Tag Archives: Black American

Arts & Culture

What the Funk?! Showcases Black and Brown Joy Through Funk Music at the Triple Door

The only BIPOC burlesque fest in the Pacific Northwest returns.

by Patheresa Wells

What the Funk?! isn’t just a burlesque festival. It isn’t just a funk music revue. And it isn’t just a reclamation of the beauty found in BIPOC bodies. It is a blending of music and melanin that pays tribute to the Black American music genre of funk while simultaneously showcasing the artistry of burlesque performers of color. What the Funk?! An All POC Burlesque Festival returns for its fourth year at The Triple Door Aug. 24–26, 2023.

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Community

‘Reconciliation Tour’ Documentary Connects Black Baseball History-Makers to Young Athletes Today

by Victor Simoes

Baseball Beyond Borders (BBB), a Kent-based organization that uses baseball as a tool to increase opportunity and support academic excellence for student-athletes of color, released its first documentary, Reconciliation Tour, in September. The film centers on baseball’s healing power through community building and the athletes’ shared experiences while paying homage to the sport’s historic role in the fight for civil rights and its place in Black American culture. Made in partnership with local Black media production company Converge, the documentary follows 21 BBB members on a trip to the South. 

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Voices

OPINION | How My Black and Indigenous Ancestry Guides My Perception of Generational Wealth

by Lauryn Bray

When I was 18, my grandfather told me that in 1936, the U.S. government cut a check to my great-grandmother for $2,000 and took her land in Oklahoma. She had inherited a farmhouse that sat on several acres. This property had been in my family for decades, and from what I understand, it did not go willingly. $2,000 in 1936 — when my great-grandmother would have had custody of this property — is worth about $42,879 now. Needless to say, she was ripped off.

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Voices

OPINION: To My Nieces and Nephews on the 10th Anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s Killing

by Marcus Harrison Green

(This article is copublished with The Seattle Times.)

To Roman, Alexander, Serea, and Jada:

You’re not yet old enough to know about Trayvon Martin. But every time I think of his life, I think of yours. 

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Voices

OPINION: Bringing Affirmative Action Back to Washington State Is a Step in the Right Direction

by Maryam Noor

Last month, Gov. Jay Inslee signed an executive order to rescind Directive 98-01, a part of 23-year-old legislation in Washington banning affirmative action policies in public sector employment and education. Inslee called the Directive “overly restrictive.” He also announced a new executive order that calls for increased diversity in public sector contracting and institutions of higher education. 

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News

Japanese American Redress and African American Reparations Intertwined

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by Kamna Shastri

When Satsuki Ina’s mother received her reparations check from the US government in apology for incarcerating over 120,000 Japanese Americans between 1942 and 1945, the check ended up somewhere in a stack of papers piled high on her desk. Instead, a framed apology letter leaning against the wall caught Ina’s eye.

“What does this mean for you?” Ina asked her mother.

“I feel like I finally got my face back,” her mother replied.

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