Tag Archives: Capitol Hill Organized Protest

Arts & Culture

New Play ‘11th & Pine’ Tells Behind-the-Scenes Story of Seattle’s CHOP

“This is a people’s history,” says playwright Nikki Yeboah. “I want us as a city to lift this story.”

by Amanda Ong

From March 17 to March 19, Erickson Theatre will host a staged reading of 11th & Pine, a new play about the organizer experience of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), presented by Sound Theatre Company. Initially known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) before being renamed to CHOP, the organized protest against police brutality held in Cal Anderson Park in 2020 was one of the longest and most robust protests Seattle has seen to date. Written by Nikki Yeboah, a professor of playwriting at the University of Washington, and directed by Leah Adcock-Starr, 11th & Pine was written in conjunction with oral histories from CHOP’s organizers.

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Voices

OPINION | How the City of Seattle Used Raz Simone to Undermine 2020 Protests

by Gennette Cordova

At the height of the 2020 racial justice demonstrations following the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other victims of police violence, Seattle and its short-lived Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) was put under a microscope. A self-proclaimed leader of CHOP, local rapper Raz Simone quickly gained visibility as national media outlets made him a figurehead of the movement despite vocal opposition mainly from women. As more specifics emerge about both his sex trafficking and his involvement with Seattle police, the argument becomes stronger to support what many of us already knew: Raz’s rise to prominence was part of a larger strategic effort to discredit racial justice protests in 2020. 

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Community

Sustainable Seattle to Host Virtual Leadership Awards Event to Celebrate and Connect Local Sustainability Experts

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by Jack Russillo

They’re calling it “Campfire Stories,” and the event will shed light on some of Seattle’s most innovative and ambitious leaders working toward a sustainable and equitable future.

On Tuesday December 8 at 6 p.m. Sustainable Seattle (S2) will host its eleventh Sustainability Leadership Awards, where it will recognize and celebrate the efforts of local experts, organizers, and organizations that have produced exceptional sustainability work in the past year. This year, the free event will take place online. Virtual doors will open at 5:45 p.m. and the event will commence shortly after.

Since 1991, S2 has worked to guide initiatives, create events, assemble a diverse range of community members, and spread awareness from around the Seattle area to activate a world that is safe, accessible, and enduring for all.

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News

In Press Conference, Durkan, Best Focus on Just Two of Three Shootings That Happened Over the Weekend

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by Carolyn Bick

Joined by several community leaders, Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best addressed two weekend shootings that claimed the life of a 19-year-old Black teen and wounded two others in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP).

In the June 22 press conference, Durkan and Best committed to working with different Black-led community organizations, including Community Passageways and Not This Time. Durkan said that she will be introducing a 2020 budget rebalancing plan that will make a point to invest in the Black community, in order to enhance public safety. In the name of both equity and public safety, Durkan also committed $5 million for mentoring and summer learning for Black youth.

She also said that police officers responded to almost 17,000 emergency calls within the last nine months, and that her budget process will examine the police budget. She said that police only respond “because the other systems in society have failed,” and that what the city needs is for certain services, like mental health workers or community-based workers, to be available to respond to some emergency calls.

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News

Capitol HIll Protest or Police-free Utopia?

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by Elizabeth Turnbull

If you walk past a white building on the corner of 12th Avenue and Pine Street on Capitol Hill, you will see it is covered with plywood. On one corner of that plywood is the image of a woman rendered in spray paint. Depicted is Charleena Lyles, a Black woman who was killed by Seattle Police in 2017. The building is the East Precinct of the Seattle Police Department. Continue reading Capitol HIll Protest or Police-free Utopia? →