Seattle

Subterms

    More stories

    • 175 Shares129 Views

      in US Politics

      ‘We’re redefining what leadership looks like’: Asian Americans show rapid rise in US politics

      by

      US politics‘We’re redefining what leadership looks like’: Asian Americans show rapid rise in US politicsWins this week mark significant step for community that’s been under-represented and borne the brunt of pandemic-driven racism Maya YangTue 9 Nov 2021 05.00 ESTLast modified on Tue 9 Nov 2021 05.02 ESTAfter a series of historic wins across the US last week, Asian Americans will now serve as mayors and city council members in large cities including Boston, Seattle, Cincinnati and New York, signalling the rapid rise in Asian American political power.The victories mark a significant step forward for a diverse community that has seen historically low representation in political offices and in the last two years has borne the brunt of a rising tide of pandemic-driven anti-Asian sentiments.On Tuesday night, voters chose Boston city councilor Michelle Wu to serve in the city’s top political office. The 36-year-old Taiwanese American who was Boston’s first Asian American city councilor will serve as the city’s first mayor of color.“Growing up, I never ever thought that I would or could or should be involved in politics. I didn’t see anyone who looked like me in spaces of power. We are redefining what leadership looks like,” Wu told reporters.In Cincinnati, Aftab Pureval made history by defeating former Democratic Congressman David Mann, making the 39-year-old the first Asian American to hold the city’s mayoral post.The son of a Tibetan mother and Indian father, Pureval addressed a crowd saying: “Cincinnati is a place where no matter what you look like, where you’re from, or how much money you have, if you come here and work hard you can achieve your dreams.”Meanwhile in Seattle, Bruce Harrell, 69, who is of mixed heritage, is projected to become the city’s first Asian American mayor and second Black mayor. In New York City, five Asian Americans were elected to the city council, the most the council has ever had. The record-breaking group includes the first Korean Americans, first South Asian Americans and first Muslim woman to be elected to the council.Traditionally, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) mayors have been elected in places with significant Asian demographics, such as California and Hawaii. However, the recent rise in anti-Asian racism seems to have prompted a significant portion of Asian Americans to become more involved in politics. More than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents have been reported in the US since the pandemic began.“What’s different about mayoral elections is that this is a citywide office. To win at that level requires forming a broad coalition of support that’s certainly going to cross racial boundaries,” said Sara Sadhwani, an assistant professor of politics at Pomona College specializing in American and ethnic politics.Sadwhani cited the spike in anti-AAPI hate as a key factor for increased political participation, saying, “The discrimination that AAPIs faced throughout the last two years during the pandemic has galvanized them politically and we’re seeing that in terms of the people who are choosing to run for office, as well as voters on the ground. When Asian Americans feel socially excluded or discriminated against, it typically does lead to greater political activism.”The AAPI population is ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse, but is under-represented in elected offices. AAPIs make up 6.1% of the national population. Yet, they consist of just 0.9% of elected leaders in the country, according to the Reflective Democracy Campaign.As one of the fastest growing demographics in the country, AAPIs also suffer from severe invisibility in the criminal justice sector. Southeast Asian Americans are at least three times more likely to be deported due to past criminal convictions than other immigrants.Of the 2,539 prosecutors that were elected across the country in 2020, only six were of AAPI heritage, or 0.24%. AAPIs also make up only 0.07% of county sheriffs.In March, after a 21-year old white man killed six Asian women and two others in the Atlanta area, many Asian American communities sought greater political recognition while vowing to stand against hate.Raymond Partolan, the national field director of APIAVote, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting civic engagement across AAPI communities, spoke of the intensity he witnessed at rallies after the deadly shooting.“I’ve been working in the community organizing space for around the last ten years or so and I’ve never seen so much interest among AAPIs to involve themselves in the decision-making processes that happen at every level of government, and it’s truly inspiring,” said Partolan.The AAPI Victory Fund, a Super Pac that mobilizes AAPI voters and candidates, endorsed Wu and Pureval. Varun Nikore, the organization’s president, attributes their victories to a ripple effect that emerged through local community building efforts.“Getting to know your communities at that micro-local level ensures more long-term successes because you are forced to discuss kitchen table issues. This provides a roadmap for our community going forward,” Nikore said.Yet despite the celebratory attitudes towards the historic wins, some remain apprehensive towards their potential “tokenization”, fearing that traditional stereotypes may pigeonhole the incoming leaders.“I think by having the focus of [Wu] being hailed as the first female mayor of Boston, she’s being held to a greater standard than any other white man. People would be looking for her to fail rather than trying to see where she can succeed,” said Yasmin Padamsee Forbes, executive director of the Commonwealth of Massachussett’s Asian American Commission.As a result, Forbes urges people to look at what leaders like Wu and Pureval can bring to their cities and evaluate them according to how much they achieve, along with their platforms.“Whenever we have elected officials that share our racial background, it’s important for us to hold them accountable,” said Partolan, who echoed Forbes’ sentiments. “People don’t get a free pass in public office just because they share our racial background. We have to ensure that we elect people that share our values and that once they are in public office, we encourage them to move policies that are beneficial for everyone.”Nevertheless, this week’s victories still prove to be a major step forward in inclusive representation across the country.“We need thousands of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to run for local office so that we have the future pipeline for a statewide office and then federal office in this country,” said Nikore.TopicsUS politicsRaceBostonSeattleNew YorknewsReuse this content More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in US Politics

