Seattle, WA
Seattle’s Radical Women
Like most of the liberation movements of the period we call the Sixties, the women’s liberation movement seems a shadow of its former self. In a manner similar to those other movements, the politics of what’s known as second-stage feminism have shifted rightward. This is in part due to the non-stop attacks on women’s rights by the right-wing patriarchal forces in the United States—from the Catholic Church hierarchy to the Republican Party and its adherents. Equally important, though, is the fact that the liberal wing of mainstream US politics has yet to make many women’s rights legally protected in a way that prevents the reactionaries from curtailing those rights. Instead, issues crucial to women’s liberation like reproductive rights and pay equity tend to be reduced to Democratic talking points during elections. Other factors in this rightward shift go deeper. Perhaps foremost among these causes is the predominantly bourgeois nature of the women’s movement and its consequent focus on the individual instead of the group. This latter, more fundamental, cause can be traced back to the movement’s origins in the early 1960s. Those origins reflected the concerns of the US middle class: suburban ennui, sexual harassment at work and elsewhere, women’s restrictions in public and the workplace and sexual freedom. It’s not that these weren’t important issues, but they reflected the concerns of women who did not have to worry about a place to live or how they were going to feed their family. Furthermore, they did not address the gross racial discrimination that existed in the United States at the time.
Indeed, as Barbara Winslow makes clear in her new book Revolutionary Feminists:The Women’s Liberation Movement in Seattle, it wasn’t until women from the considerably more left and more radical antiwar/anti-imperialist and anti-racist movements began forming women’s liberation groups and caucuses that the more fundamental issues regarding women’s oppression began to inform the direction of the movement. As her title makes clear, Winslow’s narrative focuses on the movement in the Seattle, Washington area. It is a story of strong-willed individuals, socialist organizations and sects and a constant battle with sexism in mainstream society and on the Left. That battle was against individuals and institutions. Some of the most sexist individuals were not in the larger society, but within the Left and its associated movements. While Winslow makes certain to make this fact clear, she does so in a manner which approaches it in terms of the historical and political moment. Of course, those individuals whose chauvinism was, for the lack of a better term, over the top, are named as they should be.
Revolutionary Feminists details the three organizations most involved in the development of the Seattle women’s liberation movement. All three had connections via individual members and organizationally to larger socialist groups. Radical Women, which was linked to the Freedom Socialist Party Bolshevik; Campus Women’s Liberation, which was linked to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and Young Socialist Alliance (YSA); and Women’s Liberation-Seattle (WL-S), which had ties to many anti-imperialist, Maoist, and Stalinist Left. Winslow does an excellent job explaining the lineage of these organizations and the organizations from which they sprung. In doing so, she can’t help but discuss the sexist experience of women across the United States who were organizing against the war in Vietnam and for Black liberation. Those experiences revealed themselves in Seattle in often explicitly hostile terms. In fact, the sexism of the Seattle Liberation Front (SLF) leadership was so vicious, many women in the Seattle Left refused to support their defense after they were arrested during an action protesting the conviction of the Chicago 7 in February 1970.
Eleanor Marx and Edward Aveling wrote in and 1886 article for The Westminster Review titled “The Woman Question” that “Women are the creatures of an organized tyranny of men, as the workers are the creatures of an organised tyranny of men, as the workers are the creatures of an organized tyranny of idlers. Both the oppressed classes, women and the immediate producers, must understand that their emancipation will come from themselves. Women will find allies in the better sort of men, as the labourers are finding allies among the philosophers, artists, and poets. But the one has nothing to hope from man as a whole, and the other has nothing to hope from the middle class as a whole.” It seems fair to say that these sentences provided a basis (if not the basis) for the women of the US left determined to organize for their liberation. Given the heterosexism and male supremacy that dominated US culture (and most every other culture) in the 1960s and 1970s, the fact that leftist women ran into so much resistance from their male comrades should not be surprising. The fact that that resistance was echoed by women on the Left perhaps might be.
