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Educating Congress and Getting Co-Sponsors for H.R. 265
If you would like to help educate Congress about the need for D.C. statehood, please email us at
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. We are contacting members about co-sponsoring H.R. 265, the New Columbia Admission Act, that D.C.'s Delegate, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, introduced last January. So far there are sixteen co-sponsors: Representatives Sam Farr (D-CA), Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-IL), Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO), Dennis J. Kucinch (D-OH), Edolphus Towns (D-NY), John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), John Lewis (D-GA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR). A number of other Congress people have expressed interest in co-sponsoring the bill. If you would like to help in this effort, email us at
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 Statehood Activists March in the 2012 Martin Luther King Jr. Parade!
Statehood advocates lead by the ACLU-NCA and the D.C. Host Committee for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Dedication marched in Ward 8's January 16, 2012 Martin Luther King Jr. Parade along Martin Luther King Avenue in the District of Columbia. D.C.'s Statehood Senators Michael D. Brown and Paul Strass, D.C. Statehood - Yes We Can!, the National Latino Alliance for D.C. Statehood and Stand Up! for Democracy in D.C. Coaliton also participated.
D.C. Statehood - Yes We Can!
D.C. Statehood - Yes We Can! participates in the rollout of the D.C. Government's new statehood campaign on November 8, 2011. New statehood bus ads were unveiled, as well as a campaign to reach out to state legisltures around the country.
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Sylvie Bello demonstrates for D.C. statehood at Occupy DC October 2011 at Freedom Plaza
Please support those arrested for standing up for D.C. Citizens' rights!
Also, please support D.C. residents who have been arrested for engaging in civil disobedience to protest D.C.'s lack of democracy and statehood. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Keith Silver (SMD 6C06) was arrested on April 18, 2011 and charged with "unlawful assembly --disorderly conduct." Commissioner Silver's trial was to begin July 13, 2011, but was postponed until it could be determined if Mayor Vincent Gray can be subpoenaed to testify as an eyewitness. Judge Frederick Sullivan acquited Mr. Silver on November 2, 2011. Mr. Silver is the first of the 72 people arrested this spring to go to trial. (See separate article on the trial.)
Eight other activists, who elected to go to trial instead of waiving their right to appear in court, were to go to trial on September 19, 2011, to answer the charges of “Unlawful Assembly -- Disorderly Conduct” and “Failure to Obey a Lawful Order,” but because the District Government's last minute production of video and photographs of the protests, the trial was postponed to November 15. Two of the activists have been arrested twice. Lawyers Mark Goldstone, Ann Wilcox, and Paul Strauss, one of D.C.'s statehood Senators,represented the statehood activists. At their November 15, 2011 trial before Associate Judge Robert E. Morin, all eight said they were exercising their first amendment rights. D.C.'s Delegate, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, testified eloquently for them. One defendant, Anise Jenkins, was acquitted. The other seven, including D.C. Sen. Michael D. Brown, were convicted and fined. They have 30 days to file an appeal. One way or another they will all continue to protest D.C.'s lack of statehood and the the right to self-goernment enjoyed by all other Americans.
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