Tag Archives: Featured

People

Jacob Willard Home—A Mom and Pop Shop Serving Up Vintage Home Furnishings and Aural Nostalgia

1 Comment

by Jessie McKenna

This article first appeared as the first part of a series of blog posts for Rainier Ave Business Coalition (RainierABC).

Hillman City’s Karl Hackett, of Jacob Willard Home, started his mid-century collectibles business out of his home in Seward Park in 2011 after leaving the mortgage business. He caught the collecting bug early, while still a boy, but it wasn’t always vintage mid-century furniture and the like that struck his fancy. In fact, he grew up in a mid-century modern style home and was inspired by his father’s taste in home decor, but Karl says he didn’t appreciate the unique look and feel of the style at the time, it was just what home looked like. 

Continue reading Jacob Willard Home—A Mom and Pop Shop Serving Up Vintage Home Furnishings and Aural Nostalgia →

Culture

PHOTOS: El Centro de la Raza holds 15th annual Día de Muertos celebration

By Carolyn Bick

Ignoring the chilly evening air nipping about them, hundreds of laughing people thronged through Roberto Maestas Plaza at El Centro de la Raza in Seattle, Washington, for the organization’s 15th annual Día de Muertos celebration on Nov. 1. Some wore extravagant, traditional Mexican outfits trimmed with lace, faces painted and decorated to look like bejeweled skulls. Others tucked up in puffy jackets eagerly waited in line for pan de muerto, or Mexican bread of the dead, and a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

Continue reading PHOTOS: El Centro de la Raza holds 15th annual Día de Muertos celebration →

Politics

Groups square off over affirmative action, ahead of November vote

By Bunthay Cheam

In November, voters will get to decide the fate of affirmative action, which has been at issue in Washington State since the late 1990s.

This past April, the Washington State legislature approved Initiative 1000. Its implementation would repeal Initiative 200, which has banned affirmative action in the state since its passage in 1998. Anti-tax activist Tim Eyman helped bring I-200 to the ballot and more than half of Washington State voters approved it, adding language that prohibited government hiring, contracting, and admissions to universities to use race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in its process.

Two groups have emerged with different interpretations of how I-1000 would be implemented, if passed: Let People Vote, which opposes I-1000, and the Washington Fairness Campaign, which supports it.

Continue reading Groups square off over affirmative action, ahead of November vote →

Events, South End Weekend

THIS WEEK IN SOUTH SEATTLE — Let Us Tell It, South End Halloween, Día de los Muertos, and More!

by Emerald Staff

Wed., Oct. 30:

Let Us Tell It Film Series

“NAAM’s new Let Us Tell It film series centers the narratives of Black women and their families, both blood and chosen, through film. October’s feature film is the 1996 classic Set It Off. This series is free and open to the public.”

Time: 7 p.m.
Where: NAAM — 2300 S. Massachusetts St
Cost: FREE

Continue reading THIS WEEK IN SOUTH SEATTLE — Let Us Tell It, South End Halloween, Día de los Muertos, and More! →

Events, South End Weekend

THIS WEEK IN SOUTH SEATTLE — South End Stories, Africatown Candidate Showdown, Spooky Halloween Parties, and More!

by Emerald Staff

Thurs., Oct. 24:

Sankofa Film Society presents ARRAY’s “Burning Cane”

“Directed by the youngest director to ever have a film in competition at Tribeca Film Festival, BURNING CANE tells the story of a deeply religious woman’s struggle to reconcile her convictions of faith with the love she has for her alcoholic son and a troubled preacher. Set in rural Louisiana, the film explores the relationships within a southern black protestant community, examining the roots of toxic masculinity, how manhood is defined and the dichotomous role of religion within the black community.

“Director Phillip Youmans is an NYU film student and the first African American director to win Tribeca’s Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature. BURNING CANE also won Best Actor for Wendell Pierce (CLEMENCY, SELMA) and Best Cinematography for Youmans.” Presented by the Sankofa Film Society.

Time: 7–9 p.m.
Where: Ark Lodge Cinemas — 4816 Rainier Ave. S.
Cost: $8–12

Continue reading THIS WEEK IN SOUTH SEATTLE — South End Stories, Africatown Candidate Showdown, Spooky Halloween Parties, and More! →

Community

In Photos: Seattle Farm celebrates 100 years

by Carolyn Bick

Gloria Sferra remembers when her late husband “went completely insane,” because a young woman decided to board her horse in the couple’s farmstead basement, right after Sferra’s husband had finished remodeling the space.

Then, there was the time a fox decided to bring his entire family to live on the farm. The canine family soon became used to the presence of people –– so much so that they eventually became almost tame.

“One night, I stayed in my barn, and I almost had a stroke, because here comes my kitty … and here are the foxes, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh, my God, my cat is going to get eaten in front of me, before my very eyes,’” Sferra recalled. “And the fox just totally ignored him –– he wandered into the barn and cuddled up with me.”

Continue reading In Photos: Seattle Farm celebrates 100 years →

Community

These women entrepreneurs lead by example to empower youth, strengthen the community

by Carolyn Bick

October is National Women’s Small Business Month. Across the United States, 11.6 million businesses are woman-owned. The Emerald chatted with three Seattle-based women entrepreneurs of color about the hurdles they faced in starting their own businesses, and why they believe visibility in the community is so important.

Continue reading These women entrepreneurs lead by example to empower youth, strengthen the community →

Community

In Photos: Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebrates Worldwide Indigenous Cultures and Heritage

by Susan Fried

Led by Indigenous Sisters Resistance, Indigenous Peoples’ Day rally attendees sang, “today is for us, Indigenous people, rise up, sing loud, celebrate and be proud,” their words ringing through Westlake Park on Oct. 14.  

Continue reading In Photos: Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebrates Worldwide Indigenous Cultures and Heritage →

Events, South End Weekend

THIS WEEK IN SOUTH SEATTLE — Wing Luke House Party, Iconic Black Women, Arts Gumbo Samoa, and More!

by Emerald Staff

Wed., Oct. 16:

Knife Knights / Darius Jones and Stas Thee Boss — Earshot Jazz Festival

“Ishmael Butler (Digable Planets, Shabazz Palaces) and crew chief Erik Blood weave what they describe as ‘soul and shoegaze, hip-hop and lush noise, bass and bedlam’ with DJ OCnotes (Otis Calvin III) and Marquetta Miller. Opening: OCnotes’ fellow KEXP DJ Stas Thee Boss (Stasia Irons, ex- Psychedelic-Space-Rap-Jazz duo THEESatisfaction) and alto-sax expansionist Darius Jones.”

Time: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Langston Hughes — 104 17th Ave S.
Cost: $10–22

*Also coming up at Langston—Film screening and talk back: Sembene, the Inspiring Story of the Father of African Cinema, on Sat., 10/19 and Silent Movie Mondays – Within Our Gates (1920) on Mon., 10/21. Within Our Gates is the oldest known surviving film made by an African-American director.

Continue reading THIS WEEK IN SOUTH SEATTLE — Wing Luke House Party, Iconic Black Women, Arts Gumbo Samoa, and More! →