@abigailhiggins
Journalist in DC, previously Kenya. Co-founder and Managing Editor of @51stnews.bsky.social. Covering inequality, gender, labor for the Washington Post, The Nation, Lux, etc. Organizing with The National Writers Union.
but can't stop there. the next night we will be in NYC, in the East Village. come for Washington Square Park, stay for guitar magic with Moon Soul at Groove!
www.eventbrite.com/e/moon-soul-...
thought we'd take this show on the road! we will be in Baltimore Friday March 13th at Metro Baltimore with local favorites Eat the Cake and Night Walks.
dice.fm/event/g5kxk6...
"The utility has pointed to the region’s historically cold winter as a cause of rising heating demand and costs...But in an email to The 51st, Pepco’s own data show that their D.C. customers actually used more energy in January 2025 than January 2026."
ProPublica received eight handwritten letters from children who have been held at the detention center that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was recently released from.
We'll let their words speak for themselves.
Nine and ten year olds, fleeing in fear.
www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/f...
Here's a fun - and potentially doubly impactful! - way to help @51st.news hire more local journalists. You can help even if you can't donate money!
"What we all need to agree and commit it to is that journalism is a public good. Journalism is a thing that we need. Particularly when it comes to local news."
For @inequality.org, @millsrodrigo.bsky.social interviewed two 51st co-founders, @abigailhiggins.bsky.social and @maddiepoore.bsky.social:
Here's a quick and EASY way to make a big $$$ impact for The 51st! Help spread the word, and get your dollars matched!!
Thanks for your generosity and support, Russ!
Talking about the cuts at The Post is not fun, but talking about building worker-run alternatives to billionaire-owned news is.
Help keep DC's local news alive by becoming a member or donating to the @51st.news.
51st.news/the-51st-is-...
Good news, in these times...
We’re less than 151 people away from reaching 1,000 new members since Jeff Bezos’ gutting of The Washington Post.
Join today to help us reach this milestone and build a people-powered newsroom for D.C. 🤝
NEW: Congress' repeal of a D.C tax bill could cost the city more than $600M in revenue.
Will city leaders fight back?
Sources tell @maustermuhle.bsky.social that part of their hesitation could be coming from D.C.'s CFO Glen Lee, who is dealing with the ongoing tax-filing season.
❤️❤️
NEW: Hand dance goes back to 1950s. Today, Washingtonians are still trying to keep it alive.
I spoke with dancers of all ages, visited a school that teaches hand dance & dug through books/documentaries/oral histories to understand what makes DC's official dance so unique.
51st.news/dc-official-...
h/t Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital by Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove, for the bulk of my D.C. history knowledge bookshop.org/p/books/choc...
I was just doing some research on how DCs 1960s integration efforts were hamstrung by lack of statehood--the largely Black city was run by southern segregationists in congress. For awhile the Senate subcommittee that dealt with the DC budget was run by former KKK member Senator Robert Byrd. History!
The 51st has produced so much valuable reporting in just a single year, with only one full-time reporter. Can you imagine what a second year could look like if this newsroom had triple the reporting capacity?
The good news is that we don't have to imagine — we can make it happen. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
7/ Our goal is to become D.C.’s go-to source for local news, one where residents of all 8 wards feel seen, heard, and connected.
Help us get there by signing up as a monthly or annual member — or upping your recurring tax-deductible contribution, if you’re already on board. ⤵️
Thanks for reading!
6/ As a small team, we’re under no illusion that we alone can fill the void left by the journalists we’ve lost at The Post.
But we also know that we’re building in a steady and sustainable way, funded predominantly by reader support — far sturdier than a billionaire's whims.
5/ We want to be the newsroom D.C. needs — so we’re raising funds to triple (!!!) our reporting capacity, and beef up our editing team to support these writers.
More on our plans here, and how you can help 👇
4/ The 51st grew out of the ashes of another catastrophic loss in WAMU’s decision to shutter DCist and lay off 16 people.
With your help, we’re fighting back *again* against the destruction of journalism — creating news that makes people’s lives better, funded by readers + led by local journalists.
2/ One week ago, The Washington Post's billionaire owner fired the majority of the paper's local reporters.
It's a brutal blow to D.C.’s ability to hold elected officials accountable, make informed decisions, and feel connected to our neighbors.
But this is a city of people who get the job done.
3/ Less than 3 days after the layoffs, we had 700+ new paying members — with more joining every day to say loudly and clearly: D.C. needs local news.
🥳 To those who’ve helped us spread the word about The 51st: Thank you!
🤗 To our new members and followers: Welcome!
🫵 You can join us today:
The Washington Post editorial board claims the benefits of reducing climate pollution are "modest"
Who wrote this, exactly?
NEW: This was the last essay I was supposed to publish at the Washington Post. But they fired me.
I'm publishing it anyway-- about my family's connection to a sword the British looted from Ghana in 1874.
If youve ever wondered why I love swords, here's why.
open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...
It’s been such a rough few weeks but getting together with other people and dreaming what a different world could look like — say, perhaps, where Jeff Bezos doesn’t stand between us getting the information we need about our neighbors and our city — is what is getting me through. Hope you'll join us.
Supporting local news like The 51st is one of the most powerful ways we can create accountability in this world. I support The 51st already and hope you will too.
We’re ready to strike for a fair contract after fighting for job security, a fair disciplinary process, wages that reflect the value of our work and clear guardrails around AI for more than two years. www.propublicaguild.org/updates/the-...
do you guys think stephen miller is ok?
cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power