Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Roger Basick.
Voice 2
And I’m Gillian Woodward. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Click here to follow along with this program on YouTube.
Voice 1
He was one of the most loved and hated leaders in the history of United States politics. Some people believed he cared about them. He fought for them. He had a similar background. He tried his best to help them. But others did not like him. They thought he was hurting the most important city in the country. They did not think he should be their leader. They thought the city was at war because of his lack of leadership. But then he made a terrible mistake. He could no longer be their leader. He was sent away. Everyone thought that was the end of the story. The people who did not like him thought they had won. But he came back. And what happened next surprised everyone.
Voice 2
Today’s Spotlight looks at Mayor Marion Barry. He was the mayor of Washington, D.C. D.C. stands for the District of Columbia. Washington, D.C. is the capital of the United States.
Voice 1
The people who lived in Washington, D.C. elected Barry to be their mayor four times. The mayor is the head of the city. Barry served three terms as mayor from 1979 to 1991. Each term lasted four years. Barry also served one more term as mayor from 1995 to 1999.
Voice 2
Barry was born on a farm in the state of Mississippi. His family was poor. His father died when Barry was young. Barry’s family moved to Tennessee. Barry grew up in the city of Memphis. He did well in school. Barry went to college and then earned a master’s degree in science.
Voice 1
In 1958, Barry helped civil rights leaders in Memphis with bus desegregation. Civil rights workers argued for equal rights and treatment for African Americans. With bus desegregation, they wanted African Americans to be able to sit wherever they wanted on city buses. Until then, African Americans could only sit in the back seats on buses. White passengers sat in the front seats on buses.
Voice 2
Barry decided to join the Civil Rights Movement full-time. He was elected the first chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Barry moved to Washington, D.C., to become more involved in politics.
Voice 1
Barry started many programs and organizations to help local African Americans who were poor and needed jobs or education. He started Pride Incorporated, which provided job training to unemployed African American men. In 1968, there were terrible fights and destruction called riots across D.C. related to the desire for equal rights and treatment for African Americans. After the riots, many houses and stores in poor areas were destroyed. Barry worked with a large food store to give food to poor people who had lost their homes in the riots. Barry spent a week driving trucks to bring food to the city’s poorest areas.
Voice 2
Barry was elected to serve on D.C.’s first school board. The group tried to improve the city’s education programs. A year later Barry was elected president of the school board. He argued to increase teachers’ pay in schools across D.C. He believed that if teachers were paid more money, more skilled people would become teachers and improve students’ education.
Voice 1
Three years later, Barry won a position with the District of Columbia City Council. The council passed local laws, approved what money the city could spend, and set tax rates for the city. While he was a member of D.C.’s City Council, Barry was shot by terrorists who took over a government building. The terrorists held prisoners for two days. The Federal Bureau of Investigation finally caught the terrorists. Barry recovered from his wound.
Voice 2
Barry ran for mayor of D.C. in 1978. The mayor was responsible for the city’s operations. The mayor managed the police and fire fighters. The mayor worked as the main connection between the public and the city government. Barry said about leadership:
Voice 3
“Leadership is about serving others and making a positive change in their lives.”
Voice 1
Barry won the election and became the mayor of the District of Columbia. He won many fans. A D.C. newspaper even wrote that he should be “Mayor for Life.” During Barry’s first term as mayor, he started a program that offered a summer job to any school-age person living in D.C. Barry believed that kids who worked during the summer would be less likely to get into trouble. Keeping a job taught them how to work hard. A job helped them earn money for their struggling families. Barry also started the Urban Homesteading Program. The program allowed people in D.C. to buy city-owned empty or boarded-up properties for as little as $1. Buyers were then given low-interest loans to repair their properties.
Voice 2
But Barry also had problems during his first term. The number of crimes in the city rose. D.C.’s rising crime rate would be a problem that followed Barry throughout his time as mayor.
Voice 1
Barry struggled personally as well. He began using a drug called cocaine. Cocaine is an illegal and dangerous drug made from the leaves of a South American coca plant. Crack is a form of cocaine. Both cocaine and crack can cause serious health problems.
