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What do protests by the Standing Rock Sioux against the Dakota Access oil pipeline construction (DAPL) in North Dakota have to do with the culture of Seattle? The answer is: plenty. First, it is part of our shared battle against the fossil fuel industry. Second, it is part of the explosion of Native culture and activism. Right here in our city and around the Salish Sea, we have observed the vigor of native culture from the revival of disappearing languages to the construction of the Duwamish Longhouse. Each year the Canoe Journey brings together Indians who have paddled from far flung tribal lands to a different location to celebrate their heritage. The Seattle Art Museum’s collection of Northwest Tribal Art, including spectacular contemporary works and their exhibition “Indigenous Beauty: Masterworks of American Indian Art from the Diker Collection ” last year leaves no doubt that the days when indigenous culture was brutally suppressed are over. The solo exhibit of paintings by Robert Davidson at SAM in 2014 showed how an artist nurtured by his forebears in Haida Gwaii, off the coast of British Columbia can embrace today’s world without losing his identity. Native people have taken a lead in the environmental movement and offered traditional wisdom about our relationship with the planet we all inhabit. They contributed vitally to the protests in 2015 around the Shell Oil Arctic drilling platform, by joining the kayactivists in their splendid canoes and inspiring the crowds with flute and drum music as well as eloquent homilies broadcast from a barge. (March in support of Standing Rock Sioux, in opposition to Dakota Access Pipeline DAPL, downtown Seattle, September 16, 2016. Photo courtesy Susan Platt.) In May this year the Lummi nation, backed by an 1855 treaty, succeeded in preventing the construction of a massive coal port at Cherry Point, Anacortes. In the same place, with the Swinomish, Makah, and Tulalip tribes as well as partnership with 350.org Greenpeace, and our own Backbone Campaign, they participated in the protests against an expansion of an oil refinery that would infringe on their fishing and increase the pollution of air and water. The truth is that the tribal elders and articulate spokesmen who have engaged in the environmental discourse have a lot to teach us, particularly about collaboration over critical issues that affect us all. Here is a quote from Paul Cheokten Wagner, the amazing flute player based in Seattle who has just returned from Standing Rock: “We must step back into the circle of life and learn to honor the gifts our Mother Earth has to offer us, the linear action of the colonial world has a finite end and if our Mother Earth reaches the tipping point, the point of no return for stable climate, the human race will reach that end and there will be a great reciprocity or giving back to our Mother Earth but not of our liking…. It will be the bones of our grandchildren and their children being given back to our Mother Earth due to our lack of respect for the gifts our Mother.” It is no surprise that tribal leaders from the Northwest have joined their brothers and sisters at Standing Rock in the fight to protect their water and cultural heritage from destruction by Dakota Access LLC. The point is that their cause is a universal one. They are asking the question: can we allow big corporations to take fossil fuels from the earth and use them in a way that will threaten drinking water, increase air pollution and desecrate cultural heritage? Not surprisingly, representatives of over three hundred tribes have joined the Sioux at Standing Rock and the solidarity with them nation-wide is phenomenal. Protecting future generations by environmental action is central to the culture of Seattle. On September 16, our city council passed a unanimous resolution in their support; the mayor issued a proclamation from the city hall steps, before the march set off to Westlake. The next morning the Seattle Times, which has been known to belittle or ignore demonstrations, published an article by Lynda Mapes that did justice to the endeavor and endowed it with well-deserved dignity. Describing the procession, she wrote: “As they marched from City Hall to Westlake Center along Fourth Avenue the songs of drummers and singers echoed off the tall buildings of downtown. Some of the protestors wore their finest white buckskins and splendid beaded regalia; others carried eagle feather fans and carved rattles.” Walking with the tribal members and many supporters, I experienced their magnificent singing voices and thundering drums. I felt their anger, their resistance and their authority. From time to time, the whole crowd shouted: “Water is Life! Water is life!” The truth of this slogan resonated through the streets. At Westlake the eloquent Matt Rimley, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who lives in Seattle and had just returned from North Dakota updated us, in his lilting musical voice, on the aggressive actions of the corporations and the ever-expanding resistance. Fawn Sharp, president of the Quinault Nation and of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, galvanized the crowd: “I call on the voices and ancestors and children yet unborn; we stand on sacred trusts. Do you feel the power? The power of our ancestral teachings?” As Lynda Mapes reported: the crowd “thundered its affirmation with voices and Drums.” The core of Fawn Sharp’s message is we must resist climate change and pollution: “We stand for environmental justice and we will not stop. An offense against any of our rivers, or our forests, is an offense against all of us.” Keep yourself informed and also donate to support this crucial resistance by looking at standingrock.org . By guest author Henry Matthews Henry Matthews, Professor Emeritus of Washington State University, is an architectural historian. His most recent book is Greco-Roman Cities of Aegean Turkey. See www.henrymatthews.com for more information.

