curated by Mark Van Streefkerk and Megan Christy
by Vee Hua 華婷婷
The Emerald will be observing a team-wide wellness pause from Dec. 15 to Jan. 2, and most publishing will be on hiatus, with the exceptions of four pieces, of which this is one, wherein editors look back at 2022 and some of the work that made the Emerald shine.
I joined South Seattle Emerald as its interim managing editor in May 2022. As I reflect on the importance of this publication as one that is rooted in community — for community, and led by community — I think of how the Emerald was the first publication to cover my first short film in 2018 and generously followed my career in the arts. It became an honor to be involved as a contributing arts writer in 2020 — writing about the live-action educational TV show, Look, Listen and Learn (LL+L), and LANGSTON’s Seattle Black Film Festival for two years running, among other topics.
The Emerald is a publication of reciprocity and relationship: of mutual exchange between the Emerald and its writers, and between the Emerald and the community it serves.
Continue reading 2022 Retrospective | Vee Hua 華婷婷by Chardonnay Beaver
In 1967, after fighting against Jim Crow segregation and winning many civil rights victories for Black and Brown Americans, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many others called for a “revolution of values” in America.
The Poor People’s Campaign marks Dr. King’s philosophical shift from civil rights to human rights — demanding a new consciousness amid the threat of war, poverty, racial discrimination, and white supremacy. This inclusive fusion movement would unite all races through their commonality of struggle, to create solutions that would revolutionize American values.
Continue reading Poor People’s Campaign: Called to Lead — Part 3by Jim Chambers
After 22 years of incarceration, why am I so passionate about voting and politics?
Continue reading OPINION | Why Voting Is So Critical for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Peopleby Kevin Schofield
This weekend’s read is a research paper by a trio of researchers looking at the relative “cost of voting” in each of the 50 United States. By “cost of voting,” they mean how much effort it takes to register to vote and ultimately cast one’s vote.
Continue reading Weekend Reads | Is It Getting Harder or Easier to Vote?by Chardonnay Beaver
In 1967, after fighting against Jim Crow segregation and winning many civil rights victories for Black and Brown Americans, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and many others called for a “revolution of values” in America.
The Poor People’s Campaign marks Dr. King’s philosophical shift from civil rights to human rights — demanding a new consciousness amid the threat of war, poverty, racial discrimination, and white supremacy. This inclusive fusion movement would unite all races through their commonality of struggle, to create solutions that would revolutionize American values.
Continue reading Poor People’s Campaign: The Value of the Ballot — Part 2by Chardonnay Beaver
In 1967, after fighting against Jim Crow segregation and winning many civil rights victories for Black and Brown Americans, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and many others, called for a “revolution of values” in America.
The Poor People’s Campaign marks Dr. King’s philosophical shift from civil rights to human rights — demanding a new consciousness amid the threat of war, poverty, racial discrimination, and white supremacy. This inclusive fusion movement would unite all races through their commonality of struggle, to create solutions that would revolutionize American values.
Continue reading Poor People’s Campaign: The Call for a National Moral Revival — Part 1by Ben Adlin
Expanded voting rights, limits on disposable plastic utensils, and increased access to attorneys for young people questioned by police were among the changes to state law that took effect with the new year. While most laws passed during the last legislative session took effect in July, a number of notable changes didn’t take place until 2022.
Other newly effective laws include a ban on the use of Indigenous names and symbols for most school mascots or logos, the establishment of a new capital gains tax, and planned increases to the minimum wage both in Washington and the City of Seattle.
Here are some of the biggest new changes to Washington State law:
Continue reading New State Laws for 2022 Expand Voting Rights, Create Capital Gains Tax, and Moreby Agueda Pacheco Flores
Exactly 60 years ago, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. checked into the very same hotel where Monday, Nov. 8, his eldest son stood, echoing his father’s dreams of a more equitable country.
“I wasn’t given any guidance exactly in terms of how long to speak, so how long do y’all have?” Martin Luther King III said to laughter under a crystal chandelier at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, surrounded by media.
King III’s visit to Seattle culminates the Northwest African American Museum’s (NAAM) three-day event MLK60, which commemorates the 60th anniversary of Dr. King’s visit to Seattle in 1961. Like his own visit through Seattle then, the three-day event was packed with activities including an opening ceremony, vaccine drive, and book giveaway at Garfield High School on Saturday, as well as a community and performance event at the historic Mount Zion Baptist Church.
Continue reading Enduring Lessons of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the 60th Anniversary of Seattle Visitby Phil Manzano
It’s easy for those born in the United States to take the vote for granted.
But for those Annie Dimitras works with at the Refugee Women’s Alliance, or ReWA, the right to vote is taken seriously — almost like a sacred right.
“A lot of the people we work with at my organization are voting for the very first time, their very first opportunity,” said Dimitras, senior immigration & civic engagement program coordinator at ReWA. “They may be 70 and this is the first chance they’ve ever had to vote.”
Continue reading New Americans, New Right to Vote
