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The residents of what is now the District of Columbia lost their full democratic rights to self-government and a government of, by and for the people over 200 years ago. Ever since then, they have been demanding that Congress restore the full rights of American citizenship to residents of our national capital. Below is an updated timeline of the District of Columbia's efforts to restore self-government.
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March for Statehood in the Palisades July 4th Parade!
Line up begins at 10:15 a.m. on Whitehaven Parkway NW, Washington, D.C. The parade starts at 11:00 a.m. No registration is necessary. Just look for the statehood signs! Please email us at dcstatehoodyeswecan.org to let us know you want to join us!
Help Stand Up! for Democracy in DC Work for Statehood at the 2013 Folklife Festival
You can help win DC Statehood! Please volunteer for the Stand Up! for Democracy in DC (Free DC!) DC Statehood Survey Campaign. You will ask visitors to the National Mall during the Summer 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival about their views on Statehood for the District of Columbia. Through one of our simple training sessions you will have an opportunity to learn how to dispel popular myths which stand in the way of full citizenship for DC residents.
The DC Statehood Survey Campaign starts June 26 - June 30 and July 3 - July 7th, 2013. Register so that you can volunteer during that time. You may select 11 a.m.-2 p.m. or 2-6 p.m., or all day. You may select any of the dates and times of the two sessions. So please volunteer NOW by calling (202) 232-2500 or send an email to StandUp_FreeDC@yahoo.com. When you call or email, give us your name, phone number, email, address, dates and times you can volunteer. You may also volunteer for the full campaign. We will contact you and confirm your volunteer registration.
The first training session will be held Wednesday, June 12, 2013 at 6:00 pm at the Watha Daniel Public Library at 7th and Rhode Island Avenue, NW, Washington, DC -- (Shaw/Howard U. subway), 70s, G8 buses).* The training session will be conducted by native Washingtonian and education consultant, Muriel Martin, two-time Fulbright Scholar (teacher in Africa and Europe) and long-time DC Statehood advocate.
This is a wonderful opportunity to have fun while organizing for freedom and democracy!
This project is funded by a grant from the government of the District of Columbia and organized by Stand Up! for Democracy in DC (Free DC) - a nonprofit 501c3 grassroots organization.
Testify on July 11, 2013 for Funding for D.C.'s Statehood Delegation
The D.C. Council's Committee of the Whole will hold a hearing on BIll 20-0171, the D.C. Statehood Advocacy Act, at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 11, 2013, in room 412 of the Wilson Building (14th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.). The Act was introduced by Council Members Vincent Orange, Jim Graham, Marion Barry, Anita Bonds, and Yvette Alexander and cosponsored by Council Member Kenyan McDuffie. It wouild authorize a total of $1,105,000 for compensation for the Statehood Senators and Representative ($35,000 each member), their staff ($75,000 total each member), programming, including a website and annual symposium on statehood ($75,000 total each member), retaining a media firm ($400,000) and a Congressional Affairs firm to lobby Congress ($150,000).
We need to have a lot of statehood supports come testify in favor of finally funding our statehood delegation. Unlike other jurisdicitions that have elected a statehood or "shadow" delegation to head their statehood effort, D.C. has never funded our delegation, except for authorizing D.C. taxpayers to donate to the statehood fund. In fact, until 2008, Congress prohibited the District government from funding efforts to get statehood or voting rights.
If you would like to testify, call the Committee at 202-724-8196 or email Renee Johnson, Legislative assistant, at
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by close of business on July 9, 2013. The record will be open for written statements until 5 p.m. on July 25, 2013.
Educate Congress and Get Co-Sponsors for the New Columbia Admission Act
D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced a new statehood bill on January 15, 2013. The New Columbia Admission Act, H.R. 292, had 15 co-sponsors when it was introduced: Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Madeline Bordallo (D-Guam), Donna Christensen (D-Virgini Islands), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Steve Cohen (D-TN), John Conyers (D-MI), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Eni Falemavaega (D-American Samoa), Sam Farr (D-CA), Michael Honda (D-CA), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Grace Napolitano (D-CA), Jared Polis (D-CO), Charles Rangel (D-NY), and Bobby Rush (D-IL). It now has 50 co-sponsors, including: Representatives Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR), Judy Chu (D-CA), Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Theodroe E. Deutch (D-FL), Andre Carson (D-IN), John Lewis (D-GA), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY), Louise McIntosh Slaughter (D-NY), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Henry C. (Hank) Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL), Sander M. Levin (D-MI), G. K. Butterfield (D-NC), Corrine Brown (D-FL), Donna F. Edwards (D-MD), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ed Pastor (D-AZ), Karen Bass (D-CA), Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D-GA), Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), James E. Clyburn (D-SC), Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH), Hakeem S. Jeffries (D-NY), Robin L. Kelly (D-IL), Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA), Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), and Frederica S. Wilson (D-FL).