Having Fun to Benefit Rainier Valley Food Bank Every autumn the Leschi Community Council holds a food drive to benefit the Rainier Valley Food Bank. Diane Morris has led the charge in recent years and done a fabulous job. This year we’re trying something new in an effort to involve more of the community. On Saturday October 15 at 2:00pm the LCC will host a pay-to-play Ultimate Frisbee game and tailgate potluck on the upper field of Leschi Park (next to the tennis court), proceeds to benefit RVFB. The cost to participate is $10 per player. Our team captain is Jeff Floor. A few participants signed up at the ArtWalk on September 10, but we’re actively looking for more players, so whether you’re a seasoned Ultimate Frisbee veteran or brand new to the game, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact our team captain via email at jsfloor@gmail.com, see Yousef Shulman at the Leschi Market, or Yuki Igarashi at the Leschi Edward Jones office. If you’re interested in participating in the event but not an Ultimate Frisbee player, we’re looking for volunteers to bring food for the after-game tailgate potluck. Please contact Amy Fink at aefvpn@gmail.com if you’re interested in helping with the potluck. And if neither playing nor cooking is in your wheelhouse, but you’d still like to participate, please come on over to the park to cheer on the team and/or donate to the food bank. We look forward to seeing you on October 15! To Recap: When: Saturday, October 15th, 2:00pm Where: Leschi Park next to the tennis Court What: Ultimate Frisbee and tailgate Potluck Opposing Team: The Madrona Community Council Who: Calling all Leschi Neighbors! To Benefit: The Rainier Valley Food Bank How much: $10 per player (donations from supporters greatly appreciated!)

In late 2013, a massive area of abnormally warm water known as the “Blob” began to form in the Northeastern Pacific. Growing in strength throughout 2014 and persisting through 2015, it had significant impacts on the climate of the Pacific Northwest and the marine life of the Pacific Coast. The Blob was partially responsible for the recent period of record warmth throughout the Pacific Northwest, and the lack of nutrients throughout the Blob negatively affected a variety of marine creatures ranging from marine birds to salmon. Thankfully, it slowly weakened over the 2015-2016 winter, as the continuous barrage of powerful Pacific storms from one of the strongest El Niños on record eroded our Blob away. But alas, such relief was only temporary. After a calm, tranquil summer over the open waters of the Northeastern Pacific, the Blob is back. And it is back with a vengeance. The last winter the Blob was in full force, the Pacific Northwest saw record-low snowpack and record-warm temperatures. Should we expect more of the same this winter, or will this finally be the winter we end our mini snow-drought here in the Leschi neighborhood? As long-term residents of Seattle know, meteorologists here have trouble forecasting snow one day in advance, let alone three months. And while ocean temperatures can give us clues as to what type of weather we can expect over the next couple months, the Blob has been studied far less than other phenomena such as the periodic warming and cooling of the Tropical Pacific, respectively known as El Niño and La Niña. The Blob helped warm us up throughout the past several years because air streaming off the Pacific into our region was warmed by its above-average sea-surface-temperatures. As 2014 progressed into 2015, the Blob migrated east toward the coast of North America, warming the Pacific Northwest more directly and setting all-time monthly temperature records for October and December 2014 and February, March, June, and July 2015. However, when the Blob first formed and the warmest sea-surface temperatures were further offshore, most areas in the Pacific Northwest did not register significantly