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

Real Change
Local courts shifting for COVID might stay that way

by Ashley Archibald | October 7th, 2020

When the first COVID-19 case in the U.S. hit Seattle, it was like someone pressed the pause button on the region. By the governor’s order, life slowed to a crawl as in-person gatherings were canceled and restaurants closed, until the only place to find brisk business was the toilet paper aisle of the supermarket.

That left many people hurting and in need of services from agencies that were struggling to find balance between the urgency of delivering services and the danger of providing them in traditional ways.
Read more in the Oct. 7-13, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
Staying home | Virus hits White House

by Ashley Archibald | October 7th, 2020

Staying home

Housing advocates demonstrated in Olympia Oct. 2 to call on Gov. Jay Inslee to extend the statewide moratorium on evictions as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten the livelihoods and housing of Washingtonians.

The advocates, organized by the Tenants Union of Washington and Be:Seattle, said leaders should use the extra time to create policy that will prevent an increase in homelessness and poverty after the moratorium ends.
Read more in the Oct. 7-13, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
Seattle budget back and forth reveals many plans and politics

by Ashley Archibald | October 7th, 2020

The Seattle City Council finished heated negotiations to reconfigure the 2020 budget to account for coronavirus-related shortfalls and an uprising against police brutality one week and began tangling with Mayor Jenny Durkan’s proposed 2021 budget the next.
Read more in the Oct. 7-13, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
The womb is a collective underworld

by Kamna Shastri | September 30th, 2020

Hanako O’Leary’s art dares viewers to question life, death and femininity

The womb is a place of birth and death, holding incredible power to create and destroy. But rarely, if ever, does society want to embrace this truth, instead policing the choices and opportunities available to womxn and womb-carrying individuals. Artist Hanako O’Leary is fearless and bold in her meditation on the possibilities of the womb, feminism and “the underworld” — themes she explores through three-dimensional clay and mixed-medium sculptural work.
Read more in the Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
’We must be courageous in demands for investment in making our communities whole’

by Ann-Derrick Gaillot | September 30th, 2020

Since her election to the US House of Representatives, Omar has made a name for herself as a key progressive in American politics, while facing xenophobic, racist and sexist vitriol from the right. As a leader in affordable housing reform and loyalist of the Green New Deal, she answered questions from the International Network of Street Papers.

Over the course of her first term in Congress, Rep. Ilhan Omar has been a fierce advocate for the nation’s vast working class. And her pushes for progressive reforms have been arguably most urgent and forward-thinking when it comes to the country’s ever-growing housing crisis. Back in April, as the COVID-19 pandemic was first beginning to push American social systems to their breaking points, Omar proposed what some deemed a too-radical piece of legislation calling for the waiving of rent and mortgage payments until the pandemic is over.
Read more in the Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
Study indicates spreading out of shelter residents helped save lives early on

by Ashley Archibald | September 30th, 2020

When you check into a traditional homeless shelter, you’re likely to encounter one of two scenarios: mat-on-the-floor, where people stretch out for the night on thin mats, tightly bunched together, or the bunk-bed configuration.
Read more in the Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
Homes for the homeless | Say her name

by Ashley Archibald | September 30th, 2020

Homes for the homeless

King County Executive Dow Constantine unveiled the 2021-2022 budget proposal that includes $400 million to create housing for chronically homeless individuals, funded by a new sales tax.
Read more in the Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
Seattle Council holds firm on budget rebalancing

by Ashley Archibald | September 30th, 2020

The City Council voted to override a mayoral veto for the second time in less than two months, moving forward with their 2020 budget revision that includes what proponents characterize as “modest” cuts to the Seattle Police Department.
Read more in the Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
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 nicest people I’ve ever met in my life have been here.”

In his free time, Darrell enjoys music, reading and watching politically inspired news and TV series.
Read more in the Sept. 23-29, 2020 issue.
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Real Change
’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 Vendor of the Year. When the interview started, I pressed “record” and told her I was excited.

She chuckled and said, “I’m a cool person. I like to talk. I have nothing to hide about myself.”
Read more in the Sept. 23-29, 2020 issue.
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