Help Nook’s Survive Displacement
Donation protected
Nook’s Barbershop & Beauty Salon located in the Deanwood neighborhood of Washington, DC needs your help immediately to raise severely needed funds for an eventualy new location and move and infusion of funds for shop operation (utilities, supplies) due to an abrupt almost total loss of business.
Please give as generously as possible and encourage others to do the same!
Nook’s Barber & Beauty shop, opened by Wayne “Nook” Palmer has been a staple in Deanwood for generations, in fact Nook’s will be celebrating its 25 year anniversary this Spring. Nook (also a pastor at The House of Praise on Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue in NE) and his wife Sabrina ran the shop up until his passing in October of 2013. Sabrina now owns and runs the shop, committed to fulfilling the dream she and Nook had of passing the shop down to their children.
Nook’s is a Black woman owned business that needs the community’s help to survive.
Last October, the properties at the corner of Sheriff Rd/Eastern Ave NE were quietly sold to Neighborhood Development Company. The next day the tenants (business owners) were told they had to vacate the property due to an “environmental hazard” and padlocked the doors. The owners were trying to illegally evict them. Families were forced at the last minute to find emergency daycare services, and workers were unable to continue to make a living.
In October Johnny Barnes, attorney for the business owners (Sabrina, two other Black women and two other non-Black people of color), informed the community at a press conference that the new owners have provided absolutely no evidence for any of their claims or statements and “self-help” eviction is illegal in the District of Columbia and such actions must be done so legally in a court of law.
Displacing long standing Black businesses in the name of building affordable housing is an intentional tactic used by developers and elected officials to pit Black folks against each other for the basic things we all need to survive.
This is why we need your help! Nook's now suing the new owners and needs all the support they can get from the community. A lawsuit can take a long time to go through the courts, but it is going to take all of us to help the shop not just survive, but thrive during that time. Nook’s is still open for business every day.
Initially Nook’s and its barbers were hemorrhaging customers and losing significant profit as people thought Nook’s had closed for good. In the months since, the customer base has remained lower, several barbers have moved on to other shops.
The Ongoing Situation With MPD
When communities are being gentrified (and developed) there is an all too common pattern of increased policing and in DC increased policing always results increased unconstitutional policing (stop and frisk), increased use of force and, and increased police complaints. We’ve seen that play out on Sheriff Rd. This corner has seen its share of difficulty since this summer. Starting with illegal stop-and-frisks by Metropolitan Police Department’s violent Gun Recovery Unit (better known as Jumpouts) that escalated after MPD continued to taunt and harass the same young Black men in retaliation for the news and public pressure surrounding the initial incident.
“It isn't lost on us that June 13th, the day the highly publicized illegal stop-and-frisk by MPD happened in front of Nook's, was also the day Mayor Bowser made her announcement of a $11.4M investment into redeveloping this corner (1100 Eastern Ave NE).” Said Anthony Lorenzo Green who is the ANC Commissioner for the block in a press release.
Then, after the police incidents, curiously the air conditioning unit at Nook's Barbershop initially were vandalized, and then outright stolen. In the middle of the sweltering August weather, Black Lives Matter DC raised money and organized replacing the AC unit at Nook's Barbershop with help from the 411 Collective in finding a certified HVAC secured and installed the AC Unit. They also gathered volunteers to build a fence around the back of Nook’s which was painted by volunteers of the DC Antifacist Coalition. Afterword, a member of the 411 Collective designed and finished an incredible mural on the fence. Shortly after, Black Lives Matter DC, Stop Police Terror Project DC, and LinkUP held a clean up-day where volunteers cleaned and prepared for the Mutual Aid Pop-Up to help stir up more business as well as additional barbers and stylists.
It’s up to us to come together and support our neighbors and help them survive the displacement they are facing. Thank you for stepping up to help!
