Name: Brenda Richardson  

Occupation: Coordinator, Anacostia Parks and Community Collaborative    

Hometown: El Paso, TX

Tell me a little bit about yourself. How long have you lived in DC?

I’m originally from El Paso, Texas. When I was twelve, my dad’s job brought him here to the District of Columbia, and I’ve been here ever since. I went to Douglass Junior High School and then Ballou Senior High School, where I graduated and was able to go to the University of Michigan to get my BA in Political Science and the University of Maryland to get my master’s in Social Work. 

What do you love most about living in DC?

First of all, the people are wonderful. It’s such a diverse city — there are lots of people who come here from other countries and they decide to stay. I speak a little Spanish, so when I come across someone of Spanish descent, I’m able to communicate with them and that feels good. 

It’s a very small town — it’s easy to get around. You can generally get wherever you’re going in DC within half an hour. And we have the most beautiful trees! Our tree canopy is just really beautiful here in the District. I’m just grateful to have an opportunity to live in our nation’s capital, because now, a lot of people can’t even afford to live here. 

Could you talk about your own experience not having voting representation in our government? 

Oh my goodness that’s so frustrating! It’s really frustrating. That’s why statehood is so critically important for us. I was actually talking to a colleague of mine and we were talking about how when we had Democratic presidents, it should have been easier for us to get statehood, and it still didn’t happen. I think that there’s this sense that we don’t deserve statehood and then there’s also this other notion that this is the nation’s capital and it should not be a state — it should be just the way it is, because we’re not a state, yet we represent the entire country.   

What does achieving statehood mean for you?

That we will have a vote. That’s the big thing — that we don’t have a vote! Because some folks have taken it even further. Some folks feel that we deserve a governor, senators, and a mayor. We’ve got the mayor, but I’m not sure that will happen in my lifetime. I do believe that we deserve it — 700,000 people live here in our nation’s capital and the thought that our representative doesn’t have a vote is just very very disturbing. 

What do you think needs to be done to get closer to achieving statehood?  

That’s a great question, because people have been working on this for years. I’ve signed petitions, I’ve gone to tons of meetings, and whenever Congresswoman Norton called out to the community — because I’m in Ward 8 — it was just so important to be there to support her, because she is our representative and she understands the needs of the people that she serves. 

I guess the overall thing for me is why do we even have to fight for statehood? Why couldn’t it just be ushered in because it’s the right thing to do? I think that the powers that be, whoever they are, feel a lot more comfortable with 700,000 people not having a vote in Congress. 

I also think they should teach our children about statehood in our schools so they will grow up understanding the significance of statehood. As they get older, then they understand why they should be fighting for it. Finally, statehood is important because we not only deserve to have a vote, but we deserve to have the necessary services to help this city function like any other city. I had a conversation the other day where someone was sharing the possibility of the president taking over the Metropolitan Police Department. That’s insane!        

One of the things that I appreciate are young people. There are young people in this community who are going to have to carry the banner and it’s not always an easy thing to do — you have to be tough. I remember when I started out in this work — being politically engaged — and how many times I came home crying. Sometimes I’d be in a meeting holding the tears back, and this was thirty, thirty-five years ago. Ward 8 was just being treated like a stepchild and there was tolerance for that. But we matter, we do indeed matter. 

I also think they should give a drop dead date for when statehood should happen. Otherwise, we’ll be in this position indefinitely. We want to be released from the prison of not having statehood. 

Is there anything else you would like to say?

Our vote counts, but our politicians are sending a message that it doesn’t. And then we wonder why so many people, at least in Ward 8, don’t vote. When I was working on different campaigns and trying to convince people to vote — and these are people who live in ‘disfavored’ communities — they would often say [in regards to the candidate running for office] that we’ve never seen them, so why am I going to go out and make the effort to vote for them? And when you do go vote for them, they’ll hand out a leaflet that says this is what that person represents. Well, number one, our folks haven’t had a chance to sit down and really think about it, and then you expect them to vote for that person? I don’t think that’s fair to the community. And to Congresswoman Norton’s credit, she has done a miraculous job of making sure that we got what we needed with the limited power she did have. And I know she had to establish relationships with other people on the Hill so they could help us get what the District needed because they did have a vote. 

The other reason that statehood is important is because I saw a video [the other day] of one of our leaders here in Ward 8 who was pulled over by the cops, and they were never clear about why they pulled him over, because he videotaped the whole thing. Not only was it MPD, but it was the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the FBI! Are you kidding me?! I think that’s cruel and unusual punishment, and then it happened to be a Black man that was exposed to this kind of injustice. That makes me so angry! That means that if it happened to him and he had the courage to post it, that means it’s happening everywhere in our city. What’s even more frightening is that folks may be spending time in jail — he spent two or three days in jail, unjustly. How many other people has that already happened to and they ended up in jail as well? I would love to see what the statistics are on that, because that means we would have to do more. I don’t know what that would look like, but we have to do more. 

[this interview was conducted in August 2026]