School closures mostly impact primarily-minority neighborhoods

May 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

EDUCATION | City Paper’s Aaron Weiner writes about the planned DCPS school closures,  all but two of which are in majority black/Hispanic neighborhoods. The other two schools have student populations that are majority black/Hispanic. However, there is a reasonable explanation (CP, 5/15):

Parents in the poorer, eastern neighborhoods of the city—which tend to be overwhelmingly black—are more likely to want to send their kids to charter or out-of-boundary schools, to get them away from rougher schools or rougher streets on the way to school or both. This doesn’t happen as much at schools in richer parts of town…So schools in poorer (and, yes, blacker and more Hispanic) neighborhoods get depopulated and close down.

While the explanation makes sense, it also implies a self-perpetuating cycle of disadvantage. Students have to commute further. Parents face the added stress of seeking out less convenient education options for their kids. And neighborhoods become less attractive to prospective residents. Not good.

LOCAL | DCist mapped out public sector employment in the Greater Washington region by neighborhood. The results are interesting and give us a really great sense of the employment diversity in our region. (DCist, 5/15)

HOUSING | The Nonprofit Roundtable retweeted an interesting report that asks a great question – are student loans causing home and auto sales to decline? (Federal Reserve, 4/17) Yes, they are. Believe you me.

Related: Young Americans are driving less and buying fewer cars. (NYT, 5/14)

Event: This Saturday, the Communications Action Network (CAN), is sponsoring its Parade of Homes. The event features open houses at 20 affordable housing communities across the region. It’s a great opportunity to see the many types of local affordable housing options and how they are impacting the region. [Learn more.]

WORKFORCE | A proposal in front of the D.C. Council would require “big box” stores to set a higher minimum wage ($11.25 hr) than other local businesses. (WAMU, 5/14)

Here are couple of thoughts on this. The minimum wage should be higher across the board. Singling out one type of business over another seems unfair and arbitrary. And “higher” and “hire” are homophones.

PHILANTHROPY | Charities Want More Insight Into Grant-Making Decisions, Says Study (Chronicle, 5/15)

DEMOCRACY | In hopes of building the levels of civic engagement, Takoma Park will now allow most 16 and 17 year-olds to vote in local elections. (WAMU, 5/15) One might argue that a 16 year-old isn’t informed enough to vote. I would respond by laughing heartily and pointing out that many adults aren’t either.

Imagine looking up on a sunny day and seeing this! That’s pretty darn funny.

Also, here’s a fun comparison – biopic actors and the real people they play. Part one and part two.

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Focusing on literacy to meet the demands of the workforce

May 14, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Funding for adult literacy in the District has been declining steadily, but the need remains incredibly high. More than 80 percent of D.C. jobs are projected to require at least a high school degree within the next five years, but more than 64,000 residents don’t have a high school credential.

Terri Lee Freeman, president of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region and chair of the WRAG board, co-authored an op-ed for the Post that outlines the importance of increased literacy funding (WaPo, 5/11):

With limited basic math, reading and digital literacy skills, these residents have difficulty following written instructions, completing paperwork, communicating effectively with colleagues or helping their children with homework. This undermines the job security of workers, the economic viability of local businesses and the well-being of families.

Related: Business startup program aims to reduce unemployment in DC (Elevation, 5/14)

AGING | With the number of elderly immigrants having doubled over the last two decades, there is a growing trend of senior facilities catering to specific nationalities and cultures. As Berkeley professor Andrew Scharlach puts it (WaPo, 5/14):

In our fast-paced society, people with old languages and old customs often find they don’t have a place…Having a place where their knowledge, wisdom and skills are recognized is important.”

ARTS
- Rebekah reflects on creative strategies for advocating for increased philanthropic support of the local arts sector. (Daily, 5/14)

- Painting a path of hope for homeless youth through art education (WTOP, 5/14)

EDUCATION | The D.C. Council is pushing for parents to be given at least one year’s notice before school boundaries are changed. That would delay Chancellor Henderson’s plan for boundary changes by an entire year. (WaPo, 5/14)

GIVING | Rockefeller Pledges $100-Million to Help 100 Cities Cope With Crises (Chronicle, 5/14) Do political crises count? Speaking of which…

NONPROFITS | With the news that the nonpartisan IRS is actually quite partisan, there is concern that the impending fallout will impact the agency’s ability to regulate nonprofit organizations. (Chronicle, 5/14) And the IRS was doing such a great job before this whole thing broke!

