The Roundup: Vibe-Checking the Renton Rights Rally

From the Editor

What's up, South End?

I was planning on this being a follow-up to last week — the Seahawks won and are now in the NFC Championship game, so my thought was to update y'all and talk Hawks with an expert.

But that's not how news works. And this week turned out to be newsy, especially in the South End.

On Tuesday, students across the country, including here in Seattle, had planned a walk-out in protest of ICE. In the South End, those plans were halted because of unconfirmed reports of ICE activity that put four neighborhood schools (Asa Mercer International Middle School, Aki Kurose Middle School, Cleveland STEM High School, and Maple Elementary) in a shelter-in-place.

You can read the Emerald's coverage, and there will likely be more coming, as I've reached out to Seattle Public Schools to better understand its policies leading up to the shelters-in-place and to ask if adjustments will be made moving forward — so more on that soon.

Even with the student walk-out halted in the South End, there will still be rallies to protest ICE this weekend. One rally organized by a group of concerned citizens in Renton caught my eye.

There has been an ongoing debate, for about as long as I can remember (I'm a millennial, so I admit that isn't too long), about how people should or shouldn't protest. In 2020, there was much debate about whether protests should have "party-like" atmospheres. I'm not attempting to rehash those arguments, but the Renton Rights Rally, which happens every Saturday at The Landing, has an interesting vibe.

I spoke with Alice, one of the event's original organizers (who's adamant that the group isn't an official "organization"), and she described the scene of the weekend rallies that have been happening for about four years. According to Alice, there's an art cart with the necessary tools for people to make creative and colorful signs, occasionally a live band plays music and has extra instruments for people to join in, a guy shows up with multiple bubble machines and a speaker that blasts protest music, someone makes and distributes brochures on how to stop tyranny, and a photographer snaps photos.

While this isn't the typical scene of a protest — in fact, Alice doesn't call it a protest, she says it's a "rally" — the thing that stands out to me is the intent. The group started by taking a stand in the wake of George Floyd's murder, with rallies every Friday in support of Black Lives Matter and advocating against police violence. Then, it switched gears after Texas' Senate Bill 8 was passed in 2021, prohibiting abortions in the state after 6 weeks of gestational age, and this is when the group moved to Saturday rallies advocating for women's reproductive rights. Now, the rallies are a mix of all of the above, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) becoming a more recent focal point.

Last weekend, Alice organized a group activity: she purchased 7 pounds of ice and the entire group of organizers literally crushed ICE on the sidewalk.

I admit that at the beginning of my conversation with Alice, I was on the fence. She mentioned how rallies could be "safe and fun," and when I imagine a rally or a protest, the last thing that comes to mind is bubble machines on every corner.

But Alice talked about people. About building community each Saturday two hours at a time. At the Renton Rights Rally, the group spends an hour on the corner with signs (and music and bubbles), then participants head to Top Pot for doughnuts, coffee, and conversation.

"We're rallying together for our own mental health, instead of staying at home seeing everything going away that we've worked our whole lives for," she explained. The group started with three women who knew they had to do something. Now, over four years later, the group has expanded but the core values remain. The group stands for justice and fosters a community of support, which, Alice says, has gone a long way toward sustaining her mental health.

I'm not here to tell you how to protest, or even whether you should protest. But if you are looking at our country, at our world, and feel compelled to do something to help others, there are many ways that you can. Some people will march. Some will boycott. Some will donate. And some will do all of the above and more.

The most important thing is that you find community with like-minded people and don't ride this out alone. And if you are looking for a community to join, Alice said her group's doors are always open.

The Renton Rights Rally happens on Saturdays at noon at The Landing at the corner of N. 10th and Logan St. This week, the group is rallying against ICE.

The Roundup Rundown

I mentioned this above, but I want to make sure y'all see the article too.

Emerald contributing photographer Patty Tang was on assignment to take pics of a student walk-out against fascism on the one-year anniversary of President Trump's second inauguration. Then, the schools went into a shelter-in-place because of what was later described as "unconfirmed ICE activity," and her story shifted.

You can learn about how all these events unfolded on Tuesday by reading Patty's article.

This week, we had an insightful essay from a guest contributor.

Georgina Olazcon Mozo is the director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the University of Washington, an immigration lawyer, and a longtime South Seattle resident. She wrote about how the killing of Renee Good by ICE isn't an isolated incident.

Read Georgina's op-ed for the full details on her experience with death caused by ICE.

In local environmental news, South Seattle organizers are opposing a newly approved permit for a South End cement-manufacturing plant to burn more tires for fuel.

Emerald contributor Maya Tizon reports organizers filed a complaint alleging the increase in burned tires will worsen the overall air quality of surrounding residential neighborhoods, like South Park and Georgetown.

A 2023 Department of Ecology report found that Ash Grove, the cement plant in question, was the source of the most pollution in South Seattle and South King County.

For the full details of the filing, read Maya's article here.

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Mike Davis is the newsletter editor and Voices editor at the South Seattle Emerald. Born and raised in Seattle's South End, Mike is a longtime journalist who's covered everything from arts and culture to sports to politics.