The twenty-third of November forever marks the death of a legend. Mayor for Life, Marion Barry was a prodigious politician, a once in a lifetime talent, and a man of the community who was eternally beloved by the people he served. It was here, the District of Columbia, where Marion decided to make his home, it is where his people are, it’s where he fought, and it is in this great city on a hill where his legacy will most fervently live on. The Washington Post once aptly wrote that “to know the District of Columbia is to know Marion Barry.” Mayor Barry’s narrative: his triumphs, his achievements, his setbacks, and his phoenix-like political career, defines a transformative era in Washington, one where the community’s hopes and dreams once deferred, became fulfilled. The District’s annals are ubiquitously wrought with the struggles of African Americans seeking the dignity of self-determination.