ONE DC (officially known as Organizing Neighborhood Equity) is a left-of-center housing and low-income advocacy group based in Washington D.C. focused on the Shaw neighborhood. The Funambulist has called ONE DC “one of D.C.’s more widely known and effective groups that explicitly deploys anti-gentrification strategies to achieve racial and economic equity.” ¹

Background

In 1982 Manna Inc. was founded as a nonprofit organization to assist low-income residents of Washington, D.C. in acquiring homes. ²

In 1997, the Manna Community Development Corporation (Manna CDC) was spun off from Manna Inc. to “address the lack of community involvement in the development” in Shaw, a neighborhood of Washington, D.C. In 2002, Manna CDC formed the Shaw Equitable Development Initiative to encourage economic development in the neighborhood. ³

In 2006, Manna CDC broke away from Manna Inc. and reformed as ONE DC – Organizing Neighborhood Equity. Shortly afterward, ONE DC intervened in a lawsuit and secured “a large payment settlement,” 54 affordable units for 50 years, and the absolute right of return for members of the Kelsey Gardens Tenants Association after being displaced by developers. ⁴

Activities

Right to Community Controlled Housing and Land

ONE DC’s campaign for the Right to Community Controlled Housing and Land supports Washington D.C. residents against displacement by developers and evictions by landlords. ⁵

People’s Platform Manifesto

In 2014, ONE DC wrote the People’s Platform Manifesto, a list of far-left political demands for the government of the District of Columbia. The manifesto asserted, “Where the city has successfully encouraged wealthier and whiter residents to move into the city, it has destroyed welfare and social programs, attacked workers’ rights and supported a severe reduction in spending on programs for the most vulnerable. The beneficiaries of this policy are the wealthy.” ⁶

The manifesto’s demands include housing for all residents of Washington, D.C. (“housing is a right”), work for all residents who want it, universal government-provided health care, universal access to free and “non-imperialistic” education, a prohibition on the involuntary displacement of individuals by developers, the “right of return” for already displaced residents, and restorative justice for residents who were victimized by the D.C. government. ⁷

Black Workers and Wellness Center

In 2018, ONE DC opened the Black Workers and Wellness Center in Anacostia to engage in education and community organizing for Black residents of Washington, D.C. One of the Center’s services is providing a space “to openly discuss the intersection of race and work, particularly what it means to be “working while Black,” as well as a place for Black workers to positively recognize their Blackness.” ⁸

Right to Income Campaign

The Center’s Right to Income campaign supports an official “guaranteed income” policy for D.C. residents. Unlike a “universal basic income,” a “guaranteed income” would only be paid to low-income residents. ⁹

Homes for All

ONE DC’s Homes for All campaign supports the development of tenant associations to oppose landlords. ¹⁰

Israel-Hamas War

ONE DC endorsed March on Washington for Gaza, which advocates for an armistice in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza that began with the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel of October 7, 2023. ¹¹

Lawsuit

In 2016, ONE DC joined a lawsuit as the lead plaintiff in which 150 residents of Brookland Manor Apartments sued Mid-City Financial Corp. and Brentwood Village for redeveloping their property to reduce the number of four and five-bedroom apartments. ¹²

Leadership

In 2010, ONE DC reorganized into a “non-tradition” “shared leadership” structure that eschews hierarchy. ¹³

Jourgette Reid-Sillah is the co-chair of ONE DC’s board. Reid-Sillah previously worked as a shop steward for Unite Here Local 25. ¹⁴

Funding

In 2022, ONE DC received funding from the Greater Washington Community Foundation. ¹⁵

Also in 2022, ONE DC received $125,000 from the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, and $100,450 from the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. ¹⁶

In 2020, ONE DC received $10,000 from Black Benefactors. In 2016, ONE DC received $7,500. ¹⁷

ONE DC offers walking tours of Washington D.C. for $300 to $500 per group. ¹⁸

1. ”Housing Is A Natural Right, Not A Privilege”: Anti-Gentrification Activism in Washington D.C.” The Funambulist. March 1, 2019. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://thefunambulist.net/magazine/22-publishing-struggle/48570-2.
2. “ONE DC’s History and Past Win.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/history.
3. “ONE DC’s History and Past Win.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/history.
4. “ONE DC’s History and Past Win.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/history.
5. “ONE Right to Housing and Land.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/right_to_housing.
6. “The People’s Platform Manifesto.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/peoplesplatform.
7. “The People’s Platform Manifesto.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/peoplesplatform.
8. “Black Workers & Wellness Center.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/blackworkerscenter.
9. “Right to Income.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/right_to_income.
10. “Homes for All.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/tenant_organizing.
11. “Endorsers.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://march4gaza.org/endorsers/.
12. Eakin, Britain. “D.C. Developers Accused of Pushing Out Poor.” Court House News. August 26, 2016. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.courthousenews.com/d-c-developers-accused-of-pushing-out-poor/.
13. “Shared Leadership.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/sharedleadership.
14. “Jourgette Reid-Sillah.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/jourgette_reid_sillah.
15. “SOME Awarded Inaugural Grant from Health Equity Fund Among 32 DC Nonprofits.” SOME. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://some.org/some-awarded-inaugural-grant-from-health-equity-fund-among-32-dc-nonprofits/.
16. “ONE DC.” Cause IQ. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/one-dc,870766022/.
17. “Our Grantees.” Black Benefactors. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.blackbenefactors.org/our-grantees/.
18. “Walking Tours.” ONE DC. Accessed January 27, 2024. https://www.onedconline.org/walkingtours.