WASHINGTON -- As President Obama travels toward the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue during the Inauguration parade on Monday, he'll pass by the seat of the District of Columbia government, the John A. Wilson Building.
Occupying a prime piece of parade real estate opposite Freedom Plaza, a protest banner reading "A More Perfect Union Must Include Full Democracy in DC" hanging from the D.C. government's parade review stand will remind the president and countless others watching live coverage of the procession that residents of the nation's capital do not enjoy full and equal representation in Congress.
Local officials and residents pressing the cause of D.C. voting rights recently scored a small symbolic victory in the fight for full democracy in the nation's capital.
This weekend, after persistant pressure from local D.C. officials and voting rights activists, the White House swapped the license plates on the presidential limousine for local D.C. plates with the message "Taxation Without Representation."
As the presidential motorcade made its way toward the Capitol along Pennsylvania Avenue before the swearing-in ceremony, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D) remarked on Twitter how great it was to see D.C.'s cause for full democracy to be on full display.
Former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry (D), who currently represents Ward 8 on the D.C. Council, made it known that he had hoped that President Obama would have made mention of D.C.'s voting rights plight during his Inauguration address.
"The president has a responsibility to help liberate us," Barry said, according to Washington City Paper.
This post has been updated ...
Related
Before You Go
