Serving Our Community in the DMV
Vol 61 No 20
February 26 - March 4, 2026
With Approval of Federal Disaster Assistance, Potomac Interceptor Restoration on the Horizon
Afeni Evans: A Full-Fledged Abolitionist Tells Her Story
By Sam Plo Kwia Collins, Jr. WI Senior Local Politics & Education Writer
While District-based organizer Afeni Evans counts Octavia Butler, Malcolm X, and Kwame Ture among her greatest inspirations, she also has lived experiences that fuel her abhorrence for the U.S. military industrial complex. Nearly a decade after getting booted from Fort Meade in Maryland, Evans, as is the case for other D.C. residents, often sees members of the National Guard who, unlike her, completed a process that obligates them to serve the United States government at any time and anywhere. “I feel for that experience…of being severely underpaid and doing things because you’re being brainwashed and indoctrinated into the values of the Army….and you’re also under threat of incarceration if you don't follow whatever they see as lawful orders,” Evans told The In-
Capture the Moment Page 30
Local, Federal and Nonprofit Partners Tackle Sewage Spill Aftermath
By Mya Trujillo and Sam Plo Kwia Collins, Jr. WI Contributing Writer and WI Senior Local Politics & Education Writer
5 Activist Afeni Evans rides atop the Harriet’s Wildest Dreams float during the 2026 MLK
EVANS Page 9 Holiday DC Parade on Jan. 19. (Ja’Mon Jackson/The Washington Informer)
PI RESTORATION Page 16
The U Street Corridor: Past Glory, Present-Day Questions
The Preservation of Barry Farm: More Than Just the Buildings
By Sam Plo Kwia Collins, Jr. WI Senior Local Politics & Education Writer
Washingtonians Talk Redevelopment, Resurgence and Resilience of Anacostia By Jada Ingleton WI Content Editor With a projected 2030 completion, the redevelopment of the historic Barry Farm neighborhood is steadily progressing alongside concerns of what it means to preserve a community once among D.C.’s most prosperous. Amid a multiphase expansion promising more 5 D.C. native Patricia Thomas reflects on than 1,000 new units, Northeast, D.C., native Pa- the changes in the city where she grew up, tricia Thomas was among those sounding off on a after a screening of the documentary “Barry
BARRY FARM Page 26
More than a month after the collapse of the Potomac Interceptor (PI), local and federal agencies are collaborating on repair and mitigation efforts, all aimed at ensuring that the PI is fully operational and overflow cleaned up by the middle of March. This development comes not long after the Trump administration approved D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request for federal disaster assistance. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with other federal agencies, are
Farm: A Conversation Across Generations.” (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
As Black History Month winds down, third-generation Washingtonian Gregory Adams thinks about what’s become of the Northwest community he’s lived in for more than 40 years. Though the U Street corridor, where Adams purchased a home with his late wife in 1984, still has remnants of what once made it “Black Broadway,” he is growing more disillusioned about the business closures and demographic changes that have taken place since the turn of the century. “People who lived along the U Street corridor… in some of the houses, I've
U STREET Page 11
5 A 60th celebration for Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street NW, one of the three remaining Black-owned businesses on the corridor. (WI File Photo/Ja’Mon Jackson)
Celebrating 61 years. Your credible and trusted source for Black news andFEBRUARY information. 26 - MARCH 4, 2026 1
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