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Fugazi Banter: Homelessness & Segregation

A black and white flyer that says: "Rally for the homeless, 3pm, march 8, near city hall, 14th & penn n.w. outside -- fugazi, ccnv, victor howell house, shelter residents, positive force -- the word on the street is death."
Flyer for concert discussing homelessness. Freedom Plaza. March 8/21, 1993.

Courtesy of Fugazi live series.

By Dr. Rami Toubia Stucky

Introduction

Explore the Series

Between the late 1980s and early 2000s, punk band Fugazi played several times at DC-area parks. Many of their live shows were recorded by fans and then made available. These recordings not only capture Fugazi’s music. You can also hear bandmembers Ian MacKaye, Joe Lally, Brendan Canty, Guy Picciotto, and Jerry Busher address the crowd. Sometimes they prepared monologues or spun off into impromptu musings. Other times they invited guest speakers and activists such as Mark Andersen on stage. What was said was almost always political, though.

Check out the Rest of the Six-Part Series

This page is part of a six-part series that looks at the concerns of DC punks firsthand. Use the links to the right to explore the rest of the series.
Stay here to listen to activists and band members talk about the closing of the Foggy Bottom Shelter and misconceptions about Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park.

Homelessness

Tents set up in a park at a city intersection.
An encampment, 2nd St. and Massachusetts Ave. NE, one block from the Ronald Reagan Republican Center, Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. September 29, 2020.

Licht, Mike, photographer.

  • Fugazi: Homelessness | March 21, 1993 - Freedom Plaza

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        An excerpt from the banter in between songs at a March 1993 Fugazi concert held in Freedom Plaza. An unknown local activist asks the crowd for support at an upcoming court date.

        Date created:
        03/21/1993
        Audio Transcript

      “The mayor had us arrested two days before Thanksgiving. Oh we go to court on the 23rd of this month. Court room…I believe it’s 119. We need a lot of support down there that day. To let the Mayor know that she can’t––she can’t get away with this.”

      Explanation:

      A view from the street (with cars parked, and driving along) of a tall, glass-windowed building.
      Image capture of area across from the Watergate Hotel. August 2007.

      Google.

      Concern about homelessness reached a notable peak in 1993. Two years previous, a homeless shelter opened in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. It was located right across the street from the Watergate Hotel. Many residents of Foggy Bottom wanted the shelter closed, however. Some felt it attracted crime. Others experienced dangerous encounters with the shelter’s occupants. Their complaints were not ignored. Jack Evans, who was the area’s local council person, supported closing the 108-bed shelter. So too did Mayor Sharon Pratt. In August 1992, Pratt made the decision.

      Protests quickly ensued. About 40 advocates established camp in front of the shelter and expressed their demands. They would not leave until the decision was reversed. They were even willing to be arrested.1 Their protests worked. Pratt postponed the closure until March 23, 1993.2 The city did, however, remove half of the shelter’s beds in November.3

      When March rolled around, Fugazi set up shop at the Freedom Plaza. Around 5,000 people were in attendance. Fliers promoting the show invoked the words of Dr. Martin Luther King. It was a “concert for justice” that advocated a “person-oriented” society. The show not only commemorated the 30th anniversary of the March on Washington. It was also an opportunity to bring further attention to the closing of the Foggy Bottom Shelter.

      Numerous guests were invited on stage to share their experiences. Some spoke about conditions in homeless shelters. Others mentioned how they were arrested while protesting closures. Some asked for emotional support while being arraigned and tried in court.

      The protests achieved mild success. The Foggy Bottom shelter remained open until April 30. Ultimately, it was permanently closed.

      A plot across the street from the Watergate Hotel now houses an apartment complex. There, rent in a 358 square foot studio starts at $2,022 a month.4

      Performing at Malcolm X Park

      A page full of black and white image slides—showing mostly black musicians performing on stage. Titled "meridian hill, 7/24/71
      Contact sheets for miscellaneous performances at Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park. Circa 1971.

      National Park Service, Museum Resource Center, National Capital Region Public Affairs Photograph Collection, NCRO 6.

      • Fugazi: Segregation | September 29, 1996 - Malcolm X Park

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            An excerpt from the banter in between songs at a September 1996 Fugazi concert held in Malcolm X Park. Singer Ian MacKaye discusses the role and perception of Malcolm X Park in D.C. life.

            Date created:
            08/29/1996
            Audio Transcript

          “Malcolm X Park is a park that we all––a lot of us live near and around. And we drive by it all the time and people go up and down 16th street and never stop in the park. We thought ‘what a great place to play. What a beautiful, beautiful park.’ But when I found out that, uh, we actually could do this show and we decided to get it together, we called around and started telling people about the show. And I was really surprised by how many people were, uh, totally not interested in coming down to this park because of the reputation it has. And it made me realize just, uh, how incredibly separate and divided this city is. And I think that, uhm––from our point of view, we like to think we’re from Washington, D.C.That we’re a part of the community here. And all the people that spoke today are part of that community. And hopefully the people who are all joining us are also part of that community. And we should be able to go to any park anywhere in this city at any time.”

          Explanation:

          Malcolm X Park is officially called Meridian Hill Park. It was developed in the early decades of the twentieth century for white DC’s elite.5 After World War II, the demographics of the area began to shift. By the 1960s, the surrounding neighborhoods, and DC in general, would become majority Black. Concurrently, the area witnessed an increase in crime and poverty. By 1967, the NPS had largely abandoned the park. It was still used, however mostly as a space for prostitution or drugs.6 The area surrounding Malcolm X Park deteriorated even more after 1968. Around 700 businesses and some 5,000 jobs were lost in the aftermath of the uprisings.7

          The situation began to improve by the 1990s. Community activists and local organizations organized regular cleanups. The NPS increased maintenance. Trees and flowers were planted. Needles were removed from the premises. Reports of robberies in the area dropped from 34 in 1990 to 13 in 1992. By 1993, the Washington Post had declared victory over the park’s drug dealers.8

          That did not mean the park’s reputation improved amongst punk fans. To be sure, punks were cognizant of racial, economic, and social disparity within their city. The scene was even comprised of integrated punk bands. Groups like The Enzymes, Scream, Void, and Red C all had one Black member. Bad Brains were a notable example of an entirely Black group. In 1985, punk members like Mark Andersen organized Positive Force DC, an activist organization that hosted and sponsored benefit concerts across the city. Much of their attention was directed to South Africa’s apartheid state.9

          But such attempts at integration and cross-cultural exchange did not always succeed. Dug Birdzell, member of Beefeater, noted that “the DC scene was more integrated than other scenes. But it was integrated like a black and white cookie.”10 Lyle Preslar, Minor Threat’s guitarist, made a similar observation. “While there was some integration … I’d still say it’s pretty small.”11 The difficulty Fugazi had in bringing audiences out to Malcolm X Park offers additional evidence of these racial dynamics.

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          Last updated: March 20, 2025