This year’s election will fundamentally change the way public education happens in Seattle. Three of the seven school board seats are up for election with only one incumbent running, the Mayor’s race is open with no incumbent (unless Mayor Murray declares a write-in candidacy), and the two at-large City Council seats are also up for election with only one incumbent running. With change being imminent to City Hall and the Seattle School District there is an opportunity to press a racial equity education agenda and reshape education in our city.Continue reading Voters Must Turn Out for Seattle’s School Board Election→
Suppose you are an elected official, representing a large area, and part of the area you represent is a retail district that has been in decline for a number of years. Twenty three years ago, before you represented this district, it had three supermarkets, a hardware store, a drug store, an auto parts store, a couple of taverns, a veterinarian, an auto parts store, a couple of barber shops, a Mexican restaurant, a Thai restaurant, a burger joint, a couple of coffee shops, and more.Continue reading At The Intersection of Politics and Food In Skyway→
The King County NAACP wrote an open letter to the Seattle Public School District responding to what we feel has been a continued mishandling of their investigation into alleged recruiting violations involving Garfield High Head Football Coach Joey Thomas.
Mr. Thomas continues to be tried in the court of public opinion by our media that instead of delving deeply into the authenticity of claims against Thomas, has treated only one side of the story as gospel.
The city is still reeling from the bombshell in politics that occurredApril 6, 2017. Worse still, was the second bombshell that went offApril 14th. It has now been three weeks. I wrote about the response to the sexual assault allegationshere. Danni Askini published her own op-ed in response, putting forth the idea that the mayor should resign: not because of his accusations, but because of the way he handled them.Continue reading Leadership, Apologies and When to Step Down→
As many readers know, Danny Westneat from the Seattle Times wrote a piecehighlighting the voting record of current mayoral candidate Nikkita Oliver. This was followed by aFacebook postby Ms. Oliver, and apiece for this publication, both of which sought to downplay the point that Mr. Westneat was making. In Ms. Oliver’s case, she has painted this as an attack rooted in race and class. Mr. Taher goes so far as to imply that voting actually doesn’t matter.Continue reading Voting Records and Their Constant Scrutiny→
Author’s Note: I am not a member of the Nikkita Oliver campaign, nor of the People’s Party. I am a local organizer and political analyst, whose attention was brought to Mr. Danny Westneat’s recent article in which he critiqued mayoral candidates Nikkita Oliver and Casey Carlisle. As someone who, like Mr. Westneat, is also a critic of politics and politicians, I noticed many simplistic yet serious theoretical and objective flaws in his article. As such, this essay is for the purpose of addressing those flaws, namely in his critique of Ms. Oliver.
I grew up understanding open mindedness was important and I tried to embody what that meant. Growing up in a society that loves binaries: good and bad; black and white; communist and capitalist; republican and democrat; I’ve found I didn’t even know what open mindedness meant. My ideas were becoming increasingly polarized and other points of view were becoming less understandable. It was not until college in an ethnic studies class where I was told by my professor that open mindedness is just as much about knowing ourselves as it is listening to others. Only by understanding how our own implicit bias shapes how we understand and process the world can we truly begin to listen to one another and grow together. This is what ethnic studies is all about. Continue reading What Ethnic Studies Means to Me→
On Earth Day this year, over 20,000 people showed up to the ‘March for Science’ in Seattle. Just before Mayor Murray was to speak, community members took the mic to deliver a statement. March organizers had policephysically carry a Block the Bunker activistoff the stage; she and a fellow activist were arrested. Block The Bunker was far from the only group with fundamental objections to how this March was planned. Another group, Women of Color Speak Out, published their experiencehere. Continue reading Those the “March for Science” Ignored→
A close friend of mine is a dedicated teacher who works with struggling readers at a public school in Seattle. Day in and day out she goes to work with a sense of purpose and drive, motivated by her students’ achievements. By advancing the reading skills of some of the kids who are left the farthest behind in our state, she increases their self-confidence and helps them catch up to their peers.Continue reading I’m Marching on Tax Day to Demand That We Fully Fund Our Schools→
Amplifying the Authentic Narratives of South Seattle
