May 6th: A Mulching Experience! Seward Park, 10-2pm. Help save old growth with nurturing mulch. All welcome. Meet at the southern terminus of the Sqebeqsed trail, where it intersects the upper loop road at Seward Park. Parallel park along the upper loop road, near the trail head. May 11th & May 25th: Join the ArtWalk committee to support our Sept 9th event! Upcoming meetings on May 11th and May 25th, at 3pm at BluWater Bistro. Please contact janicemb@comcast.net with questions. May 20th: One Seattle Day of Service Register for a volunteer opportunity here at seattle.gov. See below for additional Leschi events to support. May 20th: Powell Barnett Park One Seattle Day of Service Event Location: Powell Barnett Park Address: 352 Martin Luther King Jr., Way, Seattle, WA 98122 Shifts: 10 am - noon and noon - 2 pm Tasks: mulching tree rings and natural area maintenance Gloves and equipment provided. All ages! May 20th: Litter Brigade clean-up Meet at Temple Pastries  2524 S Jackson St #104, 10am-Noon. All supplies provided, plus free refreshments from Broadcast Coffee and Temple Pastries.

March 10 – June 4 Bainbridge Island Museum of Art , 550 Winslow Way E. Open: Wed-Mon 10am-4pm. Tue 10am-3pm. Bainbridge Island Museum of Art is free, open 7 days a week and a short walk from the ferry. In Memory of Steve Charles. Steve Charles, Curator of Sacred Circle Art Gallery from the late 1980s to 2002, pioneered solo exhibitions of many now highly regarded contemporary Indigenous artists some of whom are included in this exhibition. One example is Gail Tremblay (Mi’kmaq and Onondaga) also a curator of the exhibition with Robin Sigo (Suquamish) and Chief Curator Greg Robinson. Others famous artists you can see in this exhibition are Marvin Oliver (Quinault, Isleta Puebla and Laguna Puebla), Joe Feddersen (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Omak), John Feodorov (Mixed Navaho (Diné) and European), Preston Singletary (Tlingit), and Lillian Pitt (Wasco, Warm Springs and Yakama Nation). “Indigenous Strength and Wellness” invites us to think about the huge contribution contemporary native tribes and artists are making to offering solutions to our current environment crises. Native peoples deeply understand our precious planet, its animals and plants, its intersections with humans and the threats facing us. I will focus here primarily on artists with whom I am less familiar, all of whom demonstrate intriguing innovation in interpreting traditional media, forms and stories. Totems are familiar to all of us, but the totems by Ed Archie NoiseCat (Canim Lake Band of Shuswap Indians and the Stlitlimx ) radically alter that format. We are all Wolves features an anguished steel mask/face on top of an abstract carving that suggests stressed animal forms. In “Scream” a monster-like black oil pipeline grabs an orca above and kills salmon below. Linsey Logan (Tonawanda Seneca Nation) defiantly offers DAMNED Effigy , a washboard with a feather headdress, transforming into a mask. A mouth sewn up with red wire, fishing lures and other details suggest the abuse of the environment. Masks appear in many guises. Jennifer Angaiak Wood (Yupik) drips ink over a mask/face in His X Mark . Giant ‘X” earrings and an antique pen headdress dramatize the dishonesty of mid nineteenth century treaty agreements with white colonizers. Linley Logan (Tonawanda, Seneca Nation) makes coyote masks out of recycled Clorox bottles! Peg Deam (Suquamish) speaks to casino culture with her money vest woven from one dollar bills, George Washington prominently visible. Sacajawea gold dollars add another layer of irony. Indigenous casinos profit from white people’ vices then share the money in many good causes. One of the most provocative younger artists is Alison Bremner (Tlingit). She dramatically places an imitation melting ice cream cone inside an historic cedar basket (of no value because it was damaged) suggesting our current condition comes from the ignorance and disrespect of historic practices. The ever-original RYAN! Feddersen (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) gives us Coyote and the Sea Monsters Yet to Slay , a long thin image of tiny people struggling to escape from inside a sea monster. Other well-known artists are addressing our crisis ever more emphatically. Joe Feddersen’s (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation) Purple Rain includes his familiar symbols of the outlines of electrical towers, but now even those are being assaulted by pollution from the sky, as horses gallop wildly away in the foreground. John Feodorov addresses pollution on the Navaho reservation with Yellow Dirt , flat yellow squares evoking uranium as an ironic twist on the squares of Utopian modernist painting. Corwin Clairmont (Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) depicts the devastation associated with the Alberta tar sands in a selection from his multipaneled installation “Tar Sand Two Headed Arrow, Gummy Bear.” Both photography of the destroyed environment, and symbolism, such as the two headed arrow, point to our current choices between extraction and life. Don’t miss the Teachings of the Tree People near the end of the show. Small cedar squares designed by artists from over fifty different cultures all over the Pacific created a healing collaborative project for the House of Welcome-Evergreen Longhouse, Evergreen College. Finally Finding our Way Home , a wall sculpture by Jennifer Angaiak Wood: a kayak carved from old growth cedar painted with the outline of a seal, and a sun surrounded by dried seal intestine. Angaiak Wood gives us a sense of peace and hope. The exhibition includes ribbon shirts and beaded COVID masks by Suquamish artists, that were part of an Indigenous fashion show in April, as well as poetry readings, films, history, and dances. On May 13 there will be an afternoon of Indigenous Stories and Performances. ~Susan Platt, PhD www.artandpoliticsnow.com

