Community

The Morning Update Show — 2/9

The Morning Update Show — hosted by Trae Holiday and The Big O (Omari Salisbury) — is the only weekday news and information livestream that delivers culturally relevant content to the Pacific Northwest’s urban audience. Omari and Trae analyze the day’s local and national headlines as well as melanin magic in our community. Watch live every weekday at 11 a.m. on any of the following channels, hosted by Converge Media: YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Periscope, and whereweconverge.com.

We also post the Morning Update Show here on the Emerald each day after it airs, so you can catch up any time of day while you peruse our latest posts.

Morning Update Show — Wednesday, Feb. 9

LIVE — Mike Davis of the South Seattle Emerald | LIVE — Brian Callanan of the Seattle Channel | LIVE — Ronald and Ronnel Moore of The Factorz | What Does Cultural Preservation Look Like?

Continue reading The Morning Update Show — 2/9 →
News

With Backing of Build Back Black Alliance, YIMBY Housing Bill Moves Forward

by Leo Brine

(This article was originally published on PubliCola and has been reprinted under an agreement.)

The House Appropriations Committee narrowly passed Rep. Jessica Bateman’s (D-22, Olympia) housing density bill (HB 1782) on Monday, Feb. 7, by a 17-16 vote, and sent it to the House Rules Committee with a “do pass” recommendation. Her bill would require cities with populations greater than 10,000 to rezone single-family residential neighborhoods for more housing options, such as duplexes and fourplexes.

Continue reading With Backing of Build Back Black Alliance, YIMBY Housing Bill Moves Forward →
Features

Seattle Green Book Tour App Aims to Keep Local Black History Alive

by Troy Landrum Jr.

As the product of the Great Migration, a historical period in American history where millions of African American citizens left all they knew and took all they had from the Jim Crow South to cities up North in hopes of a better life, my grandmothers took their rightful place in that movement in hopes of a Promised Land that wasn’t always so promising for them. What was stronger than the reality of that promise was the hope they brought with them. They came with hopes that one day their kids and grandchildren could reap the future benefits of their elders being uprooted. 

Some of those benefits can be felt in the work of Black & Tan Hall, highlighted along with local Black history in the upcoming Seattle Green Book Self-Guided Tour app coming in March.

Continue reading Seattle Green Book Tour App Aims to Keep Local Black History Alive →
Community

Celebration of Africatown Plaza Groundbreaking Rings in New Affordable Housing

by Elizabeth Turnbull, photos by Susan Fried

Last Saturday, Feb. 5, local leaders and community luminaries participated in a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate a new building project, named Africatown Plaza, which is intended to bring more affordable housing to the Central District. 

“I think this moment just signifies what’s possible, when we have a thought, we come together around that thought, and then we take that and rally and push it forward to make it real,” K. Wyking Garrett, the CEO of Africatown Community Land Trust, said in an interview with Converge Media.

“A lot of times it looks very bleak but hopefully this is just a small light, a small candle, and if we keep lighting candles and then put our candles together, we can create a different situation.” 

Continue reading Celebration of Africatown Plaza Groundbreaking Rings in New Affordable Housing →
Voices

Emerald Love Notes — Send Us Your Notes by Friday, February 11!

Nothing lifts the spirit like appreciation. Next Monday is Valentine’s Day. Let’s each take a moment to send a love note to someone: a beloved friend, family member, colleague, community member, or, yes, partner. Complete the Emerald’s Love Notes form (at soseaem.org/lovenotes22) by 5:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, and your note will be published on Monday. 

Love Notes will be limited to 300 characters, must be “family friendly,” and may be edited for typos.

📸 Featured image is attributed to Thomas Hawk (under a Creative Commons, CC BY-NC 2.0 license).

Before you move on to the next story …

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Arts & Culture

Wing Luke Museum’s ‘Fashion in Focus’ Exhibit Highlights Youth Art Program

by Amanda Ong

On Jan. 15, 2022, the newest student exhibit by the YouthCAN program, “Fashion in Focus,” opened at the Wing Luke Museum in the Frank Fujii Youth Gallery. 

YouthCAN is a free after-school arts program for high school students that runs its schedule on a quarter system. “It’s a great way for high school youth to learn about the Wing and explore arts professions,” Blake Nakatsu, exhibit developer and YouthCAN program manager at the Wing Luke Museum, told the South Seattle Emerald. “Our goal is really to just provide a space for youth to engage with arts and their peers. And I hope that we continue to be a place where students feel connected to the Chinatown-International District.”

Continue reading Wing Luke Museum’s ‘Fashion in Focus’ Exhibit Highlights Youth Art Program →
Community

The Morning Update Show — 2/8

The Morning Update Show — hosted by Trae Holiday and The Big O (Omari Salisbury) — is the only weekday news and information livestream that delivers culturally relevant content to the Pacific Northwest’s urban audience. Omari and Trae analyze the day’s local and national headlines as well as melanin magic in our community. Watch live every weekday at 11 a.m. on any of the following channels, hosted by Converge Media: YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Periscope, and whereweconverge.com.

We also post the Morning Update Show here on the Emerald each day after it airs, so you can catch up any time of day while you peruse our latest posts.

Morning Update Show — Tuesday, Feb. 8

Guest Host Jake Gravbrot | LIVE — Juan Cotto of Rainier Avenue Radio | Black History Events This Week | Turning the Tide on Gentrification

Continue reading The Morning Update Show — 2/8 →
Features

Black History Today: Dr. Kristina Bellamy, Actualizing Her Dreams in Service of Others

by Marcus Harden

Image depicting white text on a black background that reads "Black History Today." The word today is accented with a red and green line.

Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in celebration of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond and recognizes the people shaping the future.

Presented in collaboration with Rise Up for Students.

“Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It’s hard work that makes things happen. It’s hard work that creates change.”

—Shonda Rhimes

Only those who are brave enough to chase their dreams are bold enough to catch them. The act of turning a dream into a plan, a plan into an action, and that action into an accomplishment is what truly defines “success.” The person that does that over and over again, across various disciplines, is more than just a dreamer — they are an agent of change and proof of possibility.

Continue reading Black History Today: Dr. Kristina Bellamy, Actualizing Her Dreams in Service of Others →
News

Solar Project Devised by Highline High School Students Wins District Approval

by Ben Adlin

Members of Highline High School’s Environmental Club got the official green light last week to proceed with their plan to build a 100-kilowatt solar array on the roof of the school’s new building in Burien, marking a major milestone in the student-led renewable energy project. 

The array’s 252 solar panels are scheduled for installation in September, the students announced at an online briefing Saturday, Feb. 5, with a ribbon-cutting event planned around the start of 2022–23 school year.

Continue reading Solar Project Devised by Highline High School Students Wins District Approval →
Voices

OPINION: Why Casino Workers Are on Strike in Cambodia — and How You Can Help

by Polly Woodbury

Nearly every business in the world has been affected by COVID-19. Undoubtedly, it has been a difficult time to navigate successful operations. However, when a multimillion-dollar company unilaterally terminates 1,329 workers — and nearly 1,100 of them are union leaders, members, and activists — this is not a means of adjusting payroll, it’s an atrocious act of union-busting.

This is what one of the most successful casinos in the world, NagaWorld casino in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, committed against the Labor Rights Supported Union of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld (LRSU) in April 2021. Despite LRSU’s attempts to collectively bargain to find a solution for all sides, these efforts were rebuffed and the dispute remains unresolved.

Continue reading OPINION: Why Casino Workers Are on Strike in Cambodia — and How You Can Help →

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