If you’re not a Washington D.C. resident, sometimes it’s easy to forget that those folks don’t have any representation in our federal government. Never you mind that they’re the seat of our national government. Never you mind that they pay taxes like the rest of us. And never you mind that they have a population equivalent to the represented states of North Dakota, Wyoming and Vermont.

Three young men affiliated with the D.C. Occupy movement have set out to change this. See, not only does the district lack federal representation, they also have no say over their budget. These men find that to be a big enough bummer that they’re willing to quit attending the best online colleges, put down their vegan bean burritos and hemp butter smoothies and go on a hunger strike.

All jokes aside, these guys are in their seventh day of the hunger strike (14 days without food can cause complications that lead to death) and they’re committed to taking it as far as they physically can.

The last time D.C. representation was on the senate docket, republicans tacked on an addendum that would open up D.C.’s strict gun control laws. The vote never came to pass. This time Joe Grey, Kelly Mears, Adrien Parsons and Sam Mueller want to bring this legislative restriction into the national forum and they’re shining light on the issue by engaging in a form of passive resistance that has been practiced by Ghandi, sufragettes and the Irish Republican Army activists.

The boys have made little headway in the form of legislative action, but they’ve made waves in the media which has brought national attention to the issue.

We’d like to applaud their efforts and wish them the best of luck. We’ll check in on them in the coming weeks to see what headway the guys are making.

Good luck fellas!