Anise Jenkins (born ) is an American activist in the

Statehood movement in the District of Columbia The District of Columbia statehood movement is a political movement that advocates making the District of Columbia a U.S. state, to provide the residents of the District of Columbia with voting representation in the Congress and complet ...

and serves as the executive director of Stand Up! for Democracy in DC (Free DC).

Early life and education

Anise Jenkins was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in March 1949. Jenkins's father was also born in Washington, D.C., and identified as an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

. Jenkins graduated from Western High School (now

Duke Ellington School of the Arts The Duke Ellington School of the Arts (established 1974) is a high school located at 35th Street and R Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., and dedicated to arts education. One of the high schools of the District of Columbia Public School syst ...

) and later attended

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

where she received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

followed by a

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accou ...

Activism

Jenkins became active in the fight for D.C. statehood in the late 1990s following the creation of the

District of Columbia Financial Control Board The District of Columbia Financial Control Board (officially the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority) was a five-member body established by the United States Congress in 1995 to oversee the finances of ...

. The officials on the D.C. Control Board were appointed by the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

and had the power to override decisions by locally elected officials on issues regarding taxation and spending. This lead Jenkins to organize with ministers, local activists and students at Howard University and the

University of the District of Columbia The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall ...

. At first, the group met in the basement of the

Rainbow/PUSH Rainbow/PUSH is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization formed as a merger of two nonprofit organizations founded by Jesse Jackson; Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) and the National Rainbow Coalition. The organizations pursue soci ...

coalition offices in Washington. Later, the group met at the offices of the

National Council of Negro Women The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African-American women, their families, and communities. Mary McLeod Bethune, the ...

where they had the support of the organization's then-CEO and president

Dorothy Height Dorothy Irene Height (March 24, 1912 – April 20, 2010) was an African American civil rights and women's rights activist. She focused on the issues of African American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is c ...

. One of the group's first actions was to target the re-election of

Lauch Faircloth Duncan McLauchlin "Lauch" Faircloth (born January 14, 1928) is an American politician who served one term as a Republican U.S. Senator from North Carolina. Before his Senate service, Faircloth was a prominent and wealthy hog farmer. One impetu ...

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and p ...

from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

, who supported the creation of the D.C. Control Board. As a result, Faircloth was given the derogatory nickname of "D.C.'s overseer", which is attributable to Jenkins's description of the District of Columbia as the "last

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

" in the United States. Jenkins's group rallied D.C. residents with family members in North Carolina to note vote for the Senator in the

1998 United States elections The 1998 United States elections were held on November 3, 1998 in the middle of Democratic President Bill Clinton's second term. Though Republicans retained control of both chambers of Congress, the elections were unusual because this is the fir ...

. Faircloth was defeated that year. Jenkins has been arrested nine times in relation to her activism on the issue of D.C. statehood. One of the arrests took place during the arrest of a larger group of 41 people in April 2011, including then-D.C. Mayor

Vincent C. Gray Vincent Condol Gray (born November 8, 1942) is an American politician who served as the mayor of the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2015. He served for one term, losing his bid for reelection in the Democratic primary to D.C. Council member M ...

and members of the Council of the District of Columbia, who were protesting Congressional action to overturn locally enacted laws. Jenkins and other members of the group were recognized by the District of Columbia's non-voting delegate,

Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a delegate to the United States House of Representatives, representing the District of Columbia since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Ear ...

, on the floor of Congress on April 15, 2011, to honor their commitment to D.C. home rule.

Recognition

Jenkins has been recognized for her activism in relation to

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

and the promotion of democracy in the District of Columbia.

The Washington Informer ''The Washington Informer'' is a weekly newspaper published in Washington, D.C. ''The Informer'' is female-owned and is targeted at the African-American population of the D.C. metropolitan area. The publisher is Denise Rolark Barnes, whose fathe ...

named Jenkins as one of the 50 most influential people in Washington, DC in 2013. She was also the recipient of a Trailblazer Award from the

National Congress of Black Women The National Congress of Black Women, Inc. (NCBW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1984, dedicated to the educational, political, economic and cultural development of African American women and their families. NCBW also serves as ...

in 2005, and received Human Rights Community Award from the

United Nations Association of the National Capital Area The United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA) is a non-profit membership organization based in Washington, DC. It is dedicated to building an understanding and support for the ideas and vital work of the United Nations a ...

. Jenkins is also notable for her appearance at rallies and protests in relation to D.C. statehood and is distinctive for her long

dreadlocks Dreadlocks, also known as locs or dreads, are rope-like strands of hair formed by locking or braiding hair. Origins Some of the earliest depictions of dreadlocks date back as far as 1600–1500 BCE in the Minoan Civilization, one of Europ ...

hair style covered by a red or black baseball cap emblazoned with the "FREE DC" slogan.

References

External links

Stand Up! For Democracy (Free DC)
- Official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Anise 1949 births Living people American activists Democracy activists Howard University alumni