In celebration of the South Seattle Emerald’s 8th Anniversary, we asked community members to share moments in our publication’s history that remain special to them. 

by Reagan Jackson

The Emerald community has been creating ripples with its creativity and genius for 8 magnificent years! Those ripples are felt far beyond South Seattle — community, after all, is not a place but its people. And home can be a place, people, or both. The energy our people generate at home and beyond ignites sparks that prove perennially that even the tiniest of sparks illuminates dark places in all directions and can guide us to wherever we need to go.

Please help us continue to serve our community by becoming a recurring donor during our 8th anniversary campaign, Ripples & Sparks at Home, April 20–28. Become a Rainmaker today by choosing the “recurring donor” option on our donation page! 

—The Emerald Team

Marcus Harrison Green and I met shortly before the birth of the South Seattle Emerald. What started out as my giving him writing lessons turned into a lot of laughter, knocking back rum and cokes at Jude’s, talking shit about local politics, and reading each other’s writing. Inevitably, our conversations would return to the big gaping hole in Seattle’s media scene and Marcus would wax poetic about the need for a news outlet where the South End could curate its own story rather than being continuously villainized in news told by strangers from outside the community.