As the summer winds down, and youth in D.C. prepare for their return to the classroom, some young people are gelling plans together for events intended to foster unity among the District’s youngest, and what some people consider the most misunderstood, residents.
Such is the case for Corey R. McSwain, a Ward 8 student and organizer who’s in the throes of a crowdfunding campaign for his upcoming back-to-school event. Corey said this function, scheduled to take place on Aug. 16 at Anacostia Park and Skate Pavilion Field 6, will set the stage for youth town halls he hopes to host throughout the 2025-2026 school year.
“My goal is to bring all the youth together … bringing us together in one environment,” said Corey, who will soon start his senior year at Friendship Technology Preparatory High School in Congress Heights. “That way, nobody think[s] we’re divided because as of right now, it looks like us Black people are divided, and the people in Ward 8 are divided. But we’re not.”
Corey, known to many in his community as “The Kid President,” spent much of his summer as a mentor at D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) facilities in Wards 7 and 8.
While speaking as a Ward 8 resident, Corey said this summer was one of the safest and quietest summers he’s experienced in recent history. He, however, criticized what he called a juvenile curfew policy that’s more of a panacea — rather than a deep-seated solution — for problems involving a subsection of District youth.
“You put a curfew on U Street, and they’re not able to go down there, they go down Navy Yard,” Corey said. “Certain youth are gonna do what they wanna do, and putting a curfew in place is gonna make them go to different places and tear up different areas.”
Corey went on to tell The Informer that, with DPR hosting its Late Night Hype events at various recreation centers, the curfew is further penalizing young people who want to enjoy their summer without incident.
“The curfew isn’t needed especially when it’s events that DPR doing,” Corey said. “Kids are used to going to [the events], so they feel like it’s no curfew.”
Looking Back: The Emergency Juvenile Curfew
The Juvenile Curfew Emergency Amendment Act — approved by the D.C. Council and in effect since July 7— states that youth 17 years and younger aren’t allowed in public places or District establishments during curfew hours.
Until Aug. 31, curfew hours are 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., seven days a week. From that point on, curfew hours are 11 p.m to 6 a.m on Sunday to Thursday. On Saturday and Sunday, curfew hours are between midnight and 6 a.m.
This emergency legislation, introduced by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and unanimously approved by the D.C. Council amid what’s been described as “teen takeovers” of the District’s commercial areas, also allows Bowser to authorize an emergency juvenile curfew. It authorizes Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith to establish extended juvenile curfew zones— areas where no more than eight young people are allowed to gather in public places between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless involved in exempted activities.
“Most of our young people are doing the right thing, but unfortunately, we continue to see troubling trends in how groups of young people are gathering in the community – in ways that too often lead to violence and other unlawful behaviors,” Bowser said in a statement in June. “And when we see patterns of unsafe or unlawful behavior that put young people and the community at risk, we have to act. This emergency legislation gives us stronger, more flexible tools to prevent violence and disorder before it starts and to keep our community safe.”
Since the legislation went into effect, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has designated Navy Yard and the U Street corridor as juvenile curfew zones. Last weekend’s juvenile curfew zone, known as the Southwest Juvenile Zone, had a perimeter that included: I-395/Southwest Freeway; South Capitol Street SW; a portion of the Anacostia River; and a portion that includes the Anacostia River and the Washington Channel.
The curfew however hasn’t been without critics— including youth who aren’t directly affected.
“If you take a look [at] how typically the D.C. Council moves in certain legislations, you notice that there’s a lot of…catering to those more gentrified areas compared to low-income areas like Wards 7 and 8,” said Aniya Coffey, a Ward 8 resident and D.C. Public Schools alumna who’s been on the frontlines of a movement to amplify youth voices in local policy discussions.
Earlier this summer, Coffey counted among more than a dozen young people who stood in front of Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library with the demand that District officials include more youth in decisions that affect their livelihood. This gathering marked the launch of a 40-day youth-led campaign during which District youth met, and compiled a list of policy suggestions for the D.C. Council.
Coffey, who will soon start her sophomore year at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, told The Informer that members of the council often kowtow to the will of adults, particularly those living in more affluent areas of the District.
For her, the emergency juvenile curfew was no different.
“They were in a position that they saw some of the events that were happening,” Coffey said about the council. “and they put the curfew out in a way to kind of appease that audience while still not actually…addressing the issue at hand, which is the lack of resources that are accessible for kids at this time.”
Though Coffey acknowledged DPR’s Late Night Hype as a viable solution, she said the District could go further in ensuring that, in the midst of an emergency curfew, youth actually make it home safely after leaving government-sanctioned events.
“After the event ends, they kind of really push the kids back out into the community,” Coffey told The Informer. “And there’s no way of making sure that the kids just go back home, that they’re not doing nothing. In most cases, when events like that end late at night with no direction, they end up just congregating somewhere else in the city.”
For Thousands, Late Night Hype is a Return to the D.C. of Yesteryear
This year, DPR, in collaboration with MPD’s Beat the Streets summer outreach program, conducted a three-night Late Night Hype event during Memorial Day Weekend.
The festivities continued on June 6, when Late Night Hype officially launched in observance of National Gun Violence Awareness Day. By the end of August, DPR would’ve hosted 10 weekly Late Night Hype events at recreation facilities across the District, including: Kennedy Recreation Center; Trinidad Recreation Center; Woody Ward Recreation Center & Pool; Fort Stanton Recreation; and Bald Eagle Recreation Center.