Winslow suggests that the peak of Seattle radical feminism ran from 1969 to about 1972. She divides her book into chapters highlighting the issues of the day—the war, healthcare, reproductive rights and the equal rights amendment, to name a few—and the role the radical feminists played in them. I would argue that the chapter that is the most important and would not have even have existed if it weren’t for the women’s liberation movement is reproductive rights. Not only is this chapter important for the history it provides regarding the fight to legalize abortion and other forms of contraception, it is important for the present, now that reproductive rights are once again under assault from a coalition of churches, reactionary politicians and certain sectors of capital. Revolutionary Feminists revisits the debates and describes the organizing, detailing the actions and the reaction to the movement and its arguments.
Winslow has produced a valiant testament to radical women, left-wing feminism and the city of Seattle. It is a history that both needed to be told. It is also one that reminds the reader how sexist US society truly was fifty years ago. In doing this, it also reminds us of how sexist it still is. Her role as an organizer and participant in the movement most certainly informed the history she provides. Together with the experience and wisdom accrued over time, the resulting text stands as a crucial addition to the already expansive library focused on that period we still call the Sixties.
I have always been in love with cities. I joke with friends that I have crushes on cities the way they have crushes on good-looking strangers. Sometimes—as with Paris and London—my unrequited crush meant finding an excuse to move there. With Seattle, however, that initial attraction grew into a long-term relationship.
Liz Dunn
Phot by TRAVIS GILLETT
I arrived here as a “tech baby,” coming from Canada to work at Microsoft as a college intern. For a long time, I felt as though I were living in a bubble—until I realized I could pivot my career and work in and on the city I’d come to call home. Through my company, Dunn & Hobbes, I’ve done just that, spending more than 25 years building and renovating spaces for retail, restaurants, and creative work. I love old buildings—but what I love more is what happens inside and around them. I love making space for creative people and then watching them fully inhabit those places and thrive. I also love how a collection of structures on a block can become an economic and artistic ecosystem.
Working in real estate is not just about making deals—you’re crafting pieces of the city, and that comes with both impact and responsibility.
Small businesses are the heart and soul of any neighborhood. Research shows that locally owned businesses generate a much higher multiplier effect in the regional economy than national chains. Beyond economics, the independent shops, restaurants, and designers that comprise the core fabric of a city are the secret sauce that makes it feel unique.
Nowhere is that more evident than Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine corridor, where I’ve conducted most of my work and lived out large chunks of my adult life. During the past 25 years, it has become a case study in what happens when you preserve character and invest in small business. The area was once filled with old auto-row buildings that had fallen into disuse. Instead of wiping the slate clean, local developers, including me, saw an opportunity for creative reuse. Those buildings turned out to be perfectly scaled for independent retailers and restaurants, creating a unique critical mass that offers a popular destination for locals and tourists alike.
What makes Pike/Pine special is its texture and grit—the layered history you feel in both the physical architecture and the spirit of the shops and restaurants. A large percentage of businesses are owned by members of the LGBTQ+ community, women, immigrants, and people of color. The density of independent retailers and studios—and the inclusive community that supports them—creates omething you can’t replicate with a formula. It evolved over decades, shaped by artists, musicians, designers and small entrepreneurs willing to take risks and plant their flags.
Today, neighborhoods like Pike/Pine face challenges that threaten the tightly woven ecosystem that makes them thrive. There’s a difference between gritty and too gritty, and during the past six years, it’s become harder to attract people. Foot traffic in neighborhood retail districts is dropping, even as downtown begins to recover with tourism. Small businesses are dealing with crushing cost pressures, many tied to public safety concerns and well-intentioned policies with unintended consequences. Public safety has been the elephant in the room—though I do believe we are starting to see improvements. At the same time, our habits have changed. Seattleites have been hibernating, whether because of repercussions from the COVID-19 pandemic or the convenience of delivery apps, streaming, and gaming.
And yet, people still deeply crave connection.
That’s why what’s happening in Pike/Pine right now is inspiring and hopeful. Many of the people who helped shape the neighborhood are still here, investing their time, money, and creativity because they care deeply about its future. We’re doubling down on what makes it special—art walks, a slate of new murals, the On The Block street fair, and Capitol Hill Block Party—all invitations for the community to come back out and re-engage.
