Governing Our Own: 3 Things To Know About The Black Autonomy Act In DC. Photo: Ahead of historic vote on DC statehood, Mayor Muriel Bowser commissioned #MuralsDC51, a project to create 51 statehood-, Black history-, and social justice-themed murals across all eight wards in Washington D.C., June 23, 2020. Credit: mpi34/MediaPunch /IPX
A Washington, D.C. political activist who identifies with the Black Autonomy Movement hopes to end the gentrification of Black neighborhoods in the D.C. area with a new ballot initiative called The African American Autonomy Act.
Addison Sarter, a former at-large Washington, D.C. City Council candidate, is expected to propose the new ballot initiative within the next three months.
Sarter,28, ran as an independent for election for an at-large seat of the Washington, D.C., City Council but withdrew before the general election on Nov. 3, 2020, according to Ballotpedia.
“Last year I ran for city council in D.C. and although I was not elected, I was the only candidate who used their platform to advocate for a reparations plan for Black residents in front of DC Councilembers at a hearing,” Sarter told Moguldom.
“Since the age of 19 I have been working in the non profit industry serving impoverished residents in the DC area. Currently I am an essential healthcare worker, at an organization called N Street Village, which provides housing for low-income women with chronic illnesses, ranging from HIV, cancer, diabetes, and substance abuse,” said Sarter, who plans on pursing a degree in business administration from Morehouse College.
Committed to fixing the affordable housing crisis, Sarter said he is “advocating for reparations for the past 400 years of slavery, terrorism, and apartheid that Black Americans have faced and still face today.”
The African American Autonomy Act of 2021 calls for the preservation of predominantly African American regions of Washington, D.C. as “historically African-American autonomous regions.”
“I simply believe that as long as the U.S. government is predominantly white, Black people will never have equality in America. Many of the same issues during Jim Crow such as housing discrimination/redlining, voter discrimination, job discrimination, unequal education, police brutality, and police brutality still exists over 50 years later,” explains Sarter.
He continued, “The teachings of Malcolm X and Dr. King, taught me that Black America is a colony…Many important decisions affecting the Black community are still being made from the outside to this day.”
Here are three things to know about the Black Autonomy Act in DC.
According to the proposed initiative, the D.C. areas targeted for autonomy include East of the Anacostia River; the Langdon Park/Brentwood area in Northeast DC; and Colonial Village and Shepherd Park in Northwest DC. Langdon Park and Brentwood. All would be combined into one autonomous region as would Colonial Village and Shepherd Park.
“These African-American autonomous regions would be turned into their own cities,” according to the proposed initiative, which Sarter laid out in a blog on Medium.
The Langdon Park/Brentwood area is “75 percent African American and has a population of 10,000 people,” Sarter wrote.
East of the Anacostia River is “90 percent African American and has been systematically isolated/segregated from the rest of DC due to the 295 highway,” Sarter added. “East of the Anacostia River has a population of over 140,000 people.”
Other predominantly African-American neighborhoods would be eligible to be designated African-American autonomous regions as well.
“To prevent the rise of ‘Black puppets’ I am advocating for the open town form of government to be instituted in these Black autonomous regions,” said Sarter. “An open town meeting form of government, is one of the five historical forms of municipal government. It has been referred to as the “purest form of democracy.”
Under a open town meeting government, all registered voters are allowed to come together throughout the year, in an open forum to draft laws and vote on those laws and the budget. All registered voters are the legislative body.
“This prevents power from being rested in the hands of just a few people. Most importantly it prevents colonizers from influencing politics with their money. It will completely take money out of politics and will help prevent the rise of Black puppets who sell out their people,” he explained.
DC government agreed to fund two toxic industrial sites in Langdon Park/Brentwood for 14 million dollars (1.4 million for 10 years) and another for 22.5 million dollars (1.5 million every year for 15 years).
R.J@RonJack1500 tweeted, “Would love for this to really happen nationwide.”
Sarter says he has international law on his side.
His main argument is that the United Nations/international law states that all ethnicities have the right to self-determination.
“The right of peoples and nations to self determination is a prerequisite to the full enjoyment of all fundamental human rights (UN General Assembly, The right of peoples and nations to self-determination, 16 December 1952, A/RES/637),” he told us.
Self determination is defined as: “The action of a people in deciding its own form of government; free determination of statehood, postulated as a right” by the Oxford English Dictionary.
According to the United Nations, all ethnicities have the right to self-determination. This includes African Americans.
“The United Nations concept of self-determination and the necessity of land goes hand in hand. As stated self-determination is the right for a group of people to form their own government. In order for a group of people to have their own government they need land for the government to function on. Without land there is no self-determination,” said Sarter.
He added, “I believe that Black people could gain self-determination and autonomy without having to move anywhere. In nearly every city in America, Black people have been segregated to regions that we call the ghetto, the hood, or the inner city etc. We can simply turn these predominantly Black communities through out America into Black autonomous regions.”
Some on Twitter likened autonomous African American regions to segregation.
“Ah, segregation. I seem to remember our country fighting against that a few decades ago,” Daigotsu Elenti @ScarletElenti tweeted.
“Reverse segregation,” tweeted Cheval John, Social Media Professional @chevd80.
Martin Austermuhle, a reporter and editor at D.C. NPR station WAMU885, tweeted that he had doubts the African American Autonomy Act will make it onto a ballot.
“Now, beyond the usual challenges of collecting tens of thousands of signatures for any ballot initiative, this one could potentially violate portions of the Home Rule Act — which means it couldn’t get on the ballot to begin with.”
Under the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which was passed on Dec. 24, 1973, certain congressional powers of the District of Columbia were transferred to the local government.
The Black autonomy initiative brought out nay-sayers and detractors, but there was also plenty of excitement and support for it.
“This has about as much of a chance happening as me being crowned the queen of England,” POTUS PhD Sárkány Magyar tweeted @Sarkany_Magyar.
“What would be the plan for mixed race families? like my brother, his wife and children that are in Anacostia?” Trinket tweeted @cmdbruce.
“I am 100% for this,” Stuck in the Middle tweeted @StucknDaMid. “I love our country but it needs to be broken for us to appreciate it again.”
According to Sarter he’s pushing forward with the initiative.
“It usually takes about three months for the DC Board of Elections to review it and schedule a hearing, so I am hoping to argue my case within the next few months,” he noted. “If the initiative is approved, a minimum of 26,000 signatures are required. Once we get those signatures, there will be a city wide election in which DC residents will vote on the initiative.”
“I support it! Would like some of that where I live!” Randall Warren; Myrrh & Frankincense tweeted @Randall60306211.
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