🐉 Why DC needs a ‘real’ Chinatown

What's CITY Talking About?

Pride Parade Skips Dupont

The Capital Pride Parade has a new route. On Saturday, June 8, festivities will head from 14th and T Streets NW to Freedom Plaza, instead of Dupont Circle. Dupont has long been considered the historic “gayborhood” of the city, but a lot has changed since the first Pride in ‘75. Organizers cite Dupont’s smaller streets and larger crowds as reasons for the path change. [Washingtonian]

Building DC’s Chinatown ‘Block’

After years of dwindling cultural resources, residents are advocating for a more robust Chinatown. Development has slowly pushed the Chinese immigrant population and businesses out of Downtown, shrinking Chinatown to a block. The lack of affordable ethnic groceries has even led some residents to rent charter buses to visit an Asian grocer in Falls Church. [City Cast DC 🎧, WAMU]

WAMU Staff Still Looking For Answers

A deep dive into DCist’s abrupt closure shows WAMU’s staff are still uncertain about the direction of the radio station. The report cites staff confusion over WAMU’s ‘incoherent’ new strategy and a suspicious incident where radio veteran Diane Rehm’s mic was cut during a staff meeting when she questioned the layoffs. DCist was shut down in February, putting 12 local journalists out of work. [Washingtonian, City Cast DC 🎧]

Where Is It?

First, what was last week’s photo?

This arched structure is located on the top section of Malcolm X Park. The park was designed and constructed between 1912 and 1940 per the request of aristocrat Mary Foote Henderson.

Originally, Henderson wanted the hill to house the presidential mansion. When that was shot down, she asked for the Lincoln Memorial to be built there. Finally, she settled for a 12-acre park. The upper part of the park was done in a French neoclassical style, while the bottom was meant to resemble Italian Renaissance landscape design.

Locals call it both Malcolm X Park and Meridian Hill Park. Meridian Hill is the original name, but Angela Davis called for the park to be named as a memorial to Malcolm X after a rally in 1969.

Some of your favorite things to do there included picnicking with friends, hanging in the drum circle, free clothing swaps, and “dreaming of when the fountains were on.”

🏆 Congratulations to D B., Kristin L., and Zoe G. for being the first three to guess correctly.

Now, onto this week’s challenge:

What government building is this statue located outside of? Bonus points if you can tell me what the statue symbolizes.

What To Do

Today on City Cast

D.C. Needs a ‘Real’ Chinatown

Here in D.C., Chinatown is more like a “China block.” And the longtime Chinese immigrant community has been advocating for a more robust Chinatown, one that meaningfully reflects their culture. Amanda Michelle Gomez, who reports for WAMU, is here to explain the future of Chinatown and why it is so important to the city.