above-normal temperatures. Right now, the center of the Blob is far offshore, and the water near the coast is actually cooler than normal due to windier-than-normal conditions and upwelling, the process by which cool, acidic, nutrient-rich water rises up from the depths to the surface. How this winter turns out will likely depend on if the Blob decides to scooch eastward, closer to the Washington Coast, or whether it stays far out at sea. If it comes closer, expect a warm winter, with negative effects on marine life along the West Coast. If it stays further out at sea, both meteorological and biological effects in the Pacific Northwest should be much less pronounced. Enjoy the few remaining pleasant days of autumn. By the time next month’s Leschi News comes out, we’ll be in the thick of storm season, with more rain and wind than you can shake a stick at. ~Charlie Phillips Charlie Phillips, a Madrona resident, received his B.S. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington and works in Portland as a meteorologist forecasting wind energy along the Columbia River Gorge. Check out his weather website at weathertogether.us .

We used to help our neighbors raise a new barn, but the world is different now. We now have the world inside our homes through all our electronic devices and we tend to stay inside and not mix with the neighbors. When is the last time you baked a loaf of banana bread for new neighbors moving in? How do we get to know our neighbors with their fences and their security systems? A big reason why Leschi CC puts on community events and holds monthly meetings to educate and inform is to build community. We had 40 neighbors “find” their homes on our neighborhood map at the 5th annual ArtWalk. We put out the word that we needed volunteers and they came in the persons of 3 energetic and efficient 12 year olds: Keegan Atchison, Rashid Haroun, and Hudson Lennard; all of them earned a full day of community service hours. They stayed to the end and even helped to stuff the canopies into our van. We reached out to Five, one of our 2015 musicians, to quickly sub when the first band on our slate, cancelled at 4pm the day before the event. We were able to add some last minute local folks to the booths: authors and a musician who wants to interest more children in music. The Sno-cones and our raffle of goodies from participating businesses netted over $400 toward the next ArtWalk. It is always interesting to me that folks are interested in history; we probably didn’t project that image when we were in school, but the history of the place where we live seems more relevant, more alive. Many visitors to the Leschi CC table were curious about Chief Leschi and the history of Leschi Park with its dance pavilion and zoo. Even though we all come from elsewhere and from different backgrounds, sharing a common community history is a unifying factor. One of the homeless persons visiting our booth told me about the zoo that used to be in the park; I told him I had some photos of the bears that used to live there. A now defunct zoo brought us into discussion despite our very different backgrounds. Our monthly work parties are also a place to meet one’s neighbors and one’s Board. Yes, we could be home weeding our own garden, but meeting interesting newcomers like Ken Kamm at a recent stairway cleaning and the student volunteers at the ArtWalk and the high school student at the Pearl clean-up broadens our community experience. The Seattle Night Out gatherings are community building experiences. Ruby Holland and Patricia Valentine shared their neighborhood welcoming street potluck event with us last month. Once we get to know our neighbors, we learn to appreciate that one person’s seemingly quirky habit might be an important part of their culture. Amy Fink’s creative idea to host a Frisbee competition with our neighbors in Madrona is not only community building for a common