RIPTA Rider Reader 4/16/25

A weekly column you can read on the bus — or anywhere in the world.

My parents recently traveled to Washington, D.C., and I enjoyed reading the free local paper my mom brought back for me — The Southwester, serving the waterfront communities of southwest and navy yard since 1963. I enjoy reading this type of hyperlocal newspaper whenever and wherever I travel around the U.S.

In The Southwester’s April 2025 edition, I learned about a local guy named Rodney Stotts who turned his life around and became a master falconer named Rodney Stotts (his memoir: Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife).

I also learned about a historical event called The Pearl Escape of 1848 thanks to the fact that its anniversary is still commemorated every year by residents of southwest DC.

Often referred to less descriptively as “The Pearl Incident” by white historians, the attempt by seventy-seven slaves to escape Washington, D.C. by sailing away on a schooner called The Pearl was the largest recorded nonviolent escape effort by enslaved people in …