Well, it’s been about five months since the last time we experienced what it means to be Washington sports fans. I guess the Caps thought we were overdue for a reminder.

Anyway, the recipe for Coca-Cola is a highly-guarded secret. However, a “treasure hunter” in Georgia thinks he found the secret recipe in a box of old letters. I wonder what other mysteries are hidden in forgotten places?

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A Voice from Philanthropy: The Invisible

May 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

By Tamara Copeland
President
Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

We charge into every day ready to tackle the next challenge. We are virtually on auto-pilot as our cars almost drive us to work or as we automatically walk down the same streets. We never stop for a conversation with the homeless man who is always beside the escalator at the Metro nor do we really notice the message handsomely engraved on the plaque at the corner as we turn toward our offices.

Earlier this week, I suddenly noticed something that I have walked by literally thousands of times. On the wall in the WRAG office is a quilt commemorating the life of Reggie Blaxton, who lived from 1953 until 2001. It is probably about 7’ X 5’. It is colorful, decorated with poignant quotes, a photograph of a stylish man, and assorted memorabilia recognizing his African roots. It is majestic and not easy to overlook, but somehow I had. After more than six years at WRAG, I finally asked, “Who was Reggie Blaxton?”

I assumed that he had died from AIDS because of the vehicle of a quilt to commemorate his life and because of our work with the Washington AIDS Partnership, but I hadn’t taken the time to learn anything about the man. This week I did.

Reggie Blaxton was a founding member of the Washington AIDS Partnership. He was a native Washingtonian who had graduated from DC public schools before going on to college in Maine, then to Oxford, and then to divinity school to become an Episcopal priest. He was the religious affairs advisor to then-Mayor Marion Barry and author of HIV: Dis-ease of the Church, an essay published in the anthology Dangerous Liaisons: Blacks, Gays, & the Struggle for Equality. Reggie Blaxton was one of the people who pushed us to address the problem that took his life.

Every day we walk a little too quickly by important testaments – living and symbolic – to the issues that we are rushing to address. Behind the issue of homelessness is that homeless man at the top of the escalator. I haven’t taken the time to learn his name, share mine, or begin to know his story. I should. I know that the issues surrounding HIV and AIDS became even more moving to me once they were within the context of Reggie Blaxton’s life. Let’s remember to take a moment to read the plaque, to talk with the homeless man, and to ground ourselves in the real people who populate the challenges that we work to address.

Just a thought.

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Using technology to combat senior isolation

May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

People often lament the fact that technology is deteriorating human relationships. But for seniors, the opposite might be true. A new pilot program funded by the AARP Foundation is building technological connections for seniors as a way of combating isolation. The program provides iPads to seniors, as well as classes on how to use the Internet, social media, Skype, and more (WaPo, 5/9):

In the District, the program selected low-income seniors at high risk of being disconnected from friends and family, said Najeeb Uddin, the AARP Foundation’s vice president of technology.

“We’re targeting people on the verge of being isolated and depressed. Their spouse might have passed away,” he said. “It’s about connecting to the community. It just happens to be that we’re using technology to do it.”

YOUTH | The Children’s Law Center has released its 2013 Children’s Mental Health Report Card. This year’s marks for the District are mixed, but hopeful (WAMU, 5/9):

Judith Sandalow is the executive director of Children’s Law Center, a nonprofit in D.C. She says there are “promising beginnings” when it comes to how the District serves children with mental health needs.
…
But Sandalow says there is still a long way to go. She says there are too many agencies involved leading to what she calls “bureaucratic fragmentation.” And Sandalow says how soon a child gets treatment is also a problem.

Read the report here.

Related: Pushing for More Progress in the District’s Children’s Mental Health System (HuffPo, 5/9)

HEALTH | Jacqueline Bowens has been named to succeed Sharon Baskerville as the CEO of the D.C. Primary Care Coalition. (WBJ, 5/9)

Related: The D.C. Primary Care Coalition is one of the key players in our Beyond Dollars story on expanding the health care safety net. You can check out the report here.

EDUCATION
- The District is set to open a “hybrid traditional-charter” school in Southeast. Chancellor Kaya Henderson says, “It’s an animal that we’ve never seen before.” (WaPo, 5/9) Is it a unicorn? I bet it’s a unicorn. I knew they existed!