Anyone who loves Seattle or wants to know its history has been given a great gift— Tributes: Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites by Mary T. Henry. This new treasure is an expanded version of the 1997 volume Tribute: Seattle Public Places Named for Black People by the retired Seattle public school librarian. Instead of 23 entries, readers can now learn about the namesakes of 53 sites! The slender book of fewer than one hundred pages is crammed with information. Mrs. Henry wrote the first book because students would come to the library seeking information on persons for whom sites in Seattle had been named. Usually, there was no information on persons of color. She decided to remedy this void. Many of us are grateful. Now anyone can quickly access the names gracing many Seattle sites. Yes, we know Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Some of us know Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth. But many of the names mean nothing to most of us, and too many of us do not recognize that the person named is indeed a person of color. Mrs. Henry “was constantly amazed at the contributions these people made to the life and culture of Seattle, the nation, and the world.” All are not from the Seattle area. The oldest person listed is Sojourner Truth, 1797-1883, and the youngest is Peppi Braxton, 1963-1971, for whom a park is named. Almost a third of these individuals are women. Three were assassinated. Professions include as expected doctors, lawyers, musicians, and athletes. The names of an architect, scientists, politicians, social workers, and educators are also here. Some honorees are alive. The ninety-nine-year-old Mrs. Henry has the privilege of identifying some of these persons as friends and acquaintances. Although subjects are arranged alphabetically, you will most likely want to look up names you recognize or have seen. Thanks to the Civil Rights Movement, Seattle leaders—with help from concerned citizens—made good use of Forward Thrust funds by creating more than a dozen parks named for African Americans. At least seven housing sites bear the names of African Americans. There are centers for mental health, multiservice, fine arts, and community and economic assistance. Both a Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) and a Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) exist. Several streets and ways can be found. Other sites include a library, justice center, playfield, theater, service area, and schools. You can visit a viewpoint and an overlook, swim in a pool, or sit in a resource and reading rooms. The Odessa Brown Clinic and Carolyn Downs Medical Center provide services for thousands. How many names can you correctly place on the above sites? With the book in a passenger’s hand, make a point of including these sites when you plan your routes about town. Pride spreads over many of us, most of whom had nothing to do with the process. By collecting this information, Mrs. Henry has joined those whose legacies provide something for those of us today and those to come tomorrow, forever, and ever. Anyone who reads the book will most likely agree. To have so much history about African Americans in one place is a joy; to have this history written by an African American in our midst is more than a joy. Good reading! You should know some sites are not included because these persons were honored after Tributes went to press. The 12th Street home of Bertha Pitts Campbell, an early civil rights worker in Seattle, a suffragette, and founder of the Delta Sigma Gamma sorority is yet another site. The remodeled Northgate school was renamed the James Baldwin School after the well-known author. D'Von Pickett Way on East Union is named for the young businessman recently murdered on MLK and Union. South Oregon Street became Bill Burton Way because of Burton’s work with Boys and Girls Club. Friends of Det. Cookie Chess named a park to honor police officer Denise Bouldin who has devoted much time to the community, especially the youth. The Gideon Tower is at the Mount Zion Baptist Church. ~Georgia S. McDade Georgia S. McDade, a charter member of the African-American Writers’ Alliance, began reading her stories in public in 1991 and credits the group with making her write poetry. Many poems are inspired by artists. Georgia writes for South Seattle Emerald and Leschinews. She also does interviews for KVRU (105.7) and KBCS (107.3). Outside the Cave is the name of four volumes of poetry; Observation and Revelations: Stories, Sketches, and Essays is the name of her volume of prose.