cause, but more fun than a work party! I met with Iora Primary Care’s Community Engagement Leader, Brian Aylward, and was able to make arrangements for Board meeting space on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. Our Board meetings are open to the public, but finding an accessible spot with parking has been challenging. This is a great solution and we happily discovered that Iora is also concerned about community issues such as the impending lack of a grocery store in the area. Good health depends on fresh food availability. I treasure a poster of mine: How to Build Community… suggestions like “make extra and share”, “turn off the TV and go out”, and and start a dialogue: “Know that no one is silent but many are not heard: work to change this!” ~Diane Snell

Happy October Everyone! September has been a very busy month. The 5th Annual Art Walk was very successful. We had the largest attendance yet. I would like to put a huge shout out to all the hard work that these members of the Leschi Business Association did for the Annual Art Walk: Ann Conroy (Small World Productions), Cara Ross (Blue Heron Healing Arts), Diane Snell (Leschi Community Council), Andrea Gleason (Edward Jones), Dr. Michael Bilikas (32 Pearls), Chris Gribskov (Park Postal), Stephanie Smiley (Starbucks), Diane Morris (Leschi Community Council), David Yussen (Heavy Restaurant Group (Meet The Moon)) and Bart Evans (Blue Water Bistro). We had a work party at one of the String of Pearls, the Judkins St. street end. It was very successful. A big shout out to all who came and volunteered their time. Amy Fink, one of the Executive Board Members, is working to put together the Leschi vs. Madrona pay-to-play Ultimate Frisbee benefit game & potluck. All the proceeds from this benefit will go toward the Leschi Business Association & Leschi Market’s Annual Holiday Ham Drive. The Leschi Business Association works with Leschi Market every year to get a great deal on hams that customers can purchase for the Rainier Valley food bank at Leschi Market’s cash registers. Here are the current details of the event: it’s planned for October 15 in the grassy area of Leschi Park just east of the tennis courts. Look for all the details in Amy’s article in this issue. Now that it is October, that means Halloween is right around the corner. The Leschi Business Association will once again be putting on their Annual Halloween Spooktacular. Look for the huge tent in Leschi Park on October 31, 4-6pm. There will be a map detailing all the participating businesses. And we do need help with the tent! See below. I have been working with Kirsten Hopperstad, our newsletter layout artist, on the revamp of the website. We should have the website up and running before the end of October. The Leschi Community Council needs volunteers for the following upcoming dates. All volunteer hours count toward any community service for students so please spread the word: October 22: 10am to 12pm — Back to Judkins Street end where it meets Lake Washington Blvd. Bring pruning tools. October 31: Halloween Spooktacular in Leschi Park. We need many folks at 3pm to help raise tent and back at 6pm to take it down. The more we have, the quicker the tent goes up! Enjoy some cider and donuts for your efforts. ~Yousef Shulman

Leschi Community Council has invited pro and con speakers to our October 5 meeting to debate the complex issues in the Sound Transit Proposition. Q&A will follow the presentations. This is your opportunity to learn more about this issue and how your tax dollars will be spent. Following this discussion, we will vote on bylaw proposals. October 5, 7pm at the Central Area Senior Center, 500 30th Ave. S.

Parks moorage representative, Paul Wilkinson, reports that they are still in positive negotiations with Foss. There will be both a legal and legislative review of the agreement before it goes to the City Council. Stay tuned!

