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Washington, D.C. isn’t just a backdrop of monuments and marble. It’s a living, breathing city—home to more than 700,000 people who work, who raise kids, who build their lives here. Known for decades as Chocolate City, D.C. carries a proud history of Black culture and resilience. And yet, unlike every other city in the United States, its residents watch democracy without fully taking part in it.

They pay billions in federal taxes. They serve in the military. And still, they live under taxation without representation—the very injustice that fueled the Boston Tea Party and launched the American Revolution. More than two centuries later, the capital of the United States remains the only city where that founding demand is still denied.

And here’s the twist—this federal district is saturated with law enforcement. Dozens of agencies with arresting authority overlap in the same small space: the Metropolitan Police, Capitol Police, DEA, FBI, Secret Service, Park Police, Transit Police. And more recently, the National Guard and ICE. A city layered with power, yet stripped of the most basic power its people should hold—the right to representation in Congress.

This is Dispatch from the Heartland. In today’s episode, Ty Hobson Powell brings urgency and fire to the fight for DC statehood, making the case to Corbett Landes and Tammy Buckner that it’s time for the capital to finally become the 51st state. This isn’t just politics. It’s about identity, equality, and the unfinished promise of democracy in the United States.

We’re at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska—join us, won’t you?"

Taxation Without Representation- The Quest for DC Statehood

I Am Interchange, is a must-hear movement that immerses you in the world of adventure journalism, where we fearlessly explore the monumental global challenges of our time. Through raw, unfiltered storytelling, we dive into the tension and share the stories from the front lines of systems change.
THIS SEASON:  It seems, now more than ever, that we have found ourselves on the cusp of monumental worldwide change. Whether we consider the environment, politics, infrastructure, health, economics, or equities across a broad swath of social constructs, the consensus is clear and urgent: all is not as it should be. The United Nations (UN), a consortium of 193 Member States from around the globe, agrees. In 2015, the UN unanimously adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calling for urgent action in global partnership to secure “peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.” In alignment with the goals, HATCH — a curated network of innovators, artists, activists, and entrepreneurs working together to accelerate positive global change — focused its fall summit impact labs on topics related to their four impact pillars: EQUITY, EDUCATION, ENVIRONMENT, and EMPOWERMENT This series will explore those on the frontlines of transformational systems change, accelerating solutions for these human challenges.

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