Washington City Paper: Contents for Jan. 19

Black Power
The New Black Panther Party looks at whites and sees red.

Cover Story

For Sharon Roach, the crusade began with a rally on Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Prince Hall Masonic Temple on U Street NW. She walked into the large auditorium crammed with more than 1,000 people, threaded her way to one of the back rows, and took an open seat. It was about 6:30 p.m., and the place was crowded, hot, and thrilling, like some urban tent revival. People fanned themselves with folded pieces of paper titled "Exposing and Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Washington, D.C." The event, sponsored and heavily promoted by the nascent D.C. branch of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense, had been billed in fliers and posters around the city as an "Emergency Black Unity Town Hall Meeting" on "the State of Black D.C."

Things got off to an inauspicious start, according to journalists who were there. The meeting started late, and the first few speakers rambled almost incoherently. One man recited a meandering poem; another prayed for the audience for what seemed like 15 minutes. The long evening would eventually stretch to more than three hours, and by the time the New Black Panthers passed a hat for contributions, more than half their audience had evaporated.

Roach, though, stayed for the whole thing. An office worker from nearby Shaw, she sat in the rear of the room, listening quietly, absorbing everything. And she found herself thoroughly mesmerized by the evening's main attraction: Malik Zulu Shabazz, the charismatic 34-year-old leader of the New Black Panthers, D.C. Division. ... Continued

Issue of Jan. 19 - 25, 2001

News and Features

Black Power
The New Black Panther Party looks at whites and sees red.
Cover Story By Mark Francis Cohen
Out of Gas
An Exxon station raises prices—and sometimes even turns on its pumps.
The City By Nefretiti Makenta
Promised Land
Can General Colin Powell's philanthropic crusade deliver more than good PR?
The City By Eric Hoover
WIN-Win Situation
The Mail By The Rev. Lionel Edmonds and et. al.
Panic Attack
The Mail By Kenya Brunson
Tank Half Full?
The Mail By Don Hawkins
Sports Authority
The Mail By Steven Hathaway
Worthy Opponent
The Mail By Louis E. Kerr
Wake-Up Call
The Mail By Sandra S.S. Seegars

Columns

Hail to the Chief
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
Mice, Men, Or Whatever
Loose Lips By Jonetta Rose Barras
Year of Our Discontent
City Desk By Dave Mann
Sick of It
City Desk By Elissa Silverman

Eats

Movies

Lady in the Dark
Film Review By Joel E. Siegel
Surprise, Surprise
Film Review By Mark Jenkins

Music

Appetite for Destruction
Music Review By Neil Drumming
Favourite Fallen Idols
Music Review By Christopher Porter

Theater

Sins of the Mother
Theater Review By Bob Mondello
Reb Without a Cause
Theater Review By Alexander C. Kafka

Arts and Events

All A Is B
Opera By Joe Banno
Killed 'Em All
Books By Mark Jenkins
In the Beginning There Was Rhythm
Members of the D.C. Nyabinghi community bring an old Rastafari tradition to the new Babylon.
Arts By Ayesha Morris
Mirror Moves
Gallery Review By Glenn Dixon
Pictures of She
Artifacts By Shauna Miller
The Secret History
Artifacts By Louis Jacobson