A Hard-Earned Victory for Obie Opponent

 

With the 1970s hit "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" booming in the background of his Washington, D.C., headquarters, Adrian Fenty '92 celebrated his hard-earned victory in the D.C. City Council Ward 4 democratic primary on September 12, defeating incumbent and fellow Oberlin graduate Charlene Jarvis '62, who had held the seat since 1979. The race was close, with Adrian receiving 57 percent of the 13,764 votes cast, the highest voter turnout in the city. Adrian launched a massive grassroots campaign with a platform that stressed public education reform, housing, health care, and community and economic development.

A D.C. native, Adrian returned to his hometown after graduating from Oberlin and worked at a law firm for a year before earning a law degree from Howard University in 1996. He married his wife Michelle a year later, and the couple had twin sons last March. His own parents had moved to Washington after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and opened "Fleet Feet," an athletic goods store in the Adams Morgan area which they still operate.

Adrian did probate work for two law firms and worked for victim advocacy with the Crime Victims Compensation Program of the D.C. Superior Court before becoming an aide for Kevin Chavous' mayoral campaign in 1998. As an advisory neighborhood commissioner and president of the 16th Street Neighborhood Association, he says he was made all too aware of the problems plaguing overlooked neighborhoods and became committed to change on the local level. He says there is "no question" that Oberlin has informed and influenced his work, citing the politics department and Professor Paul Dawson as having a great impact on his decision to enter the world of law and politics. Adrian faced State Green Party candidate Renee Bowser November 7, easily winning the race with 89 percent of votes.

by Melissa Ray '01