Voice 2
During the 1980s, cocaine was popular in the United States. But it cost a lot of money. Crack cost much less. Poor people could buy crack more easily. By 1986, during Barry’s second term as mayor, crack was sold on D.C.’s streets. Where a small bag of cocaine costs fifty dollars, users could buy crack for only five or ten dollars. Crack produced a powerful feeling in a person faster than cocaine. But it disappeared after a few minutes. The person would then have to buy more crack.
Voice 1
There was a high demand for crack during Barry’s second and third terms as mayor. Barry had become popular in the city. Voters kept choosing him to be mayor. They loved the fact that Barry had been poor like many of them but worked hard to gain success. But Barry’s performance as mayor suffered as he used drugs and alcohol more. He did not notice the details. People who worked for him stole money from the city’s government. Barry’s speech was hard to understand when he spoke in public.
Voice 2
Drugs and violence in D.C. grew worse while Barry was mayor. Many young people in the city began selling crack. They made a lot of money. Crack dealers formed dangerous groups called gangs that carried guns. There were murders every night in the city. By the late 1980s, D.C. had the highest murder rate in the country. It was called “The Murder Capital of the Country.” In 1989, over four hundred people were killed in D.C. In 1990, almost five hundred people were murdered. Most of these deaths were from gangs fighting each other over who could sell crack.
Voice 1
One of the people buying crack was Barry. On January 18, 1990, Barry was caught smoking crack by the FBI and D.C. police. He was arrested and found guilty of having drugs. Barry was sent to prison for six months.
Voice 2
When Barry got out of prison, he wanted to be mayor again. But he knew he needed to win back enough people’s trust to get elected. He decided to try to get chosen for a job lower than mayor. He became a candidate for a seat on the city council. When he talked to crowds, Barry posted signs about himself that read, “He May Not Be Perfect, But He’s Perfect for D.C.” He talked about how he had made mistakes but that he loved the city. Barry believed he was the best person to help the poor and uneducated citizens of D.C. He won a position on the city council.
Voice 1
Two years later, in 1994, Barry ran for mayor. No one thought he had a chance. Barry knew there were people who did not want him to become mayor again. But he also knew his supporters were loyal. They stood by him even though he had spent time in prison. His supporters believed Barry was the only candidate who cared about African Americans in D.C.
Voice 2
Barry won the election to become mayor of the District of Columbia for a fourth time. But his final term as mayor did not go well. The United States Congress took control of D.C.’s money. They did not let Barry make financial decisions. They also took away his power to choose or fire employees. Barry was left in control of only the public libraries, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Board of Tourism. Because of his lack of power, Barry did not run for mayor again.
Voice 1
Barry made bad decisions. He struggled with drugs. But Barry also tried to help people. From the 1960s, when he first got involved in the Civil Rights Movement, Barry always tried to help minorities. He pushed D.C. businesses to set aside 25% of jobs for minorities. Barry created financial assistance programs paid for by the government to help poor people in D.C. buy homes. He developed other programs where successful adults trained and talked with young people in hopes of keeping them in school.
Voice 2
Through it all, Barry’s defenders never lost faith in him. Juliette Bethea, who had been living in D.C. since the late 1960s, said:
Voice 4
“Marion Barry’s programs gave people of color access to money. We achieved so much during that period.”
Voice 1
Throughout the rest of his life, Barry remained in D.C. politics at lower levels. He also worked in finance. Barry died from heart disease in 2014. A woman who grew up in D.C. said about Barry:
Voice 5
“I work in healthcare because of Marion Barry. Barry started a medical program in D.C. for people who had no money. I was poor at the time, but now I have a good life. I thank Marion Barry for that.”
Voice 2
Have you ever heard of Marion Barry? Did you know that he was arrested for smoking crack cocaine? Would you have voted for him to be mayor again after he got out of prison? Could you trust him? You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X. You can also get Spotlight episodes delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.
Voice 1
The writer of this episode was Peter Anderson. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this episode and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or artificial intelligence was used in this episode. Spotlight episodes are written, voiced, and produced by real people for real people, no matter where in the world they live. This episode is called, “Marion Barry: Mayor for Life.”
Voice 2
We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight episode. Goodbye.
Questions:
Have you ever heard of Marion Barry? Did you know that he was arrested for smoking crack cocaine? Would you have voted for him to be mayor again after he got out of prison? Could you trust him?
