Skip to content

Seattle

Domestic Workers In Seattle Win Most Comprehensive Bill Of Rights In The US

July 30, 2018 Sheila Bapat, Truthout.org , , ,
On July 27, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan signed into law the city’s domestic workers’ bill of rights. The ordinance, which passed the Seattle City Council unanimously on Monday, establishes protections for the city’s more than 30,000 nannies, caregivers and housekeepers, who have historically been excluded from labor laws. Seattle is now the only city in the United States with a comprehensive domestic workers’ bill of rights. The city joins eight states that have adopted a domestic workers’ bill of rights. Against a grim national backdrop in which traditional labor unions are being drained of any remaining power, the persistence of the domestic workers’ movement throughout the country is indicative of how labor organizing may continue to evolve, incorporating workers’ efforts to exert pressure directly on local policymaking bodies.

Activists Calling For The Abolition Of ICE Blocking Seattle Streets Outside Of Homeland Security Building

June 6, 2018 NWDC Resistance, Thenorthstar.info , , , , , , ,
Seattle, WA – Early yesterday morning, activists with Northwest Detention Center Resistance and Mijente locked down outside of 1000 2nd Avenue in downtown Seattle, Washington, calling attention to the building’s role as Washington State’s deportation epicenter. The building, owned by billionaire developer Martin Selig, houses regional offices for ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and Office of Chief Counsel, regional offices for Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Justice-controlled Seattle Immigration Court. The lockdown is part of the launch of the “Chinga La Migra” organizing tour to tell the story of what the deportation crisis under President Trump looks like in real time, and amplify the efforts and stories of resistance.

Ethnic Studies In Seattle: A Look Inside The Classrooms Of Antiracist Educators

May 24, 2018 Jesse Hagopian, Iamaneducator.com , , ,
The Seattle Public Schools recently wrote the below article about the powerful pedagogy of local educators who are piloting a new Ethnic Studies program.  The Ethnic Studies initiative in the Seattle Public Schools is the result of an on going movement that was birthed from the Black Lives Matter At School action last school year.  Building on that action, the Seattle NAACP teamed up with teachers, parents and students to lead a campaign to integrate Ethnic Studies across the school district. The below article highlights the work of several educators in Seattle including Tracy Gill, one of the lead organizers of the movement for Ethnic Studies, and Donte Felder,  head teacher at Orca K-8, who are piloting the new program. My classroom is also featured, the first standalone Ethnic Studies class in the Seattle Public Schools. 

Seattle: Diverse Coalition Emerging Around Public Banking

January 10, 2018 Staff, Publicbankinginstitute.org , ,
Activists as diverse as Black Lives Matter, local tribal members of the Standing Rock Coalition, 350.org, Democratic Socialists, and MLK County Labor council, as well as several experienced bankers, retired government officials and law school professors have coalesced along with Public Banking advocates in Seattle to pressure City Council to move forward on their newly approved $100,000 feasibility study. For those in the Seattle area, join the Seattle Public Banking Coalition here. The Seattle Public Banking Coalition is actively connecting these coalition members to communicate to City Council the urgency of moving forward with the feasibility study. They detail the gains the study would deliver including drafting of a mission statement, examining legal issues, and identifying sources of initial capital...

Seattle: Diverse Coalition Emerging Around Public Banking

January 5, 2018 Sarah Brink, Publicbankinginstitute.org , ,
Activists as diverse as Black Lives Matter, local tribal members of the Standing Rock Coalition, 350.org, Democratic Socialists, and MLK County Labor council, as well as several experienced bankers, retired government officials and law school professors have coalesced along with Public Banking advocates in Seattle to pressure City Council to move forward on their newly approved $100,000 feasibility study. For those in the Seattle area, join the Seattle Public Banking Coalition here. The Seattle Public Banking Coalition is actively connecting these coalition members to communicate to City Council the urgency of moving forward with the feasibility study. They detail the gains the study would deliver including drafting of a mission statement, examining legal issues, and identifying sources of initial capital...

Seattle Municipal Bank–A Future For US All

December 14, 2017 Matt Remle and Nikkita Oliver, southseattleemerald.com , ,
It was in early August 2016, as bulldozers desecrated grave sites and sacred lands along the Cannonball River on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.  As private security unleashed attack dogs on water protectors, it became clear our efforts to stop the Dakota Access pipeline through our moral, Tribal and environmental arguments were less and less effective. Just one day before the mass desecration, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s historic preservation officer handed to a judge a detailed map of where these burial sites and sacred sites were located.  To Energy Transfer Partners, the Army Corp of Engineers and the State of North Dakota, the destruction of the bones of our ancestors, sacred sites, violation of Treaty rights and the contamination of our drinking water were simply not compelling enough reasons to not build the massive oil pipeline.

