Written by Autumn Coleman, Jaquelia Haynes, Hunter Stevens
Today, as every day for the past decade, the residents of Barry Farm are being evicted.
The Barry Farms neighborhood is located in the southeastern part of Washington, DC, and is known to DC natives as “East of the River.” The district began life as a development established by the Freedmen’s Bureau to house freed blacks after the Civil War. At the time, it was known to be home to influential black political class members, including abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Currently, developers such as Community Three Development, Bogdan Builders, and Abdo Development are displacing residents throughout the DMV area due to gentrification. The majority of these neighborhoods are historically black.
Moe Shorter, manager of the Junkyard Band, a go-go group that originated in Barry Farms, says the myth that modernization equals improvement is just that: a myth.
Shorter says that before gentrification, Barry Farms was a unified neighborhood.
“When I was a kid, we had fields to play in, we had a recreation center, and that was one of the things that brought the community together. That town was a lot less dangerous than it is now. It was all fun, There was no violence and everything was good,” Shorter said. “It’s more dangerous now, but ironically it’s also more gentrified than ever. Neighbors are being forced out of their homes.”
Residents are now promised relocation and return by affordable housing preservation organizations, but this has yet to materialize, raising questions about the motives of all involved. Residents lucky enough to keep their homes remain dissatisfied with the services provided by Kriegsfeld, the company driving new development in the community.
Barry Farms resident Rumon Tortley said of his building, “The inappropriate and unethical practices that are taking place in this condominium…The infrastructure is damaged and has been for some time.” said. “They shut off the gas lines but didn’t notify the residents of the building. We had to evacuate multiple times.”
Mr Tortley said his building’s investor, Craigsfield, “installed inexpensive infrastructure in the building”. As evidence, he cited the fact that his mounted television had fallen due to a lack of studs in the wall.
Historically, the residents of Barry Farm have been accustomed to outsiders invading their homes, provoking generations of resistance.
In the early 1900s, the Washington, D.C., government planned to build a sewage pumping station at Poplar Point. The project will take land away from Barry Farm residents. The government tried to buy the property from the owner, but could not agree on a price. In 1903, instead of reaching a compromise, the government sued residents who were interfering with the project, seeking to seize their properties. Their lands and homes were seized through prominent estates.
Although the town faces challenges beyond its control, residents continue to hold its historical significance close to their hearts.
Located in the 8th Ward, Barry Farms is rich in D.C. culture, especially D.C.’s signature go-go music sound. In 1980, the Junkyard Band was formed by the children of Barry Farm. Their instruments were soda bottles, tin cans, and anything else they could get their hands on.
The band’s ethos was born out of music programs held at local schools. The young people at Barry Farms took matters into their own hands and began making music with what they found.Their sound has grown to become synonymous with his DC sound.
The band began performing around Washington, D.C., and eventually caught the attention of Def Jam Records. In 1985, the group signed a multi-year contract with a record label, allowing them to work with many big names. Includes Lauryn Hill, Tupac, Ice Cube, and more. Inspired by the band, Mayor Muriel Bowser declared January 15th Junkyard Band Day.
The success of Junkyard Bands shows that culture remains in the community despite gentrification, and development plans have changed the dynamics of the community.
“Go-go is a mainstay in this city,” Shorter said. “Go-Go hasn’t changed. We’re holding on to it and we’re not going to let them take it away from us,” he says of the importance of music to DC.
Barry Farms has a rich history of community and resistance, and the culture that has emerged reflects that. While the greater D.C. community recognizes Barry Farms’ rich cultural history, developers do not share the same interest. City leaders have worked to preserve community customs.
Maurice McMorrow, a community life coordinator at the Barry Farms apartment complex where residents were evacuated, has been working to help the community recover, especially the evacuees. He described a system created to help displaced people, allowing them to receive “a voucher from the federal government, a housing voucher that they can move to anywhere in the United States.” Coordinators say the building is home to about 30 residents who have begun moving out of Barry Farms using vouchers provided by the government.
While he helps in any way he can, MacMorrow explains that a lack of leadership is what makes it difficult to keep the culture alive on Barry Farm. “Even here, mentorship programs and after-school programs are hurting because the money isn’t on their side,” McMorrow said.
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention says federal funding and out-of-pocket donors are the primary contributors to funding the mentoring program. In the Barry Farms area, he explained, “…people are tied up forever. Everyone is one paycheck away from being on the streets.”
If there is no unity in a community, it becomes just a neighborhood,” McMorrow said of preserving culture and, by extension, community. “Times have changed, and I think social media has a lot to do with it…We always put things out there and tell people about the bad things, but we never focus on the positives. What’s happening in your neighborhood.”
Community leaders are trying to rebuild Barry Farm from a fractured community. But an awareness of history reveals the complexity of their accomplishments.
Moe Shorter spoke about the recent history of gentrification in Washington, D.C. and Barry Farms, saying: Many people were forced to leave and evacuate, and as native Washingtonians, we began to feel uncomfortable in the city. It’s a very unfair position…people feel threatened and we see some of the reactions of people robbing and stealing from certain people. ”