In her introductory statement, Congresswoman Norton said: "To be content with less than statehood is to concede the equality of citizenship that is the birthright of our residents as citizens of the United States. It is too late for the residents of the District of Columbia to make such a concession as we approach the 212th year in our fight for equal treatment in our country. This bill is the first I file in the 113th Congress, and it reaffirms our determination to obtain each and every right enjoyed by citizens of the United States by becoming the 51st State of the Union."
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On January 25, 2013, Senator Thomas Carper, Chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that has jurisdiction over the District of Columbia, introduced S. 132, the New Columbia Admission Act, a companion bill to H.R. 292, introduced by D.C. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton on January 15, 2013. S. 132 was originally co-sponsored by three senior Democratic senators, Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA). It now has 8 co-sponsors, including Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Barbara A. Mukulski (D-MD), Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) and Bernard Sanders (I-VT) have agreed to co-sponsor the bill.
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Please write or call these Members of Congress and thank them for supporting the New Columbia Admission Act!
Listen to "Shadow Politics" with D.C. Sen. Michael Brown Sunday 7 p.m.
D.C. Senator Michael D. Brown with special Co-Host Kathleen Gomez has a weekly internet radio talk show on BBSRadio.com (station #2) on Sundays from 7 to 8 p.m. EDT. The call-in numbers are: 888-429-5471 (toll free US/Canada); 530-413-9537 (line 1); 530-763-1594 (line 2); 530-763-1594(line 3); 530-763-0341 (line 4); SKYPE: BBSRadio2.
Vice President Biden endorses D.C. Statehood!
At a May 1, 2013 benefit for the D.C. Volunteer Lawyers Project at which his daughter-in-law Kathleen Biden, wife of his son Hunter Biden, is Vice President, Vice President Joe Biden spoke about violence against women and then said "By the way, there should be two senators from the state of D.C." See http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/biden-there-should-be-two-senators-state-dc_720472.html. Let's hope we really means it and will educate President Obama on the need for D.C. statehood as he did on LGBT rights.
On January 2, 2011, in his inaugural address, new D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray spoke out clearly and eloquently for D.C. statehood. He notes that "Washington is the greatest symbol of our nation's democracy. Yet, we as Washingtonians continue to be the only people in our nation that remain shut out of that democracy. ... That is why we cannot rest until we achieve true self-determination and become our nation's 51st state." He concluded his speech saying 'President Abraham Lincoln once said "allow all the governed an equal voice in the government and that, and only that, is self-government.' My friends, it is then, and only then, that we can proclaim this nation's promise of justice for all finally has arrived in the District of Columbia."
As Mayor Gray has continued to reiterate the importance of statehood. At his February 23, 2011 press conference, he said about the possible shutdown of the District Government because the Congress has failed to do its job of passing a budget for FY 2011 which began October 1, 2010: "The District of Columbia government is treated like another agency of the federal government, which is entirely inappropriate," he said. "There's no way that Cleveland or Detroit or Los Angeles or Boston or anywhere else in this nation is having to have this kind of discussion today." On February 24,2011, he told the Ward 3 Democratic Committee that only statehood can free D.C. from having its operations halted because Congress has not done its job.
On March 30, 2011, on the 50th anniversary of the 23rd amendment to the Constitution which gave D.C. residents the right to vote for President for the first time since 1800, Mayor Gray noted that “No other US jurisdiction is barred from spending its own taxpayer-raised funds as it sees fit. However, the House has passed a continuing resolution that includes harmful anti-home-rule amendments that ban the District from using local funds on needle-exchange programs to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and for abortions for needy women. The school voucher programs also would be re-established against the will of the city -- a move that is unnecessary, as our traditional public schools are improving and charter schools are providing citywide choice. We hope the Senate will counter these regressive and draconian measures and allow the city to govern itself."
On April 11, 2011, Mayor Gray led D.C. statehood and voting rights activists, including half the D.C. Council, in civil disobedience at the U.S. Capitol. Forty-one demonstrators were arrested, including the Mayor and Council Members. They are now known as the "D.C. 41".
At the first legislative session of the new Council on January 4, 2011, Council Member Harry Thomas Jr. introduced a resolution endorsing D.C. statehood and urging our Delegate in the U.S. House of Representatives, Eleanor Holmes Norton, to introduce a D.C. statehood bill in Congress. Council Member Marion Barry said the whole city must band together and make statehood our highest priority and sit-in in the Congress if necessary. Council Chairman Kwame Brown referred the resolution, which all Council Members co-introduced, to the Housing and Workforce Committee. [Go to http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/granicusvideolegislativemeetings and click on video for Jan. 4 and go to about 40 minutes in, you will find about 5 minutes on statehood beginning with Council Member Thomas introducing the resolution.]