Protesters Take Over Seattle City Hall To Fight Homeless Sweeps

November 3, 2017 Kate Walters & Megan Farmrer, kuow.org , ,
By Kate Walters & Megan Farmrer for KUOW - As the council considers the 2018 city budget, amendments have been proposed to achieve both goals. But whether the provisions will receive enough support to make it into the final budget is questionable. Emily McArthur is a member of the Housing for All coalition, one of the groups that organized Wednesday’s protest. She said there’s a lot at stake as council members decide what to include in the final budget. “It’s not just people sleeping outside, which you could wring your hands about and feel morally bad about, but 66 people have died just so far this year. So there’s a body count to 'business as usual politics,'” McArthur said. One after the other, dozens of people stood to tell council members that the city’s practice of evicting people from unauthorized tent camps is harmful. Travis Thompson said it’s traumatizing to see people pushed from place to place. “What little stability you have is ruined. And we put them closer to death by doing that,” Thompson said.

Indigenous-Led Protest Shuts Down Banks In Seattle

October 26, 2017 Sydney Brownstone, www.thestranger.com , , ,
By Sydney Brownstone for The Stranger - At 11 o'clock this morning, four people chained themselves to a structure blocking an entrance of the Bank of America on 5th and Olive Street. Two of them locked themselves to the apex of a tripod, suspended at least a dozen feet in the air. The protesters were still there as of 2 p.m, blocking people from entering the bank. Around the corner of the building was Feanette Black Bear, 65, holding the end of a sign blocking the building's other entrance and a bundle of sage. "We shut down business today!" she said. For Black Bear, who is Lakota, today's action grows out of what she calls "an awakening for future generations." "I'm here in support of our future generations, the unborn, and for the people here today, for Mni Wiconi, for treaty rights," Black Bear said, using the Lakota rallying cry heard at Standing Rock last year, and since then, the world over. In Lakota, Mni Wiconi translates to "water is life." The Bank of America protest is just one of 100 demonstrations taking place across Seattle as part of Divest the Globe, a three-day activism campaign organized by Mazaska Talks, an indigenous-led coalition including Lakota educator Matt Remle and Muckleshoot activist Rachel Heaton, with support from 350 Seattle's Alec Connon. Remle reported on Twitter that at least one other bank was shut down in Seattle.

Seattle Educators Ready For DeVos

October 13, 2017 Staff, www.dianeravitch.net , , ,
By Staff of Diane Ravitch - My name is Jesse Hagopian and I teach ethnic studies at Seattle’s Garfield High School. I hope you didn’t just stop reading this letter after you heard the subject I am teaching—I urge you to keep reading. I am writing in regards to the Washington Policy Center’s $350-a-person fundraising dinner you will be addressing on October 13 at the Hyatt Regency in the nearby city of Bellevue. Thousands of my colleagues and I will surround the building to make sure the world knows your message of division is not welcome here. Given the recent protests of your speeches at Harvard, at historically black Bethune-Cookman University, and many other places, you must be getting used to this by now. But just so there are no surprises, let me tell you what to expect. There will be bull horns, signs, speeches, and I bet some of the more creative teachers—perhaps the few art teachers your proposed budget hasn’t cut yet—will show up in grizzly bear costumes, referencing the asinine comment you made defending the use of guns in schools to “protect from potential grizzlies.” There will be students there questioning your qualifications to serve as Secretary of Education, given that they have more experience with the public schools than you. They might point out that you never attended public schools and neither did any of your four children.

Seattle To Ban Plastic Straws, Utensils At Restaurants Next Year

August 29, 2017 Lorraine Chow, www.ecowatch.com , ,
By Lorraine Chow for Eco Watch - Starting next year, Seattle restaurants will no longer provide plastic straws and plastic utensils to its patrons after a 2010 ordinance finally takes effect. "As of July 1, 2018, food services businesses should not be providing plastic straws or utensils," Sego Jackson, the strategic advisor for Waste Prevention and Product Stewardship for Seattle Public Utilities, told Q13 FOX. "What they should be providing are compostable straws or compostable utensils. But they also might be providing durables, reusables, or encouraging you to skip the straw altogether," he added. Jackson said the city's effort to ban disposal plastic food service ware had been in the books since 2010 but was stalled because compostable alternatives were not viable yet. "Early on there weren't many compostable options," he explained. "And some of the options didn't perform well or compost well. That's all changed now." The exemption that allowed eateries to dispense plastic straws and utensils is set to expire and will not be renewed. The ban only applies to restaurants serving food, as plastic straws and utensils can still be purchased at city grocery stores. Restaurants that do not comply will be warned and eventually fined but eateries will be given assistance with the transition.