DPR Director Thennie Freeman told The Informer, thousands of young people have taken full advantage of Late Night Hype where young people can enjoy music, food, dancing, and video games while learning about resources that D.C. social service agencies are providing.
“We see that there’s a following,” Freeman said. “Even if you look on social media, when we post Late Night Hype, there are more shares than comments and or likes. So the young people are sharing it in their group chats. They’re intentional about coming up.”
For Freeman, the magic sauce is in how DPR crafts the programming with young people in mind.
“They recognize that this is the place for them to be,” she told The Informer.
On the night of Aug. 1, thousands of young people and parents converged on Fort Stanton Recreation Center on Erie Street where they spent hours under the floodlights that brightened the football field and parking lot behind the facility.
Those standing among the swathes of youth were Ward 8 D.C. Councilmember-elect Trayon White and Levon Williams, a local activist and returning citizen known to many as Big Syke. Williams, who took in the sights of the night alone, called the emergency juvenile curfew a win for District youth when done in combination with Late Night Hype.
“I don’t feel as though all children need to be disciplined for a few bad apples,” Williams told The Informer. “However, DPR opening up this safe space for these kids— giving them an outlet and an alternative versus running the streets— I’m all for it, man.”
Williams, a lifelong D.C. resident, said he likes attending DPR events, and any other gathering for that matter, where people feel safe.
“I come from that old D.C. where…it was liable to go down at any moment,” Williams said. “So to see this D.C. with different cultures, different people, different backgrounds, different neighborhoods in the city all in one place at one time, beautiful, man.”
Throughout much of the night, community members received haircuts, played Madden and other video games, ate popcorn, and watched Kung Fu Panda 4 on a megascreen. The youth later cheered on D.C. rapper 3oh Black as he and Freeman attempted to coordinate a kickball match.
They also grooved to Sounds of The Youth Band, a DPR go-go group that performed, among other songs, a cover of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Let’s Groove” (1981).
Just feet away from the stage were representatives of Martha’s Table, DC Health, D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services, and Foundation for a Drug-Free World, all of whom taught classes or passed out information about pitfalls that youth often encounter.
Earlier in the evening, Ward 7 resident Shonita Frazier counted among those who stood in a long line outside of Fort Stanton Recreation Center as MPD officers and DPR personnel checked patrons into the facility.
Frazier said she gathered up her son and cousins for what she anticipated would be a good time. However, as she’s recalled seeing in years past, things could turn left.
“It’s just unfortunate that sometimes the students come from different neighborhoods and then they bring their beefs with them,” Frazier told The Informer. “Then everything gets shut down because they want to be fighting and out of control. I’m just hoping that tonight we have a lot of fun and everyone is able to work together and get along and just play together.”
Throughout the night, MPD officers reminded young people to take off masks and hoodies. At times, as the crowd grew larger near the staging area, DPR and MPD collaborated in moving youth in the center of the space.
Well before festivities got underway, underage community members who registered in advance secured a curfew pass. Those who arrived without registering scanned a QR code while in line to receive a pass of their own.
Near the recreation center entrance, a fleet of white school buses lined up along Erie Street SE, waiting to take youth home at the end of the night. Freeman called it all part of an effort to ensure that young people leave DPR events safely and in accordance with MPD juvenile curfew mandates.
“We also have a designated ride share area so that young people can stay and wait for their rides for pick up and drop off,” she told The Informer. “We also start to intentionally wind down activities and begin to close activations so that young people will not all leave at the same time.”
Kimberly Mack, a Ward 8 mother of three and self-proclaimed “neighborhood auntie,” extolled DPR as a resource and institution of great benefit to youth and families living east of the Anacostia River.
“With so [many] things happening, they’re always keeping the kids busy by having activities,” Mack told The Informer. “Or just having something to keep them out of the streets and keep their minds occupied and staying positive. I’m just looking at it as a great outlet for the kids…to get them hyped [and] get ready [for] school as another year approaches.”
For the second consecutive summer, Mack stood in line with nearly a dozen children to attend Late Night Hype at Fort Stanton Recreation Center. She called the weekly events a solid start, and perhaps a means of connecting troubled youth with some adults who care about them.
“These youth need…the biggest hugs they could get,” Mack told The Informer. “I promise you it will make a difference…because you can tell some of them are just hurt and displaced and all they need is a hug, or just an encouraging word, letting them know they are somebody.”
Community Members Weigh In on the Emergency Curfew
Cheneé Latta, a Southeast resident and mother of a 19-year-old son, called the emergency juvenile curfew a tool that’s designed to put elders at ease, more so than control youth activity.
“It’ll be safer for the older generation because…a lot of the trouble come[s] from the young generation,” Latta told The Informer. “You could just try it out and see, but like I said, if something gonna happen, it’s going to happen [during the] daytime, nighttime, morning, whenever.”
For Zyikira Henderson, the emergency curfew took too long to implement.
“All these shootings and killings would never have happened if the government would have [done] their job,” Henderson, a Gen-Zer, told The Informer as she predicted backlash against the policy. “They’re teenagers. They’re gonna rebel against it. They don’t care about none of that.”
District youth Alexander Williams expressed similar thoughts about the emergency juvenile curfew.
“Basically, I feel like it’s just there just to be there for people that follow the rules,” said Alexander, a student at Eastern Senior High School and counselor in DPR’s Discovery Camp. “And then the people that don’t follow the rules, they rebel, they go outside.