Washington DC has a nickname The Chocolate City
the city has a strong minority population
a quick glance at the Wiki Page shows that DC is over 50 percent African American
it is interesting with these numbers what a small percentage of utilitarian cyclists are African American
there is a good representation of African American in the road riding and road racing culture
while mountain biking has a very small African American population
I would like to see a school program that introduces the bicycle into everyday use
kids could ride their bikes to school
teens could commute via bicycle to work
DC Public Schools should have Bicycle Safety and Bicycle Education Classes
they could teach basic repair and maintenance
bicycles could be donated
the ripple effect would be endless
proper use of tools and the notion of being self sufficient
the health benefits of riding a bicycle
the money saved by riding a bicycle instead of driving a car or taking the bus
and of course
bicycles could become part of a person's life
sharing that joy would be a joy
decades ago in Mount Pleasant I volunteered with the Latin American Youth Center to try and get kids from the neighborhood on bikes... we had bikes donated by District Police and Park Police and I worked with kids on the initial tune up and basic repairs on these bikes
the effort with the Latin American Youth Center was not an existing program... it was just something I did in conjunction with one of the directors I met in the neighborhood