The Anacostia Coordinating Council’s Annual Boat Ride is always a source of food, fun, and political gossip. However, because of what is going on in Ward 8 communities, a nervous sense of urgency is pervasive and there is a great deal of discussion about helping the ward’s youth.
“We have children dying on the streets of D.C.,” Kenneth McClenton, the father of slain journalist Charnice Milton, said to the 200 people on Oct. 1 boat ride. Milton was killed on May 27, 2015 on the intersection of Good Hope Road and Naylor Streets., S.E. as she was getting off of a bus. Milton’s slaying remains unsolved.
Arrington Dixon is the chairman of the Anacostia Coordinating Council. (Photo/ncpc.gov)
McClenton, on the boat as a guest of Anacostia Coordinating Council (ACC) chairman Arrington Dixon, bemoaned the fact that his daughter’s killer hasn’t been caught. “We need to do something to solve these unsolved murders that are going on,” McClenton said. “We want to make sure that their memory will not be in vain.”
The ACC was founded in 1983 as a volunteer consortium of organizations located primarily in Ward 8. Its primary purpose was to revitalize Anacostia, and to get a Metro station located there, which was accomplished on Dec. 28, 1991. Since then, the ACC has focused on addressing Ward 8 concerns through organizing community meetings, serving as advocates for the ward, and acting as a networking venue.
The boat ride on the Potomac River is the organization’s main fundraising event for the past 24 years. It is attended by the District’s leading political figures and this year was no exception with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) and D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) making an appearance.
McClenton’s call for solving murders is on ACC’s radar, with its executive director Philip Pannell the subject of a July 31 Washington Post article on unsolved homicides, echoing Martin’s plea.
Bowser is well-aware of the unsolved murders and the other problems Ward 8 youth face. She encouraged those on the boat to keep advocating for what they believe.
“We want to thank the residents of Ward 8 for always challenging us,” Bowser told the boat riders. “We are committed to bringing more sit-down restaurants to Ward 8 as well as an alley cleanup, and offered summer job opportunities for young people. We want to offer fair shot opportunities for everyone.”
Bowser introduced members of her administration and pointed out the Ward 8 MOCRS (Mayor’s Office of Community Relations Staff), Keisha Mims and Devon Lesesne, and said they are available to help. “Put us to work,” she said. “Let us know what needs to be done and we will do it.”
In addition to Mendelson, D.C. Council member Robert White (D-At Large) and their likely colleague, Ward 8 D.C. Council hopeful Trayon White (D), were there. Robert White told the AFRO “I have always been committed to Ward 8. I will be working with its new council member and leaders in the ward for more resources to improve its educational system and spur economic development. We want to bring new businesses in and have affordable housing at market rate. I am thinking about supporting programs for young people such as internships and in-school programs during the winter months, and have programs such as young people shoveling snow for seniors.”
Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Jacque Patterson has direct involvement with the ward’s young people. “I have helped to build a great school in the ward,” Patterson told the AFRO. “The school is Rocketship Charter School where elementary school students attend. We have up to 400 students in the school located in the Woodland Terrace neighborhood and it specializes in personalized learning.”
Ron Moten, an anti-gang violence activist has sponsored programs to help young people in the ward for years. Recently, with the support of the Jack Kemp Foundation, Moten bought U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) over to Ward 8 to meet young people and bought ward youngsters to Capitol Hill to participate in a program that featured Scott and Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). “We wanted to give the kids exposure to Sen. Scott,” Moten told the AFRO. “We wanted to show them something different than what they see every day.”
Moten said there is another Ward 8 appearance of Scott and Booker in the works.
