In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Dec. 23, a fire broke out in the Greentree Apartments in Skyway. Though firefighters from King County Fire District 20 (KCFD20), as well as units from Renton Regional Fire Authority, Tukwila Fire Department, and other units from across the region fought the three-alarm fire, the massive blaze left most of the apartment building damaged. Thankfully there were no fatalities, though KCFD20 reported that one resident was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Two small blocks of businesses along Renton Avenue, separated by houses and Skyway Park, make up Skyway’s main business district, serving the unincorporated community wedged between Seattle and Renton.
On Friday, Oct. 16, members of the Skyway community and government officials gathered to celebrate the designation of the second U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) EnVision Center in Washington State, which is set to provide resources for residents in Skyway.
The King County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a “coordinated attack” from hackers that disrupted an online town hall for Skyway hosted by the King County Local Services Department on October 6, according to a statement from the King County Executive’s Office. Hackers broke into the meeting and used Zoom’s annotations feature to post “offensive, anti-Black, anti-Semitic, and sexually explicit images and words,” according to King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay on Twitter, who was part of the meeting.
Organizer, promoter, entrepreneur, computer scientist, father, and community gardener — Chukundi Salisbury has amassed several titles since moving to Seattle as a 5-year-old boy in 1975. He’s looking to add at least one more come November: state representative for Washington’s 37th Legislative District.
Skyway, an unincorporated community sandwiched between Seattle and Renton, has few representatives. While other areas in King County have “essentially what amounts to lobbyists working for them and their interests,” as King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay puts it, Skyway has no mayor or city council.
The Skyway Youth Network Collaborative (SYNC) is working with youth in the West Hill/Skyway area to provide leadership and community advocacy opportunities. SYNC, a collaborative that empowers youth to use their voices, two years ago created an opportunity for youth to engage local politicians and provide them with recommended actions that will better serve youth and families in their community.
One of the first projects the young people worked on was creating and distributing surveys in the community to determine what topics to focus on. The two major areas of concern they found were affordable housing and real investment. These topics fueled SYNC’s efforts this year. The process set them on a path that started with conversations with community members who are currently working to address concerns regarding affordable housing and culminated with a group of youth giving a presentation during a King County Council meeting.
A free, multi-service resource center hosted by Renton Innovation Zone Partnership will be stationed at 12643 Renton Ave. S.on Sept. 4, Sept. 18, and three dates in October, to provide Skyway residents with housing assistance, school supplies, and food resources, among other things.
Hundreds of people gathered in the parking lot of Catfish Corner Express in Skyway on Saturday, Aug. 9 for the Second Annual Afro Bite. Attendees sampled food from an assortment of Black-owned restaurants including the Mac Shack, Elotes Custom Corn, Heaven’s Kitchen, and of course, Seattle’s famous Catfish Corner. In addition to food, several Black-owned businesses also sold apparel, skin products, jewelry, books, and face masks. Continue reading Photo Essay: Second Annual Afro Bite in Skyway→
Barbershops and beauty salons are more than just local businesses in Black communities. They represent safe spaces for communal gatherings and often serve as a hub for civic discourse, playing host to important cultural dialogue and connection. I vividly remember my early hair cut days, sitting in Greg’s chair — Greg was one of my first barbers — getting a skin-tight fade way back in 1996, as he explained to me in detail how the SuperSonics could beat Jordan’s Bulls and become NBA Champions. The barbershop is the one of the first places you’ll hear complex debates over sports, politics, religion, relationships, and everything in between. It’s also one of the few public spaces in a city with demographics like Seattle’s, where members of the Black community can have these debates without being under the microscope of whiteness.