The second annual One Seattle Day of Service is scheduled for May 20. Per Mayor Bruce Harrell, “We know that neighbors want to be part of the solution to help us build a thriving, beautiful city, and we can all play a part in creating a better Seattle. The One Seattle Day of Service is a time to turn our shared values of inclusion, unity, and cooperation into real action to drive tangible improvements for the place we love and call home.” Volunteer activities include: Cleaning and beautification – collecting trash, removing graffiti, building repair, and painting Gardening and restoration – weeding, planting, storm drain protection, and trail repair Helping neighbors in need – grocery packing, donation organizing, and tiny home construction Powell Barnett Park One Seattle Day of Service Location: Powell Barnett Park Address: 352 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Seattle, WA 98122 Shifts: 10am–noon and noon–2pm Tasks: Mulching tree rings and natural area maintenance Gloves and equipment provided. All ages! As of this writing, more than 110 events have been scheduled. Close to home, volunteers can register to work from one to three hours gardening and cleaning at the MLK Jr. Memorial and the S. Judkins street end, or tackling litter in the Central District (meeting at Temple Pastries). Please register in advance as there are limited spots and supplies at many events: dayofservice@seattle.gov . Note: volunteers can waive unpaid ticket fines owed to Seattle Municipal Court with their service hours, up to $56 for three hours. ~Submitted by Anne Depue and Maisha Barnett

In his 1968 interview with Larry Gossett (excerpted here last month), Powell Barnett refers to the fact that housing discrimination was still legal in Seattle into the late 1960s. African Americans had very few opportunities to live outside the Central Area, which included Leschi. The Leschi Improvement Council (LIC) sought to avoid an increasingly crowded ghettoization of the neighborhood and all of Central Seattle. “Open housing,” which banned racial discrimination in housing sale or rental, was legislated by the city council in 1968, the culmination of a decade-long campaign. For many years the LIC maintained its reputation as a firm force in city politics for preserving low-density zoning in our neighborhood. Nowadays, de facto housing segregation plays out in a different way. As early as the late 1960s, the LIC sought to calm the apprehensions of Blacks that they would be edged out by high income whites returning to the neighborhood through gentrification. But edged, to the further reaches of the city and county, out is what has happened. In 1966, Powell Barnett represented the LIC in the campaign to establish the crosstown bus service, Route 48, which runs from the Mt. Baker Transit Center to the University District. Having built a base of support, especially in the Black community, this campaign was successful in 6 months. Prior to 1966, there had been no public transportation from the Central Area to the U District that didn’t go through downtown. Not since 1940, that is, when Seattle’s cable-car and electric-streetcar system was abandoned in favor of electric trolleys and gasoline-powered buses. In that earlier era, it was possible to ride a streetcar straight north from 23rd and Jackson to the UW, with a transfer at 23rd and Madison. Barnett remained active in the community council well into his 80s, attending meetings and taking responsibilities until late 1969. Powell Barnett Park extends from Alder to Jefferson Street on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, in Leschi. It had earlier been a running track for Garfield High School athletes but was abandoned in 1962. It was sold to the Parks Department in 1966, and improvements were made through the Central Area Motivation Project (CAMP) in 1967. Students at Leschi Elementary School chose Barnett’s name for the park, and upon the recommendation of the LIC, the city named the playground in Barnett’s honor in 1969. The city rule against naming streets after a living person did not apply to public parks. Barnett’s granddaughter, Maisha Barnett, worked with the LIC in 2006 to make improvements throughout the park, develop the children’s play area, and later create the Fitness Zone, which contains adult exercise equipment (for a 6-minute video of the playground makeover, see youtube.com/watchv=q1CJMIiXssc ). The community council retains an account for improvements to the park as needed. In the late 1950s, long before the park was at all developed, I played there as a child, exploring the caverns in the hillside on the park’s east edge. Barnett’s civic activism was not limited to the LIC. He was an organizer of the East Madison YMCA (now named Meredith Matthews) as a racially integrated organization. After World War II he was chairman of the welcoming committee that assisted Japanese Americans who had been interned. He also helped reorganize the Seattle Urban League, of which he was the board chair in 1947. The Seattle Times reported that, at a date not specified, Barnett had a dispute with the board over a provision in the Urban League bylaws that “a certain percentage of the board had to be Negro.”