Jordan Somers On Nov. 17 the Palestinian Youth Movement teamed with Students United for Palestinian Equality & Return (SUPER UW), a group based out of the University of Washington, to march through the campus to protest the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine. The rally’s call, “Shut it Down for Palestine,” took place during afternoon classroom hours, and…
Jordan Somers | The Seattle Collegian On Saturday, June 19, thousands of Seattle residents gathered and marched to celebrate Juneteenth, acknowledging and commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Performers, vendors and school graduates representing the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities amassed for a day-long celebration, which came two days after the Biden Administration declared Juneteenth a federal holiday. The…
Jordan Somers | The Seattle Collegian May 25, 2021, marked the one year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by Derek Chauvin of the Minneapolis police department. The anniversary sparked protests and vigils nationwide honoring Floyd and those who have lost their lives to gun violence and hate. Throughout the last year and counting, Floyd’s name has become emblematic of the ongoing…
Jordan Somers | The Seattle Collegian On May 29, 2021, protesters met at Occidental Park in Pioneer Square to commemorate George Floyd, who was murdered by Minneapolis police one year ago. Seattle residents marched to decry the continued systematic violence and racism exhibited by the Seattle Police Department (SPD). The protest, headed by the Black Action Coalition, marched throughout First Hill,…
Jordan Somers | The Seattle Collegian “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” – Robert Frost When I first spoke to Carlos Hernandez, I knew little of his contributions to the school. What I did know is that he had recently retired, and that a…
Jordan Somers | The Seattle Collegian Just one day after it was reported that the Biden Administration approved the sale of $735 million in missile guided weapons to Israel, a Seattle rally was held to protest the Israeli occupation and deadly force toward the people of Palestine. The event was organized by @Falastiniyat, a Palestinian feminist grassroots organization based out of…
Jordan Somers | The Seattle Collegian Just as Seattle Central had preemptively closed its doors amid the COVID outbreak, artist and Seattle Central student Myron Curry had completed two murals for the bottom floor of the Mitchell Activity Center (MAC). The two commissioned murals, completed in March 2020, have yet to see the light of day. Since joining the Student Support…
Jordan Somers | The Seattle Collegian After my second reading of Seattle-based artist and educator Chelsey Richardson’s book, All Water Has Perfect Memory, the conscious act of parsing her words had become an unconsciously raw, bitter, eerily lucid emotional transcendence. These passages would not have existed without Richardson’s personal experience, which offshoots from the ever-pervasive, harsh realities in which we all…
Jordan Somers | The Seattle Collegian In the initial months of the COVID-19 outbreak, over 4,500 Seattle-based businesses had shut down both temporarily and permanently. Of those who found remarkable ways to stay open, newfound business operations, as well as strategies to stay connected in their respective communities, have taken shape. Non-profit businesses and organizations in particular were faced with these…
Jordan Somers | The Seattle Collegian Protestors assembled en masse on Saturday, March 7, demanding the protection of Black trans women’s lives and decrying the violence against all trans women. The rally began at the Cal Anderson Park playfield, where a vigil was held to remember and honor lives violently lost in recent years. Members of the protest took turns…