- Putting Inner City Students on a Path to High-Paying Jobs, For Real (Atlantic, 5/9)

HOUSING
- In case the economic collapse didn’t do it already, Richard Florida has deflated the American dream of homeownership. He digs into a report about the relationship between unemployment and homeownership and says, “Higher rates of homeownership lead to higher rates of unemployment.” (Atlantic, 5/9)

Related: Florida discusses the relationship between housing and commuting. We looked at the same issue in our recent report on housing affordability.

- Greater Greater Washington’s Dave Aplert explains how the increased production of high-end rental units in our region could trigger drops in rent through a process called “filtering.” (GGW, 5/9) Contrary to my initial expectation, this does not mean refraining from swearing at leasing agents to get better rates.

LOCAL
- Arlington’s population is expected to continue booming, thanks especially to the Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Plan. (WTOP, 5/9)

- Robert McCartney writes about how impressed he is about regional collaboration to clean sewage. (WaPo, 5/9)

- Lots of great stuff from The Atlantic today. Here’s a look at how highway construction ruined Southwest D.C. – and how new development could resurrect it. (Atlantic, 5/9)

I forgot to post this yesterday, but Jimmy Fallon and John Krasinski (from The Office) had a hilarious lip syncing competition. It’s pretty funny. (Note: I downgraded my sentiment and didn’t even notice when I published.)

And, here’s an amusing connection between autocomplete and the platypus.

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Freddie Mac Foundation announces wind-down plan

May 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Today, the Freddie Mac Foundation announced its plan to complete the spend-down of its assets and to complete its activities. The plan focuses on continuing to serve current grantees as it gradually reduces funding. Starting next year, the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region will administer the remaining grants.

When the financial crisis hit, it was unclear how the Freddie Mac Foundation’s giving might be affected. The 8 Neighbors group, of which WRAG is a part, worked with the foundation to identify ways to maximize the impact of their changing funding strategies. In the Daily today, Tamara looks back on how the uncertainty was reshaped and how continued giving by the foundation since 2008 has been a major success story. (Daily, 5/8)

COMMUNITY
- It is with very mixed emotions that we share the news that Rachel Wick, director of policy, planning, and special projects at the Consumer Health Foundation, will be heading to the San Francisco Bay Area to work for the Blue Shield of California Foundation.

As most of you already know, Rachel is a rock star in our community. She’s been a key leader around health advocacy and health justice in our region, and she’s helped lead WRAG’s Health Working Group and Working Group on Aging to a great many successes. Plus, she’s been WRAG’s neighbor down the hall for the past eight years.

So, while we’re quite sad that she’s leaving, we’re also very excited for her new opportunity. California is incredibly lucky! We wish Rachel all the best on her new adventure.

- The board of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation has elected Joshua Bernstein as its new chair. In addition to serving as CEO of the Bernstein Management Corporation, Joshua is the vice president of the Diane and Norman Bernstein Foundation. The board also elected Deborah Ratner Salzberg, President of Forest City Washington, as its vice chair and Barbara Lang, CEO of the DC Chamber of Commerce, as secretary-treasurer. [Read more.]

YOUTH | Mayor Gray has released an FY 2014 Children’s Budget Report, detailing his plans for spending $2.1 billion on children, youth, and families. (DC.gov, 5/3)

Related: D.C. summer school expanded in passage of $241m supplemental budget (Examiner, 5/8)

ARTS | The Kennedy Center’s Michael Kaiser shares an article from across the pond about the effect that arts and culture events have on tourism. He uses the example as further proof that our government should be spending a lot more on the arts. (HuffPo, 5/6)

LOCAL
- D.C. sets tourism record with 19m visitors in 2012 (Examiner, 5/8)

- But nobody is going to come back once they find out that our ground tries to devour things. (WaPo, 5/8)

GIVING | Eleven more people have signed the Giving Pledge. (Chronicle, 5/8)

PHILANTHROPY/NONPROFITS | Wondering what it’s like on the “other side?” Well go to a seance then. We don’t do that here! Just kidding, check out this National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy piece written by someone who has worked both as a grantseeker and a grantmaker. (NCRP, 5/6)

CNN has become the laughing stock of the news industry, which is especially impressive considering that it occupies the same industry as MSNBC and Fox News. Sure, you could point to reporting 100% false news about tiny things like the Supreme Court’s healthcare decision or the Boston bombings. But the real reason that CNN is at the bottom because they do absurd things like this.

