The 9th Annual Turkey Bowl — a community-wide week of sports, games, and service — has arrived in the South End once more for 2023. This South End tradition is steeped in a history of getting the community involved in brag-worthy football games and dinners, and benefiting the community through acts of service. This annual event is led year after year by community builder and youth developer Cortez Charles and his organization, the Fatherhood Accountability Movement, aka F.A.M., which allows the work of this one-week event to last year-round by giving young people a place to continue to scratch that itch for service and to be embraced by the community they call home.
Alert and engaged, I sat in the second row at the Othello-UW Commons, on the evening of Thursday, April 13, with ears sharp and eyes focused on one of the most popular athletes and coaches in the state of Washington. Will Conroy, the associate head coach of men’s basketball at the University of Washington — or as we know it, UDub — allowed us to explore his life and spoke about his thoughts on “The Future of the Student-Athlete.”This was one of the many topics presented by University of Washington’s“Louder Than Words 2023,”a series of monthly conversations that cover the influences that divide our communities, with a focus on finding what unites us and building a better tomorrow.
Rapper, hip-hop artist, and Emmy Award-winning songwriter Draze released his highly anticipated single “Mazvita”on March 10, along with a sensational music video that showcases the depth and layers that have been permeating in his mind over the last four years.
The exploration of generational wealth has brought a kaleidoscope of images and thoughts that have challenged the way I have viewed this topic in the past. The discovery of what it means through the voices of the community continues to reshape my sense of the urgency and importance it has on the present and the future. Through our first excavation of generational wealth, we were able to reimagine the topic as knowledge circulated in the community, the gift and importance of passing down knowledge of portions of American history often disregarded in our history books — more specifically, the history of African Americans’ place in the history of the United States. As we collect the tools along this journey, we move from the importance of passing down and sharing knowledge as generational wealth to its actualization in our community.
As a Black male in the United States, the concept of generational wealth has been as foreign to me as knowing the original language of my ancestors. The forethought to look beyond present circumstances and financially plan for the generation of family that will come after you is a privilege. One typically reserved for those who don’t share the same skin complexion as me and those among us who the American dream was actually meant for. The concept of generational wealth reveals a universal truth among millions of Black people in the United States — a devastating history full of violence, purposefully lost history, white supremacy, and unfulfilled promises. A history that has prevented Black people from looking to the future with the hope that their next generation of family would be financially taken care of.
Catch Hunter and local artist Moses Sun in conversation at Elliott Bay Books on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
by Troy Landrum Jr.
Literature has unexpectedly built the cobbled path of my life. It has bridged the crevasse between purpose and the spiritual, the space in between that creates the creative path I hope to continue on throughout my days. As a Black man, there is a dichotomy in that. At one point in American history, to be Black and to read or write was an illegal act. These laws were set in place to control Black people, to keep them from understanding the world around them; the laws were ingrained so Black people could be totally reliant on the white faces that enslaved them. For a Black person to wield the power to read and write was more powerful than any weapon that could inflict bodily harm. Fear rested in the hearts of the enslaver: fear of riots, of coups, of power being overthrown. To possess these forbidden abilities meant white supremacy’s days were numbered.
“I don’t ever want to be able to help, and not help.” Those words from Cortez Charles signify the foundation and the mission of the 8th Annual Turkey Bowl Week.
“Prolific, so gifted!” Those are the first words we hear from the resounding lyrics of the late great Nipsey Hussle’s award-winning Victory Lap album. If you know of his life and work, you know exactly how impactful those words are to his legacy. If you don’t know, then it would be my honor to tell you.
My writing journey began approximately eight years ago — possibly 30-something years, if the journey includes reading memorable books and making up stories in my head through my middle-grade years and adolescence. Specifically during that eight-year span I had the honor of meeting a lot of wonderful people along the way who shared those same hopes of making something out of the stories that floated around in their heads.
Our physical bodies fade. Our spirits transition. Our legacies lay down roots. The legacies of Black entrepreneurs have been planted in the Northwest soil for many decades. These histories and legacies are being unpacked and recognized for the first time in front of our very eyes. The history of these individuals represents to us, as Black people, the trees that were already growing in our backyards. While the whole world is currently reading about these legacies, these are the stories that are passed down to us, whispered in our ears by our elders and ancestors from a very young age. These stories are a part of our fabric, our DNA. They have been one of the reasons for our survival. They are the stories that we pass down — our folklore of the heroes who pushed against resistance and produced progress, not just for an individual, but for communities.
