Promoting statehood in D.C. can be a thankless job, and now one D.C. legislator wants to make a little more worth the while of the people elected to do it.

D.C. Shadow Senator Michael Brown has created and is paying for two billboards promoting D.C. statehood to go up in Charlotte in time for the Democratic National Convention next week.

President Obama’s sudden support for a measure that would allow the District to spend its own money (and thus avoid future threats of a shutdown) is a big deal, but some D.C. voting rights advocates are stressing that his actions have to speak louder than his words.

D.C. Shadow Representative Mike Panetta has decided that he won’t be running again after spending three terms as one part of the District’s three-man Shadow Delegation.

Admit it — that’s a look that says, “I want you to support the District’s efforts in achieving voting rights, self-determination and statehood.”

The History Channel is currently featuring a rather fascinating series, How The States Got Their Shapes — and a recent episode covered the return of the District’s ten miles square to Virginia, or how “George Washington’s perfect diamond was torn apart.”

Part celebration of the District’s hometown pride and part protest of the city’s longstanding second-class status, organizers of DC Flag Tattoo Day: Flag Day in the Flesh have put the word out to anyone who has a stars-and-bars tattoo — and even those who don’t — to gather at Dupont Circle at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

Virginia may have its Horse Enthusiast and Wildlife Mallard license plates, but if one local D.C. voting rights activist has his way, the District might get some special plates of our own.

Photo by M.V. Jantzen A wide range of District political candidates gathered at One Judiciary Square last night to make their case to members of D.C. for Democracy why the organization should support their candidacies in the September Democratic primary. Everyone from the mayor to would-be shadow representatives showed up to make their case. Endorsements should be handed down in the coming weeks. While it’d be impossible to do a full play-by-play account, I’ve…

Photo by Mark Poblete. In hopes of closing a $500 million budget deficit, Mayor Adrian Fenty’s proposed FY 2011 budget cut funding for plenty of programs — and D.C. voting rights and statehood lobbying wasn’t spared. The Washington Times reported today that the usual public funding set aside for advocacy and education efforts geared toward D.C. voting rights and statehood didn’t make it into Fenty’s budget, leaving many activists fearing that the city will…