06-07-20

Plenty of plywood downtown, a new round of murals, focusing on racial justice.

Charleena Lyles is a name well known to us.

Charleena lived and died at Brettler Family Place, one of Solid Ground’s low income buildings at Sand Point.  She was 30, petite, pregnant. She had issues with domestic violence and mental health and had been flagged as potentially dangerous.  She called the police about a suspected burglary.  She had a knife, the police were missing their taser, they shot her 7 times in front of her four children in 2017.

06-06-20

Went for a walk and wandered into a protest.  This time over by Amazon and the downtown precinct.

06-05-20

Black Lives Matter is the focus of the national conversation right now.  And those who push back that All Lives Matter are out of touch.

Anti-black racism is hardwired into America's DNA, and it touches Black lives every single day—from cop killings to predatory lending to poorly-funded schools. To say ‘Black lives matter’ acknowledges that in many ways we never did—not to suggest that anyone else matters any less.

It doesn't mean that only black lives matter.  It doesn't mean that black lives are superior.  It is merely recognizing that we are not currently similarly situated and it needs focus.

06-04-20

And with peaceful protesting Wednesday night, there is a truce and the tension in the city melts away.  So, we were able to find shwarma at an open eatery and we enjoyed an early dinner on the roof.

06-03-20

It's difficult to capture the image of the entire city boarded up with plywood.  There is a big sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop, but as the protesters move up to Capital Hill and out to other areas, downtown is starting to breathe a little easier.

06-02-20

As fear of more destruction and looting continue, there are pleas for both justice and to be passed over for any second round of targetted retail damage.

06-01-20

Happy June!

Mom and I walked along Lake Union today, looking at the houseboats.

I forgot to take photos, but clicked this on my route home.  We've seen this a few times recently.  It is literally just the shell of the old Firestone Tire building.  Will be interesting to see how they use the facade for something new.