In September, we moved from stairway cleaning to sprucing up one of the Pearls, our street end parks along the lake. We worked on the Judkins street end, which didn’t look like a park that fronted on the lake when we first got there. Overgrown shrubbery obscured the sightline. Our crew leader, Joyce Moty, recommended cutting the snowberry and Nootka rose to the ground as they spring back quickly. (Joyce Moty delights in the huge brush pile created by our hard-working crew! Photo courtesy Jeff Floor) Bindweed was also a problem at this site, weaving its tendrils around the stalks of other plants. The crew of Yousef Shulman, Elizabeth Sanders and her son Aden, Janet Oliver, Diane Morris, Jeff Floor, Jim Snell, Amy Fink and Diane Snell were able to open up the view and create a small mountain of brush for SDOT to pick up. SDOT is responsible for these parks as they are the dead ends of neighborhood streets. Joyce shared some homemade grape juice with us on a quick break; the grapes are local…an abundant crop from Georgetown. The threatening rain held off for the 2 hours we were there and although we had accomplished much, Joyce felt we could visit this spot again next month. The next work party will be on October 22, one week later than usual due to the scheduled Ultimate Frisbee competition in Leschi Park. ~Diane Snell

June 8, 2016—Attending: Yousef Shulman, Yuki Igarashi, Amy Fink, John Barber, Tracy Bier and Diane Snell. Minutes are approved by email. Treasurer’s report: Amy had just obtained access to the online version of the bank account and will distribute the monthly report by email. She had recommendations going forward: electronic banking and an annual audit of our books. No vote was taken on an audit at this meeting. Annual insurance bill: Yousef suggested paying the bill by credit card, as the due date is the 12th. Flo Ware recap: (Diane) Very successful event as it was Children’s Choir Day at Tabernacle Missionary Church and these children joined the LCC group. The Balloon man and wife team made various balloon shapes from Cinderella to a gray whale…anything the children requested! Hot Dogs were contributed by Leschi Market, Pizza from Central Pizza and rolls, juices and condiments from Grocery Outlet. Organizer Katie Busby suggested that we coordinate the event date with the church next year to maximize attendance. Powell Barnett event in July (Diane) East Precinct picnic on the 16th. Wading pool will be open every weekend 11-7 from July 2 through August 21. The East Precinct will send a flyer, which we can distribute. Leschi CC will have a table; Board volunteers will be needed to staff the table. Hours: 1-4. ArtWalk: Kim Murillo and Diane to meet on budget. Parks: John Barber felt the big news was the wading pool. He does want to organize work parties for the String of Pearls. Yousef suggested that he talk to Stephanie, the Starbucks manager as the company likes to get the managers together for work parties in neighborhoods. Website: Yousef postponed discussion until July meeting. Diane concerned that it would be too late for the advertising plan for the fall to include the website ad offerings along with the renewal of Leschi News ads. Stairway: June 18 at 30th & Lane just north of Grace Methodist Church. 10am-12pm Public Safety: Tracy. Shootings in Jackson and 28th area are gang related with disputes between North end and South end gangs, none of whom live in the affected area. Diane reported that Rev. Manaway had said there were 25 bullet holes in the outside of the church building; church was in session while the violence was occurring. Tracy has reached out to residents in the area but they seem afraid to publicly meet. They plan a potluck on June 27. Tracy is out of town. Diane offered to contact a resident she knows to see how LCC can help. Board photos on website: A group photo was suggested and accepted. Board contact information: Diane asked each member to review and add/correct pertinent info for internal use only, not for publication. Community Concerns: follow-up on sandwich board signs from Avana. Suggested a letter from Board requesting their cooperation as good neighbors. Agreed. Food desert concern when Red Apple goes and no new store will appear for 2 years; many customers are elderly and disabled and walk to the store almost daily. Diane and new member, Trevor Menagh, met with Pearl Leung of Vulcan to discuss possibilities. Pearl now researching Stockbox options. Future grocery store has not yet been chosen. Yousef: New goals for Board: Keep the stairway project. Delete the Living Wall for Lake Dell, as construction has not left enough room to plant anything. John Barber suggested keeping