Community
The core activists and organizers of Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County are a group of Black and other people of color focused on dismantling anti-black systems and policies of oppression. The strategy team meetings regularly around Seattle to direct these efforts. Please continue to support the local chapter by donating to the general fund, which funds initiatives, projects, and direct action campaigns.
Campaign Zero aims to reduce the number of people killed by police every year in America, to bring down the current rate of over 1000 per year to zero. Campaign Zero is calling on local, state, and federal lawmakers to take immediate action to adopt data-driven policy solutions to end the violence and to hold police accountable.
The City of Seattle is now offering free COVID-19 testing, for all ages, at two sites across Seattle through a partnership with King County and UW Medicine. Drive-through testing is available, but you must first register online. King County urges you to get tested for COVID-19 if you develop ANY symptoms. Taking proactive steps to protect your health, such as wearing a mask, avoiding physical contact, and regularly washing your hands, can cut down on your risks of contracting the virus, even in large gatherings. Register for a free test here:
The Southern Poverty Law Center is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality.
PFLAG Seattle is the local chapter of the nation’s foremost family-based organization committed to the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. In 1979 the organization was born in Seattle by mothers, fathers and siblings who stood up for the rights of their gay children. PFLAG Seattle provides services to families, schools, corporations, and the larger community in order to increase understanding and acceptance of LGBT people.
Live Free USA works to address gun violence and mass incarceration. They’ve also started a Masks for the People campaign to transform their national network of community organizers to distribute masks and sanitizer to essential workers in the most marginalized black communities across the country.
Color Of Change designs powerful campaigns working to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back. Access the tools and resources that you need to lead change campaigns in your community on the issues that matter most to you. Color of Change helps move corporate and governmental decision-makers to create a more human, less hostile world for Black people in America.
The Center for Policing Equity is a team of research scientists, race and equity experts, data virtuosos, and community trainers who all partner with police departments, to diagnose the roots of disparate policing in order to eliminate the problem.
The Low Income Housing Institute believes that housing is a human right. LIHI builds and manages homes for formerly homeless people across the Puget Sound. LIHI owns and operates the Urban Rest Stops, critical hygiene facilities for homeless individuals and families. LIHI also operates innovative Tiny House Village programs, providing warm, safe, secure shelter in tiny houses in community settings.
The Community Kitchen Collective shares no cost, donation based meals throughout the South End in Seattle. Local restaurants serve meals to the public in a different neighborhood every day. Any donations go to food banks and a hospitality fund for displaced restaurant workers. Feel free to share with your networks, as well as anyone who may be struggling and can use a free meal.
Short Run Comix and Arts is the Northwest's primary showcase and outlet for comic artists, creators of limited run books, and small press publishers. They are an essential element of Seattle's creative community, currently publishing daily comics from local artists about our collective CoronaVirus hell.
Seattle Relief Fund is aimed at helping those in the greater Seattle arts community who have been financially impacted by COVID-19. Priority may be given to artists from communities that have been historically and systemically economically disadvantaged in the Seattle area, but we will try to help as many artists as we can.
Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to all types of career musicians and music industry workers who are struggling to make ends meet, often while facing illness, disability, or age-related problems. They provide relief in the form of financial assistance to many musicians who would otherwise be in terrible predicaments.
Artist Trust has launched a Covid-19 Relief Fund and created a regularly updated list of response & recovery resources for artists in Washington State.
A reminder that although the Seattle Public Library buildings are closed at this time, patrons can still sign up for library cards online and utilize library services, including picking up reserved books, accessing various databases, links to social services, access to free films, and e-books. The library is also offering virtual programming for children and adults including online classes, tutorials, and book discussions.