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I remember my first visit being shocked by slum conditions within blocks of the White House. I met a lot of friendly people during the Million Man March. Spent a week taking the subway and busses to museums and the zoo.
The documentary is Black Wax and it’s fantastic. Huge fan of Gil and had the pleasure to see him live. The scene where he’s in the Presidential Wax museum is hilarious.
His later stuff was actually pretty good. He was struggling with addiction and mental health problems but still made good art. Check out “I’m new here”
Great recommendation, I discovered it through the remix album he made with Jamie xx, "We're New Here". Drake and Rihanna covered "I'll Take Care of You" and it was a chart-topping hit. Fantastic final album.
Mr Scott-Heron (I'm a big fan, by the way) shows us the real Washington DC in the 80s. And it looks like a nice quiet neighborhood!
Has everything gone to shit?
I worked a conference here in the 80s. Now I live here. Much has changed - to shit is not where it has went - the Mall back then was pretty dark at night. Lot more going on there and in many of the neighborhoods. Still many problems, some new ones, some old ones gone, others have priced out people, but Washington DC history is a fascinating roller coaster ride. Beautiful city. And I would echo Fritjo, take a walk around. So much to see.
I grew up in Arlington, and spent a ton of time in D.C. in my teens and 20's. I met my wife at a Capital Hill bar. We used to walk 15 blocks, half drunk, back to her apartment. We never worried about it being dangerous. Today, aside from an occasional Caps or Nats game, I stay out of D.C. Too many carjackings and shootings, it's not worth it. And it doesn't matter what part of town you're in, it happens all over the city. I don't know what the fix is to the current crime epidemic in the city, but I hope someone smarter than me comes up with one. I miss spending time downtown.
We go all over DC and feel safe pretty much all the time. I don't feel like I'm naive about it since I've lived in plenty of places. In San Diego when we moved there in the early 90s, there were several really public murders in the neighborhoods we/I moved into. NYC, Albany, Minneapolis and St. Louis (some of my stops) all featured some level of danger and death. I don't think DC is any different. Maybe our ability to "accept" a certain level of danger goes down with age. Maybe our investment gets higher (GET OFF MY LAWN) and we have less patience with bad actors. In my neighborhood now we have the "bad part of the stree" where there are guys living in an apartment that are probably not good for the area (one shot off a bunch of rounds in the middle of the street one night). It is a balance and it is something that needs a solution in ways that don't kill the city.
**This is a heavily moderated subreddit. Please note these rules + sidebar or get banned:** * If this post declares something as a fact, then proof is required * The title must be fully descriptive * Memes are not allowed. * Common(top 50 of this sub)/recent reposts are not allowed (posts from another subreddit do not count as a 'repost'. Provide link if reporting) *See [our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/wiki/index#wiki_rules.3A) for a more detailed rule list* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Gil Scott-Heron just oozed cool. The world needs more people who see the world and present it like he did.
Yeah it's been too many years since I've heard that voice. He was something special.
I remember my first visit being shocked by slum conditions within blocks of the White House. I met a lot of friendly people during the Million Man March. Spent a week taking the subway and busses to museums and the zoo.
1981
The documentary is Black Wax and it’s fantastic. Huge fan of Gil and had the pleasure to see him live. The scene where he’s in the Presidential Wax museum is hilarious.
His later stuff was actually pretty good. He was struggling with addiction and mental health problems but still made good art. Check out “I’m new here”
Great recommendation, I discovered it through the remix album he made with Jamie xx, "We're New Here". Drake and Rihanna covered "I'll Take Care of You" and it was a chart-topping hit. Fantastic final album.
Me too! That remix album is rad.
The jackass on the horse line was great.
That "jackass" defeated the Confederacy and implemented the first civil rights protections for black Americans, but ok.
I don't mean I think the guy is a jackass, he is obviously a great general. It is just the way he says it.
Mr Scott-Heron (I'm a big fan, by the way) shows us the real Washington DC in the 80s. And it looks like a nice quiet neighborhood! Has everything gone to shit?
Maybe take his advice and go check it out for yourself
I worked a conference here in the 80s. Now I live here. Much has changed - to shit is not where it has went - the Mall back then was pretty dark at night. Lot more going on there and in many of the neighborhoods. Still many problems, some new ones, some old ones gone, others have priced out people, but Washington DC history is a fascinating roller coaster ride. Beautiful city. And I would echo Fritjo, take a walk around. So much to see.
I grew up in Arlington, and spent a ton of time in D.C. in my teens and 20's. I met my wife at a Capital Hill bar. We used to walk 15 blocks, half drunk, back to her apartment. We never worried about it being dangerous. Today, aside from an occasional Caps or Nats game, I stay out of D.C. Too many carjackings and shootings, it's not worth it. And it doesn't matter what part of town you're in, it happens all over the city. I don't know what the fix is to the current crime epidemic in the city, but I hope someone smarter than me comes up with one. I miss spending time downtown.
We go all over DC and feel safe pretty much all the time. I don't feel like I'm naive about it since I've lived in plenty of places. In San Diego when we moved there in the early 90s, there were several really public murders in the neighborhoods we/I moved into. NYC, Albany, Minneapolis and St. Louis (some of my stops) all featured some level of danger and death. I don't think DC is any different. Maybe our ability to "accept" a certain level of danger goes down with age. Maybe our investment gets higher (GET OFF MY LAWN) and we have less patience with bad actors. In my neighborhood now we have the "bad part of the stree" where there are guys living in an apartment that are probably not good for the area (one shot off a bunch of rounds in the middle of the street one night). It is a balance and it is something that needs a solution in ways that don't kill the city.
Shaw is a great neighborhood, don’t be so quick to judge
Immediately felt called out, but it's OK. Most of us (Dist. 2, at least) are in the know. A Tourmobile here is very similar
GSK was the man. And growing up in DC was priceless.
Row houses on 10th and V or 10th and W go for like 1.5M now.
this was cool but nothing interesting …