Tell-It Report: Armed National Guard Troops Head to D.C. as Feds Target Black Residents, the Homeless and Immigrants

Nearly 400 arrests have been made, and more than 70 homeless encampments have been removed in the first week of Trump's takeover of the nation's capital.

(Envato/ContrabandCamp)

In Gullah Geechee communities, a "tell-it" was a designated lookout, community warning system and the most trusted source for news and information. The Tell-It Report is ContrabandCamp’s weekly roundup of the Black stories that deserve more attention—from politics to entertainment.

Washington, D.C., is currently under siege as National Guard troops and federal agents patrol the nation’s capital, arresting those whom they perceive to be criminals and undocumented immigrants.

Ahead of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, President Donald Trump has ordered an internal review of eight Smithsonian museums to remove “woke” material.

Gullah Geechee elders are touring the U.S. to preserve culture and song passed down from their enslaved ancestors.

Read the full stories below:

As Trump’s takeover targets the vulnerable, armed National Guard troops are headed to D.C.

When President Donald Trump deployed 800 National Guard soldiers and 500 federal law enforcement agents to Washington, D.C., last week, it was no surprise that the takeover would sweep up Black residents. Now, more troops are preparing to descend upon the nation’s capital, this time carrying weapons as they patrol the streets, the Wall Street Journal reports. Defense officials had previously said National Guard troops would not be armed.

In announcing that federal agencies would take oversight of the Metropolitan Police Department last Monday, Trump vowed to make the district “beautiful again,” calling it “unsafe,” “dirty” and “disgusting,” The New York Times reports.

"Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people," he said at the press conference. Police will be able to do "whatever the hell they want," Trump said.

According to WSJ, violent crime was down 35% last year from 2023, its lowest in three decades.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on X that there were 137 arrests over the weekend, bringing the total to nearly 400. More than 70 homeless encampments have been removed, the New York Post reports. The White House X account shared photos of some of the 37 individuals arrested in one night. All but one of the photos in the thread were of Black men. Of 45 people arrested on Wednesday, 29 were undocumented immigrants. Officers have reportedly thrown tents, sleeping bags and other belongings in the trash in an effort to sweep homeless people off the streets.

Anxiety among Black residents, who make up 45% of the city, has continued to rise as videos and reports of federal agents targeting those who look like them circulated. Some residents in high-crime neighborhoods remain skeptical of Trump’s claims about fighting crime when the National Guard is mainly patrolling tourist-friendly areas. Howard University student Jehu King, 18, told NPR he believes that Trump’s approach will only cause more damage.

"Yes, every city has their crimes, their gangs, their homelessness, but I don't feel like the displacement of those things is going to cause the solution," he said.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser called Trump’s move an “authoritarian push.” On Friday, she issued a letter stating that she needs to “defend [the city’s] autonomy.”

“It has been an unsettling and unprecedented week in our city,” Bowser wrote. “Over the course of a week, the surge in federal law enforcement across DC has created waves of anxiety. I was born one year before Home Rule became law, and while our autonomy has been challenged before, our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now.”

Trump’s takeover is expected to last for up to 30 days. Any longer would require congressional approval, though the president has said that he could seek an extension. Republicans in Congress have shown no desire to rein in the president, with many expressing support for the takeover. Three Republican-led states—West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio—announced that they were sending their state’s National Guard to D.C. According to NBC 4 Washington, Trump shared on social media, “D.C. has been under siege from thugs and killers, but now, D.C. is back under Federal Control where it belongs.”

Trump plans review to ensure Smithsonian museums align with his view of U.S. history

The Trump administration is requesting a “comprehensive internal review” of eight of the Smithsonian Institution’s museums to ensure they align with the president’s views on American history in time for the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations, according to NPR.

“We want the museums to treat our country fairly,” Trump said on Thursday. “We want the museums to talk about the history of our country in a fair manner, not in a ‘woke’ manner or in a racist manner, which is what many of them, not all of them, but many of them are doing. Our museums have an obligation to represent what happened in our country over the years, good and bad, but what happened over the years in an accurate way.”

The administration sent a letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III on Tuesday, stating, “This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions."

According to the letter, Trump’s executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” is the catalyst for the review. The National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden are the targeted museums in the first phase of the review. The letter notes that additional museums will be reviewed in the second phase.

The administration is demanding that the museums submit grant-related documentation, inventories of permanent holdings, visitor surveys and plans for America 250 exhibitions, among other requirements. The White House is requesting that museums begin implementing changes required within 120 days.

“We view this process as a collaborative and forward-looking opportunity—one that empowers museum staff to embrace a revitalized curatorial vision rooted in the strength, breadth, and achievements of the American story,” the letter states.

“By focusing on Americanism—the people, principles, and progress that define our nation—we can work together to renew the Smithsonian's role as the world's leading museum institution.”

Gullah Geechee elders are using their voices to preserve tradition and music

Gullah Geechee elders in South Carolina are working to hold onto traditional songs and hymns passed down for generations.

Minnie “Gracie” Gadson, 89, told the Associated Press that it’s her passion to sing the songs her enslaved ancestors once sang. She’s a member of the Voices of Gullah, a group of elders in their 70s and 80s singing in the Gullah Creole language.

Gadson grew up singing in praise houses, where enslaved folks would go to worship. At these praise houses, they were able to engage in practices they carried over from West and Central Africa, including prayer, song, dance and ring shout. Only three of them remain on St. Helena Island, AP reports. With more than 5,000 descendants, today St. Helena Island on South Carolina’s coast is home to the largest Gullah community.

Many of these songs held encoded messages, becoming an essential tool for survival for the Gullah people working the rice, indigo and cotton plantations on the coast. The Gullah Geechee people were uniquely able to retain West African traditions, culture and languages after the Transatlantic Slave Trade. This was expressed through food, music, art and spirituality, to name a few.

“It’s important to preserve the Gullah culture, mainly because it informs us all, African Americans, where they come from and that it’s still here,” Eric Crawford, author of “Gullah Spirituals,” told the AP. He found that versions of “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” “Roll Jordan Roll” and “Kumbaya” were in “Slave Songs of the United States.” This was the first book of Negro spirituals, which was recorded on St. Helena Island in the 19th century.

Crawford began taking the Voices of Gullah on tour in 2014, traveling across the country and to Belize and Mexico to perform. Along with Gadson, Rosa Murray, 89, and Joe Murray, 87, are touring members.

Their 71-year-old son, Charles “Jojo” Brown, also tours and told the outlet, “I’m gonna continue doing it until I can’t do it no more, and hope that younger people will come in, others younger than me, to keep it going.”

Other groups are working to preserve Gullah Geechee tradition today. The Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters in Darien, Ga., are preserving the ring shout, touring and performing throughout the U.S. The Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor is also working to establish a heritage trail dedicated to Gullah history and culture in Brunswick, North Carolina.

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