I am Roxanne White. I am Nez Perce, Yakama, Nooksack, and Aaniiih (Gros Ventre) Nations. I want to honor our ways and acknowledge I am a guest to this Coast Salish territory. I acknowledge that these are the ancestral homelands of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Tulalip, and Muckleshoot Nations.
I’ve been asked what my vision is for Seattle and what I would like to see once renewal begins. Immediately I looked up the english definition of the word “renewal”: To resume after a long interruption and to replace something that was rundown, worn out, or broken.
My vision would be that renewal begins with the curriculum our children are taught. The education system needs to teach the truth about who Native people were and are! But the story has to be told by us. It’s very important that history is told by the people it impacted and affected. Indigenous people have been passing down our oral history for generations. We’re the ones that know who we are.
The last thing Seattle needs is some system reboot to its “last saved version.” We don’t need those program files restored. Not the crises of affordability, not the persistent disparity in education, resources, and opportunities. Not the heinously lopsided “economic growth,” not the endless civic “community feedback processes” that forever result somehow in more of the same. And definitely not the feel-good liberal jargon that tactfully, tactically sugarcoats it all.
With a challenging year soon to be behind us, we asked community members to share their vision of what they hope becomes of our city post-pandemic.
by Xing Hey
My imagination for a post-COVID Seattle is one that is more BIPOC, less techy, and where poverty isn’t criminalized. As we are currently witnessing city administrators sweep and raid houseless encampments across the city, it should remind us that the poor, those who are Black, those who are Brown, those who are Indigenous to this stolen land, the mentally impaired are the ones often criminalized and living on the margins of our city. It highlights that in order to protect the privileges of one segment of Seattle, another segment of Seattle must suffer under the hands of discriminatory laws and policies.
With a challenging year soon to be behind us, we asked community members to share their vision of what they hope becomes of our city post-pandemic.
by Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network
The year 2020 has brought many people in our community, including Trans Women of Color Solidarity Network (TWOC Solidarity Network), heartache, stress, and difficult times. However, what we’ve also seen is the way our community comes together to provide care and mutual aid when we cannot rely on the same from our government. We’ve seen the queer and trans community pool its resources, utilize different levels of privilege, as well as put itself on the frontlines of issues that affect our community at all intersections; we’ve also urged others to do the same.
With a challenging year soon to be behind us, we asked community members to share their vision of what they hope becomes of our city post-pandemic.
by C. Davida Ingram
This year has kicked my ass and cracked my heart open. These are not bad things. It’s not about me. It’s time. Ours. The U.S. has led in COVID deaths because we lead by oppression. Imagine if we could ever think beyond capitalism, misogyny, racism, and rapaciousness. Imagine if we gave ourselves breathing room and a fighting chance.
With a challenging year soon to be behind us, we asked community members to share their vision of what they hope becomes of our city post-pandemic.
by Maru Mora
What should renewal in 2021 Seattle, one of the wealthiest cities in the world, look like?
It should look like us, low-income People of Color, being able to afford to live, work, eat, and walk safely on the streets or driving without worrying about the police and authorities targeting us.
With a challenging year soon to be behind us, we asked community members to share their vision of what they hope becomes of our city post-pandemic.
by Nakeya Isabell
Seattle: my home, my birth place. My vision is that we would unify and spread more love than hate. That we would permeate our streets with compassion, grace, and truth. My vision is that our churches would remain committed to the legacy of our roots and be like trees planted near the water. My hope is that our communities would remain open to the reconstruction process as we move forward. We will never be the same! The process takes relevant strategies. Change is necessary.
With a challenging year soon to be behind us, we asked community members to share their vision of what they hope becomes of our city post-pandemic.
by JM Wong
What if care was the organizing principle of our society? Not profit, not white supremacist garbage masked as liberal paternalism in the form of “diversity” that would hire cops of color to continue to target Black and Brown folks on the street just living their lives.