Seattle Makes History – Passes ‘Tax The Rich’ Income Tax

July 13, 2017 Andre Roberge, www.progressivearmy.com , , , ,
By Andre Roberge for Progressive Army - Even though this may seem like cut-and-dry common sense legislation, this ordinance still has an uphill battle ahead of itself. Former Washington State Attorney Rob McKenna laid bare the main issues as follows: 1.[The city] would also have to persuade the Supreme Court to ignore an existing state statute that prohibits counties, cities … from imposing a tax on net income. 2.[What they] would have to do is persuade the Supreme Court to overlook its own precedent. The precedent alluded to above deals with a 1930s Washington Supreme Court decision that states “income is property, and the state’s constitution declares that all property must be taxed uniformly.” Since Seattle’s proposed income tax is a progressive tax and not “uniformly” distributed onto all tax brackets, the Supreme Court would have to redefine property. Some critics have gone even further.

Seattle Proposes City Income Tax On The Rich

June 20, 2017 Staff and Matt Lorch, www.q13fox.com , , ,
By Staff and Matt Lorch for Q13 FOX News - SEATTLE -- Mayor Ed Murray and City Council members Kshama Sawant and Lisa Herbold on Monday proposed a new tax on high-income households. The proposal would place a 2 percent tax on joint filers’ income over $500,000 and single tax filers’ income over $250,000. They said the estimated $125 million in new annual revenue would allow the city to lower the burden associated with property taxes and other regressive taxes, replace federal funding potentially lost through President Donald Trump’s budget cuts and enhance public services such as housing, education and transit. Seattle income tax? “Washington state’s tax structure is the most regressive in the country, putting the burden on many of our most vulnerable residents,” Murray said. “Leaving cities with only regressive tax options puts the heaviest burden on working people, families and communities of color. By replacing a system that relies too heavily on property and sales taxes with a progressive income tax, we can ease that burden and generate revenue to invest in Seattle priorities..." Sawant said, “I ran for office four years ago on a program of a $15 per hour minimum wage, to tax the rich, and for rent control.

Seattle Sues Trump Administration Over Threat To ‘Sanctuary’ Cities

March 30, 2017 Tom James, www.reuters.com , ,
By Tom James for Reuters - The city of Seattle sued U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday over its executive order seeking to withhold federal funds from "sanctuary cities," arguing it amounted to unconstitutional federal coercion. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray told reporters the Constitution forbade the federal government from pressuring cities, “yet that is exactly what the president’s order does. Once again, this new administration has decided to bully.” “Things like grants helping us with child sex trafficking are not connected to immigration,” Murray said, adding: "It is time for cities to stand up and ask the courts to put an end to the anxiety in our cities and the chaos in our system."

May Day: Seattle Educators Moving Closer To Strike

March 23, 2017 Calvin Priest, www.counterpunch.org , , ,
By Calvin Priest for Counter Punch - On Monday, March 13, the Seattle Educators Association (SEA) took a big step toward May 1 strike action in voting by an overwhelming majority in favor of a one-day strike at their Representative Assembly. The resolution will now require approval by the union’s full membership. The vote was a response to more than a decade of unconstitutional underfunding of public education in Washington State. But it was also a part of a series of recent moves by Seattle unions preparing to take action on May Day against the vicious right-wing agenda of Donald Trump. In February, WFSE Local 304, representing workers at Seattle community colleges, passed a resolution supporting strike and protest action on May 1.

Defunding Police—How Antiracist Organizers Got Seattle To Listen

March 22, 2017 Melissa Hellmann, www.yesmagazine.org , , ,
By Melissa Hellmann for Yes! Magazine - Seattle City Council members took their seats on Sept. 19 with the unhurried pace of business as usual. One of them called for public comments, but after a few people spoke, a commotion erupted in the back of the chambers. Six black and brown people shuffled down the central aisle, bounded by chains on their wrists, ankles, and stomachs. Some were clad in orange jumpsuits, while others wore black shirts bearing the phrase “Block the Bunker” in white letters. White activists donning police hats and pig noses trailed behind, nudging them forward with toy batons. “I’ll throw you around if I want to throw you around!” one of them screamed.
«12345678910»
assetto corsa mods

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here
Sign Up To Our Daily Digest

Independent media outlets are being suppressed and dropped by corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our daily email digest before it’s too late so you don’t miss the latest movement news.