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1 week ago | 
51st.news | Christina Sturdivant Sani
Juneteenth is a sentimental holiday, and the way native Washingtonians recognize and celebrate it varies. Emily S.
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1 month ago | 
51st.news | Christina Sturdivant Sani
Ask A D.C. Native — 3 min read One of my first ideas when I joined The 51st was to launch this Ask A D.C. Native column. I wanted to position D.C. natives as authorities on the city. Our families have deep roots here; we’ve matriculated through the public school system, started businesses, and contributed to the music, food, and arts scenes that make this such a vibrant city. If you want to know about D.C. — not Washington — who better to ask than one of us?
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Mar 26, 2025 | 
afro.com | Christina Sturdivant Sani
While I only had one childhood and can’t exactly compare growing up in D.C. to anywhere else, I can confidently say I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my youth elsewhere. There’s something special about living in a city, and for it to be the nation’s capital is even more significant. In a place that blends big-city energy with small-town intimacy, kids who grow up in D.C. can foster close community ties while accessing opportunities that broaden their worldviews.
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Mar 20, 2025 | 
51st.news | Hannah Parker |Christina Sturdivant Sani |George Kevin Jordan |Eduardo R. Ferrer
📝Opinion essays published by The 51st represent the views of their authors, and not of The 51st or any of its editors or reporters. Submissions may be sent to [email protected]. Since retaking office, President Donald Trump has floated an executive order cracking down on crime in D.C., told reporters the federal government “should take over” the city due to crime, and called on Mayor Muriel Bowser to clear homeless encampments to increase safety.
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Mar 20, 2025 | 
51st.news | Eduardo R. Ferrer |Christina Sturdivant Sani |George Kevin Jordan |Hannah Parker
After 15 months of debate in 2016, D.C. became one of just a handful of jurisdictions nationwide to offer paid time off to care for a family member or oneself. Proponents of the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act said the program — which is funded by a tax paid by participating D.C. businesses and nonprofits — would help small organizations offer similar paid time off to that of some larger companies, as well as allow part-time and contract workers access to the benefit.
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Mar 20, 2025 | 
51st.news | Hannah Parker |Eduardo R. Ferrer |Christina Sturdivant Sani |George Kevin Jordan
You Street โ 2 min read The Greeks may have been onto something with the whole Persephone thing: this spring really does feel like we're emerging from the pits of hell. Given the constant attacks on D.C.'s autonomy and the "cesspool" rhetoric hurled at the District from our federal neighbors, we figured we'd celebrate one of D.C.'s most special and beautiful traits โ its spring โ by showcasing some moments witnessed by our readers.
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Mar 6, 2025 | 
51st.news | Martin Austermuhle |Daniella Ignacio |Christina Sturdivant Sani |Colleen Grablick |Eric Falquero
As car-free pedestrians and transit riders, my wife and I don’t typically venture beyond everything the Metro touches when it comes to day trips. Occasionally the Amtrak to Baltimore. (Turn to Christina for that inspo!) But a trip the DC Bird Alliance advertised last month piqued our interest and pushed us out of our comfort zone.
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Mar 6, 2025 | 
51st.news | Martin Austermuhle |Eric Falquero |Christina Sturdivant Sani |Colleen Grablick
In her first ice skating class, Sheldonna Harris’s six-year-old daughter mastered every skill. But there was one thing she refused to do, and that was fall. Harris laughed as she reminisced about her now 18-year-old’s beginnings at Fort Dupont Ice Arena: “She just wouldn’t get it, that you have to fall down, it’s one of the skills you have to demonstrate,” Harris said.
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Mar 6, 2025 | 
51st.news | Daniella Ignacio |Eric Falquero |Christina Sturdivant Sani |Colleen Grablick |Martin Austermuhle
What was already expected to be a challenging budget season in D.C. was further scrambled late last month with two simple words: mild recession. In a quarterly revenue estimate released on February 28, that’s how the city’s independent chief financial officer, Glen Lee, described the likely outcome later this year of President Trump’s slash-and-burn approach to the federal workforce, with D.C. expected to suffer a disproportionate burden because of its high concentration of federal workers.
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Mar 6, 2025 | 
51st.news | Martin Austermuhle |Daniella Ignacio |Eric Falquero |Christina Sturdivant Sani
You Street — 5 min read We were all devastated last month when we learned E Street Cinema, D.C.'s downtown hub for independent film, would be closing on March 6. Adding insult to injury, the theater ended up shuttering early, drawing its final curtain on Sunday evening — the same night as the Academy Awards.
