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Posts published by “Kayvon Bumpus”

Kayvon Bumpus was The Seattle Collegian's Managing Editor. An immersed writer, lifelong musician, and Seattleite, he hopes to use journalism to elucidate and convey varieties of knowledge - a worthwhile endeavor in our current age of distraction and disinformation.

Setting the story straight: The brother of Elijah Lewis speaks on his death and legacy

To start off, Dunham shut the door on right-wing “Seattle is Dying” narratives that have inevitably been stirred from Lewis’ death. “The guy [Cooney] had a concealed carry. He was a citizen, he was ‘normal’, he wasn’t homeless,” he scoffed.

What you don’t know about Afghanistan: Leahy Law, Zero Units, and the CIA

Particularly characteristic of the Zero Units were their “night raids” – operations conducted after dark that often involved sweeping civilian communities for insurgents. Billing documented dozens of raids by the 02 Unit, operating in eastern Afghanistan. Storming through villages indifferent to fatalities in their wake, the CIA-backed 02 Unit made a terrifying name for itself in the area surrounding the city of Jalalabad.

“Ayatollah Zuckerberg”: Online censorship of Iran’s protests

Mark Zuckerberg, a software prodigy from suburban New York turned billionaire tech mogul, has little in common with Iranian theocratic ruling class like Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei. But the two both possess immense authority and influence, and the way that power has been wielded is what drew the ironic comparison.

Paul Allen’s Living Computers Museum remains closed after years, despite lifted COVID restrictions

The museum, a pet project brought to life by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2006, stayed open for more than a year after Allen’s death in 2018. But it remains in question whether his business associates and family share the late philanthropist’s interest in preserving and showcasing the museum’s historic technology. 

War from the sidelines: Brian Castner

When it comes to large-scale conflict, there exists a constant element of uncertainty. Political biases, loyalties, and obligations tend to obscure or stifle what’s truly happening on the ground, leading to embellishment at best, and disinformation at worst. This “fog of war” can be a major impediment to all parties involved— opposing factions, civilians, and journalists. Affected too are neutral observers like Castner; independent arbiters of accountability tasked with reporting military misconduct. 

Abortion rights activists rally in downtown Seattle after leaked Supreme Court draft

A leaked draft of a majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito indicates that the Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, effectively nullifying any constitutional protection for women in the United States seeking an abortion. The implications of this are especially worrying to those closest to the issue: feminists and other proponents of women’ rights, healthcare workers, and women in marginalized communities. 

Acquiring the Taste: The obscurity and quality of Gentle Giant

There’s a common trope among musicians and music fans involving the popularity of music, or lack thereof. One person might decry another’s favorite artist as “too mainstream,” disqualifying or invalidating their output by that metric. A fan of grunge music whose favorite band is Nirvana might hear that the band has become overplayed and lost its edge due to success, and that real, hardcore grunge fans only listen to a garage band formed in Klamath Falls, Oregon in 1991 that nobody’s ever heard of. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but some seem to directly associate obscurity and quality.

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