Tag Archives: Susan Fried

PHOTO ESSAY | Celebrating 100 Years of Garfield High School

August 30, 2022 Editor

by Susan Fried

After a two-year delay and several years of planning, Garfield High School (GHS) celebrated its centennial on Saturday, Aug. 27. Hundreds of graduates from classes representing the 1940s to the 2020s showed up to show their Bulldog pride. At mini reunions, classmates who hadn’t seen each other in years hugged, reminisced about their high school days, and talked about their lives since graduation. The joy and excitement people exuded from reconnecting with old friends was palpable.

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Community

PHOTO ESSAY | Umoja Fest 2022 Celebrates Black Unity and Love

August 9, 2022 Editor

by Susan Fried

Last weekend, thousands turned out for Umoja Fest, Seattle’s iconic annual celebration of Black love and unity that started over 70 years ago. Taking place in Judkins park Aug. 5–7, the festival featured hundreds of vendors, DJs, live performances, a Children’s Village, arts activities, a football scrimmage, and a parade on Saturday, Aug. 6. The Africatown Heritage Parade started on Cherry Street and moved down to Judkins Park. Marching bands, dance groups, Buffalo Soldiers, and many more took part, with enthusiastic spectators lining the streets to cheer them on.

Check out some scenes of this year’s Umoja Fest and the parade below.

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Community

Seattle Pride Parade Returns After a Two-Year Hiatus

June 28, 2022 Editor

by Susan Fried

Thousands of people gathered on 4th Avenue in Downtown Seattle on Sunday, June 26, for the 46th annual Seattle Pride Parade. The largest parade held annually in Washington had been on hiatus for the last two years due to COVID-19 restrictions, making this year’s parade all the more special. Over 200 organizations and groups participated in this year’s parade, and crowds of jubilant, colorfully dressed people lined the streets to cheer them on.

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Community

PHOTO ESSAY: Honoring Our Black Wall Streets Expo Celebrates Black-Owned Businesses in Seattle

June 3, 2022 Editor

by Susan Fried

On a rare almost-sunny day in May, the Africatown Community Land Trust honored the 101st anniversary of the Black Wall Street massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by celebrating Black business and entrepreneurship in Seattle.

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Community

Seattle Stands in Solidarity With Buffalo

May 25, 2022 Editor

by Susan Fried

Content Warning: This article contains discussion of gun violence.

Editor’s Note: It seems incomprehensible that while still reeling from the Buffalo, New York, killings on May 14, another tragedy took place yesterday when 19 elementary school children and two teachers were slain in Texas. The epidemic of gun violence and the targeting of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color is one of the most devastating and horrific elements in our country. The Emerald recognizes these harrowing events and acknowledges the difficulty in reporting on what feels like a constant cycle of tragedy.

After recently wrapping up our partnership with the Beloved campaign, which examines gun violence as a public health crisis, we will remain committed to covering this issue of critical importance to our local communities and beyond.

A week after an 18-year-old self-proclaimed white supremacist shot 13, killing 10 Black, mostly elderly people in Buffalo, New York, Seattle held two vigils on Saturday, May 21, to honor those whose lives were taken.

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Arts & Culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Fourth Annual ACES Showcases the Work of Over 100 Artists of Color

April 9, 2022 Editor

by Susan Fried

The fourth annual Artists of Color Expo and Symposium (ACES) took place over the weekend of April 2–3, both virtually and in person at LANGSTON (formerly Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute). The BIPOC-led and community-curated event featured the work of over 100 BIPOC artists, live performances, film screenings, artist talks, as well as workshops and opportunity tables.

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Arts & Culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Sculpture of Seattle Artist Dr. James W. Washington Jr. Unveiled

March 11, 2022 Editor

by Susan Fried

The large, unfinished room in the Central District apartment complex Midtown Square was filled with local artists and art supporters on Saturday, Feb. 26, for the official unveiling of a 6-foot-tall bronze sculpture of renowned Seattle sculptor and painter Dr. James W. Washington Jr., created by Barry Johnson.

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Community

Celebration of Africatown Plaza Groundbreaking Rings in New Affordable Housing

February 8, 2022 Editor

by Elizabeth Turnbull, photos by Susan Fried

Last Saturday, Feb. 5, local leaders and community luminaries participated in a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate a new building project, named Africatown Plaza, which is intended to bring more affordable housing to the Central District.

“I think this moment just signifies what’s possible, when we have a thought, we come together around that thought, and then we take that and rally and push it forward to make it real,” K. Wyking Garrett, the CEO of Africatown Community Land Trust, said in an interview with Converge Media.

“A lot of times it looks very bleak but hopefully this is just a small light, a small candle, and if we keep lighting candles and then put our candles together, we can create a different situation.”

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Community

PHOTO ESSAY: Murals — Accessible Art for Everyone

February 4, 2022 Editor

by Susan Fried

There are hundreds of murals all over the City of Seattle, and some of the city’s most iconic reside in South Seattle. Several of those murals have become cherished parts of the neighborhood. Recently, after the Martin Luther King Jr. mural on the wall outside of Fat’s Chicken & Waffles was defaced on MLK Jr. weekend, the community, including the mayor, vowed to work together to repair the damage. Similarly, when the mural celebrating the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party that hangs on the fence in front of Franklin High School was vandalized in 2021, some of the members of Franklin’s Art of Resistance and Resilience Club and several local artists repaired it.

The murals of South Seattle are an eclectic group with depictions of everything from Sasquatches, dogs, and cats to expressions of solidarity, artistic renderings of the Seattle skyline, marine life, and dancers. The art is accessible to anyone driving or walking along Rainier Avenue or Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

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Community

PHOTO ESSAY: 40th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. March Demands Truth in Education NOW

January 19, 2022 Editor

by Susan Fried

Despite the omicron variant surge, hundreds of people, including lots of families and children, came out for the 40th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Rally and March on Jan. 17 at Garfield High School. This year’s theme was Truth in Education NOW. Many of the issues King was dealing with in his lifetime are still present today, including voting rights, workers’ rights, and income inequality, and those issues were touched on by several of the speakers and by the signs carried in the march.

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