This year marks four decades since the death of Pearl B. Settles, a Ward 7 civic leader and youth advocate who, at the height of her tenure as a grassroots leader, fostered a community that was clean and free of crime.
These days, Settles’ legacy continues through her children, one of whom is Karen Settles.
“Mama was very close to [former D.C. Mayor] Marion Barry,” said Settles, a former advisory neighborhood commissioner and longtime resident of the Stoddert Terrace public housing community, where she lived with her late mother and 10 siblings…