here in the Naylor Duponts.   I think this photo captures the enduring pluck and ambi...