Operation Understanding DC

OUDC’s Spring 2023 program is well underway, and we want you to hear from some of the Social Justice Fellows about our most recent in-person event. Shalvah Lazarus and Nathan Szubin wrote the following about last Sunday’s two-part program.

This past Sunday, we began our journey at the Mt. Zion Female Union Band cemetery
near Georgetown. We were met by Mr. Corey Shaw, a D.C. native, who gave us an incredibly informative tour of the historically African American cemetery and its rich backstory. We learned that despite this cemetery’s historical significance and status as part of a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage site, it has been neglected and unpreserved. Many of the headstones have been stolen or moved into unsightly piles, meaning the majority of graves are unmarked. A member of our group realized that he runs frequently over a trail beside Mt. Zion cemetery, previously unaware of the disrespected graves that lay there. Additionally, the cemetery was littered with trash, including a moldy orange on the oldest gravestone in the cemetery, a monument to children who had died in the early 19th century. As if to expose the negligence with which the cemetery was treated, a second cemetery stands looking over Mt. Zion. Dedicated by President Andrew Johnson to commemorate Confederate history, its well-manicured terracing and monuments harshly contrast Mt. Zion’s persisting erosion and array of strewn gravestones. Mr. Shaw also told us the story of George Pointer, whose remarkable story begins with bo***ge and ends with irreplaceable contributions to our city’s infrastructure. In Chevy Chase D.C, Lafayette-Pointer Park stands as a reminder of both his family’s success story and the immense wrongdoing for which the federal government is responsible, for an entire community of Black Washingtonians was displaced in order to build a school and park for White residents. We were appalled to realize that a park where one of us has enjoyed many Sundays has such a past.

The past year has been difficult for everyone due to the ongoing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the start of the national shutdown, OUDC quickly pivoted to create a successful and engaging socially distant program for Class 26. Even as we did so, however, we recognized that young people, in particular, were being significantly affected by the shifts to virtual school, loss of community, and changes in extracurricular activities that the pandemic imposed. Unfortunately, these factors have led the OUDC Board to conclude that it will not be possible to conduct the program this year. We were unable to recruit sufficient applicants to provide an experience that would meet our standards. This will be the first time since 1993 that OUDC has not held the Social Justice Fellowship program. We did not reach this decision lightly.

To read the full statement from the OUDC Board of Directors and learn what we will be focused on this year, please visit:

2021 Fellowship – Operation Understanding DC The past year has been difficult for everyone due to the ongoing impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the start of the national shutdown, OUDC quickly pivoted to create a successful and engaging socially distant program for Class 26. Even as we did so, however, we recognized that young people, in pa...

Help OUDC recruit the next generation of social justice leaders! OUDC is seeking high school juniors to apply for the 2021 Social Justice Fellowship. OUDC's 2021 Fellowship program will begin in June. The application deadline to be considered for the 2021 cohort is March 31st. Due to the ongoing public health crisis, OUDC will be operating a mostly virtual Fellowship in 2021. For more information about the what the virtual program will look like or to apply, please visit our website. http://oudc.org/apply-for-the-2021-2022-class/

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