I probably write a little too much about nerdy things, but big whoop, here’s something else – a hilarious Audi commercial feature two Spocks, Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto.

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A progress report on philanthropy and big change

May 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A lot can change in a few years. That’s why WRAG is excited to release Beyond Dollars: Philanthropy and BIG Change in the Greater Washington Region. The new release is a 2013 progress report on our earlier publication, Beyond Dollars: Investing in BIG Change from 2009.

The earlier report chronicled and celebrated the unrecognized benefits of philanthropy in our region while also elevating what we saw as the common elements that led to change of great magnitude. Now, almost five years later, we want to check in on this work. Is the change lasting? If so, what factors have been critical? If not, what lessons have been learned?

The impact of philanthropy is especially important to consider in light of potential changes to the charitable deduction. As Beyond Dollars shows, philanthropic investments continue to make an important difference in our region.

HOMELESSNESS | The Senate has approved legislation for an Internet sales tax. It might not make it through the House, but if it does, D.C. Councilmembers Jim Graham and Mary Cheh think that the new revenue could end homelessness. As Aaron Wiener points out, this idealism is rooted in the belief that we could beat homelessness if we just had the money. (CP, 5/7)

If they really believe this, then it’s unsettling that better attempts haven’t been made to secure the necessary funds in the past.

HOUSING | ElevationDC interviews Michael Diamond, director of the Harrison Institute for Housing and Community Development, about affordable housing, gentrification, and policy solutions in our region. (Elevation, 5/7)

WORKFORCE | Over the weekend, New York Times bureau chief Dave Leonhardt wrote about the very high nonemployment rates of 25 to 34 year old Americans and the “grim shift” that has landed our country in a much worse position than most of Europe.

In a follow up, Leonhardt looks at the geography of the problem. Fortunately, our region is one of three spots in the country bucking the trend. (NYT, 5/7) Leonhardt is a great writer – very literary. The opening paragraph of the first article is fantastic.

HEALTH | Slowdown in Health Costs’ Rise May Last as Economy Revives (NYT, 5/6) Well, that’s a confusing headline.

Have you ever wondered what the subjects of abstract paintings might look like if they were real people? Me neither – but I found out the answer anyway. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Internet, somebody updated famous portraits for modern times.

And since there’s so much rain, how about the Belle Stars’ version of Iko Iko from Rain Man? If ever there was a movie that needed a music video…this was definitely not it. Good song though!

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Is ‘social housing’ a solution to our affordable housing challenges?

May 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

HOUSING | Opinion: Roger Lewis, a professor emeritus from the University of Maryland, revisits some familiar statistics that showcase how un-affordable housing has become for both low- and moderate-income families. He even sketched the cartoon to the right to drive the point home. But he takes the conversation a step further and suggests a possible path forward (WaPo, 5/4):

We should take a cue from Europe, where countries such as Denmark and Austria build “social housing.” Social housing is public housing, but only in the sense that it is government-financed. European social housing is subsidized yet serves middle-class as well as low-income households, thereby avoiding many of the socioeconomic issues associated with America’s public housing.

Using the words “social” and “Europe” in an American policy debate virtually guarantees immediate dismissal. But that fact aside, what do you think of Lewis’ idea?

Related: Last week, WRAG released a new report on housing affordability in the Greater Washington region – What Funders Need to Know: Housing. It details many of the affordability issues that Lewis mentions. (Daily, 4/30)

Related: Earlier in the spring, WRAG heard from former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros about ways that funders can support housing affordability. Check out number eight on his list, which directly relates to Roger Lewis’ idea of “social housing.” (Daily, 3/26)

Related: Housing Crash Fades as Defaults Decline to 2007 Levels (Bloomberg, 5/6) Related: What the heck, how many times can we write “related” in one issue?

Event: Next Saturday, the Communications Action Network (CAN), is sponsoring its Parade of Homes. The event features open houses at 20 affordable housing communities across the region. It’s a great opportunity to see the range of options and quality for local affordable homes. [Learn more.]

