At the end of the 20th century, Washington, D.C. was known as “Chocolate City” for being America’s first majority-Black city and its bustling Black nightlife. However, beginning especially with Mayor Anthony Williams’ “Envisioning a Future Washington” plan in 1999, the nation’s capital became “Cappuccino City”—a rapidly gentrifying locale where white newcomers were increasingly displacing longtime Black residents. While the existing literature captured the economic implications of D.C.’s gentrification through statistics, it fell short in describing its qualitative, socio-emotional effects on Black residents. Here, I have attempted to fill this gap, answering the question: what were gentrification’s social and emotional effects on D.C.’s Black residents from 1999-2022? To do this, I utilized several methods. These entailed finding economic data to contextualize the issue, using my connections in the community to interview 17 individuals who experienced or oversaw gentrification in the District, and issuing an 11-question survey to my 12 Black interviewees that more quantifiably measured their responses to how welcomed, safe, and accounted for they felt in their neighborhoods. From this research, I found that D.C.’s gentrification was a complicated issue both because of the unique role of the federal government in advancing it and residents’ varying perspectives around the issue’s effects. I also found that gentrification placed a tremendous emotional burden on Black residents through rising living costs, an “us vs. them” dynamic with white residents, unresponsive elected officials, and overpolicing. Afterwards, I made four policy recommendations: build affordable recreational centers, establish more affordable housing, utilize alternative public safety measures, and provide more economic stimulus for D.C.’s Black entrepreneurs. I hope that this project sheds light on the concerns of D.C.’s Black residents and ultimately moves city officials to enact policy change.