By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., October 30, 2021 — I received confirmation yesterday from my landlord that my eviction scheduled for October 26 has been cancelled while my application to STAY DC for financial assistance is being processed.
STAY DC, an acronym for Stronger Together by Assisting You, is a federally-funded program designed to keep residents in their homes by paying for back rent and utilities accrued during the coronavirus pandemic.
The program was established in April following legislation signed into law by President Biden, but earlier this month, Mayor Bowser administration officials said that due to remaining applications for assistance depleting all available funds, additional requests for funding would not be considered. This triggered a demonstration by activists affiliated with the Cancel The Rents organization calling for the STAY DC program to be extended beyond its Oct. 27 termination date.
My application is one of those being considered, and I have a status hearing scheduled for January. With a new government now in power in The Bahamas, by then I am hopeful that my life will be back to normal, thanks to the power of prayer and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
My hope has been buttressed by the remarkable performance of the new Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, since the September 16 general election, as it continues to remove obstacles to good governance left in place by the former FNM government.
In the United States, it is an accepted general practice not to evaluate the performance of a new President until after his first 100 days in office. Surely, there is clear evidence that if a similar yardstick were used to assess the leadership of Prime Minister Davis, if he continues on the trajectory he has established since the election, good governance would definitely have been restored to The Bahamas after 100 days.
I fully expect that under the new government, some opportunities will be made available for me to get my life back to normal, after being shackled by the evil chains of victimization imposed by the former government for more than two years, which is mainly responsible for the serious financial problems that led to me being on the brink of eviction.
I had hoped to see Prime Minister Davis during his recent visit to D.C., but because both of my feet were swollen – as a result of a diabetic problem that I neglected by not regularly taking my medication – I could not wear shoes.
However, given my close ties to the Black Press, I vigorously pursued the possibility of arranging a virtual press conference with some of the major Black newspapers across the United States, but that effort did not materialize, mainly because I could not guarantee when the Prime Minister would be available.
Nonetheless, the Prime Minister’s visit to D.C. from October 20-23 to attend events commemorating the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was highly successful.
During a dinner held on Wednesday, October 20, the Prime Minister interacted with some of the most prominent Black politicians in the United States, including many members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).
Such powerful contacts in the CBC, I am sure, will be of tremendous benefit to The Bahamas over the years. Indeed, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, US Representative from California’s 43rd Congressional District, is in essence an “Honorary Bahamian,” having been a close fiend of The Bahamas since her husband Sidney Williams was Ambassador to The Bahamas from 1994-1998.
Since then, she and her husband have been very close friends of Sir Franklyn Wilson and Lady Sharon Wilson and have frequently been house guests of Sir Franklyn and Lady Sharon on their visits to Nassau, mainly during the Christmas season because they are huge fans of Junkanoo.
Having served as News Editor of the award-winning Washington Informer newspaper for more than 12 years when I previously lived in Washington, D.C., before returning to my native Bahamas in 1996, I have also repeatedly stressed the importance of The Bahamas recognizing the powerful influence the Black Press has among loyal supporters in major cities across the United States.
I have over the years used this as a “selling point” to promote advertisements, mainly for the Washington Informer, from the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, given the fact that The Informer is widely circulated in the Washington, D.C. area, including Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia.
Collectively referred to as the DMV, this area is home to many affluent Black Federal Government employees and corporate professionals who can easily afford to travel, and as one of the world’s leading tourist destinations, it makes a whole lot of sense for The Bahamas to advertise in the Black Press. I certainly hope that Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper, who is also Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation, gives serious consideration to advertising in the Black Press as The Bahamas seeks to maintain its reputation as one of the top tourist destinations in the world.
Promoting The Bahamas remains one of the areas in which I most certainly can again assist the government, and I hope that in his capacity as Minister of Tourism, Deputy Prime Minister Cooper would give consideration to reinstating my cancelled agreement.
As I have noted in previous articles, choosing to live at 1000 M Street, S.W. when I moved back to Washington, D.C., from The Bahamas in 2013 to become Press, Cultural Affairs and Information Manager at the Embassy was a blessing in disguise for a die-hard Washington Nationals baseball fan like myself. I live just six blocks from Washington Nationals Stadium, and before COVID-19 I frequently attended Nationals games, especially during our World Series Championship year in 2019.
After my diplomatic appointment was rescinded, the Embassy ceased paying my rent, which was included in the terms of my contract. Consequently, remaining financially solvent has been an ongoing struggle, especially after the devastation caused by Hurricane Dorian in September of 2019 in Grand Bahama, where I had several clients who could no longer afford my services, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic among my small business clients here in the D.C. area.
So the notification that my eviction had been cancelled was indeed good news. Hopefully, before my status hearing in D.C. Superior Court in January, I shall be financially in the position to remain in my current apartment at Modern On M.