* Barnett didn’t want to raise the percentage, but rather to abolish it. “I don’t care if the board is 100% white,” he said. “This quota thing is what we’re trying to abolish. Negroes want a chance, not a gift.” Subsequently, he chaired a committee that revised the League’s bylaws and protected its membership in the Community Chest charity, which could have been in jeopardy due to the racial quota requirement.** In 1956, after 25 years of activism with the Urban League (since the 1930 founding of the Seattle chapter), including 15 years on its board, he received the organization’s Annual Award. In his acceptance speech, he credited the organization for the hiring of the first Black schoolteachers, transit operators, and nurses. For more on open housing, see: “The Seattle Open Housing Campaign, 1959-1968” at Seattle.gov “Seattle in Black and White,” part III, by Joan Singler et al, 2011 “The Forging of a Black Community,” chapter 3, by Quintard Taylor 2022 * Seattle Times, May 16, 1967, page 1. ** Mary Henry, Tribute: A Guide to Seattle's Public Parks and Buildings Named for Black People: With Brief Biographical Sketches, page 59 Next month: Barnett’s youth in a coal-mining town; Barnett as a musician. ~Roger Lippman The author writes monthly about Leschi history and his experiences over his 47 years in the neighborhood.

No, thanks. I do not plan to discuss, certainly not defend, or attempt to defend the policemen—the five Black policemen—shown brutally beating, killing Black Tyre Nichols. I saw the video today. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)—all of us have it, I believe. Some of us have it more severely than others; some of us have better means of treatment than others. Some of us are insulated in such a way that we can avoid many stresses, especially those that weigh down, those we cannot escape. But it seems living presents stress for all of us. Not surprisingly, some of us are certain we can/would bear a burden better than the person carrying it. Today, I am listing stress that preoccupies much of my day and night. In no particular order, the list follows: sister living with me; brother coming to live with me; church; trying to get my money from Lowe’s, Coinstar, and Ashley/Tempurpedic; hair; essential tremors; writing biographies of two persons; writing my autobiography; writing group—desire for more writers, people who wish to read, people who wish to publish; chickens, crows destroying my yard; squirrels eating my flower bulbs; worrying about brothers and nephews; teeth; innumerable requests via cell, text, e-mail, and text; rising costs of just about everything I buy; innumerable requests for good causes; housework, all of which I hate; watching flowers die; will and final arrangements; friends in nursing/memory care—one has since died; not knowing why folks are angry with me; not being able to help folks I want to help. This was written very quickly. I know you may want more details. But I want you to get a glimpse of what is on my mind now. I have never thought that I must brutalize someone because of any particular stress or combination of stresses above. I have never thought that I should kill someone because of this stress. I realize some of you have dismissed or solved my problems. Others of you may sympathize because you have had or have the same problems. What I do not know is why a problem that one of us sees as minor or easily dismisses wipes out another of us. I do not understand why some people think hurting themselves or others is acceptable. Hurting won’t make them feel better, won’t make the problem disappear. Too often I think of the murdered and the murderers. I want to ask the murderers how long they thought about the heinous deed. I don’t think Derek Chauvin, for instance, intended to kill George Floyd. I think Chauvin was annoyed with Floyd and wanted to teach Floyd a lesson. How often was Policeman Chauvin prosecutor, jury, and judge? Did he ever think he was wrong? Did he believe he was doing what policemen are charged to do? When he heard, “I can’t breathe,” did he think Floyd was attempting to trick him? Floyd had been accused of trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill. $20! Chauvin thought this crime warranted deadly action? Does Chauvin believe he did the right thing? Would he act differently if he had the opportunity? Or did it never occur to him that he would never be punished? The body cameras were rolling; seventeen-year-old Darnella Frazier’s cell phone was recording. Chauvin was not deterred. The officers onlooking were not moved to intervene. On the other hand, George Zimmerman and Dylan Roof knew people would be dead when they completed their tasks. I wish I could talk to them. I want to know why they hate Black so much that they feel compelled to kill