Over the past six years, since voters in King County passed a tax levy to pay for a new “Youth and Family Services Center,” opposition has been steadily and relentlessly growing. Hundreds of organizations and countless community members have been part of the No New Youth Jail campaign. As pressure mounts to stop construction, I want to make sure people are thinking not only about the youth jail the County continues to build this very minute, but also about the court facility that is part of the same construction project.
A warm, spring sun shone down Monday morning as 70+ people gathered on the corner of 1st Ave N and Republican, across the street from the offices of Howard S. Wright Co., to oppose the King County’s plan to build a new youth jail. To commemorate the start of Passover, as well as Holy Week, anti-racist Jews and Christians came together to participate in a shared ritual and action, expressing both faith traditions’ commitment to racial and social justice. Continue reading Jews, Christians protest new youth jail in Table Turning/Passover Monday→
The EPIC Giving Project is a partnership between the Social Justice Fund (SJF) and Ending Prison Industrial Complex (EPIC) to develop anti-racist, community led models of raising money and distributing funds. Over the next year, SJF and EPIC will work with a group of 15-20 community members to distribute $500,000 Seattle City Council allocated for Community Led Alternatives in the last budget cycle. The EPIC Giving Project is the product of years of community struggle against King County pouring $210,000,000 into a youth detention center on 12th and Alder, calling for investment in community led alternatives instead. Also, the EPIC Giving Project is what Anti-Racist Community Organizers demanded from the Seattle City Council after they passed the Zero Youth Detention Resolution last fall. Personally, there are two primary reasons I’m invested in this work: Continue reading Bringing It Back: An EPIC Giving Project→
Amplifying the Authentic Narratives of South Seattle
