Marion Barry

[wlu_lax6]

Dc's Mayor for life. Not sure I understand why he v was able to keep holding office. He is part of the reason why dc has heavy oversight from congress.

Curious if his death impacts dc united 's stadium as part of the deal was a big job creation (via land swap) for ward 8.

[Johnnie]

Necessary:





Rob Ford before Rob Ford was Rob Ford.

[teeteebee]

Crack kills...eventually

[Pruitt]

Crack kills...eventually

Don't blame crack - bitch set him up.

[devilfluff]

Crack kills...eventually

Did he OD?

[Pruitt]

Crack kills...eventually

Did he OD?

heart disease at 78.

[vandwagon]

This is from his obit in the Washington Post.

He came to Washington as a champion of the downtrodden and the dispossessed and rose to the pinnacle of power and prestige. As mayor of the District, Mr. Barry became a national symbol of self-governance and home rule for urban blacks.

His programs helped provide summer jobs for youths, home-buying assistance for working-class residents and food for senior citizens. And he placed African Americans in thousands of middle- and upper-level management positions in the city government that in previous generations had been reserved for whites.

When viewed in this light, everything that went down after he was busted makes a lot more sense. People cared about the things above, not some "bitch" setting him up.

The obit is interesting and filled with the things that younger folks who don't or didn't live in DC may not know.

[wlu_lax6]

This was the reason he kept getting elected. For all his faults, he was focused on providing support for the community he represented. Unfortunately it may not have always been done within the constraints that he was supposed to follow (example: His very popular Turkey Giveaway).

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blog ... -giveaway/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, his tax problems and less than transparent behavior will always overshadow the good work he did for those who put him in office because it makes for good news.

[Nonlinear FC]

It's more nuanced than "he provided jobs and a leg up for black residents of DC." People don't remember now, but DC was absolutely being ravaged by crack in the 80s and 90s. It was known as "the murder capital" and I think at some point, right around the bitch setting him up, DC had something like 500 homicides in one year.

A lot of people... mostly black people, to be clear, felt that Barry was targeted by the FBI because he was an outspoken black leader. You have to also remember that there were conspiracy theories being floated that the CIA/FBI had introduced crack into black areas of various cities, because Racist.

So, in addition to the basic handout politics he engaged in, the narrative was one of redemption and resurrection for Barry after prison. The crack narrative went something like, "Everyone knows someone who has been directly affected by crack. I would want my dad/mom/uncle/aunt/cousin/friend to have a second chance from this shitty system taking us all down. Why shouldn't Barry get a second chance."