Tag Archives: Communities of Color

New Report Shows Uptick in Gun Violence Primarily Impacts Communities of Color

by Agueda Pacheco Flores


Terrell Elmore remembers feeling terrorized. The youth football coach says gun shots that sounded like they were nearby interrupted a September game. As the shots popped off, everyone at Judkins Park began to flee and run for shelter.

“It was probably a block away,” Elmore says. “We didn’t know if they were shooting, we didn’t know the scenario or what was behind it, we didn’t know if they were coming, we just didn’t know; and come to find out after I … ran up to where I heard the shots … They had already fled the scene and some girl came down there and shot eight times in the air.”

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Libraries, Artists, and Community Members Host ‘What the World Needs Now: A Dreamathon’

by Chamidae Ford


In response to the COVID-19 delta variant, The Seattle Public Library (SPL) has teamed up with an array of entertainers, community organizations, and artists to create “What the World Needs Now: A Dreamathon.” The Dreamathon is a series dedicated to encouraging community members to imagine a better pandemic life through art, music, and knowledge. 

“We started COVID response projects in 2020 but intentionally decided that community-led work should be at the center of what we were doing,” SPL public engagements program manager Davida Ingram said. “So there’s a really beautiful array of culturally specific work that happened in response to COVID that has a lot of implications for racial justice and the role that arts and culture sort of plays in amplifying concerns around public health.”

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OPINION: Education, Mentorship Key Part of Getting Latinx Youth Excited About STEM

by Rafa Díaz


My story is one that isn’t often heard in the tech world. I grew up in Huayacocotla, a small Indigenous town in the mountains in Mexico. When I was 5, my mother — who was an elementary school teacher — moved me and my three sisters to La Guerrero, one of the most underprivileged neighborhoods in Mexico City. Resources were scarce, and kids were easy targets for violence and many other social problems. 

Thankfully, education was a force that shielded me from violence and, eventually, allowed me to flourish. Growing up, I was always interested in math, and my passion led me to multiple gold medals in Mathematical Olympiads in school.

Despite the barriers facing me, I was able to overcome challenges like racism, lack of knowledge about the opportunities available to me, and my own imposter syndrome. But I didn’t overcome these challenges alone. There are many factors that led me to where I am today — a software engineer at Google working on products like Google Meet — including mentors, access to a good education, and my love of math and problem-solving. I’m here today thanks to mi comunidad. 

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City Council Forum Addresses Displacement and Exclusionary Zoning

by Andrew Engelson


Seattle City Councilmembers Tammy Morales and Teresa Mosqueda sponsored an online forum on July 22 to explore issues surrounding displacement and exclusionary zoning that could fundamentally change the way Seattle grows in coming decades.

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Chino Y Chicano Podcast: Dr. Leo Morales, Adios Covid

by Enrique Cerna and Matt Chan

A couple of retired guys that spent their careers making television dish on the good, bad, and ridiculousness of life for People of Color in America. They tear apart the news of the week, explore the complexities of race, and talk to people far more interesting than they will ever be.


Seattle and King County officials are proudly touting a 70% COVID-19 vaccination rate. But Dr. Leo Morales says there is more work to be done, especially among Latinos and other communities of color where the vaccination rate hovers at 50%. Dr. Morales joins the Chino Y Chicano to talk about the pandemic’s impact on health disparities as well as “Adios COVID,” a project aimed at helping Latinos get vaccinated. Assistant dean of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Dr. Morales is also a professor and the co-director of the Latino Center for Health at the University of Washington.

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Local Reactions, Resources & Events in Response to Atlanta Shootings

by Emerald Staff


In the wake of the horrific mass shooting that took the lives of eight people in the Atlanta area on Tuesday — including six women of Asian descent — local elected leaders and community organizations came together to denounce anti-Asian hatred, show solidarity with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, and call for solutions that did not de-center the needs of all communities of color. The shooting, the worst mass attack in the U.S. since 2019, has sent shock waves through the local AAPI community, and drawn renewed attention to a spike in anti-Asian hate and violence, especially against women, during the pandemic.

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Homebound Elders Will Be Able to Be Vaccinated in Their Own Homes

by Carolyn Bick


Homebound elders who have no way to access community or mass COVID-19 vaccination sites will be able to get vaccinated in their own homes in the coming weeks.

In a press conference on March 12, Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC) Health Officer Dr. Jeff Duchin said that plans are in the works to create mobile vaccination teams that will be able to visit homebound elders who live in King County.

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One Year After First COVID-19 Outbreak, County Health Officials Cautiously Optimistic

by Andrew Engelson


Nearly one year after the first outbreak of COVID-19 in King County and the nation, public health officials and King County Executive Dow Constantine say they are cautiously optimistic about the spread of the virus. Effective prevention measures combined with slow but steadily increasing vaccinations have the potential to “put the pandemic in the rear view mirror,” said Public Health Officer Dr. Jeffrey Duchin in an online press briefing on Friday. But concerns remain, including the discovery of two new SARS-CoV-2 strains in the county, and pressure among those tiring of restrictions to let up on prevention strategies such as masking and limits on gatherings.In addition, inequitable access to vaccines remains a concern.

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HEAL Act, “The Cornerstone of Any Environmental Policy,” Makes Its Way Through Legislature

by Jack Russillo


During the 2019 legislative session, two state senators from South King County sponsored a bill that aimed to improve environmental justice for all of Washington’s residents, but only some of the policy actually became a reality. 

This year’s new legislative session, which opened last week, has already seen numerous senators co-sponsor the same policy — including one of the bill’s original champions, the 37th Legislative District’s Rebecca Saldaña — and reintroduce the bill in an attempt to lay the groundwork for achieving a universal standard of environmental health quality across every community in Washington. The Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act, Saldaña says, would lay the critical groundwork to effectively implement any environmental legislation that is passed in the State Senate.

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