them. The police told Zimmerman to leave Trayvon Martin alone. He was following seventeen-year-old Martin; Martin was not following him! Yet Zimmerman used the defense that he, Zimmerman, was afraid for his life! Worse, a jury agreed and acquitted Martin. In contrast, Roof went to a church he had most likely never visited; he was seeking persons to kill. I don’t understand how he could sit with people he did not know, people who had never done anything to him, people in Prayer Meeting with the intention of killing these people who did nothing but attempt to make him feel welcome. I am sure they prayed for him. Anyone can enter Prayer Meeting. Some visitors say nothing; others reveal why they are present, make requests. Some folks sit and listen. But Roof sat, all the time knowing he was going to kill all but one of these individuals; he wanted someone to tell the story. What had Roof seen? What had he been taught? What kinds of persons were in his environment? He is among many whose parents’ divorce, have one or two abusive parents. Most of us commit no such act. No relative, neighbor, or teacher bonded with him? No coach mentored him? Visiting Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, has made me think of Roof more often. Recently I read that Roof says he has “no remorse” for killing people whom he himself said were innocent. He sees himself as superior to Black people. I wonder if it occurred to him that his actions would mean spending the remainder of his life imprisoned. Was his mind filled with thoughts of killing all Black people? He had Black friends in high school. What set him off? How did he arrive at the point of killing those people? I ask these questions because the number of cold-blooded killings is rising. And though some murderers know their victims, others do not. We survivors must act soon. We must talk to people and listen to people. Stress in the form of mental illness and addiction to alcohol and drugs must be treated. Domestic abuse must be thwarted. Bullying must end. Discrimination of every kind must be called out. Race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, class, whatever makes any of us prejudiced against another of us because of differences or perceived differences is wrong, wrong, wrong. The sooner we act, the safer all of us will be. We must do what we can to reduce the stress. ~Georgia S. McDade Georgia S. McDade, a charter member of the African-American Writers’ Alliance, began reading her stories in public in 1991 and credits the group with making her write poetry. Many poems are inspired by artists. Georgia writes for South Seattle Emerald and Leschinews. She also does interviews for KVRU (105.7) and KBCS (107.3). Outside the Cave is the name of four volumes of poetry; Observation and Revelations: Stories, Sketches, and Essays is the name of her volume of prose.

We are just a few days away from the Leschi Park walk-through (Sunday, April 16 at 10 a.m.) which has been designed to facilitate a free and casual exchange of ideas between Friends of Steve Schulman and the community. Elements to be discussed are: 1) where a potential memorial structure (or feature) might be sited within the park, and 2) what type of feature it could be (picnic shelter, gazebo, restored fountain area etc). At the end of the walk-through we plan to have a straw poll — where folks share their top options, and also share any pertinent information as to what they think would be most meaningful to the community of the memorial concepts, and/or what impact they believe certain elements would have (both positive and negative). We will meet on Sunday, April 16th at 10am. Meet at Leschi Park at the picnic tables near Leschi Market. We will be meeting outside, so please dress and plan accordingly. Please send questions to leschicouncil@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you there.

April 16 10a.m. Shulman Memorial walk-through at Leschi Park Meet at Leschi Park (meet at the picnic tables by Leschi Market) to walk the park and look at the options for a memorial location and discuss structure options. April 16 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Litter brigade does Powell Barnett Park Chris Tremonte has formed a volunteer group that tackles litter issues once a month. Chris provides both tools and treats foe his workers. The April group will meet at Powell Barnett Park on the 3rd Sunday, April 16 from 10-12pm April 21 6-9 p.m. Green Dolphin evening at the Central Area Senior Center. Eugenie Jones will be performing (and she is amazing!) April 22 Earth Day 1pm Walk-through at the Leschi Natural Area This is not a work party but a walk-through of the Natural Area. So if you want to celebrate Earth Day but not get your fingers dirty, consider walking through this gem of a park led by our Greenspace chair: John Barber. Located at 36th & Terrace. April 29 Frink Park work party; 10-12. Meet at end of Yesler (east of the Dreamcatcher). Bring water and dress for weather. Gloves & tools provided.

