Three years ago, I had the privilege to stand on the shores of Point Comfort (today’s Fort Monroe) in Hampton, Virginia, with hundreds of other African Americans to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans in English North America. Standing at the Ellis Island of African America 400 years ago, I imagined what their perilous landing must’ve been like. What I know for sure is that their presence profoundly impacted the cultural manifest of America’s past, yet their descendants remain subject to socioeconomic and political disparities today.
Everyone lost to gun violence is someone’s beloved. Beloved is a multi-media campaign exploring gun violence in-depth in four phases: The Problem of gun violence as a symptom of illness (or infection) caused by systemic inequality; The History of gun violence, root causes, and local and national data trends. The Solutions to end gun violence including King County Public Health’s regional approach to gun violence prevention and treatments; and finally, the ideation of a world without gun violence, The Beloved Community. The Beloved project is brought to you in partnership with Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Hope Corps program, King County’s Public Health team, Converge Media, Black Coffee Northwest, Toybox Consulting, Creative Justice, The Facts Newspaper, Forever Safe Spaces, Northwest African American Museum, Presidential Media, and the South Seattle Emerald.
We know that the disease of racism precedes community violence, yet even now we are grappling with “reimagining” systems that have been built around the commodification of Black and Brown bodies. Before we can discuss the epidemic of gun violence, we must call out racism first. We know European colonization caused a genocide to Indigenous people, created systemically inferior health care, plundered Black wealth, and created a legal system that punishes Black folks more frequently and more severely. This story is not new; it is as old as this country and as racist as the design of our systems and institutions. It hasalways been a story about Black and Brown people.
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, March 9
LIVE — Derrick Wheeler-Smith of Office For Civil Rights | LIVE — Mike Davis of South Seattle Emerald | LIVE — Simon Okelo of One Vibe Africa | Mayor Ferrell of Fed Way Running for KC Prosecutor | Who Is Getting Evicted and Who Is Getting Help
(This article is co-published with The Seattle Times.)
Listening to Lynda Wolff, I want to roar at the world to remember her murdered son’s life. Four years ago, Latrel Williams was shot multiple times while returning to his Lakeridge home.
In the aftermath of his death, I spotted no signs at marches acknowledging his life, no public speeches given in his honor, and no politicians furiously spouting his name to earn social justice merits.
But Lynda still lost a son. Latrel Jr. (LJ) lost a father. And I lost a friend.
Last Wednesday, Mar. 17 the community was shocked to hear about a shooting at the Emerald City Bible Fellowship on Rainier Avenue South. There are a lot of rumors and a lot of unknowns. What we do know is that someone lost their life, someone took a life, and a community is left grieving in the aftermath of violence.
On the day of the shooting, Community Passageways was holding an orientation meeting at the church. Harvey Drake, the pastor of Emerald City Bible Fellowship, says the suspected shooter was looking for the victim, since identified as Omari Wallace, and confronted him during the orientation meeting that was attended by about 15 youth. Wallace was in his 20’s. Pastor Drake believes the shooter was as well.
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 theEmerald each day after it airs, so you can catch up any time of day while you peruse our latest posts.
Morning Update Show — Friday, March 19
Happy Birthday Morning Update Show! | #FeelGoodFriday | Derrick Wheeler-Smith | LIVE | Justin Carder | Zero Youth Detention (ZYD)
