Washington, DC is one of the world’s great cities. DC is a small place, and is a melting pot brimming with people of every nationality from every walk of life. It’s a working town where congressional staffers, Internet millionaires, and corner boys regularly share rides on the Metro in a swamp that fits in a 10 mile square.
If you’re riding the red line on a crowded Tuesday morning, you could be sitting next to an old lady who is a current analyst at a think tank, a spy for France could be standing next to you holding onto one of the train car’s handles, two black kids could be on their way to school, and a whino could be sitting across from you falling asleep. It’s a city with a weird social mix of rich and poor, and everyone wants to ask, “what do you do?”
DC is a beautiful city, shod in trees, and adorned with bronze statues and marble structures. All 8 wards have their own beauty and culture that is rich and fascinating. In some areas, there is unexpected beauty. People talk a lot of shit about Southeast, but it has it own food, and language, and stateliness. Houses with manicured lawns and the Anacostia in all of its glory is in Southeast. Northeast’s unevenness lends to it being special. H Street is undergoing a huge and disappointing gentrification that’s bringing curious, new restaurants and bars to a historic street with Delta Sigma Theta’s headquarter’s buttressing the action. Southwest is converting itself into a playground for people who have money to burn, and everyone who wants to feel special likes giving a “… NW” as their address.
The thing is, is that native Washingtonians are in every quadrant of the nation’s capital, but it’s full of people who are not from DC. DC’s seductiveness has a knack for not letting people leave after coming there for work. Her power attracts politicos who buy multimillion dollar townhouses, and her uniqueness allures people into staying way after the congressman has lost and packed up shop.
ANTIDOTE will explore DC’s weird mix of rich and poor, stiff and quirky, lily white and ethnic, and how no one can drain the swamp because everyone loves it so much.
