by Vee Hua 華婷婷
by Dae Shik Kim
When I used to live on Capitol Hill, I would run into Kshama Sawant a couple times a month at the Central Co-op. I would always take a quick peek into her shopping cart and knew right away she was about to throw down. Seattle is a small enough city where it isn’t out of the ordinary to see one of your local electeds in public. I’ve seen Andrew Lewis in his Indochino suit panic-jogging through Pioneer Square so many times and never really thought much of it. But seeing Kshama Sawant do “human” things always felt a little different. Maybe because most of us have never seen her break “character,” especially within the walls of City Hall. Or maybe because corporate media loves to portray “radical leftists” as joyless figures, quick to cancel others, perpetuating stereotypes that overlook multifaceted lives and passions.
Continue reading Love, Labor, and Legacy: An Exit Interview With Councilmember Kshama Sawantcurated by Vee Hua 華婷婷
by Ashley Archibald
(This article was originally published on Real Change and has been reprinted under an agreement.)
Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant announced Thursday, Jan. 19, that she will not run for reelection in District 3 and will instead launch a workers’ rights campaign called Workers Strike Back.
Continue reading Sawant Will Not Run for Reelectionby Elizabeth Turnbull
On Nov. 19, City Councilmember Kshama Sawant gathered with tenants of the Rainier Court Apartments to pressure the landlord to commit to not increasing rent in 2022 and to fixing problematic living conditions — two demands of Sawant’s larger plan to implement rent control citywide, ahead of an impending recall election.
Tenants living in the Dakota and Courtland Place buildings of the Rainier Court Apartments, who spoke at the rally, said that their standard of living has been lowered by mold, long maintenance wait times, and questionable security.
Continue reading Sawant Emphasizes Rent Control Ahead of Special Recall Electionby Alex Garland
Tenants from the Columbia Gardens and Dakota apartment buildings, located in the Mt. Baker neighborhood, gathered in the small courtyard between the buildings on Oct. 22. Housing rights advocates and community activists joined for a rally in protest of alleged tenant abuse, ignored maintenance issues, lack of internet access, and lack of communication from management around changes made to community spaces. The issues tenants are experiencing caught the attention of the Tenants Union of Washington State (TUWS) and Be:Seattle, organizations that help protect and organize renters, and both helped coordinate the rally.
Both Columbia Gardens — apartments for senior housing — and the Dakota apartments are owned by SouthEast Effective Development (SEED), a nonprofit that owns more than 1,000 apartments in South Seattle with the aim of maintaining affordable housing in the area. These two properties are managed by Coast Property Management.
During the rally, employees from Coast Property Management sequestered themselves in an adjacent building and turned out the lights as the tenants approached the windows of the room where several were eating. As chants of “People Over Profit” echoed in the narrow space, tenants from Columbia Gardens stood on balconies and patios or joined their neighbors as they rallied.
Continue reading Residents at SEED Affordable Housing Properties Protest Poor Conditions, Rising Rentsby Elizabeth Turnbull
Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant unveiled a resolution July 21 to compensate the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and others for land taken by the City under the “urban renewal” programs of the 1950’s and 60’s.
The legislation comes after advocacy by the senior pastor of the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Dr. Robert Jeffrey Sr., who is calling on the city to return the land or pay reparations for land taken, provide funds to build 87 units of affordable housing to fight displacement, and to create a Central Area Homeownership Fund to help Families of Color build equity in their community.
Continue reading After History of Gentrification, Resolution Proposed to Compensate Central Area Churchby Andrew Engelson
The effort to recall District 3 Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant — the unapologetic socialist, advocate for workers’ rights, and supporter of higher taxes on Seattle’s wealthy — took an unusual turn earlier this month. In a bold tactical move, the campaign that opposes Sawant’s recall is now asking her supporters to sign the recall petitions in order to ensure the recall vote takes place on the November general election ballot.
At a press conference on July 9, Sawant signed a recall petition herself and urged her supporters to do the same.
“The Recall Campaign pretends they’re not attempting to carry out voter suppression in District 3. They don’t pretend very hard though,” Sawant said in a press release. “They want a winter special election because they don’t want ordinary working people to vote. They know Black people, working class people, young people, typically vote in dramatically lower numbers in special elections.”
Continue reading Sawant Supporters Are Gathering Signatures for Her Recall. Here’s Why.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.
LIVE — Jaye Ware | Sawant Unveils Affordable Housing Plan | #FollowTheMoney — Where Is the $10M HSD Going? | Arrest Made in I-90 Rock-Throwing Incident | Activists, Actors, or Actorvist? | Diggable Planets!
Continue reading The Morning Update Show — 7/21/21The 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.
Traffic Deaths in District 2 | Sawant Recall | More Gunfire Overnight in Seattle | HBCU’s Are on the Rise | South Delridge Farmers Market
Continue reading The Morning Update Show — 7/7/21
