By Una Yarsky The Southwest Neighborhood Assembly (SWNA) Education and Scholarship Task Force (ESTF) has reached its 51st year of providing scholarships to Southwest residents pursuing higher education. SWNA has provided 531 scholarships to 230 Southwest residents and students attending Richard Wright Public Charter School of Journalism and Media Arts. […]
Serve Your City/Ward 6 Mutual Aid Pivots to New Support Model
By Katrina Avila At the end of summer, Serve Your City/Ward 6 Mutual Aid (SYC/W6MA) is closing our Southwest Pod at Christ United Methodist Church (CUMC). In the spirit of solidarity, we will continue to provide CUMC with supplies such as diapers and feminine hygiene products, and support CUMC’s 5000 […]
Jamal Jones Continues Fight Against Breast Cancer with Son in Tow
By Southwester Staff When communities come together to fight breast cancer, great things happen. That’s the case with the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund, (TDJBCF) a grassroots nonprofit founded in Southwest DC, which have worked together for over a decade. The ACS Making […]
Southwest Black History Historian Appointed to DC Commission on Aging
by Jackie L. Williams, Ph.D. Southwest Washington is home to notable African Americans who have made significant contributions in human and civil rights, social justice, law, education, music, and health care such as Joe Madison “The Black Eagle,” Dr. Dorothy Height, Justice Thurgood Marshall, Rev. James Dent, Dick Gregory, and […]
A Year on the Job: Commander Colin Hall of First District MPD
By Southwester Staff Twenty-five years ago, Colin Hall began his first assignment with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in the First District, which includes Southwest. Last year, he returned to the First District, taking on the role of Commander in July 2023. As Commander Hall marks his one-year anniversary in the […]
National Men’s Health Awareness Month and Juneteenth Celebration
By Brian C. Byrd Juneteenth is a day of celebration for the African American community, as it marks the daywhen slaves in Texas discovered they were officially free. Just as this day has become a nationalholiday, organizations such as the Thelma D. Jones Breast Cancer Fund (TDJBCF) haveworked tirelessly to ensure that people of color also have freedom in their health. “Our vision isto […]
Public Safety Forum in SW DC — It Takes a Village
Courtesy of Perry Klein On June 24, 2024, the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly hosted a forum at Arena Stage entitled “Public Safety Forum in SW DC – It Takes a Village.” The participants highlighted the strong coordination between the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and community organizations, but agreed that more can […]