Plans being finalized for citywide Marion Barry tribute The death of Marion Barry sent D.C. officials scrambling Sunday to organize memorials to the District’s most famous politician. D.C. flags were lowered to half-staff Sunday morning, and officials in Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s office said they were finalizing paperwork to request that American flags in the District also be lowered to half-staff. In an afternoon interview, Gray pledged “public efforts to mark the life of this iconic figure.” He said that the city had made few arrangements for Barry’s death and that much would depend on Barry’s wishes as expressed through his family and friends. “You probably would look at it and say, ‘You should [have made plans],’ but who in the hell wants to plan for that?” Gray said. “There’s nothing exciting about trying to accept the inevitability of what we know is inevitable.” An administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because plans were not complete, said it seemed clear that a citywide memorial service would be held. Gray said that because of the Thanksgiving holiday, it could be a week or more before such an event was held. “It would not surprise me if it was the week after. That would make more sense to me,” he said. “We want everybody who wants to participate to have an opportunity be able to do that.” People close to Barry were discussing the possibility of using Verizon Center for a memorial service. An official familiar with the planning said another possibility is the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, where the city had a public service for musician Chuck Brown in 2012. Gray said he expected Barry’s body to lie in repose at the John A. Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. He predicted that “thousands” would visit. Dates and times for any events were not immediately clear. Remembering Marion Barry November 24, 2014 People around the nation whove never met Marion Barry nevertheless have strong opinions about him as a symbol of an era in DC, but he was also a man who touched many lives in many different ways. Our contributors look back at their memories of the Mayor for Life. Nick Keenan: I first saw him in person in the late 1990s. I was living in Shaw, the Convention Center was in the planning stages, and it was hugely controversial. There had been a series of public meetings which had grown increasingly heated, and the last one had ended in a near-riot after about ten minutes. I still remember the president of the civic association standing on a table and blowing a whistle, trying to restore order (why he had brought a whistle to the meeting remains a mystery). Allen Lew had brought a detailed 3D model to the meeting, and I remember him scurrying out, obviously relieved and somewhat surprised that his expensive model had escaped the angry crowd. It was against this backdrop that Marion Barry came into the neighborhood a few weeks later, to talk with us about the Convention Center. He had an almost magical effect on the crowd. His charisma was obvious. The crowd was generally hostile, but he won them over. Were not going to get anywhere, he started, with people yelling at each other. Im going to have an assistant hand out cards, and if you have a question or a comment write it on a card, and I will read them all. And like that, it was over. People had come for a raucous meeting, but they were going to get a bunch of questions read off cards. Or course he never did read all of the questions, but it didnt matter. The Convention Center was approved a few months later.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 19:13:54 +0000
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