If you’ve made it through the genuinely chaotic Black Friday and Cyber Monday season with your bank account balance in check, congratulations. As corporations are trying to extract every last cent out of you to spend on unethically manufactured stuff you don’t need, it can be deeply dispiriting to shop during the holiday season. That’s why it’s important to funnel your attention and hard-earned cash to local BIPOC artisans and makers this season as a way to support your local Communities of Color while finding cool, bespoke gifts for loved ones in your life. I’ve assembled a BIPOC (and mostly South End) gifting guide to inspire you this month as you hunt and gather cool wares for your friends, parents, siblings, lovers, and neighbors during the holidays. Most of these items you can either buy IRL or online. And if you’re looking to send a bit of Seattle to friends and family outside the city, ship your package from The Postman in the Central District!
As the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeks to grow and improve maternal and infant health by connecting more people to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, outreach has been stymied by a Congress that keeps kicking the funding can down the road in six-week increments.
Over the past 10 years, The Rhapsody Project (tRp) has grown exponentially. From its beginnings in the Hillman City Collaboratory to its now-permanent digs at King Street Station, this decade has seen it connect youth and students of all ages with the power of American roots music. On Dec. 2, tRp took the grand stage at Benaroya Hall for its Blues at Benaroya program in celebration of all it has accomplished. For musician and tRp facilitator Joe Seamons, it was a joyous occasion.
Retail workers across the state of Washington are getting ready to go to the bargaining table with Macy’s just before Christmas and a raise isn’t all they’re asking for.
During Black Friday, hundreds of Macy’s workers from stores at Westfield’s Southcenter mall, Alderwood Mall in Lynwood, and Bellis Fair mall in Bellingham went on strike for three days. The strike was voted on by workers in early October with a 96% approval vote if Macy’s didn’t offer substantial improvements during their November bargaining sessions.
Choosing a Medicare plan that meets your health and financial needs shouldn’t be a burden, especially during this time of year when most people are otherwise busy with holidays, get-togethers, and celebrations. In fact, a well-chosen plan can serve as a safety net, providing peace of mind for both routine and unexpected circumstances.
In the days after the U.S. Supreme Court rolled back national protections for abortion access in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health last year, I heard panicky speculation about what would come next: criminalizing people for their pregnancy outcomes. I have bad news, I thought grimly. That was already happening. It’s not going to be new. It’s going to be worse.
A beloved Beacon Hill mural and community space is at risk.
by Carolyn Bick
Over the course of the first uncertain year of the pandemic, Seattle’s diverse communities banded together to fill in the gaps where governmental programs fell short. Local chefs fed people. Visual artists gave the city hope. Mutual aid groups handed out masks and water. And all of it happened against the backdrop of monthslong protests and a national spotlight on the Black Lives Matter movement, following a police officer’s murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. It was in this environment that Feed the People Plaza was born, transforming the corner of South Hanford Street and Beacon Avenue South into a community hangout. With an incoming development in the works, however, the plaza’s days might be numbered.
After my brother’s unexpected death, I’m regretting the words I left unspoken. Despite our present polarization and political turmoil, we must create space for gratitude.
by Marcus Harrison Green
(This op-ed has been copublished with The Seattle Times.)
Thanksgiving is the day I speak to the dead.
It’s a ritual that began last year, the first Thanksgiving Day without my brother D’Marcus. No, there is no seance with the supernatural, nor summoning of spirits, just a jangle of regrets.