More on this situation:
DC developer padlocks businesses with one day notice
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc-developer-padlocks-businesses-with-one-day-notice/65-600961515
Forced out: DC businesses say developer unfairly evicted them
https://wjla.com/news/local/forced-out-dc-businesses-say-developer-unfairly-evicted-them
Please give as generously as possible and encourage others to do the same!
Nook’s Barber & Beauty shop, opened by Wayne “Nook” Palmer has been a staple in Deanwood for generations, in fact Nook’s will be celebrating its 25 year anniversary this Spring. Nook (also a pastor at The House of Praise on Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue in NE) and his wife Sabrina ran the shop up until his passing in October of 2013. Sabrina now owns and runs the shop, committed to fulfilling the dream she and Nook had of passing the shop down to their children.
Nook’s is a Black woman owned business that needs the community’s help to survive.
Last October, the properties at the corner of Sheriff Rd/Eastern Ave NE were quietly sold to Neighborhood Development Company. The next day the tenants (business owners) were told they had to vacate the property due to an “environmental hazard” and padlocked the doors. The owners were trying to illegally evict them. Families were forced at the last minute to find emergency daycare services, and workers were unable to continue to make a living.
In October Johnny Barnes, attorney for the business owners (Sabrina, two other Black women and two other non-Black people of color), informed the community at a press conference that the new owners have provided absolutely no evidence for any of their claims or statements and “self-help” eviction is illegal in the District of Columbia and such actions must be done so legally in a court of law.
Displacing long standing Black businesses in the name of building affordable housing is an intentional tactic used by developers and elected officials to pit Black folks against each other for the basic things we all need to survive.
This is why we need your help! Nook's now suing the new owners and needs all the support they can get from the community. A lawsuit can take a long time to go through the courts, but it is going to take all of us to help the shop not just survive, but thrive during that time. Nook’s is still open for business every day.
Initially Nook’s and its barbers were hemorrhaging customers and losing significant profit as people thought Nook’s had closed for good. In the months since, the customer base has remained lower, several barbers have moved on to other shops.
The Ongoing Situation With MPD
When communities are being gentrified (and developed) there is an all too common pattern of increased policing and in DC increased policing always results increased unconstitutional policing (stop and frisk), increased use of force and, and increased police complaints. We’ve seen that play out on Sheriff Rd. This corner has seen its share of difficulty since this summer. Starting with illegal stop-and-frisks by Metropolitan Police Department’s violent Gun Recovery Unit (better known as Jumpouts) that escalated after MPD continued to taunt and harass the same young Black men in retaliation for the news and public pressure surrounding the initial incident.
“It isn't lost on us that June 13th, the day the highly publicized illegal stop-and-frisk by MPD happened in front of Nook's, was also the day Mayor Bowser made her announcement of a $11.4M investment into redeveloping this corner (1100 Eastern Ave NE).” Said Anthony Lorenzo Green who is the ANC Commissioner for the block in a press release.
Then, after the police incidents, curiously the air conditioning unit at Nook's Barbershop initially were vandalized, and then outright stolen. In the middle of the sweltering August weather, Black Lives Matter DC raised money and organized replacing the AC unit at Nook's Barbershop with help from the 411 Collective in finding a certified HVAC secured and installed the AC Unit. They also gathered volunteers to build a fence around the back of Nook’s which was painted by volunteers of the DC Antifacist Coalition. Afterword, a member of the 411 Collective designed and finished an incredible mural on the fence. Shortly after, Black Lives Matter DC, Stop Police Terror Project DC, and LinkUP held a clean up-day where volunteers cleaned and prepared for the Mutual Aid Pop-Up to help stir up more business as well as additional barbers and stylists.
It’s up to us to come together and support our neighbors and help them survive the displacement they are facing. Thank you for stepping up to help!
More on this situation:
DC developer padlocks businesses with one day notice
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/dc-developer-padlocks-businesses-with-one-day-notice/65-600961515
Forced out: DC businesses say developer unfairly evicted them
https://wjla.com/news/local/forced-out-dc-businesses-say-developer-unfairly-evicted-them
Organizer
April Renée Goggans
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC