Capitol Rear Primer (A Prologue Written Mostly Afterward)

Capitol Rear View is an account of my AmeriCorps (aka the “Domestic Peace Corps”) 2006-07 service year at an after-school teen center in Washington, DC. The identities of the people and places I encounter are the least important details, thus I’ve nicknamed everyone and everything (re: tags called ‘Darth Vader’ and ‘Michael Vick’). I suppose it should be noted that I have a tendency to nickname things regardless. But I digress.

Every day, my drive to work included a street that placed the Capitol Dome in my rear view for a few minutes. The header photo is real. On each side of the street, dilapidated buildings crumbled behind boarded windows. The same homeless people limped down the concrete median. Kids loitered on street corners with no one to tell them otherwise. And through it all, the symbol of our great democracy figuratively mocked in the mirror.

Those I met there lived in the shadow of the most powerful government on the planet. All those promises of “spreading freedom and liberty” abroad hadn’t even be realized for the citizens residing almost literally on the lawmakers’ doorsteps. These entries were simply my collection of thoughts as I interacted with the residents of the lesser-known DC, and as I learned, the real DC.

Although I wrote daily about my experiences, I didn’t publish everything. I may post additional entries as I read back through the unpublished material. What I did post, as a body of work, reads similarly to chapters of a book or a chronological collection of feature columns. In that sense, I recommend starting at the beginning (August 2006) for continuity’s sake.

I also recommend chronological or chapter reading because it captures, as I’ve discovered on the re-read, a palpable evolution of the volunteer mindset. Though I didn’t enter as blithely idealistic, it’s apparent my natural instinct to “seek good” sustained a severe beating. To ultimately emerge not as a discouraged cynic, but as one with the perspective necessary to productively work for social justice, is a testament to the extraordinary youth I was blessed to know.

AmeriCorps is far from a standardized service program; while some members may incur similar placements, the experiences are wholly unique. I learned this throughout the year whenever my small Washington, DC subgroup gathered for bi-monthly meetings — it was only me reporting the shootings, robberies and other sensational activities. I was approached for re-assignment because of the violence, but to my knowledge, this is not a normal occurrence.

My initial goal in writing this was to provide family back home some details about my placement. It quickly grew into an almost ethnographic learning experience for me. I didn’t publicize this site in the blogosphere during my service year, but now hope to promote this body of work as encouragement or inspiration for others to commit to AmeriCorps and national service.

Drop a Line.

If you have any questions or comments about the material, or would like to know more about AmeriCorps in general, feel free to comment below or email me.