Democracy's Capital

From its 1790 founding until 1974, Washington, D.C. — capital of “the land of the free” — lacked democratically elected city leadership. Fed up with governance dictated by white stakeholders, federal officials, and unelected representatives, local D.C. activists catalyzed a new phase of the fight for home rule. Amid the upheavals of the 1960s, they gave expression to the frustrations of black resi...