      Recall fever: Seattle socialist is one of hundreds targeted amid Covid rows

      by

      SeattleRecall fever: Seattle socialist is one of hundreds targeted amid Covid rowsGavin Newsom’s survival as California’s governor was just one of hundreds of recall attempts on the west coast this year Hallie Golden in SeattleThu 7 Oct 2021 07.00 EDTLast modified on Thu 7 Oct 2021 11.38 EDTRecall attempts across the US in recent months have hit a fever pitch in response to Covid-19 and racial justice disputes, and a socialist city council member in Seattle has become the latest prominent seat to be targeted.Occupy Wall Street swept the world and achieved a lot, even if it may not feel like it | Akin OllaRead moreOpponents of Kshama Sawant have spent months collecting thousands of signatures in an attempt to unseat the council member, who became the first socialist on the Seattle council in nearly a century after she beat a Democrat in 2013. Last week, the recall effort officially qualified for an election in December.The attempt to oust Sawant during her third term was based on claims that she opened city hall to demonstrators during a protest, disregarding Covid-19 restrictions, used city resources for a “Tax Amazon” effort and led a march to Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan’s home despite the address being protected under state confidentiality laws.Across the US, there have been at least 500 recall attempts this year, with the majority in the west, according to Joshua Spivak, a senior fellow at the Hugh L Carey Institute at Wagner College, and the author of Recall Elections: From Alexander Hamilton to Gavin Newsom. Although many have not qualified for the ballot, he said the number of attempts is already one of the highest in more than a decade.“It appears that the restrictions around the pandemic have fueled a boost in recall attempts,” he said. “To a significantly lower degree issues surrounding the Black Lives Matter protests and other social justice related matters, such as the teaching of critical race theory, have led to recalls that we normally don’t see – more of a national level issue as opposed to a strictly local level policy debate.”Just last month, California governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, defeated a recall bid that was spurred in part by safety measures in response to Covid, to remain in office. In Washington state, Durkan also faced a recall effort, after she was accused of mishandling protests, but last fall the state supreme court nixed the effort.Spivak said: “They see the Gavin Newsom recall, and they also maybe remember the Scott Walker recall, and feel this is a good weapon. Part of the problem, of course, is that the Scott Walker and Gavin Newsom recall … neither of them worked in the end. And arguably both of the governors were strengthened by the recall effort.”According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 19 states and Washington DC allow the recall of state officials, while at least 30 states allow the practice in local jurisdictions.The push to oust Sawant was launched last summer by a Seattle resident, less than a year after she beat out an opponent with unprecedented financial support from Amazon, which is headquartered in Seattle.In April, Washington’s supreme court allowed the effort to move forward, stating that three of the recall petition’s charges against Sawant “are factually and legally sufficient to support recall”.King county elections announced it had accepted more than 11,000 signatures collected through the recall process, and it would be on the ballot during an election on 7 December. The effort needed about 10,700 signatures to move forward.Sawant’s supporters have framed this as her latest fight against big business, the right wing and the political establishment as a whole. They have also argued that the timing of the election is akin to voter suppression, saying her opponents coordinated their effort so it would be during an election that they anticipate will have a lower turnout rate.In response to the charges, Bryan Koulouris, the Kshama Solidarity Campaign spokesperson, said that the crowd was masked in the after-hours visit to city hall, Sawant didn’t lead the protest to the mayor’s house and doesn’t know her address. He also said that the “Tax Amazon” claim is misleading and that Sawant “was doing exactly what she was elected to do, which was use her council office to build the type of movements that are necessary for working people”.Sawant told the Guardian she is not surprised her seat on the city council is being threatened.“I think the fact that it is happening now obviously has a lot to do with our Marxist approach and the way we have used our position so effectively, absolutely refusing to be marginalized and at the same time absolutely refusing to sell out … In that context we should expect attacks like this,” she said.Henry Bridger II, campaign manager and chairman of Recall Sawant, said that he is not a billionaire and is in fact a Democrat. He also said the timing of the election came down to how long it took to collect the signatures and validate them.Bridger said he was happy to see that the recall was moving forward, as it already shows just how many people in her district are not supportive of the council member.“She thinks she’s above the law, and she is not,” he said. “This is something that we’re really excited that the citizens – she gets to face her constituents now. And they get to decide if she broke the law or not. And with all of these signatures, it shows that there’s a huge support to remove her from office and hold her accountable.”The Seattle Times reported this may be the first time a push to recall a member of the city council has reached voters.The recall proponents have raised over $637,000, while the Kshama Solidarity Campaign has raised over $687,000, according to the Seattle ethics and elections commission.The yes or no recall question is expected to be the only one on the ballot in December, according to King county elections. If Sawant is ousted, voters will not choose a replacement candidate, the seat will instead be filled through an appointment process.During Sawant’s time in office she has helped lead the push to boost Seattle’s minimum wage to $15 an hour – a first for a major US city – and helped to secure more rights for renters. TopicsSeattleUS politicsCoronavirusnewsReuse this content More

