This article was originally published on Fakequity.com and has been reprinted with permission.
Many people across the country and globe are now working remotely. Organizations such as ours are working from home to limit the spread of COVID19. Carrie’s team has telecommuted for three years. Almost overnight, we’ve seen other organizations move to Zoom video meetings, conference calls, webinars, Facebook Live, and other tools to replace in-person meetings and to allow for social distancing (everyone stay at home). Continue reading OPINION: When Non-Disabled People Get Accommodations, Who Benefits? Things to Think About as We Work Remotely→
The Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma incarcerates immigrants as their immigration cases—which can take years—play out in court. Don’t let the name “detention center” fool you; this 1,575-bed facility is a prison–the only private for-profit prison in Washington state, owned by the GEO Group, one of the largest operators of prisons. Continue reading OPINION: Now is the Time To End Private Prisons in Washington State→
Our support systems are stronger, but still don’t cover many modern job situations
by Marilyn Watkins
The coronavirus pandemic has most of us hunkering down at home and thousands of businesses forced to close their doors. New unemployment insurance claims from out-of-work Washingtonians rose the second week in March to more than 14,000, from an average of about 6,000 a week the previous month. Continue reading OPINION: Financial Support in the Age of Coronavirus→
I’ve been reading with some interest the stories about Bellevue College’s recent experience with an administrator’s attempted silencing of an artistic statement about the Japanese internment during WWII. The story interests me on many levels, most of which are personal. I’m a former community college administrator of color who’s also conducted research on community colleges’ diversity and still continues to consult on issues of equity and diversity. So I have more than a mild interest. Continue reading OPINION: Is Banishment Sufficient to Heal a Wound?→
Dear The Beauster: Since Coronavirus hit Seattle, my life has gone to Hell. The place where I bartend shut down and my girlfriend dumped me because of my obsession with flattening the curve. Is there a silver lining to this stupid pandemic?
Until a few hours ago I didn’t know anyone personally that had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and then I looked on Facebook. I found out my friend and one of Seattle’s foremost singers, Josephine Howell had been diagnosed with the virus. Continue reading Josephine Howell: We Need your Presence, Pipes & Power!→
When I was asked to write an article on hoarding toilet paper because I was the creator and producer of the TV show HOARDERS, I didn’t know if I should be flattered or horrified. Like everyone else who dares to venture into stores these days I was unnerved by the site of shelves stripped bare of an item that is essential to our personal hygiene and well-being. So, knowing a thing or two about hoarding I came up with these thoughts. Continue reading OPINION: The Toilet Paper Hoarder→
Long before the crisis of a pandemic, we were living with the crisis of poverty. Both Naomi and James were homeless starting when they were teenagers, and now they’re still struggling to survive.
Naomi, 56, of Seattle, grew up in the Bronx. They were thrown out of their house when their family learned they were queer. They lived on the streets for two years in squats and shelters. It’s the type of trauma that stays in a person’s body, they say.
Schools across Washington are currently closed until April 27 to help curtail the spread of COVID-19. The order to close schools statewide came from Governor Jay Inslee on March 13. The previous day Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau made an announcement closing schools for two-weeks. Schools were given about a day’s notice about the closure. Seattle Public Schools and many other districts across the state scrambled to ramp up nutrition services and tackle childcare knowing thousands of children would now be without the safety net of schools. Continue reading Superintendent of Public Instruction Shares Insights on School Closures→
When it comes to life without parole sentences, the state is a global outlier.
(This article is published under an agreement with Crosscut.)
by Marcus Harrison Green
In all, the decades long epidemic has devastated the lives of hundreds of thousands and counting. The diagnosis was handed down in a report released last month by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and researchers at the University of Washington.
Detailing the disease of mass incarceration ravaging our state, the 122-page report reveals a prison population that has mushroomed by 337% since 1980. Only seven countries in the world have higher incarceration rates than Washington’s, with Turkey, not exactly a paragon of democratic liberty, nipping at our heels.