HOMELESSNESS | Advocates, City Officials Spar Over Homeless Amendments (CP, 5/3)

AGING | This is a tough but important read – Elderly Couple’s Tale Of Abuse Not So Uncommon (WAMU, 4/4)

GIVING | Opinion: The Hudson Institute’s William Schambra writes about the politics and potential impact of “genuine compassionate conservatism.” (Chronicle, 5/1)

BOOK REVIEW | In today’s Daily, The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia’s president, Eileen Ellsworth, reviews Do More Than Give: The Six Practices of Donors Who Change the World by Leslie R. Crutchfield, John V. Kania, and Mark R. Kramer. You can read the full review here. Eileen writes that the book is a worthwhile read for all funders (Daily, 5/6):

[Do More Than Give] is a useful and thought provoking work for every kind of donor, in any kind of community. If you are looking for a practical, step by step manual for how to become a more effective donor, this book has a very great deal to offer.

TRANSIT | If you’ve ever ridden the New York subway and accidentally ended up on an express train to the Bronx when you were aiming for Brooklyn, then you probably appreciate the relative simplicity of our Metro system. And if you haven’t had that experience, lucky you, because it’s a time-consuming mistake that makes you feel like a helpless dimbulb.

Our addition of the Silver Line – and it’s graphical rendering on the WMATA system map – is pushing things into confusing territory. (Atlantic, 5/6)

I’ve been trying to find something funny to share with you on this gloomy Monday. There’s a whole website of hilarious – sometimes intentionally and sometimes not – web product reviews. I can’t vouch for the appropriateness of the whole site, but this entry amused me. I guess a ceiling fan is a cheap alternative to these dudes.

And if you aren’t in the mood to laugh, here’s a really beautiful song – Where Our Destination Lies by Ben Gibbard. I don’t think I’ve shared it here before. Apologies if I have, but it’s a great one.

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The most powerful (and useless) city-run Internet in America

May 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

In 2010, the federal government directed $17.4 million of stimulus money to construct the “most powerful city-run Internet infrastructure in America.” It is the sort of network that could bring super-fast, free Internet service to everyone – including many low-income homes that can’t afford the expensive service offered by companies like Comcast or Verizon.

That network was built right here in D.C. But, perhaps appropriately considering the notorious bureaucracy for which the city is known, it isn’t actually available for residents to use. City Paper‘s Aaron Wiener explains (CP, 5/2):

The idea was to help bring the city’s existing fiber network, DC-NET, to underserved areas. That doesn’t mean simply blasting a public Wi-Fi signal at Congress Heights, though. The city isn’t allowed to be a so-called last-mile provider, bringing the Internet directly to consumers, but rather a middle-mile network that Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon, as well as “community anchor institutions,” can use to bring a powerful Web connection to the masses.

Related: Earlier this year, the Post wrote about how low-income students without reliable internet access are at a disadvantage in the classroom. (WaPo, 2/27)

HOUSING | President Obama has nominated North Carolina Congressman Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Post suggests that Watt’s nomination “suggests that the administration would like to speed up the slow-going effort to determine the future of the taxpayer-backed mortgage giants.” (WaPo, 5/2)

EDUCATION | The 2014 budget for DCPS calls for staff and program cuts at dozens of schools. Chancellor Henderson and Mayor Gray cite under-enrollment as the cause for the cuts, but the budget actually cuts funding for schools where enrollment is increasing, too. One PTA member comments (WaPo, 5/2):

The message that DCPS sends to families looking for anything other than the bare minimum is, ‘Go to charters.’

FOOD | New data from the Department of Agriculture show that grocery costs have risen between 35 and 39 percent for all income levels over the last ten years. Families using federal food assistance, for example, have seen a 35 percent increase with the weekly cost of groceries increasing from $107 in 2003 to $146 today. (WTOP, 5/2)

Also alarming is the fact that 2003 was a decade ago…?!

TRANSIT | Metro has spent the last few years jacking up fares and severely inconveniencing riders in the name of safety “improvements.” But one thing that they haven’t fixed, at least since I was in middle school many moons ago, are the broken speakers in rail cars. This week, a muffled announcement caused passengers to think they were supposed to evacuate. What happens when there is a real emergency? (GGW, 5/2)

Related: We won’t need Metro anymore if designer Riten Gojiya’s personal airships become reality! (Atlantic, 5/2)

Rebekah has the Daily tomorrow. Hope you all enjoy the beautiful weather that we’re supposed to get this weekend. I will be watching Iron Man 3 over and over again (or at least once).