the goal of improving relations with Parks department as new parks personnel always creates the need to establish good working relationships. Yousef suggested deleting the goal on keeping Metro bus #27 as there have been no recent threats and there is always the option to create an ad hoc committee if the need arises. He also wants to increase membership in LCC. Diane suggested mailing to whole neighborhood occasionally (as Madrona does every month). Yuki suggested sending a trial subscription to new residents to acquaint them with the community. Yousef immediately appointed her Marketing Chair! Keep the goal of publicizing events on Next Door; Yousef will take over the posting. Yousef also wants to send email blasts closer to events as folks tend to forget. ~Minutes respectfully submitted by Diane Snell

My husband came back from one of his neighborhood & beyond walks one afternoon saying “We have to eat breakfast at this place” and proceeded to tell me about all the varieties of crumpets available. I had once purchased a package of crumpets at the grocery store (after reading an English novel) and frankly, I was underwhelmed. I felt I would rather have a homemade scone from an old Surrogate Hostess recipe. But of course, I accepted the invitation rather than slave over a hot toaster in the morning. Parking is hard to find; we were two blocks north on 22nd and with my bad knee, it was a slow hobble to the front door of the Bee. The Queen Bee is attached to Aegis, the assisted living facility at the corner of Madison and 23rd. The cane and the hobble identified us as possible residents of Aegis and we were greeted on both the to and fro trips with cheery greetings, asking how we were doing and other pleasantries. Even runners took time to welcome us! Sure beat our neighborhood for a welcoming atmosphere! I was surprised to see the clientele at 8am; it was not the infirm from Aegis, but tables filled with the young and fit chomping into crumpets. I ordered a crumpet with pesto and smoked salmon and hubby ordered a crumpwich of ham, scrambled egg and cheese. Coffee is Stumptown and of course, there is tea for the true Anglophile. My crumpet was slathered with pesto-flavored cream cheese and topped with smoked salmon, arugula and a generous serving of capers. I am a caper devotee, so this won my heart. I have been known to run out of milk, but not capers. It was very tasty, but of course, the cream cheese and salmon overwhelmed the crumpet, which is basically a delivery vehicle for the various toppings. The crumpet could use a serrated knife to cleanly cut through it; the dining knife was not a match without a struggle. My husband felt that a good review should cover all options, as he eagerly eyed the case of sweets. So, we took home a lemon bar, which was split later with leftover coffee. It was very good; the crust was unusually thin and the filling was thick ….not sure how they managed that without a disaster in the eating process, but it worked! The Queen Bee 2200 E Madison St. Ste B, 98112, 206-757-6314 Mon-Fri 7am-4pm, Sat-Sun 7am-5pm ~Diane Snell

Best-sellers and “most popular” are touted and praised with regularity. Featured here ten of the smaller production, under the radar pinks that you may still enjoy long into these warm September nights. 2015 Domaine de la Réaltière Pastel Rosé Coteaux d’Aix-en-Provence ($15.99) A Provençal Rosé made from 45% Cinsault, 45% Grenache and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fresh minerality and notes of citrus fruits and red fruits which are delicious in the mouth with a satisfying finish.” We banish herbicide, pesticide and synthetic chemical fertilizers. The harsh climate of this region induces a slow and complete ripening of the grapes. Stainless steel tanks.” –Winery notes. 2015 Lobo Hills Cabernet Franc Rosé Yakima Valley ($14.99) “The Cabernet Franc Rosé is a rich and complex rose, aged on the lees. It opens with aromas of cherries, pepper, strawberries and anise. The palate blends food-friendly acid with gentle notes of cranberries, rose and cherries. As with our Sauvignon Blanc, this wine was aged on the lees for months, stirred twice monthly, prior to bottling. 396 cases available.” –Winemaker notes. 2015 Commanderie de la Bargemone Rosé Provence ($13.99) “For many wine drinkers, Provence is the only rosé address that matters, and the Commanderie is one of the region’s most notable domains. Founded by the Knights Templar in the 13th century, it’s one of the oldest, too. The estate’s pale salmon-pink wine, a traditional blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cabernet and Cinsault, is bone-dry and delicate.” -The Wall Street Journal. 