by Ronnie Estoque
I grew up in a yellow house on Willow Street just a block away from Brighton Elementary (now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary), where I attended school. Many of my childhood memories consist of me riding bikes with my friends around our hilly neighborhood. We would race each other and order ice cream from the local driver on summer days that seemed to breeze by way too fast.
Continue reading OPINION | Willow Street Reflectionsby Amanda Ong
Looking to shop locally and support South End and BIPOC makers this holiday season? The Emerald has you covered. You may have seen our guide to Native art markets this winter, but for even more options that support local, BIPOC, and South End small businesses, here are a handful of notable holiday markets perfect for gift shopping.
Continue reading A Holiday Market Guide for the South Endby Victor Simoes
The South Seattle Emerald’s third annual costume parade, T’Challaween — A South End Tribute to Our Heroes, returns on Saturday, Oct. 29, 1–4 p.m. As in previous years, the parade takes place along the Beacon Hill Stay Healthy Street — beginning on 18th Avenue South and South College Street and ending at Jefferson Park (via the South Spokane Street entrance).
Continue reading Get Ready for T’Challaween — a South End Tribute to Our Heroesby Amanda Ong
Luther Hughes, a born and raised South Seattle poet, released a collection of poetry, A Shiver in the Leaves, on Sept. 27. Set in South Seattle, where abundant green foliage is both a prevalent feature and a key element of Hughes’ experience, A Shiver in the Leaves is an exploration of queerness and Blackness in the midst of love and depression.
Continue reading Luther Hughes’ ‘A Shiver in the Leaves’ Explores Black Embodiment and Queer Desireby Amanda Ong
Last week, we interviewed some rising local and BIPOC music artists performing in the city this summer. These artists are only some of the many incredible South End singers and musicians, part of a thriving and dynamic local music scene.
Continue reading Summer in the South End: An August Roundup of Live Music and Block Partiesby Ben Adlin
After working for more than 30 years for Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods, Ron Angeles understood the importance of community ties. But he worked in West Seattle while living in Rainier Beach, and after retiring, he wanted to get to know his neighbors.
The first thing that came to mind was the Seattle Police Department’s Block Watch program, under which residents are supposed to alert law enforcement to suspicious activity. “I wanted to do something a little bit more positive,” Angeles said. “Block Watch — you know, crime — it’s kind of negative.”
So he got in touch with Cindi Barker, a West Seattle–based emergency preparedness organizer he knew from his old job, and launched an emergency communications hub instead.
Continue reading After a Disaster, South Seattle Will Be on Its Own — Emergency Hubs Are Here to Helpby Emerald Staff
These past two years have been a time like no other. As if the deadliest pandemic in United States history wasn’t enough, this nation also had to continue addressing the legacy of chattel slavery and the racist policies that have marred this country’s democratic aspirations. Both caused pain, suffering, death, and sapped the economic vitality of families and communities around the country and here in the South End. Through it all, the South Seattle Emerald’s dedicated board, core team, and freelance content contributors have done their best to amplify your voices and reflect your cultural, political, and informational expressions. They are the expressions of a community that is in pain yet also has the resilience and strength to overcome.
Continue reading With Our Gratitude to Youby Alexa Peters
Recovery in south King County has not kept up with north King County and preexisting economic disparities between the two regions were exacerbated by the pandemic, a recent Economic Security Department (ESD) report said.
The August ESD report showed evidence of an ongoing economic recovery in King County, including an unemployment rate much lower than in other counties at 4.8%, suggesting that King County’s recovery has been the swiftest in the state. That said, data at the city level shows a different picture.
In January 2020, the highest unemployment rate among Auburn, Kirkland, Redmond, and Renton was 3.4% in Auburn, and the lowest was 2.1% in Redmond.
“While the relative positions of these four communities persisted throughout the pandemic, the gap over time has widened,” said Anneliese Vance-Sherman, regional labor economist for the ESD. “All four communities are worse off today than they were before the pandemic, but it is taking longer for the South End communities to recover.”
Continue reading Unemployment Data Shows Unequal Recovery, Galvanizes South End Equity Effortsby Emerald Staff
With the spookiest night of the year fast approaching, the South Seattle Emerald has gathered some haunted happenings around the South End here so you, friends, and family can spend a scary (and safe!) Halloween together. From pumpkin hunts to trunk or treats, there’s something here for all the ghosts, goblins, and ghoulies to enjoy all weekend long.
Check back to this post as we continue to add more events that we hear about! If we missed an event and like us to add it, fill out our event form here.
🎃🎃Last updated on Wednesday, Oct. 20.🎃🎃
Continue reading Halloween 2021 in South Seattle: A Ghostly Guide to Local Eventsby Ari Robin McKenna
With public school students back learning in-person for the second week during a delta variant surge, parents and guardians await crucial, timely information from their school or district in the event there are COVID-19 cases at their child’s school. Such information helps parents and guardians keep their kids safe and take precautions that impact collective safety. In South Seattle and southwest King County — where the majority of People of Color in the county live and where higher COVID-19 case rates have persisted throughout the pandemic — clear, transparent, effective communication becomes even more crucial. In these historically under-resourced communities, plenty of doubts remain about current communication during this delta stage of the pandemic.
When Seattle Public Schools (SPS) refreshed their COVID-19 dashboard on Monday evening for last school week, they reported 44 confirmed COVID-19 cases within their 104 schools and other educational sites. Ten of those cases were in the northwest and northeast districts, and 24 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the southwest and southeast districts. This is despite the total number of students actually being 2,984 higher in the north. Though this week-one data set is minuscule, it accedes to the norms of the bigger picture: Seattle-wide, parents and guardians anxiously sent their kids to school on the first day, and perhaps predictably, more than twice as many from the South End have gotten sick.
To put the disparate current infection rates in perspective, a glance at the current King County “Daily COVID-19 outbreak summary dashboard” geography stub on Sept. 8 shows all of the highest reporting areas to be in the southwest corner of the county map. Central Federal Way, SeaTac/Tukwila, and South Auburn have the county’s highest COVID-19 positive case rates per 100,000 residents at 11,224.4, 11,328.6, and 12,843.1 respectively. Meanwhile, by contrast, whiter north Seattle neighborhoods have some of the county’s lowest rates, such as Ballard, Fremont/Green Lake, and northeast Seattle, which are at 2,996.1, 2,958.3, and 3,693.8 respectively.
Continue reading Communication Key as South Seattle Schools Reporting Disproportionate COVID-19 Cases