But first, here are 99 “life hacks” that will (mostly) make you say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

- Christian

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In Virginia, housing discrimination against Latinos

May 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment

What can you expect if you are a Latino looking to rent a home in Virginia? Unfair treatment most of the time, according to a new report from the Equal Rights Center. The organization conducted in-person tests to compare the experiences of white and Latino renters. In 55 percent of the tests, Latinos experienced outrageous things like:
  • Being quoted higher rents or higher fees for the same rental unit than white testers;
  • Not being offered incentives or “specials” that were offered to white testers seeking the same housing;
  • Being offered fewer available units or later availability dates than those offered to white testers;
  • Being told about additional application requirements, such as credit checks or providing a social security card, which were not told to white testers.

Related: If you missed it, WRAG released a new report on housing affordability in the Greater Washington region yesterday – What Funders Need to Know: Housing. (Daily, 4/30)

HEALTH | A tracking poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that Americans are both misinformed and under-informed about the Affordable Care Act. First, a depressingly hilarious statistic (KFF, 4/30):

Four in ten Americans (42%) are unaware that the ACA is still the law of the land, including 12 percent who believe the law has been repealed by Congress, 7 percent who believe it has been overturned by the Supreme Court and 23 percent who say they don’t know enough to say what the status of the law is.

Second, and more importantly, responses that have implications for health funders and nonprofits:

About half the public (49%) says they do not have enough information about the health reform law to understand how it will impact their own family.

The share of the public who says they lack enough information to understand how the ACA will affect their family is higher among two groups the law is likely to benefit most – the uninsured (58% of whom say they lack enough information) and low-income households (56% say so).

This is reminiscent of a Pew poll from 2010 about the Supreme Court.

EDUCATION
- D.C. Council member David Catania says that the DCPS goal of all schools being 70 percent proficient by 2017 is “incredibly unrealistic.” He is seeking ways to aggressively change consistently low-performing schools. (WAMU, 5/1)

- Opinion: Mayor Gray’s early childhood crusade paying off by Harry Jaffe (Examiner, 5/1)

WORKFORCE | Science, tech jobs dominate region, census says (Examiner, 5/1) Austin Powers might have something to say about that.

SEQUESTRATION | With parts of the Smithsonian being shutdown due to budget cuts, White House tours being suspended, and the Washington Monument being scheduled to take about 162 years to repair after the earthquake, the District is in for a bad tourism year. (WJLA, 5/1)
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What does affordable housing look like in the Greater Washington region?

April 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

To be considered affordable, a household needs to spend less than 30% of its income on housing costs. As you can imagine, that’s really hard to do in our region.

In WRAG’s new installment of our What Funders Need to Know series, we take a detailed look at local housing – what it costs, how transportation factors in, what it means to live in different parts of our region. Then we discuss what our future looks like if we don’t fix this problem, and what funders can do to get involved.

COMMUNITY | The Consumer Health Foundation’s president and CEO, Yanique Redwood, is highlighted in the new issue of Bethesda Magazine as a rising star who is making a difference in our region at a young age. The magazine talked with Yanique about what drives her (Bethesda, May 2013):

[She] was inspired to pursue a career in public health after learning about a shameful chapter in America’s past. Beginning in 1932, the Tuskegee syphilis experiment followed the disease’s progression in poor, African-American sharecroppers over a 40-year period without ever providing treatment.
…
A tearful Redwood discussed it with her professor, who encouraged her “to use my anger and do something about this injustice.”

EQUITY | The recession was bad news for just about everybody, but a new report from the Urban Institute finds that the wealth gap between non-Hispanic white Americans and minorities widened considerably during the downturn. As NYU professor Darrick Hamilton puts it, “It was already dismal…it got even worse.” (NYT, 4/29)

AGING
- Yesterday, hundreds of older District residents rallied for increased spending on senior services in the 2014 budget. (WaPo, 4/30)

- The AARP Foundation has a great series of short videos featuring experts discussing senior isolation. (AARP)

EDUCATION | Different reports have claimed to prove that D.C. education reform has been either a success or a failure, but Greater Greater Education says that nobody is even reading the source data correctly. (GGE, 4/30)

Happy 80th birthday to Willie Nelson! If you ever get a chance to see him live, I recommend taking the opportunity. He’s a lot of fun – and he doesn’t appear to be slowing down. I especially love his cover of City of New Orleans. Whoever uploaded the slideshow to accompany the song has an unfortunately literal mind.

On an unrelated note (unless Willie is an intergalactic musician), check out these photos of a massive, gigantic, humongous, gargantuan, other dramatic adjective storm on Saturn. The color-corrected photos make it look like the sixth planet from the sun is actually a gateway to a terrifying hell.

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