2015 Domaine la Blaque Coteaux de Pierrevert Rosé Provence ($11.99) High-pitched, mineral-tinged strawberry, tangerine and floral scents show very good clarity and a spicy touch of white pepper. Dry, nervy and precise, displaying real tension to the bitter berry skin and orange zest flavors. Utterly fat-free, finishing stony and tight, with a suave echo of honeysuckle lingering. 35% Grenache, 35% Cinsault, 20% Vermentino and 10% Syrah. 2015 Domaine de Montfaucon Les Gardettes Rosé Languedoc ($11.19) Dry, crisp and vibrant with a hint of peach, raspberry and violet. Full-flavor and full of panache! One of the most anticipated Rhône offerings! A blend of Cinsault, Counoise and Grenache. One of the best sellers from the Lakewood-Seward Park wine tasting, amongst 70 wines. 2015 Domaine Sorin Terra Amata Rosé Côtes de Provence ($11.19) “Brilliant pink robe with aromas of white peaches and citrus fruit on the nose, hints of minerals and spice. Attacking freshness with hints of raspberry and red current on the palate. The blend is 40% Grenache, 15% Cinsault, 10% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 10% Carignan, 5% Rolle and 5% Orgi.” -Winery notes. 2015 Ozilhan Réservé Rosé Côtes du Rhône ($10.29) “Bright pale pink. Intense floral fragrances blending with small red fruit. On the palate tart raspberries and currants with excellent minerality and acidity. A blend of 40% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 20% Cinsault.” -Winemaker notes. 2015 Vini Veni Vidi Vici Rosé Thracian Valley Bulgaria ($7.99) This Rosé has ripe fruit character. The palate, typical for rosé has full frontal fruit with good length and complexity. The vineyards are located in the Sliven region on rich black earth and woodland soils. A blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Syrah. 2015 Mont Gravet Rosé Languedoc ($7.99) An attractive pale-salmon color, this 100% Cinsault rosé opens with soft scents of strawberry, pear, melon rind and earthy spice. The palate is lush, with fleshy fruit flavors that are balanced by ample acidity and a soft tannic astringency on the close. 2015 Alloy Wine Works Grenache Rosé “Tin City” Central Coast California ($7.49) Don’t judge a wine by its bottle...er, can. The 2015 Alloy Grenache Rosé boasts flavors of strawberry, grapefruit, mint, Sour Patch Kids and rose petal. This robust wine has a peppery kick and a heavier body, making it great for picnics, as well as evening drinking. At $7.49 for 500 ml (about 2/3 of a regular wine bottle), it’s quite the bargain for a Rosé that’s pretty, pink--and portable. CHEERS! ENJOY! Kenneth Benner, a Seattle area native, is a trained chef and has worked in such restaurants as Barbacoa, B.O.K.A. Kitchen + Bar, and Dahlia Lounge. Ken is the wine buyer at Leschi Market. He has a passion for learning, a meticulous palate, and a tenacity for searching out the best for his customers while offering some of the most highly coveted wines in the area. His wine column is intended to inspire and explore new choices in wine, learn about wine with his readers, and share his knowledge and experiences in the wine world. Check out the latest at www.LeschiMarket.com or request to be added to email updates or send questions, comments, or suggestions to ken@leschimarket.com and follow the wine department directly on twitter at twitter.com/leschimarket .

All of a sudden, we have African American art everywhere in Seattle. And it isn’t even Black History Month! Some of these museums may be responding to the political critique of exclusion at white museums by the Black Lives Matter movement. “Posing Beauty,” at the Northwest African American Museum (ends September 4) features photographs of stunning men and women in high fashion clothes, but only some of it is actually “fashion show” art. The two parts of the exhibition are labeled “Posing – Where Does Beauty Reside? Face, Figure, Hair, Dress, Bearing Character. How Do You Want to be Seen?” and “Beauty: Distinguished, Thoughtful, Stylish, Outrageous, Celebrity, Proud.” Black people dress and perform in white society with great care in order to avoid harassment, but even then, they are often stopped for no reason. In this exhibition, we see many elites, and some ordinary people, presenting themselves with dignity and pride. Most pointed to the issue of how African Americans present themselves is Carrie Mae Weems’ take on Snow White. Wearing an attractive dress, she looks in a mirror and says, “I looked and looked to see what terrified you.” Tariqa Waters answers that question defiantly in her one-person show “100% Kanekalon: The Untold Story of the Marginalized Matriarch” in the same museum until October 16. Jumbo packs of day