Wednesday April 5th, 2023 Approximately 19 attendees Agenda: Introductions Background on EastPAC (East Precinct Advisory Council) Planning a May community meeting to share research findings in partnership with Seattle U Identifying Leschi's safety challenges Prioritizing our list Brainstorm potential solutions and support we want to ask for Next steps: Meeting cadence, communications Meeting summary: We had about 19 people in attendance. We appreciated everyone providing thoughtful feedback throughout the meeting. We identified initial areas of focus to establish good community engagement to support public safety. As we build momentum, we will work through additional issues and continue to add new concerns. We plan to hold a committee meeting via Zoom in early May (after the May community meeting). Our initial priorities: (for details see notes in the Brainstorm section) To start to address concerns about pedestrian safety, speeding and reckless driving throughout Leschi, we will gather questions and prepare for the May community meeting, which will have Greg Spotts, Director of the Dept of Transportation as the guest speaker. Ensure good neighborhood participation in this year’s Night Out event. Will form sub-committee to organize and get the word out. Reestablish Leschi's relationship with EastPAC. Brainstorm: Leschi public safety concerns Disaster Preparedness: Establish an emergency hub Location? Madison and Mt. Baker have both established a program Organization Annual drills? Emergency preparedness information and education Seattle programs The hub is just one facet of an emergency preparedness plan Public Health Availability of public restrooms (when is the Leschi Park location closed) Resources for the unhoused The Green Lake Starbucks has a board with local resources What are the rules for RVs/campers? Crime Prevention Neighborhood/block watches SPD has recommended personal cameras (porch Rings) Support for business break-ins How can we hear what actions are taken to resolve crimes (i.e. recent shooting) Ashley to see what info EastPAC can provide Pedestrian & Civilian Safety Speeding on Lakeside, near Leschi Elementary, a number of spots along the lake No stop signs or speed bumps for miles along the lake People ignoring stop signs in neighborhoods Speeding tickets not enforced (?) May LCC: Presentation from a transportation representative - let’s make this an effective meeting - Trevor Gather feedback from business owners - Eva Google form or other means to gather community input - Ashley Bus safety: people don’t feel safe riding at night Community member reported a friend having a dangerous altercation resulting in serious injuries How are drivers supported Bill to write up summary of the situation and how we might proceed Community & Police Relationship Get to know your neighbors Get good participation in Seattle's Night Out: Night Out is a national event promoted in Seattle by Seattle Police Department Crime Prevention. It is designed to heighten crime prevention awareness, increase neighborhood support in anti-crime efforts, and unite our communities. Night Out is traditionally held the first Tuesday night in August. Consider how to get neighborhoods to plan their events, or should we do one big Leschi Night Out? - Start to outline plan - Hafidha, Janice, Ashley Re-establish relationship with EastPAC - attend monthly board meetings (next one is 4/12) - Ashley Bring in crime prevention coordinator once a quarter Communications How to engage the community: Where do we make information available on a regular basis? We have 3 kiosks, we usually update the kiosk by Bluwater Community announcements at local businesses, such as Park Postal, Grocery outlet, etc Continue email program Updates in Leschi News Ishea & Ashley to connect on communications opportunities Next steps: See brainstorm for owners of tasks Time sensitive: Trevor to coordinate May meeting content (Eva & Ashley to support) Ashley to set up a Zoom meeting in 4 weeks, can leverage breakout rooms if needed for projects

April 5 at 7pm Grace United Methodist Church 722 30th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144 This will be the first meeting of the newly forming Leschi Public Safety committee. All are welcome to join. The goal of this meeting is to work together to compile the list of public safety concerns, discuss impact and priority, and start to brainstorm potential paths for solutions. Our public safety chair will attend the monthly board meetings of the East Precinct Advisory Council (EastPAC), so we can bring this list to those sessions. And EastPAC is also working to set up a community meeting for May that all will be welcome to join. We will discuss the forming of this committee and get input on how we might manage it over time - how often we should meet, whether Zoom might be more convenient for some of those sessions, etc. Public safety can be a personal and emotional topic, so we ask that folks bring an open mind and allow all voices to be heard. Agenda: Introductions Background on EastPAC Identifying Leschi's safety challenges Prioritizing our list Brainstorm potential solutions and support we want to ask for Next steps: Meeting cadence, communications If you are not able to join, please send your input to leschicouncil@gmail.com.