    • 200 Shares159 Views

      in US Politics

      Colleen Echohawk aims to be Seattle's first indigenous mayor: ‘We have to find ways to change’

      by

      Colleen Echohawk, a Native American woman and key advocate in Seattle’s homelessness crisis, is running for mayor of the Pacific north-west city and laying the groundwork for it to potentially elect its first indigenous mayor.Echohawk, an enrolled member of the Kithehaki Band of the Pawnee Nation and a member of the Upper Athabascan people of Mentasta Lake, is a progressive Democrat, but one, she said, “with strong roots in pragmatism”.Her success in the race would be truly distinctive. It would mean the city that over 150 years ago approved an ordinance expelling the Native community, would be run by an Indigenous woman.As the founder of the Coalition to End Urban Indigenous Homelessness, she said she launched her campaign after recognizing over the summer that the city needed to do much more to help its homeless population amid the Covid-19 pandemic.“The status quo has been failing a lot of people in this city and we have to find ways to change, we need a fresh face up there in city hall and a prudent person who can make decisive visionary decisions because this is really a once in a generational chance,” said Echohawk, speaking to the Guardian from her campaign headquarters in the basement of her house.Echohawk is not Coast Salish, but she has lived in Seattle for 24 years. And before she announced her candidacy, she said she called the leaders of a few of the region’s tribes – Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Suquamish Tribe and Tulalip Tribes – to let them know she was considering a run.“This is their territory and I will continue to lift them up in every way that I possibly can,” said Echohawk, who since 2013 has been the executive director of the Chief Seattle Club, a non-profit aimed at supporting the city’s Native American and Alaska Native residents, through food, housing assistance and healthcare.Echohawk is one of only a few people who has announced her candidacy after Jenny Durkan, Seattle’s mayor, revealed she would not seek a second term. But others are expected to join the race before the May filing deadline.Addressing homelessness, which has been at crisis-levels in Seattle for years, will be a key focus for Echohawk. She said she will look to ramp up affordable housing and permanent supportive housing. But she also hopes to employ more innovative ideas, while bringing together people of color, some of whom have been pushed out of the city because of soaring prices, to help develop alternative affordable housing solutions.The city’s police system is another important issue for Echohawk. At a time of nationwide reckoning over police violence and as some in the local community are calling to defund the police department altogether, she said she was prepared to start reimagining law enforcement in Seattle.She explained she has seen some great officers in the city. But added: “I’ve also seen some who have been completely brutal to some of my relatives out there experiencing homelessness. That means we have to have accountability, true accountability.”A revamp would probably involve removing some funds from the agency, and establishing a public safety department filled with mental health workers and neighborhood liaisons who could address mental health and homelessness issues. It would also mean taking law enforcement out of homeless encampment outreach.“A person who’s experiencing homelessness already has so much trauma and pain going on and then all of a sudden they’re expected to interact and try to get services from a uniformed police officer? It’s just not effective,” she said.Echohawk would also like to create an elder leadership group that, if she’s elected, she would be able to meet with every couple of weeks in an effort to receive feedback on her ideas.“That’s the traditional value that I’ll bring that other mayors might not bring because I’ve been taught to value and listen to elders and to hear from their wisdom,” she said.Echohawk’s own ancestors have been on her mind a lot since making the decision to run. She’s descended from the Pawnee people, who saw their numbers violently and dramatically reduced in the face of white expansion in the 19th century.“They suffered and they worked so hard so that I could be doing this work that I am right now,” she said. “And I hope that they’re really proud of me. I feel that they’re proud of me. I feel them with me.”This article was amended on 3 February 2021 to clarify that Echohawk is executive director, not founder, of Chief Seattle Club. More

