July 21, 2014
Nation's Capital Has Conversation With the 'Mayor for Life'
By Amylia Johnson
Barry spoke about his life and his book at “A conversation with Marion Barry,” the first in a series of events
marking Washington Informer’s 50th anniversary. Informer publisher Denise Rolark Barnes (Right)
conducted the interview. PHOTO: Amylia Johnson
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire from the Howard University News Service
(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Marion Barry walked down an aisle of the auditorium at the old Congress Heights School in Southeast D.C., stopping to shake hands with those in the audience.
Finally, he took the stage, proclaiming Washington the “grandest city in the world.” The former mayor and current Ward 8 representative on the DC City Council was ready for “A Conversation with Marion Barry,” the first in a series of events celebrating the Washington Informer newspaper’s 50th anniversary.
The event was also an opportunity for attendees to receive a signed copy of Barry’s book, “Mayor for Life: The Incredible Story of Marion Barry Jr.,” co-authored with Howard University graduate Omar Tyree. But many were just eager to hear from the infamous mayor his account of his life.
Barry spoke candidly to the crowd in the interview guided by Washington Informer’s publisher, Denise Rolark Barnes, using anecdotes and life lessons to give a small taste of his incredible journey from the cotton field of Mississippi to four-time mayor of the nation’s Capitol his provocative book narrates.
At one point, the “Mayor for Life” described himself as “Black to the bone.” The majority Black audience cheered and laughed in agreement. The audience was full of D.C. residents who have been beneficiaries, supporters and admirers of Barry’s tenure as a public servant.
Muriel Bowser, the Democratic nominee in the November 2014 mayoral election and DC City Council member for Ward 4, was one in the audience, standing when Barry called her name. Barry said that Bowser was someone who had come to him to talk and learn from his experiences.
Others in the audience benefited from Barry’s summer job and youth leadership initiatives. Some credited Barry with giving them the grants and contracts to start or grow their companies over the years he has been in public office.
When it comes to his younger years in Mississippi, Barry said early lessons on honesty, wisdom and courage largely shaped the way he views the world and the Black man’s role in it. These lessons came from his mother to whom he dedicates his book, which one reviewer describes as “a story of courage, empowerment, hope, tragedy, triumph and inspiration.”
“I was born on a farm,” he said. “I went to a one-room school house.” The young Barry developed a love for learning, especially science. “I don’t know when I started getting that zeal, but I got it.”
At Fisk University, he was only a year away from completing a chemistry degree, when he left academia to work in the Civil Rights Movement and fight against segregation.
“I was getting tired of chemistry anyway,” said Barry, the first chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.
He attributes his success in civil rights and political campaigns to his desire to learn and the scientific logic he gained in college.
“It taught me to build,” he explained. “You have to be daring.”
The conversation also touched on dark times in his life, his infamous arrest at the Vista Hotel after the FBI videotaped him smoking crack cocaine. Barry was arrested in January 1990 and served a six-month jail term in a federal prison. He was serving his third term as mayor (1979 to 1991) when he was busted. The indomitable Barry survived the scandal to win a fourth term as D.C. mayor from 1995 to 1999.
As a council member, he says he is committed to improving the economic life of Ward 8 residents, the poorest region in DC.
“It’s hard to mobilize the city government,” he said. “It’s hard to get them to focus on what needs to be done.” Not only was the night a focus on Marion Barry, but it was also an opportunity for the Washington Informer to bring attention to its charity groups, scholarships and other partners. One partner, Mahogany Books, which co-sponsored the book signing, is a Black-owned online bookstore that is working to collect and provide books for area youths. The Washington Informer was first printed during the Civil Rights Movement in 1964, the same year that Barry came to D.C. The newspaper has become a symbol for the Black community, so it was fitting that Barry, an enigma in DC politics, be the first guest to celebrate the paper’s milestone. “You can have the best vision in the world,” said Barry. “If you don’t have courage, it won’t matter.”