2020 at 730

Publishing in a Plague Year

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We published original reporting, interviews, essays and service journalism

• finding real connection on a virtual dating show
• asking the creators behind the DC Artists East auction about their work and inspiration
• charting the best routes for a solo half marathon through DC
• reflecting on the Arlington-DC divide during lockdown
• cataloguing the season flora of DC, in winter and spring, with special guides to cherry blossoms and local birding too
• interviewing punk rockers Born Dad ahead of the release of their new single and reviewing The North Country’s psychedelic new record
• offering real and tongue-in-cheek suggestions for working from home

We published op-eds offering critical perspectives on current events

• advancing police abolition during this summer’s uprising
• penning a melancholy ode to DC nightlife’s forgotten working class
• outlining a cheaper, greener alternative to Pepco — people power
• arguing for affordable housing through an update to outdated rent control
• lambasting the dismal state of the DC archives
• explaining why Black women don’t have to apologize for being angry

We learned from our readers

• asking what you like and don’t like about working from home, and found out about the many factors carrying young Washingtonians away from DC
• learning how you are forming quarantine pods and what factors contour these decisions
• assembling a poem out of your COVID feelings

We helped you navigate an election year and a changing city

• offering mammoth guides to the primary and general elections
• interviewing Ward 2 challenger Randy Downs
• analyzing the color palettes and design choices of local campaigns
• explaining how the moveDC survey will inform future transit planning and suggested responses and doing the same for the Comp Plan
• telling you what it’s like to serve as a poll worker during a pandemic
• describing what it’s like to lead a tenant association through a TOPA process

We showed you the future

Our speculative Dispatches from 2120 project took you to a city a century from now, imagining how storylines in architecture, technology, food, ecology and more might emerge.

What to Do — Holiday Edition

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DC Abortion Fund because people are facing even more financial barriers to reproductive health care right now. Because someone you love has probably needed (or will need!) abortion care in their life. And because DCAF is matching donations til Dec. 31 so your help will go twice as far!

Legal Aid Justice Center is always fighting the good fight: they cover a lot of ground standing up for worker rights, pressuring state and federal officials to protect immigrants trapped in ICE detention centers, and providing critical services to rural farm labor camps. Help them do even more and donate what you can. — Nina

Food For All is currently serving more than 800 families in Mt. Pleasant each week at locations like Bancroft Elementary and the Woodner Apartments. Many of the federal and local relief programs that have been providing free food are starting to dry up, so they could use your donations to continue feeding our neighbors! — Gracie

So Others May Eat provides no-questions-asked hot meals, over 1000 per day, and fundamental services to anyone in need, ranging from medical, dental, career, and counseling support. When the need is so great and governmental aid so bureaucratic, supporting SOME lifts up our entire community. — Nazia

Martha’s Table strengthens community by offering services that focus on health and wellness, education, and family connections. 40 years strong, their programs provide a support system for our DC neighbors who need access to food, early childhood education, and resources for families to thrive. — Rachel

Casa Ruby is a bilingual 24-hour community space and resource center for DC’s LGBTQIA community. Located on Georgia Ave, Casa Ruby provides shelter, food, and other critical services for those experiencing homelessness, survivors of violence, and recent immigrants adjusting to the city. — Jessica

Mutual aid networks throughout the city have stepped into the breach this year, demonstrating that we can help one another directly. That we are riven from one another is lamentable, but not inevitable. — Hayden