The chapter charts the decade between the April 1968 riots and Marion Barry’s victory in the 1978 mayoral election. The nation’s capital witnessed a remarkable political revolution during this unpredictable period of citizen-driven politics, cultural and political experimentation, and swift change. D.C. gained a measure of local power for the first time in nearly a century, and Washingtonians of all races – including a growing Hispanic community in the Adams Morgan/Mount Pleasant neighborhoods – pushed for self-determination, community control, and participatory democracy. The transformation was tumultuous, marked by devastating riots, surging crime, and middle-class flight from the city. Politics was often uncivil and chaotic as Washingtonians struggled to be heard in a clamorous era marked by attacks on authorities – Congress, the police, city planners, developers, and others. But for city residents unused to local political power – and particularly for black Washingtonians – it was a thrilling, hopeful time.
