This sounds amazing! I can’t wait to read this one! Image is beautiful! #DVParty

It’s been time but now let’s do it New Parties! We have the people, the strategy and the funds! We just need the will! Stop listening to those who say it’s not possible for anything is possible in liberation work! Fight the power!

Anyhow, thus concludes today's brief trip down memory lane.

But it's still interesting to look back and see what happened and compare it to what's happening today. It's also wild to think that Congress is almost haphazardly swinging a machete at D.C.'s budget, and acting surprised that they're even holding the machete.

And yes, protests and complaints alone won't do much. History shows us that much. (D.C. still doesn't have full autonomy, voting representation, etc.) And Bowser has certainly made important inroads among Republicans that can be of use at critical moments.

But it's hard not to see some similiarities between then and now. “We needed to make a statement that what happened... is just unacceptable,” said Gray. “It’s time for the people of the District of Columbia to stand up and say we want to be treated like anybody else.”

Now, the political circumstances were very different back then. Democrats controlled the White House and Senate. And politics was, well, slightly more normal than it is today. D.C. faces very real threats from a GOP much more willing to aggressively flex its muscles.

This week, D.C. officials have been engaged in lobbying, but the volume and tenor of their complaints is markedly different than what happened in 2011. That's especially true for the mayor. Bowser has been largely silent in recent days, opting to work behind the scenes.

They were angry that President Obama and Senate Democrats agreed with a Republican demand that a provision be put back into the federal budget banning D.C. from using any public money on abortions. D.C. was literally used as a bargaining chip.

Then-mayor Vincent Gray and a majority of the D.C. Council went up to Capitol Hill, sat down on Constitution Avenue, blocked traffic, and were arrested. It was symbolic, certainly, but a statement no less. dcist.com/story/11/04/...