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in US Politics

      Trump signs memo to defund 'lawless' cities but experts raise legality doubts

      by

      Donald Trump signed a memo on Wednesday that threatened to cut funding to Democratic-led cities that the administration has characterized as “lawless” and “anarchist jurisdictions”, using his office to launch an extraordinary – if legally ineffective – attack on his political opponents ahead of the November election.“My administration will not allow federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones,” the memorandum reads. “It is imperative that the federal government review the use of federal funds by jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence, and destruction in America’s cities.”The document compels William Barr, the attorney general, to develop a list of jurisdictions that “permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract these criminal activities” within the next fortnight. It also instructs Russell Vought, the White House budget director, to issue guidance in the next month on how federal agencies can restrict or disfavor “anarchist jurisdictions” in providing federal grants.Today @POTUS made clear that we will not continue to funnel taxpayer money to lawless cities that fail to restore law and order in their communities. We will explore all options. https://t.co/BDScgIG2uK— Russ Vought (@RussVought45) September 3, 2020
      The president has often suggested that his political opponents, including Joe Biden, want to defund the police departments, despite the fact that most Democrats, including Biden, have said they do not endorse that approach to police reform. Pushing hardline “law and order” rhetoric, Trump has also pushed baseless conspiracy theories about leftwing violence amid protests against police brutality and systemic racism while refusing to condemn rightwing and white supremacist vigilantism.The memorandum that the White House shared on Wednesday night, which specifically names Portland, New York City, Seattle and Washington DC as examples of jurisdictions might lose federal funding, is unlikely to result in any of those cities losing significant funding, according to legal experts. Congress determines how funding is distributed, and agencies cannot “willy nilly restrict funding”, said Sam Berger, a former senior policy advisor at the Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration.The five-page memorandum “reads like a campaign press release”, Berger told the Guardian. “The first two pages are a bizarre diatribe – that’s not what a government document looks like.”Even if federal agencies are able to find justification to reduce funding to certain cities, perhaps via grants linked to law enforcement, any funding restrictions are unlikely to hold up to legal challenges, he added.“The president obviously has no power to pick and choose which cities to cut off from congressionally appropriated funding,” said Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law scholar at Harvard, and recently the co-author of To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment. Trump “has no defunding spigot. The power of the purse belongs to Congress, not the Executive. Donald Trump must have slept through high school civics,” Tribe said in an email.New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the memo was “an illegal stunt”, noting that Trump “is not a king. He cannot ‘defund’ NYC.”This latest move from the president follows through on his growing disdain for American cities run by Democrats. During his speech at the Republican National Convention last week, Trump railed against “rioters and criminals spreading mayhem in Democrat-run cities” and spoke of “left-wing anarchy and mayhem in Minneapolis, Chicago, and other cities”. More