The Meaning of Home

Wikipedia defines public housing as a form of housing financial agreement in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Others who don’t know the legal definition define it as hosing for poor people. Anacostia is heavily surrounded with public homes and families who desperately need them. Wikipedia says that during the 1950s, in the new neighborhood, numerous public housing apartment complexes were constructed along the Anacostia River. Around the 1960s and 70s, segregation was increasingly encouraged amongst many Washington DC communities. It’s evidently clear that its there are similar but different issues today.

As seen in the black in white photo above, Anacostia “Projects,” as previous community members stated, each and every neighbor simply got along with each other and related with one another. Children played together without any problems, conflicts, or commotion while adults conversed and enjoyed each other’s company. They thought of themselves as one big family, everyone knew everyone else. Now everything is different if not the opposite. Though segregation was taking place, in the projects community, they didn’t experience such activities. That is, until the individuals ventured elsewhere.

in a photo of Anacostia's more recent “Projects,” or public housing communities, such as Barry Farms, people are brought together for the wrong reasons. Gangs and mobs have been formed merely for violent purposes. Not all of Barry Farms is like that, but majority of its children have their heads in the wrong activities. Instead of being able to play freely and enjoy their innocence, young children are dying due to someone else’s negligence. It’s a sad truth.

Not everyone in these communities has this type of mentality, but this behavior is what gives public housing its commonly used definition. Small communities such as the “Projects” of Anacostia, should come together in a positive way instead fighting against one another with harmful intention.