By King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay
On June 7, 2020, I recorded a video on my phone that shook me to my core. I was standing in Othello Park in South Seattle, holding my phone up, filming 10,000 people with their fists in the air, shouting together, “Black Lives Matter!”
The energy was unbelievable. I grew up in the South End and had been to Othello Park a thousand times. But today was unlike any other day. We were living through history. We were experiencing a modern Civil Rights Movement in King County.
Despite our County being named after him, our region has consistently fallen short of Dr. King’s ideals. Black people are incarcerated more than anyone, have among the highest rates of homelessness, and have an average household wealth that is ever marching toward zero. The energy I felt on June 7 in Othello Park, however, made me a believer. The work of organizers, marchers, and activists throughout the summer of 2020, and long before that, made me believe we could achieve true transformational changes for Black people.
I believed change was possible because I saw signs of it first hand as a policymaker. Legislation and budget priorities that had never been possible prior to 2020, suddenly became possible. By collaborating with community and harnessing the grassroots energy of the Black Lives Matter movement, my office was able to achieve substantial policy victories for our African American communities in my first 12 months as a King County Councilmember.
No example is greater than our work in Skyway, the neighborhood with the most African Americans in the entire state of Washington. For several decades, this community has been among the most systematically neglected areas in King County. Yes, the neighborhood with the most Black people has also been one of the most deprived by every level of government. That is the definition of systemic racism. In 2020, however, we were able to begin changing the usual course. My office, working with the community and our King County colleagues, was able to invest tens of millions of dollars into Skyway. We launched a community center, budgeted millions for affordable housing for the first time ever, and dramatically expanded public transportation options. We also advanced the Skyway subarea plan to promote services in this neighborhood while protecting Black residents from gentrification.
My office was also able to join the movement for Black ownership. We identified underutilized public land in King County and transferred that land to Black-led organizations. We worked with these organizations to design and propose a Youth Achievement Center, a housing and resource center for underserved and unhoused Black youth in South Seattle.
In direct response to the Black Lives Matter protests, my office put Charter Amendment Number 6 on the November 2020 ballot for public vote. This amendment, which the public went on to approve, will allow King County to fundamentally reshape our vision for policing. We will now be able to invest in public health and community-owned alternatives to traditional policing and protect our Black residents from police violence. This is truly a transformational change for our region and would not have been possible without the movements we saw in 2020.
We also passed laws requiring that youth receive a public defender when being asked to waive their Miranda Rights by police; started a guaranteed basic income program with Black-led organizations; and worked with Black businesses to buy commercial properties. We even worked with a coalition of Black leaders to meet with our Governor to advocate for a state-wide equity framework that makes bold investments in Black communities across Washington. These are just a few examples of what I view as the beginning of a paradigm shift.
For all of struggles we endured in 2020, our nation also experienced an awakening. Our collective awareness about race and racism entered a new phase and so did the opportunities for transformational policies. Our society is nowhere near where it needs to be to eliminate systemic harm and ensure thriving and healthy Black communities, but I believe in our trajectory. On this holiday celebrating Dr. King, I choose now and always, to believe that the arc of the moral universe bends toward justice.
