Category Archives for Stories

Rest in Power: Dorothy Hawkins

As I need to preface on virtually everything I write, this is better late than never: I want to share some memories of my friend Dorothy Hawkins. Dorothy was a board member at Bread for the City, my former employer. … Continue reading →

24. September 2016 by greg.bloom@gmail.com
Categories: Stories | 1 comment

Our first Liberation Seder

This is likely our family’s last year in our childhood home. None of us are kids any more. But we’re each in periods of serious transition, and I’ve been thinking a lot about rituals (or perhaps the lack thereof, in … Continue reading →

13. May 2016 by greg.bloom@gmail.com
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The Most Important Canvassing Story Ever

It was the first moment of my first day in the field when it happened. I was in Chelsea. He wasn’t the very first person to cross my path, as I had been standing there for a couple of minutes, … Continue reading →

10. August 2015 by greg.bloom@gmail.com
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Grandma Alice

My grandma had cancer for many years, yet it never really got to her. They only ever found a secondary cancer, about a decade ago, and they promptly got rid of it, but the primary cancer remained an unsolved mystery. … Continue reading →

19. July 2015 by greg.bloom@gmail.com
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Remembering the Mayor for Life

My favorite story about organizing in Marion Barry’s city: it happened at the height of the Save Our Safety Net campaign. We’d been putting ‘SOS’ capes on DC councilcritters who pledged to prevent Fenty’s budget cuts by voting for higher … Continue reading →

24. November 2014 by greg.bloom@gmail.com
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Wisconsin Ideas.

written towards the end of 2012… I remember from history class, in our studies on American federalism, learning about how the states are “the laboratories of democracy” — but I only just discovered that this phrase was actually coined about … Continue reading →

06. December 2013 by greg.bloom@gmail.com
Categories: Stories | Tags: , , , | 1 comment

Towards a Community Data Commons

Thanks to Code for America for inviting me to submit this paper as a chapter of their new book, Beyond Transparency: Open Data and the Civic Innovation. I’m at CfA’s summit in San Francisco this week, and I’ll be posting … Continue reading →

15. October 2013 by greg.bloom@gmail.com
Categories: Community Resource Data, DC, Stories | Tags: , , , , | 1 comment

Brian Anders, in memoriam

I wrote this shortly after Brian passed away, which was a year ago today. Decided to post it after a celebration of his memory last weekend, on Ontario Road in Adams Morgan. We planted a tree among his ashes. R.I.P. … Continue reading →

28. August 2013 by greg.bloom@gmail.com
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