When you ride the Metro to school for years, there are certain things about the system you learn. The first one is: The bathrooms are ALWAYS available for use, no matter what the station manager tells you. The second is: Never, ever, ever, ever lean on the doors, because those badboys just might open. I saw it plenty of times as a kid. And it happened again yesterday on the Red Line, The Post's Dana Hedgpeth reports. No injuries were reported, but I do wonder if the chimes rang first

STRIVE DC, a non profit job readiness program, seeks volunteers to assist in fundraising, book keeping and data entry. Location: 715 I St. NE. Contact Christine Hartwright at 202-484-1264 or chris.hartwright@strivedc.org.

It is the story of William Henderson Foote, a federal law enforcement officer who was the victim of an 1883 lynch mob. His murder was ignored in his agency then, but the government now is honoring his memory.

Back in Miami, Royce’s tantrum in front of her dad continues. “Sometimes I just want a hug,” she says in between sobs. “You just don’t get it.” Her dad finally relents and hugs her. “Okay,” he says. I think he just wanted her to shut up.

A prominent rap star speaking out in solidarity with global acceptance is as big a cultural step forward as the leader of the free world making the same claim.

There are people, places, pets, things and times in our life that stand out. They enter our lives and never leave: connections. It’s our opportunity to hear from you. We want the humorous and poignant. Send us your submissions of no more than 500 words, along with photos (in a JPG format), to therootdc@washpost.com.

For six long years, I wore them almost every day. In a high school with more than four thousand people, my Converse were known as the rattiest pair. I held that title with pride. My chucks helped me talk to the boy who wanted to write a lyric on my right foot. Otherwise, he would never have had a reason to speak with me.

My father, Zygmunt Moryl - Zygy - was as unique as his name. He was born in Fulton, New York on Feb. 13, 1914, an American citizen by birth to Polish/Austrian parents who had immigrated to the United States in the first decade of the 20th century.

There are people, places, pets, things and times in our life that stand out. They enter our lives and never leave: connections. It’s our opportunity to hear from you. We want the humorous and poignant. Send us your submissions of no more than 500 words, along with photos (in a JPG format), to therootdc@washpost.com.

There’s a message in every mess, nationally prominent pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes told thousands of worshippers gathered for a revival Friday in Landover.

The senior pastor of the 30,000-plus member The Potter’s House in Dallas issued a clarion call for Christians to focus on their purpose and to be strategic as they maximize their potential in 2012. Jakes preached the final night of a three-night revival sponsored by First Baptist Church of Glenarden, in Upper Marlboro, and Greater Mount Calvary Holy Church in the District.

Faith leaders plan to visit specific job sites highlighting how city subsidized projects are making money but not hiring District residents as required under their contracts.

Reports are showing that Americans were a hot mess with the credit card spending over the holiday. Boo and hiss! We need to get that handled, RIGHT NOW! I would hate for you to be paying for that discount waffle maker in three years because of high credit card interest!

November is National Adoption Month , time to celebrate the 120,000 children in foster care waiting to enrich a family through their adoption and to congratulate families that already know the wonder of taking a child into their home. It’s also the time of year that reminds me of what-might have been.

· Should you put your child in that chic private school?

The debate fell silent Saturday when Ron Paul trotted out of the closet the GOP skeleton of denial: racism.

I was just shy of 18 when I bought the hooded sweatshirt — a metallic silver thing that cost about $10 on the Aeropostale clearance rack — to take with me to Northwestern University in the Chicago suburbs, knowing my parents would be worried when they saw it.

African Americans constitute 32 percent of patients in the United States receiving dialysis for kidney failure, although they are only 11 percent of the population. They are 3 1/2 times more likely to have kidney disease than whites.

Bishop Jamal Bryant, pastor of the Empowerment Temple Church in Baltimore, helped develop the idea and for more than a month has organized members of local churches in the effort.

As the couple waited to close on a house in Virginia, they knew they would miss the District. But they looked forward to walking to their neighborhood school. 

Unable to move any part of his body except his head after a bullet severed his spine, Chapman needs a ventilator to keep breathing. From this room, he has watched his children grow, learned about births and deaths, graduations and weddings.

I don’t go to round-the-way nail salons.

I’d rather starve than eat a hot dog or beef patty from a convenience store.

The star-studded event, which celebrates African American achievement, honored Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Maya Angelou, Spike Lee, Beverly Kearney and the Tuskegee Airmen.

No, Deborah Tillman holds degrees in education, founded her own day care centers in Northern Virginia, and dresses like Michelle Obama. She rolls up to the family- of- the week on her “Lifetime” channel show in pearls, a full skirt and kitten heels.

“We need businesses in Anacostia, not beds!” Fuller, an advisory neighborhood commissioner, shouted as a few dozen residents looked on. “We want to know: Why here, in our business corridor? We are not against women’s shelters. We are against the oversaturation of these services in a condensed area.”

While we sat in the brightly lit waiting room, my son started to get whiny and squirmy.