by Vee Hua 華婷婷
Emmett Till’s Cousin Speaks at Northwest African American Museum Tonight
Seattle Public Schools Reassesses School Closure Plans
Seattle Public Libraries Celebrates Banned Books Week Through Sept. 28
El Centro de la Raza Hosts Building the Beloved Community Gala
The Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) is hosting an evening with Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr.. Parker is Emmett Till’s cousin and childhood best friend who was with Till during the days leading up to his death. He will talk about who Till was and the efforts of the family to preserve his story, highlighting the importance of this case in our country.
This event is part of the museum’s “Descendants Series” and complements a current display of “The Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See” exhibit, created by the Till family, Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, Emmett Till Interpretive Center, and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
NAAM first opened its doors in 2008, and promotes anti-racism, equity healing, and hope through centering Black heritage as an essential part of our shared history and culture.
Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has decided to postpone a series of community meetings regarding proposals for school closures in order to close a budget deficit of $94 million in the 2025–2026 school year. The decision came following concerns raised by the SPS School Board last week about SPS’ two proposals for school closures. The two proposals, presented under SPS’ System of Well-Resourced Schools initiative, would shutter either 17 or 21 elementary schools and consolidate them in order to save money, while still providing what SPS believes would be a high quality of service.
Concerned parents and community members have pushed back on the proposals for months. Before the school board meeting last week, at least 300 individuals gathered in protest. The school board also expressed concerns about the closures, which is significant, considering at least 4 of the 7 board members would be required to approve the plans for them to impact the upcoming school year.
“We want to cut $100 million from the budget and get better outcomes for kids. That’s almost an impossible task,” SPS School Board Director Gina Topp said in the meeting.
Topp also suggested that perhaps SPS could provide a plan that would shutter only four to six schools. Other board members showed concerns over the district’s ability to close such a large number of schools and still be adequately prepared for the next school year.
SPS Superintendent Brent Jones told the board that leadership would take their feedback into account as they moved forward. Less than a week later, on Sept. 23, Jones sent out a public memo that he would pause two upcoming hearings on the school closures so that they could reconsider their proposals.
“I am taking more time to reflect on plans to bring a consolidation recommendation this October. As a result, I am canceling the upcoming community meetings,” Jones wrote. “I understand the closure of schools is a very serious topic. After receiving thoughtful feedback from many of you, it is clear we need more time to carefully consider our next steps.”
According to the original timeline, Jones is to deliver a preliminary plan to the board in October, with their final vote taking in December.
Overall, Option A would save $31.5 million and close 21 schools while transitioning to a system of attendance area elementary schools with no K–8 or option elementary schools. Option B would save $25.5 million and close 17 schools; it would keep a K–8 school in each region and, instead of closures, use other strategies to reduce the budget, such as reductions in staffing.
The impact on South Seattle would be significant. In Southeast Seattle, both plans would shut down Orca K–8 School, on the border of the Columbia City, Hillman City, and Seward Park neighborhoods; Graham Hill Elementary in Seward Park; and Rainier View Elementary in Rainier View. Option A would keep Dunlap Elementary in Rainier Beach open, while Option B would close Dunlap Elementary. Option A would also convert South Shore PreK–8 in Rainier Beach into an attendance area K–5 school, eliminating K–8 and option elementary schools altogether within the SPS system.
In Southwest and West Seattle, both options would lead to the closures of Louisa Boren K–8 and Stanislo. Option A would also close Lafayette Elementary while also turning Pathfinder K–8 into an attendance area K–5 school.
Banned Books Week was founded by the American Library Association (ALA) in 1982 "in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools." This year, the theme is “Freed Between the Lines,” and runs from Sept. 22 to 28.
The Seattle Public Library (SPL) has joined the national campaign to fight censorship locally with an update to its Books Unbanned program, which allows teens and young adults aged 13 to 26 living anywhere in the U.S. to access e-books and audiobooks that may be censored where they live.
“Since The Seattle Public Library launched the nation’s second Books Unbanned initiative (BooksUnbanned.com) in April 2023, more than 10,000 young people from across the U.S. have signed up for a free e-card from SPL that allows them access to its collection of digital books,” SPL's Executive Director and Chief Librarian Tom Fay and The Seattle Public Library Foundation's CEO Brian Lawrence wrote in a Sept. 20 Seattle Times op-ed.
SPL will also be hosting free community events this week. They include a Friday, Sept. 27, workshop for “Banned Books Week Letterpress Printing,” hosted at the University Branch Library, as well as a Pop-Up Book Sale on Sunday, Sept. 29, at the Greenwood Branch Library. Registration is not required for either.
Such efforts are especially pertinent at this time, when libraries, schools, and educators across the country are facing a number of challenges, and books are increasingly being banned for content that is deemed inappropriate. A large majority of the books include stories by People of Color, LGBTQIA+, or otherwise marginalized individuals.
“Though the number of reports to date has declined in 2024, the number of documented attempts to censor books continues to far exceed the numbers prior to 2020,” wrote the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom following an analysis of data collected between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, 2024. “Additionally, instances of soft censorship, where books are purchased but placed in restricted areas, not used in library displays, or otherwise hidden or kept off limits due to fear of challenges, illustrate the impact of organized censorship campaigns on students’ and readers’ freedom to read. In some circumstances, books have been preemptively excluded from library collections, taken off the shelves before they are banned, or not purchased for library collections in the first place.”
A list of challenged books compiled by the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom consolidates testimonials from librarians and teachers nationwide. They have found that the top 10 challenged books for 2024 include:
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, sex education, claimed to be sexually explicit
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, LGBTQIA+ content, rape, drugs, profanity
Flamer by Mike Curato
Reasons: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Reasons: Depiction of rape, incest, claimed to be sexually explicit, EDI content
Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, drugs, depiction of rape, LGBTQIA+ content
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, profanity
Let’s Talk About It by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, sex education, LGBTQIA+ content
Sold by Patricia McCormick
Reasons: Claimed to be sexually explicit, depiction of rape
These books can be found on SPL’s Books Unbanned program.
El Centro de La Raza (The Center for People of All Races) will be hosting their Building the Beloved Community Gala on Saturday, Sept. 28. The event, grounded in the Latino community, will support the organization’s mission “to build the Beloved Community through unifying all racial and economic sectors; to organize, empower, and defend the basic human rights of our most vulnerable and marginalized populations; and to bring critical consciousness, justice, dignity, and equity to all the peoples of the world.”
Hosted at the brand-new Summit Building in the Seattle Convention Center, the gala will also benefit 43 programs and services that serve over 20,000 individuals and families region-wide. Included in the evening will be live music, a reception, silent and live auctions, and a three-course meal.
The gala will also celebrate the 2024 Roberto Felipe Maestas Legacy Award winners. They are Jaqueline Garcia Castillo, founder and executive director of Mujer al Volante, Superación Constante, as well as Ruel Olanday Jr., director of partnerships for the Equitable Recovery and Reconciliation Alliance (ERRA).
Tickets are available on El Centro de la Raza’s website.
Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the editor-in-chief of REDEFINE, a long-time member of the Seattle Arts Commission, and a film educator at the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they previously served as executive director and played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences. After a recent stint as the interim managing editor at South Seattle Emerald, they are moving into production on their feature film, Reckless Spirits, which is a metaphysical, multilingual POC buddy comedy. They have a master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the American Indian Studies Department at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
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