Yes, absolutely. Anyone born in Washington, DC is a US citizen by birthright under the 14th Amendment, just like someone born in any of the 50 states. DC is federal territory fully subject to US jurisdiction. What DC residents lack is not citizenship - it's voting representation in Congress.
In brief
Yes, absolutely. Anyone born in Washington, DC is a US citizen by birthright under the 14th Amendment, just like someone born in any of the 50 states. DC is federal territory fully subject to US jurisdiction. What DC residents lack is not citizenship - it's voting representation in Congress.
The 14th Amendment covers DC, full stop
The 14th Amendment has long been understood to grant American citizenship to anyone born on US soil. Its exact language: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
The Constitution dictates that the federal district be under the jurisdiction of the US Congress - meaning DC is squarely "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States. There is no asterisk for the District.
The Supreme Court ruled in the 1898 case United States v. Wong Kim Ark that the 14th Amendment guarantees birthright citizenship to anyone born in the United States, including the children of parents who are not US citizens. That ruling has governed the law for well over a century. For over a century, anyone born on US soil has automatically been conferred citizenship at birth regardless of their parents' immigration or citizenship status.
The principle was reaffirmed again recently. After a year and a half of litigation, the Supreme Court rejected a 2025 executive order attempting to limit birthright citizenship as unconstitutional in Trump v. Barbara and reaffirmed its longstanding interpretation of the 14th Amendment: if you are born on US soil, you are a US citizen. On June 30, 2026, the US Supreme Court held that the Trump administration's executive order was unconstitutional, and that he could not end birthright citizenship through an executive order.
There are narrow exceptions - US-born children of foreign diplomats would not be considered American citizens - but those are rare and don't affect the overwhelming majority of people born in DC.
Citizenship yes, full political rights no
Here's where DC's situation gets genuinely unusual. Being a citizen and having the full political rights of a citizen are two different things in the District.
The nearly 700,000 residents of Washington, DC, do not have full voting representation in Congress, even though they are American citizens, pay federal taxes, and serve in the military. This lack of political representation - in a district that has more people than Vermont and Wyoming and historically a large Black population - is one way the political system disenfranchises and underrepresents voters of color.
DC residents may vote in federal elections for presidential electors under the 23rd Amendment and for one nonvoting delegate in the House of Representatives. DC does not have a representative in the Senate.
DC elects a non-voting delegate to the US House of Representatives who can draft legislation but cannot vote. The current delegate for DC is Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton. She can sit on committees and introduce bills - the DC delegate possesses the same powers as representatives in House committees, but delegates may not vote in, or preside over, the House.
Presidential elections: DC has three electoral votes
Under the 23rd Amendment, the District of Columbia is allocated three electors and treated like a state for purposes of the Electoral College. Amendment Twenty-Three to the Constitution was ratified on March 29, 1961. Washington, DC has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election by large margins since 1964, when the District gained the right to electoral representation through the 23rd Amendment.
Even if the population of Washington, DC were to exceed that of several states, it can never have more electors than the state with the minimum number of votes, which is currently three. This limitation was designed as a compromise during the 1960s to prevent the federal city from exerting outsized influence over the existing states.
The tax bill vs. the voice in government
DC taxpayers pay federal taxes - more per capita than any state and more total federal taxes than 12 states, and more in total federal income tax than 22 other states. The slogan on DC license plates - "End Taxation Without Representation" - is not metaphorical.
Since 1801, residents of Washington, DC, abiding by all obligations of United States citizenship, have desired to be equal to all other citizens of the United States. The United States is the only nation in the world with a representative, democratic constitution that denies voting representation in the national legislature to citizens of the capital.
The statehood push is ongoing. As of 2024, H.R. 51, the Washington, DC Admission Act, has 210 cosponsors in the House, and S. 51 in the Senate has 46 cosponsors. The bill has passed the House twice - in 2020 and 2021 - but has never cleared the Senate.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