Powell Barnett’s father brought the family in 1889 from Indiana to the coal town of Roslyn, Washington. The elder Barnett had been recruited to work in the mines there, along with about 300 other African American miners. They didn’t learn until they were most of the way to Washington State that they were being brought to break a strike by white miners. In a 1967 interview, Barnett relates that, after the white miners’ strike was settled, and they were reinstated, the relationship among all the workers was “as good as you could expect.” Blacks were able to hold skilled and supervisory positions along with whites. He adds that there was no housing segregation in Roslyn. While a teenager in the small town, the young Powell helped organize a brass band. “The white boys had one there and the Slavonian people had one, so we decided that we should have one,” he told interviewer Richard Berner in 1967. They didn’t have a teacher, so they approached a man who was teaching the white band. But before long the teacher received an ultimatum from the white band to choose one or the other. A member of the white band then agreed to teach the Black band, but before long he received the same ultimatum. It’s interesting, though, that Barnett didn’t retreat from his comments about racial harmony. After his father was injured in a mining accident, the teenage Powell Barnett became a miner himself. But he saw no future in mining, as he told Richard Berner. “I looked around there and I could see two or three generations of people all working in the mines. Usually the fathers in those days, they expected the son to follow in their footsteps which a great many of them did. But I couldn't see myself spending my whole lifetime in and around the coal mines, which presented the same thing year in and year out. You stay there fifty years and you'll still be the same kind of a person, doing the very same thing, hard, laborious work with relatively low compensation for it.” He left for Seattle in 1906. In the city, he worked as a construction and paving worker, a public utility employee, and a maintenance worker in the County-City Building (now the King County Courthouse). For a time he operated his own moving company. For 15 years, Barnett was the Democratic precinct committeeman in the 33rd Legislative District, which included Rainier Valley. At some point he served on the staff of State Senator Frank Connor, who represented the district. Barnett excelled at baseball and organized Seattle’s first Black team. He knew the rules so well that he was eventually asked to be an umpire. In 1944 he organized the interracial Northwest Umpires Association, of which he was an officer for 17 years. Eventually he was hired as a local scout for the Baltimore Orioles. Barnett joined an all-white band and played the bass from 1908-1913. In 1913 he became the first (and only) African American to join the all-white American Federation of Musician (AFM) Local 76. In 1917, he organized the Tenth Division Band, a civilian group that gave recruits a send-off from Seattle’s waterfront to World War I. He is known to have played the sousaphone, bass, and drums in Seattle, in addition to the small tuba that he played in Roslyn. In 1917, with the consent of the AFM local, the predominately African American Local 458 was formed, and the city was divided between the two unions. The African American local got Jackson Street and vicinity as its performance area. In 1921, due to a dispute over turf, Local 76 expelled some white members of Local 458 (but apparently not Barnett). That year, Barnett was elected president of 458. But the battles continued, and Local 76 successfully petitioned the international union to revoke the charter of the African American local, which was done in January 1924. Local 76 thwarted the Black musicians in their attempt to establish a new local, but relented late that year, and a new local, 495, was formed to give Seattle’s Black musicians union representation. Hostility toward the Black union by Local 76 continued, however, for nearly 30 more years, a story that is beyond the scope of this article. Finally, in the mid-1950s, Barnett spearheaded a proposal for a merger of the two locals, which was accomplished late in 1956. Powell Barnett lived for many years in the western part of Leschi, in the vicinity of Jackson Street and what is now Martin Luther King, Jr. Way South. Many descendants of his and his wife’s families remain in the Seattle area, and elsewhere. In July 2012, in honor of a gathering of about 70 family members, Council member Larry Gossett, on behalf of the King County Council, proclaimed Barnett/Conna Family Reunion Day. For more on the Seattle musicians’ unions, see historylink.org/file/10329 and the book “Before Seattle Rocked: A City and its Music,” by Karl Armbruster, pages 71-73 and throughout. ~Roger Lippman The author writes monthly about Leschi history and his experiences over his 47 years in the neighborhood.

The Leschi Community Council Board is now accepting applications for our annual Leschi Stars. Applications must be submitted by May 5 to be considered; winners will be presented with the prestigious star at our June meeting. Please use this application: 2023 Leschi Star Nominations Instructions: Once a year we honor our Leschi Stars, those folks or groups who have made a big difference in Leschi. EXAMPLE OF AN INDIVIDUAL: Henrietta Price who has been a crossing guard at Leschi Elementary School for more than two decades and encourages the children to do their best as she safely guides them across the street. GROUP EXAMPLE: Keller Williams staff who sent 60 folks to Leschi Park to weed, mulch, prune for their day of community service. Send us your answers to the following: Your nominee’s name and contact information. Tell us why this person is a STAR! Be specific. How do these activities enrich life in Leschi? Your name and contact information. Send an email to leschinews@comcast.net, or mail to LCC, 140 Lakeside Ave Suite A, #2, Seattle 98122.