Sept. 27-Oct. 3, 2023

Jobs, Journalism, Justice

Opinion

1965 was a good year; we had night skies back then

By Dr. Wes Browning | September 27, 2023

I try to watch PBS news every day. With the writers' strike, it’s the only TV I bother with anymore. It’s enough to enable me to know the most important things going on. For example,I know there’s likely to be a U.S. government shutdown this upcoming weekend.

But the other day I was astounded to learn from PBS that light pollution was now making it hard to see the night sky.

The last time I remember seeing the Milky Way in all its glory was when I was 16 years old; that was 58 years ago. ...

Marginalized voices exist beyond diluted cultural signifiers

By Oscar Rosales Castañeda | September 27, 2023

The second half of September has arrived — ushering our annual incursion into surface-level facets of Latine culture. Indeed, the staggered way that Hispanic Heritage Month is presented, from mid-September through mid-October, is an interesting metaphor for understanding this community. One foot set in decolonial and anti-imperialist fervor, and the other on perpetuating the Columbus mythos. To truly understand a complex community, we must unpack our current perceptions. ...

Want to make real change? Do these five things

By Vendor Editorial Committee | September 27, 2023

Real Change staffers Tobias Coughlin-Bogue and Guy Oron have been hard at work interviewing every single city and county council candidate running in the November election. As part of that work, they’ve been asking candidates to explain what three things they would do immediately to improve the lives of Real Change vendors. But what better way is there to find out what vendors need than to hear it directly from us? ...

Feature

Reviving the Oakland paper: "Street Spirit" will not go gentle into that good night

By Grace Chinowsky | September 27, 2023

Over the course of his near two-decade long career selling Street Spirit newspapers in Oakland, California, a lot has changed for Derrick Hayes. As a vendor for the East Bay street paper covering homelessness and poverty — and, in his words, acting as “the eyes of the neighborhood” — Hayes has performed a number of heroic feats. ...

Seattle

Seattle City Council District 5 candidate ChrisTiana ObeySumner talks to Real Change

By Tobias Coughlin-Bogue | September 27, 2023

City council candidate ChrisTiana ObeySumner does not have fellow candidate Cathy Moore’s professional experience. But they do have a wealth — an overabundance even — of lived experience. And they’ve parlayed that into a significant career themself, as a disability rights advocate, permanent supportive housing staffer and social equity consultant, among other things. They are fluent in the core issues affecting our city — homelessness, public safety and housing — in a way that indicates they’ve really seen them from all sides. ...

Seattle City Council District 5 candidate Cathy Moore talks to Real Change

By Tobias Coughlin-Bogue | September 27, 2023

The race for Seattle’s District 5 council seat vacated by outgoing city council president Debora Juarez has organized itself along familiar lines: centrist versus progressive. Cathy Moore is endorsed by the Seattle Times, while her opponent ChrisTiana ObeySumner is endorsed by The Stranger; Moore is endorsed by Mayor Bruce Harrell, ObeySumner is not. It’s been a theme in nearly every district this year. ...

Equityless in Seattle | Care, not cops | Restoring the canopy

By | September 27, 2023

Around the Sound

Equityless in Seattle

Seattle city government has serious issues with racial equity in promotion — and its employment policies in general.

A new report requested by Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales and released by the city auditor on Sept. 19 showed that upper management positions receive a disproportionate amount in raises compared to lower-level employees. In 2021, staff who made more than $80 an hour averaged a 20% pay increase when receiving a promotion, compared to a raise of less than 7% for those making under $38 an hour. ...

City workers rally for a better labor contract

By Guy Oron | September 27, 2023

The anger was palpable. The rally was scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m., but hundreds of workers were gathered on the steps of Seattle City Hall an hour early on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Their ranks swelled with the arrival of more city employees and union allies, spilling out to the balconies above and streets below. Organizers estimated that more than a thousand city workers participated in the action, with many staying long after the 5 p.m. end time. ...

Book review

Burning the world down is not enough: Journalist examines the successes and failures of the 2010s’ mass protests

By Guy Oron | September 27, 2023

BOOK REVIEW: ‘If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution’ REALCHANGE SEPT. 27–OCT. 3, 2023 By Vincent Bevins | PublicAffairs, 2023 | Nonfiction, sociology | On order at the Seattle Public Library

How do people make change in this world? Many of us may imagine countless masses marching through city streets, demonstrators pitching tents and occupying city squares for days, or police violently cracking down and engaging in pitched battles with black-clad protesters. ...

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