Washington City Paper: Contents for Mar. 19

Opportunity Knocks
In his travels through D.C.’s poorest housing complexes, Darryl Kornegay has heard every excuse for avoiding welfare-to-work programs. So don’t even bother.

Cover Story

On a gloomy day in April, Darryl Kornegay pulls up to the Carrollsburg Dwellings on L Street SE. A stone’s throw from fashionable parts of Capitol Hill, the squat buildings constitute an entire block of public housing slated to be demolished. Kornegay locates the apartment he’s looking for and bangs on the door. It’s frigid outside, and the door opens with a gust of warm air, revealing a woman wearing a head scarf, men’s boxers, and a Tweety Bird tank top with a plunging neckline. Her breasts are practically spilling out.

Visibly abashed in the face of so much flesh, Kornegay introduces himself and asks the woman, 31-year-old India McShay, to come to the Pilgrim AME Church, a tiny black church in the Rosedale neighborhood off Benning Road NE.

Kornegay is not a proselytizer, though. His purpose in this case is a secular one: McShay must make an appearance at Pilgrim’s Job Connection, a provider of welfare-to-work training that contracts with the D.C. government, which isn’t going to wait until the afterlife to pass judgment on her. If she doesn’t drop by, the city will drop her from its welfare rolls.

“I’ve been there before, but I don’t like that dressing up and stuff,” McShay retorts after hearing Kornegay’s spiel. “I like to be as comfortable as I can. I’m not for all that dressing up.”

Pilgrim makes all the participants dress respectably for the work program. Job opportunities sometimes arise at a moment’s notice, and Program Director Chester Ray will pull people right out of a workshop to send them to an interview. ... Continued

Issue of Mar. 19 - 25, 2004

News and Features

Opportunity Knocks
In his travels through D.C.’s poorest housing complexes, Darryl Kornegay has heard every excuse for avoiding welfare-to-work programs. So don’t even bother.
Cover Story By Stephanie Mencimer
Digital Divide
Ex-inmate seeks payback for lost fingertip.
The City By David Morton
Chronic Fatigues
Police try battle garb for day-to-day wear.
The City By Bidisha Banerjee
Pop-O-Meter
The City By Tom Scocca
A Great Loss
The Mail By Jim and Diana Zurer
Straight Shooter
The Mail By Daniel Eilenberg
True to His School
The Mail By Marc Mason
The Nurture Hypothesis
The Mail By L.A. Swann
House Proud
The Mail By Tom Iannone
Corrections
Correction

Columns

Still in the Ring
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
The Chair Yields
City Desk By Mike DeBonis
Reaction Chamber
City Desk By Mike DeBonis
Minimum Security
Loose Lips By Elissa Silverman
Man of Letters
Dept. of Media By Erik Wemple

Eats

The Raw Deal
Young & Hungry By Todd Kliman

Movies

The Brain Drain
Film Review By Mark Jenkins
Secret Window
Film Review By Sean Daly
Good Bye, Lenin!
Film Review By Josh Levin
Taking Lives
Film Review By Tricia Olszewski
East of Eden
Talking Pictures By Mark Jenkins

Music

“Oh Honey, We’re Ridiculous”
Music Review By Andrew Beaujon
Bee Hives
Music Review By Shannon Zimmerman

Theater

Made in the Shade
Theater Review By Bob Mondello

Arts and Events

Quiet, Please
Artifacts By Dave Jamieson
Repair Manual
Artifacts By Sarah Godfrey
Split Screens
Art Review By Glenn Dixon
Critical Passages
A few of our favorite Joel E. Siegel lines from the Washington City Paper, in no particular order
Arts By Joel E. Siegel
His Master's Voice
Joel E. Siegel, 1940-2004
Arts By Mark Jenkins
Outsourcing Plans
Show & Tell By Robert Lalasz