On February 9, 2011, the Committee unanimously approved the resolution. On February 15, 2011, the Committee of the Whole unanimously approved the resolution and on March 1, 2011, the full Council approved the resolution.
D.C.'s Delegate, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, introduced a statehood bill, H.R. 262, in January 2011 and reintroduced it in the new Congress on January 12, 2013. It is H.R. 292, the New Columbia Admission Act. Senator Thomas Carper (D-DE) introduced the companion Senate bill, S. 132, on January 15, 2013. For the first time since 1993, there is a D.C. statehood bill in both houses of Congress. If you would like to help in getting co-sponsors for the House and Senate bill, please send an email to
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D.C. Residents demonstrate and are arrested for standing up for our rights!
D.C. residents have been arrested for engaging in civil disobedience to protest D.C.'s lack of democracy and statehood. On April 11, 41 D.C. residents (dubbed the "D.C. 41 for 51"), including Mayor Vincent Gray and six members of the D.C. Council, were arrested for sitting down in the street outside the Hart Senate Office Building in an act of civil disobedience to protest Congressional riders on the District budget bill would prohibit the District from using its own funding to pay for abortions and require the District to invest in a school voucher program it does not want. On April 15, April 18 and May 4, 14 more D.C. residents, including D.C. Senator Michael D. Brown and Council Member Mary Cheh, were arrested in similar demonstrations. The first of the 72 people arrested in 2011 went to trial was Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Keith Silver (SMD 6C06) who was arrested on April 18 and charged with "unlawful assembly --disorderly conduct." He was acquited in November 2011. (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. On April 18, 2012, six student members of the DC Statehood Student Association were arrested for a sit-down demonstration at the Capitol. See separate article "D.C. Students Stand Up for Statehood."
For current statehood activities, search this website.
District residents and supporters of D.C. statehood need to continue the momentum. Besides participating in this month's events as listed above, below are ways you can help get Congress to admit the State of New Columbia as the 51st state:
1. Please call the White House comment line (202-456-1111 M-F 9-5) early and often and ask the President to support DC statehood and add it to his legislative agenda. In addition, you can fax a letter to him at 202-456-2461. Please ask your friends and neighbors to do the same. This is something on which the number of commenters really counts. Please call often. It is outrageous that the District Government is constantly under the threat of being shut down because the Congress fails to pass a budget on time. Only statehood can free D.C. from having its operations halted because Congress has not done its job and make the people of D.C. full and free Americans.
2. If you have family and friends around the country ask them to call their Senators and Representative to support D.C. statehood and co-sponsor H.R. 292 or S. 132. It you would like to help in the effort to get Congressional co-sponsors, email us at:
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3. Please get any organization to which you belong -- citizen and civic associations, political committees, labor unions, clubs, veterans groups and any other activist group -- to endorse D.C. statehood and to send a letter to that effect to the President and Congress. Many of these groups are part of national organizations. We need to get the local chapters endorsing statehood and then get them to put statehood on the agenda of their national parent organization. We have already done this with the National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) and thte Episcopal Church of the United States. The D.C. Federation of NARFE endorsed D.C. statehood in March 2009 (and again at its convention April 9, 2011) and the NARFE national convention endorsed it in August 2010. The Episcopal Diocese of Washington endorsed D.C. statehood at its Januray 2012 and 2013 conventions and in July 2012 the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church approved a watered down resolution endorsing statehood and other interim measures.
4. We also need contributions to help fund our struggle for statehood. You can contribute by sending a check payable to D.C. Statehood -Yes We Can!, to Wallace Dickson, Treasurer, D.C. Statehood - Yes We Can!, 1707 Columbia Road, N.W., suite 314, Washington, D.C. 20009.
Please help us in any or all of these ways. With your help, the 640,000 plus residents of the District of Columbia can regain the right to self-government that Congress took away from us over two centuries ago! D.C. Statehood now!
D.C. Statehood - Yes We Can!
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No where else, but in our nation's capital, do Americans lose their democratic rights merely because of their choice of residence. No where else do American citizens have all the responsibilities of citizenship, but few of the rights.
District citizens pay full federal taxes and serve in the military and die for our country but have no say in whether we go to war, what those taxes are, who serves on our federal courts or in the President's cabinet, or whether the United States should enter into various treaties and international obligations. We can't even spend our own local tax money freely. Congress is implicitly our "state legislature" and does whatever it wants here, even things it would not dare to impose on their constituents back in their home states.
To find out how you can help, please read more.
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The following D.C. businesses support D.C. statehood: Fleet Feet, Eddie Cafe, the Cleveland Park Valet, Grand Central, Nam-Viet Restaurant and Dino. Please give them your business and thank them for supporting full democracy for the people of the District of Columbia.
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Washington Post reporter David Nakamura covered D.C.'s 2009 Emancipation Day and D.C. rapper Rasi Caprice's rap "Free D.C." It should be the D.C. statehood anthem. To listen, read more.
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