glow colored Kanekalon hair extensions fill one wall. Elegant church hats (borrowed from her grandmother) appear nearby and the mundane reality of a messy kitchen table appears at the entrance. Tariqa Waters herself is a dramatic performing black person. She usually steals the show in any forum she attends because her dazzle overwhelms anxiety in white people as she offers satirical comments on contemporary racism. Kara Walker offers a blunt answer to Weems’ question at the Bellevue Art Museum’s “Emancipating the Past: Kara Walker’s Tales of Slaves and Power” (until November 27). The renowned and controversial Walker works in black cutouts of crude Victorian era stereotypes of blacks. She confronts us with the sexual coercion that was part of the nightmare of slavery, an aspect that is rarely discussed, but obvious in the many skin colors of African Americans. Walker has been heavily criticized by some contemporary black artists as catering to white prejudices and not participating in the ongoing necessity to present blacks as dignified human beings. Emancipating the past more subtly are two exhibitions at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (until October 2). In the window facing the street, you see Marita Dingus’s huge “Hanging from the Rafters Big Girl” made from recycled hot tub covers and other humble found materials. Once inside (admission is free), find “Heaven on Fire” a thirty-year retrospective of the work of Barbara Earl Thomas, which begins with “The Illuminated Story” a dazzling installation of patterned cut paper walls and light boxes. Embedded in this seductive setting, three wall texts “A Catechism”, “White Noise”, “If They Were All Like You, I’d Like Them,” sting with narratives about the artist’s racist experiences. (Barbara Earl Thomas, Bloodletting I , 2016 paper cut installation, 60”h x 5.5”d x 86”w, Courtesy of the Artist) The exhibition includes a selection of her paintings from the 1980s and 1990s, lino cuts from the early 2000s and her new work in glass and cut paper. As she experiments with new materials, Thomas becomes more lush with line, more exuberant in spirit, and more intense in the subject matter. The large white paper cutouts of 2016 called “Blood Letting I” and “Blood Taking” have red cutout paper to mark blood gushing out. These cut outs clearly reference the recently documented shootings of black youth by the police. Ending too soon, on September 4, Inye Wokoma’s installations at the Frye Art Museum, “This is Who We Are ” begins with large photographs of members of his family juxtaposed to provocative poetic verses renaming themselves as a way to transcend one aspect of colonization. In the main gallery, two facing video installations layer Native American and African American displacements. Haunting and immediate, mythical and personal, Inye’s installations engage us with nostalgia, history, myth, spirituality and politics. His family roots are in both the Niger delta and the American South, but most present on his mind is the rapid displacement of the black community from the Central District by out-of-control gentrification. (Senga Nengudi, R.S.V.P. Performance Piece , with Maren Hassinger, Pearl C. Wood Gallery, Los Angeles, 1977,photo by Harmon Outlaw, printed 2014) Overlapping in provocative ways with Inye’s exploration of identity, ritual and geography is Senga Nengudi’s pioneering performance art on view at the Henry Art Gallery until October 9. The exhibition includes a selection of artifacts from her performances as well as trance-inducing videos filmed in a thread factory in 2007. Nengudi first emerged in the 1970s, working in collaboration with artists such as David Hammons and Houston Conwell, as well as her long-time partner Maren Hassinger. She stretches humble found materials, particularly panty hose (referred to as nylon mesh) into provocative elongated shapes weighted down with dirt. Used frequently in R.S.V.P a dance/ performance piece that has taken many iterations over the years, Nengudi and her collaborators explore movement, ritual and magic. On Saturday October 1 at 1:30 in the Henry Art Gallery, there will be a performance of R.S.V.P. by local avant-garde dancers Haruko Crow Nishimura and Jo Blake accompanied by cellist Lori Goldston. Ranging from nationally known artists like Senga Nengudi and Kara Walker to our brilliant local artists Inye Wokoma, Barbara Thomas, Marita Dingus and Tariqa Waters, these exhibitions expand our understanding of the contemporary world by means of African American histories, myths, and geographies presented with subtlety and intelligence as well as defiance and resistance. By Susan Noyes Platt, www.artandpoliticsnow.com