From Mathew Harkins. Email him at mharkins[AT]borderstan.com.
Celebrate the third annual DC Flag Day. (Luis Gomez Photos)
As many of you living in DC already know, District of Columbia residents have neither representation in Congress nor representation on the American flag. You are probably well aware of this because you live or work here and the issue seems to come up frequently. But outside of Washington, or the DMV if we’re being generous, this issue is less than a blip on most people’s radar, at best.
And so today, we find ourselves on the third annual DC Flag Day. The first thing that DC Flag Day organizers are asking you to do is to change your Facebook photo to a picture of the DC flag or a picture of you with the DC flag. If you head over to their Facebook page or the Facebook pages for LetUsVoteDC or Neighbors United for DC Statehood, you can show support by “liking” their pages, but you might also fins some photos that you’ll be able to use for your profile picture. Their goal with this particular initiative is to raise awareness across the country and the world of an issue that many people are unaware of.
DC Flag Day Rally
Later today, DC Flag Day will be holding a rally in Dupont Circle. The information for that is as follows:
- When: Friday, June 14, 2013, 6:00 pm
- Where: Dupont Circle
- Program: Shadow Senator Paul Strauss
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton - Sponsors: LUV DC, DC Vote, LuxuryDC, We Deserve Statehood
- LUV DC will be distributing DC flag stickers and temporary DC flag tattoos at the event, which is expected to draw a large number of DC residents. Show off you DC pride by wearing DC flag apparel, DC flag tattoos (both real and temporary) and waving DC flags. There will also be an unveiling of a DC Voting Rights banner that residents are crowdfundin. The 16-foot banner will be hung across a street in DC on a later date if the fundraising goals are met by midnight on Friday June 14th. If you’d like to support this effort, you can do so here.
About DC Flag Day
DC Flag Day was born back in 2011 by Allyson Behnke and Brooke Lynn Locke. As Allyson says, “DC has a rapidly growing population of highly educated people, small business owners and urbanites. We also have a lot of longtime locals who love this beautiful city… but no one who lives in Washington, D.C. has representation in Congress or on the American Flag. Back in 2011 I had friends who got arrested in the name of DC Statehood, including my good friend Brooke Lynn Locke. We decided to found DC Flag Day to bring awareness to DC’s lack of representation.” As Allyson also pointed out in an email, “The iconic DC flag symbol consists of the bold ‘two bars and three stars’ modeled after none other than George Washington’s family crest. Washington fought against taxation without representation. Ironically, two centuries later, citizens in Washington, DC have yet to win that battle.”
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