During Black history month, explore African American culture in Seattle

February is Black History Month, making it the perfect time to highlight African American culture and the black experience in Seattle. A calendar of local events celebrating black history is listed below.

Civil rights movement in Seattle

Seattle Fair Housing Protest 1964 (Seattle Municipal Archives)

Seattle’s unique civil rights history challenges the way Pacific Northwesterners think about race, civil rights, and the Puget Sound region. For most of its history, Seattle was a segregated city, as committed to white supremacy as any location in America. People of color were excluded from most jobs, most neighborhoods, and many stores, restaurants, and other commercial establishments. As in other western states, the system of severe racial discrimination in Seattle targeted not just African Americans but also Native Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, people of Mexican ancestry, and also, at times, Jews.

The civil rights movement in Seattle started well before the celebrated struggles in the South in the 1950s and 1960s. They relied not only on African American activists, but also Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Jewish Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. They also depended on support from the labor movement in the Puget Sound region. From the 1910s through the 1970s, Seattle’s labor and civil rights were linked in complicated ways, with some unions and radical organizations providing critical support to struggles for racial justice, while others stood in the way.

The following resources provide more information about the civil rights movement in Seattle.

The Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project at the University of Washington brings to life the vital history of Seattle’s civil rights movements. You can view this unique collection that includes video histories, personal biographies, rare photographs, personal biographies, documents, and historical data. The project is a collaboration between community groups, UW faculty, and students.
This Civil Rights Timeline from the Seattle Municipal Archives lists significant events in the U.S. civil rights movement from May 1948 through April 1968 and includes concurrent events in Seattle.

Videos document Seattle African American culture

Seattle Channel is the award winning local TV station with programs on cable television (Channel 21 on Comcast and Wave) and the Internet. Programming includes series and special features highlighting the diverse civic and cultural landscape of the city. The Seattle Channel is a Government Access Channel granted to the City of Seattle per Federal law for the purpose of cablecasting government television programs. It is administered by the City of Seattle’s Department of Information Technology. Programming decisions are based solely on content, and are made independent of the Mayor and the City Council.

The following Seattle Channel videos are just a few highlighting Seattle African American culture and experiences. Find other videos by going to http://www.seattlechannel.org/community and filtering on “African American” or related terms.

An Elegant Utility – Building Across Generations (2017) by Inye Wokoma delves into his past exhibition, “An Elegant Utility,” at Northwest African American Museum. Wokoma captured the enduring legacy of an African-American family’s daily life in Seattle’s gentrifying Central District.
Pecha Kucha Seattle: #BlackLivesMatter (2015). The Northwest African American Museum and the Seattle People of Color Salon present #BlackLivesMatter – Examining American Identity in the 21st Century.
Seattle Voices with Valerie Curtis-Newton (2014). Host Eric Liu talks with Curtis-Newton about her work as the Head of Performance at the University of Washington`s School of Drama. A 2014 Stranger Genius Award nominee, she discusses the rise of African American theater, the best way to overcome fears of speaking out, and how she combines her passion for acting and activism to bridge differences in society.
Northwest African American Museum (2014). Seattle and greater king county are becoming more diverse every day. The population mix has changed dramatically over the last 25 years, and that trend does not look like it`s slowing down any time soon. As the local culture grows more vibrant and rich, it`s always important to find ways to celebrate who we are and one institution has found a voice it`s eager to share.
Front Row: Say it Loud! (2014) SAY IT LOUD is a chance to hear African American music by three talented Seattle artists. Singing a`capella, Josephine Howell, Jimmie Herrod, and Felicia V. Loud perform classic Gospel and their own new works.
Celebrating Black History (2013). Stories about the Central Area, historic hub of African American culture in Seattle.
Black Heritage Society Salutes Pioneers in Media (2012). In partnership with MOHAI and the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas, the Black Heritage Society pays tribute to Northwest Pioneers in Media.

Question Bridge art project explores Black male identity

Question Bridge: Black Males

Question Bridge: Black Males is a transmedia art project that explores critically challenging issues within the African American male community. Created by Chris Johnson, Hank Willis Thomas, Bayeté Ross-Smith, and Kamal Sinclair, the project seeks to represent and redefine Black male identity in America. While some Black males have been able to transcend racial, cultural and economic boundaries, others have found themselves increasingly confined to the margins of society. Through video mediated question and answer exchange, diverse members of this community bridge the economic, political, geographic, and generational divisions. An official selection at 2012 Sundance, Question Bridge provides a safe setting for necessary, honest expression, and healing dialogue on themes that divide, unite, and puzzle black males today in the United States.

The Question Bridge project was seen in Seattle in 2014 at the Photographic Center Northwest. One of the Executive Producers, Deborah Willis, also curated the traveling exhibition “Posing Beauty in African American Culture,” which exhibited in 2016 at Northwest African American Museum.