Seattle budget back in council’s court, following mayor’s volleys to relief spending

City Councilmember Sawant faces scant recall fueled by process

by Ashley Archibald | September 23rd, 2020

A district judge ruled that a recall effort against Councilmember Kshama Sawant could move forward, making her the second elected official in Seattle to face recall in two months. In his decision, presiding Judge Jim Rogers found that the four claims...

Read more in the Sept. 23-29, 2020 issue.

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To heal, ’God had to strip me down’

by Kamna Shastri | September 23rd, 2020

Vendor of the Year Darrell Wrenn shares his life story and the importance of healing

Darrell Wrenn was voted one of our Vendors of the Year. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, he moved to Seattle from Philadelphia in 2014. Darrell’s usual post is at the Issaquah PCC. He says, “Besides PCC having the best hot bar on the West Coast, the...

Read more in the Sept. 23-29, 2020 issue.

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’If you don’t love yourself, you can’t love anybody else’

by Lee Nacozy | September 23rd, 2020

Vendor of the Year Janice Dampier: A faithful soothsayer and humorist

Janice Dampier conveys wisdom so easily that you may not be ready for it and will wish you had a tape recorder. Gratefully, I knew this, because I’ve gotten to talk to Janice before. I downloaded high-tech audio software to interview her once she was named...

Read more in the Sept. 23-29, 2020 issue.

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Real Change
Streaming to stay sane

via Michelle Galluzzo | September 2nd, 2020

Almost all King County events are canceled, so we’re listing streaming events for optimal physical distancing

September 7 Indigenous Environmentalism 101 Extinction Rebellion Justice: online event; 6:30–8 p.m., free, all ages tinyurl.com/y6kwtswt How does the mainstream environmentalist movement intersect with the ongoing and continuous Indigenous struggles for...
Read more in the Sept. 2-8, 2020 issue.
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Trying to find peace

by Hanna Brooks Olsen | September 2nd, 2020

Among the many, many small details of daily life that I have come to appreciate more greatly in the last six months, few are as precious — and as fleeting — as moments of complete quiet. As a writer, I was working from home prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,...
Read more in the Sept. 2-8, 2020 issue.
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Greenland remains with no Trump Tower. 2020 has not been a water-shed, yet

by Dr. Wes Browning | September 2nd, 2020

As I’m sure you all know, having taken the relevant state-required history courses in your elementary and middle schools, the metric system is a communist plot, begun right after the French Revolution by communist French people. They took away the people’s...
Read more in the Sept. 2-8, 2020 issue.
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Unspoken grandeur

by Kamna Shastri | September 2nd, 2020

Artist Jason Matias invites you to pause and turn inward

In his solitary time off from the military, Jason Matias found solace in the wilderness he increasingly conveyed in vivid, layered photography. Originally from New York City, Matias was stationed in the remoteness of Alaska for his initial post. He spent...
Read more in the Sept. 2-8, 2020 issue.
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Deconstructing George

by Riis Williams | September 2nd, 2020

GEORGE UW’s Black Lives Matter says the namesake statue forsakes antirasicm and must go

The bronze, 38-foot-tall statue of George Washington that looms at the west entrance of the University of Washington’s Seattle campus has been looking different lately. It stands covered in dark red paint meant to symbolize blood, surrounded by posters and...
Read more in the Sept. 2-8, 2020 issue.
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Washington foster care stretched by covid education measures

by Ashley Archibald | September 2nd, 2020

Lillie long dreamed of going to St. John’s College, a unique school in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that bases its curriculum on what it calls “The Great Books.” History, language, math, philosophy, you name it — all are taught through foundational texts that...
Read more in the Sept. 2-8, 2020 issue.
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He’ll see you in court | Stay home

by Ashley Archibald | September 2nd, 2020

He’ll see you in court Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced on Aug. 28 a new step in his ongoing fight to protect undocumented young people who are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) program, which the Trump...
Read more in the Sept. 2-8, 2020 issue.
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City budget is under water and groups are fishing for progressive revenue

by Ashley Archibald | September 2nd, 2020

A progressive coalition is gearing up for the new state budget session with hopes to boost social safety net programs and enact progressive taxation, items that have been on their legislative agenda for several years. However, a pandemic-fueled recession...
Read more in the Sept. 2-8, 2020 issue.
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There is no (good) reason for movie theaters to be open right now

by Cliff Cawthon | September 2nd, 2020

I’ve written mostly about movies for Real Change at this point, so you could guess that I’m a cinephile (def: a person who really likes movies. What’d you think it meant?). Nevertheless, according to a wide range of public health experts, even the most...
Read more in the Sept. 2-8, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
Streaming to stay sane

via Michelle Galluzzo | August 26th, 2020

Almost all King County events are canceled, so we’re listing streaming events for optimal physical distancing

August 29 - September 1 Seattle Arab Film Festival Northwest Film Forum and Seattle Arab Film Festival: online event; $0-25, all ages tinyurl.com/y22n5rot This year’s Arab Film Fest will have short and feature films grouped into four themes: In the Diaspora...
Read more in the Aug. 26 - Sept. 1, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
Pandemics, police and people of color

by Oscar Rosales Castaneda | August 26th, 2020

August was no exception with newsworthy events. As much as I prefer not to write about the pandemic, it seems necessary for providing the social context of local events through a larger prism. In this case, the sudden retirement of former Seattle Police...
Read more in the Aug. 26 - Sept. 1, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
Shoulds don’t always happen, and certainly not for newspaper circulation in 2020

by Dr. Wes Browning | August 26th, 2020

Insert column here: Aug. 26, 2020 When I write one of these, I always open up a blank, new Google Doc, title it based on the upcoming issue date using an absurd code that annoys everyone, Americans and Europeans alike (month-year-day haha), and then write “...
Read more in the Aug. 26 - Sept. 1, 2020 issue.
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Democrat’s visionary

by Joe Martin | August 26th, 2020

Ganesh Sitaraman’s ‘The Great Democracy’ shines a light on the resurgence of progressive politics

There’s a good chance you’ve never heard of the author Ganesh Sitaraman. He might very well become a household name before long. One observer has stated that Sitaraman seems positioned to become the “chief ideologue of the Democratic Party.” He is the son...
Read more in the Aug. 26 - Sept. 1, 2020 issue.
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Friend or phobia?

by Ashley Archibald | August 26th, 2020

It’s normal to fear them, but we can’t live without them

I screamed, and then winced in embarrassed apology. It was roughly 7 a.m. in a single-family home neighborhood in north Seattle adjacent to my multi-family complex. There are few proper sidewalks, mostly unpaved tracks between the road, a ditch of flora...
Read more in the Aug. 26 - Sept. 1, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
Seattle budget back in council’s court, following mayor’s volleys to relief spending

by Ashley Archibald | August 26th, 2020

Mayor Jenny Durkan vetoed legislation from the Seattle City Council that aimed to reduce the size of the police department and shift money to community groups, saying that the council had not thought through the impact of their revisions. In the same press...
Read more in the Aug. 26 - Sept. 1, 2020 issue.
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