‘We demand the vote’: DC statehood takes center stage at voting rights protests

Thousands of people flocked to the Lincoln Memorial on the 58th anniversary of the March on Washington last weekend to demand voting rights protections and DC statehood — two efforts many speakers related as being one and the same. 

Protesters traveled from across the country to take part in Saturday’s demonstrations, where many also called for police reform and worker rights. Political and advocacy figures including Mayor Muriel Bowser, NAACP President Derrick Johnson and Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza spoke at the event.

The day kicked off with several smaller protests throughout the city, including a rally in support of DC statehood at Freedom Plaza. Protesters then marched to the Lincoln Memorial to join the larger Make Good Trouble and March on for Voting Rights rallies. 

Participants braved 90-plus-degree heat, shouting “Statehood now!” and “Free DC!” 

“We demand the vote, and we demand to be the 51st state in our union,” Bowser told the crowd at Freedom Plaza. 

The District’s approximately 700,000 residents — more than half of whom identify as people of color — have no voting representation in Congress. The District’s local laws are also subject to congressional oversight. As its non-voting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton represents DC in the House of Representatives; she can introduce bills, but cannot vote on legislation except in committee.

The bill for admission of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, as a state has passed the House twice and was discussed at a Senate hearing in June. Statehood is also supported by the Biden administration. But a handful of Democratic senators, including West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, have not voiced support, a fact many speakers highlighted. Republican opponents, meanwhile, have labeled statehood as unconstitutional and a power grab by Democrats, among other criticisms.

The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II — co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, a national “moral revival” movement, and president of the nonprofit Repairers of the Breach — made an appearance at Freedom Plaza and voiced his support for statehood. 

“For more than 200 years, the residents of Washington, DC, have been robbed,” Barber told the crowd. “I didn’t say a thief came in. A robber. A thief is different than a robber. A thief is sneaky. But a robber will take your rights right in front of you. It’s been a robbery. You’ve been subjected to systemic inequality, and denied full rights of citizenship that the residents of states enjoy all over this country.”

Speakers who emphasized the need to build statehood support at a national level to advance the cause included Adeoye “Oye” Owolewa, the District’s shadow representative to the House. 

In this elected but unpaid position, which is different from that of a non-voting delegate, Owolewa’s key task is to push for statehood. 

“Statehood is a national issue. Not a regional, not a local one,” Owolewa told the crowd at Freedom Plaza.

Later, at the Lincoln Memorial, Bowser urged protesters who had traveled to the District from across the country to join the fight for statehood.

“Now we’re relying on all of you, all across America, to recognize that Washingtonians are just like you,” Bowser said. “We pay taxes, we send our people to war, we’ve died in war. We take care of ourselves. If we want to be treated like every American, too, …  the only way to do that is to grant us statehood now.”

Candice Gay, a District resident of over 40 years who lives in Ward 8, said she attended the rally to be a part of the fight for statehood as well as the protection of voting rights.  

“I’m seriously scared about how they’re taking everything away from us. It’s almost like, taking our breath away,” Gay said in an interview. 

Gay, 67, said she tried to get more people to come down to the event, but many cited concerns related to the ongoing pandemic. Others told her they didn’t see the point in marching, she said.  

“It’s hard to convince people to fight when they keep getting knocked down,” Gay said. 

Columbia Heights resident George Ripley said it’s “unfair” the District doesn’t have voting power in Congress, which he described as a “pretty fundamental” right.

“The vote is our birthright,” Ripley said in an interview. 

The District’s youth mayors — Addison Rose of Episcopal High School and Lourdes Robinson of the DC International School — spoke on the need for statehood and told the crowd that even though the District has a larger population than either Vermont or Wyoming, it does not hold the same powers as states.    

“Today, I stand here amongst you all as a regular 16-year-old girl with dreams and aspirations like anyone else. Dreams of a promising future,” Rose told the crowd. “Honestly, as I reflect upon my hopes and dreams for this country, I get a little sad. Sad, because so much time has been taken from us.”

Robinson, 15, said denying the District statehood subjects residents to ongoing systemic inequality. 

“You can’t scream ‘Democracy’ and exclude and disenfranchise 700-plus-thousand people, especially our Black and Brown people,” Robinson said.