Gentrification is an ongoing and growing issue in Washington, D.C. Many in the black community feel gentrification is a form of erasure. Recently, black D.C. residents had to grapple with exclusion when The Washingtonian launched a new advertising campaign targeting tourism. 

Apparently, The Washingtonian ran a photo campaign entitled, "I'm Not A Tourist. I Live Here," featuring pictures of various D.C. residents, WAMU reports. The problem? There wasn't a single black person featured. Not one.

Despite a growing white population, black residents still make up the majority of D.C.. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau report, the city is 47.7 percent black and 44.6 percent white.

Because no one can outdo black folks, several black D.C. residents decided to respond to the erasure with a lit photoshoot of their own, called “Native, I’m From Here." 

“We’ve gotten to the point to where we can tell our own story,” noted local activist Tony Lewis, Jr. Lewis co-organized the event along with business owner Angel Anderson.

"As a native Washingtonian, I am very sorry that our latest 'I Am Not A Tourist' marketing campaign did not represent the wonderfully diverse city in which we live," read a statement from the magazine's CEO and president Catherine Merrill Williams. "This was the very beginning of a campaign in which all intentions are to include the many communities that make up our city. We solicited pictures from a diverse group of people and put the pictures up in the order they came in." 

While Williams assured the public the campaign isn't complete and will ultimately "reflect the diversity" of the magazine's readership, Lewis wasn't buying her sincerity. 

“Someone should’ve been in the room to say, ‘Hey, this isn’t fully representative of the city,’” said Lewis. “Someone should’ve said, ‘We don’t have one black person. Not one.’”

“We aren’t being included, and it’s painful,” added Lewis. “But at this point, we almost expect that. It’s disappointing.”

Lewis posted about the protest on Instagram:

"It was of the utmost importance to us to immediately project a counter image and narrative to the @WashingtonianMag photo campaign and it would not have been possible without you," he wrote in the caption. "The love and energy shared today still lingers. We are grateful. This epic display of unity and pride in our city is one for the history books."

Photo: GIPHY

It looks like the movement has already made waves over at The Washingtonian office, as the magazine's editor Michael Schaffer will be meeting with Lewis in the next few weeks. 

Let's hope true progress comes from this dialogue! 

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