![]() The comments section is a place most journalists fear. I don’t think I said anything new, but what was new was that when I said it through the Emerald, it sparked a much-needed public conversation. In sharing my story and perspective, I broke the taboos that keep us silent about the intersections of classism and racism within our city structures and policies. The story of my home is a deeply personal one, but the story of gentrification is one that is deeply personal to many communities, especially for BIPOC folks who have been disproportionately redlined and displaced. Not because I was paid a lot to write them (though I was compensated fairly, because that is a core value of the Emerald) but because of what it cost me to live these experiences and share them publicly. These stories are what I think of as some of my most expensive writing. I wrote three pieces that debuted in the South Seattle Emerald (and were republished in the Seattle Globalist and Real Change, respectively): “ Brad and Becky from Bellevue are Coming to Rainier Beach,” “ The Displacement Tax: An Update from Gentrification Ground,” and most recently, “ Rainier Beach-A Beautiful, Safe Place to Live?” I continued to write for the Globalist, but I realized that when it came to talking about Rainier Beach, I wanted to do it at the Emerald. “ Who’s afraid of Rainier Beach?” was written for the Seattle Globalist, but was the piece that showed us all how hungry the South End was to participate in the conversation around how the area and its residents are viewed by the rest of Seattle. As the voice of the publication began to take shape, I also started writing pieces specifically for the Emerald. During the first couple of years, I lent my support in a variety of ways, from editing, to allowing the Emerald to repost columns I wrote for the Seattle Globalist, to facilitating community workshops to engage and train new contributors, to working with the Emerald’s first class of interns. Marcus was building a movement as big as his dreams, and like many others, I wanted to be part of it. Inevitably, our conversations would return to the big gaping hole in Seattle’s media scene and Marcus would wax poetic about the need for a news outlet where the South End could curate its own story rather than being continuously villainized in news told by strangers from outside the community. ![]() What started out as my giving him writing lessons turned into a lot of laughter, knocking back rum and cokes at Jude’s, talking shit about local politics, and reading each other’s writing. ![]() Marcus Harrison Green and I met shortly before the birth of the South Seattle Emerald. Become a Rainmaker today by choosing the “recurring donor” option on our donation page! -The Emerald Team Please help us continue to serve our community by becoming a recurring donor during our 8th anniversary campaign, Ripples & Sparks at Home, April 20–28. The energy our people generate at home and beyond ignites sparks that prove perennially that even the tiniest of sparks illuminates dark places in all directions and can guide us to wherever we need to go. And home can be a place, people, or both. In celebration of the South Seattle Emerald’s 8th Anniversary, we asked community members to share moments in our publication’s history that remain special to them.īy Reagan Jackson The Emerald community has been creating ripples with its creativity and genius for 8 magnificent years! Those ripples are felt far beyond South Seattle - community, after all, is not a place but its people.
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