This spring, on Saturday, May 16th, we’re launching something new: the Pike/Pine Spring Fashion Walk and Social. It’s designed to be an annual celebration that stretches across the neighborhood, anchored by a collection of activations at Melrose Market, and a runway show on the “catwalk” at Chophouse Row that will include Seattle fashion apparel leaders Glasswing, JackStraw, the Refind, the Finerie, and Flora and Henri. Neighborhood-based designer and brand activations up and down the corridor will include open studios, DJs, wine tastings, in-store pop-ups, and involvement from local college students—bringing in the next generation of designers and entrepreneurs. One of the goals is to remind everyone that Seattle still has amazing fashion “game,” offering a scene that is just as creative and diverse as anything you might find in New York or LA. At its core, this event is not about shopping. It’s about creating a reason for people to come together, to reconnect, and to experience the neighborhood as a shared space.
Because that’s the point. Cities work best when we show up—for them and for each other. Seattle’s culture is not something that exists just for us to consume; we are all participants in shaping it. So, my call to action is simple: come out. Walk around and meet your neighbors. Engage in what’s happening. It feels good—and it does good.
SEATTLE — Memorials are growing outside popular beer garden The Growler Guys in North Seattle, as friends and family honor the life of a young employee found dead at the business Saturday morning.
Seattle police said coworkers found the victim’s body with apparent fatal gunshot wounds inside The Growler Guys around 9 a.m. Saturday. Authorities have not publicly identified the victim yet. He was in his 20s.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Seattle beer garden employee found shot to death inside workplace
The young man’s death has shocked and shaken the surrounding North Seattle community.
Dozens of family members, friends, and regular customers surrounded the taped-off homicide scene for hours throughout the day Saturday. Several people who knew the victim described him as a friend to all, a family man, and a stand-out employee to his boss, Kelly Dole.
“He was a part of my community at The Growler Guys,” Dole said. “It’s been a joy just to see them together day after day, and for him to lose his life this way is just a shame and such a loss.”
The victim was also a close friend of Dole’s son for years.
The Growler Guys is closed for the time being, but many people stopped by on Sunday to drop off flowers, cards, or to stop to take a moment and reflect.
A note left at the corner of NE 85th St. and 20th Ave. NE was written by a family that had the victim serve them at The Growler Guys. “While we were only lucky enough to know you for one evening,” the note reads, “I know there are many, many more lives you have made a lasting impact on.”
Left next to the note was a child’s apple juice box. Coworkers of the victim said he always gave kids free apple juice.
“Don’t tell my boss,” they said the victim would say with a smile.
He really was important to the guests and always had a smile, Dole said of his young employee. He had worked at The Growler Guys for about a year.
The victim was killed sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning, and police are still investigating a possible motive and suspect. So far, no arrests have been made.
People living nearby, who wanted to remain anonymous, said they didn’t hear any gunshots but called the death shocking: “Well, my heart breaks. My first thought is that it’s a tragedy,” one man said.
Anyone with information or surveillance video in the surrounding Lake City area should contact Seattle police or 911 immediately.
Dole said he hopes justice is served to offer a small piece of closure to the victim’s grieving family.
“My heart goes out to his mom and his dad, his brother and other family members,” Dole said. “It’s just so tragic.”
Seattle, WA
‘Do you care more about the kids or the drug addicts?’: Jake calls out Seattle for potential homeless shelters near schools – MyNorthwest.com
After the Seattle City Council moved forward with legislation that would expand temporary homeless shelters without buffer zones near schools, KIRO host Jake Skorheim questioned who the city really cares about.
Jake wondered aloud about what goes on in a Seattle City Council member’s head, assuming they even read the proposal.
“They see the thing, they go like, ‘Well, what do we think about this one here, about school zones?’ They’re like, ‘I don’t know about that. Let’s scratch that out. We can have homeless people around school zones, drug addicts, people who are trying to get their fix,’” he said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio.
Seattle legislation would increase shelter capacity by 50%
If approved, the legislation would let temporary shelter sites, including tiny home villages, RV safe lots, and tent encampments, increase capacity by 50%, raising the maximum from 100 to 150 residents.
Approved amendments would require sites with more than 100 beds to maintain public safety plans and around-the-clock staffing. Another amendment would require shelters to establish agreements with surrounding neighborhoods outlining expectations for resident behavior and site management. A final amendment mandates at least one manager for every 15 high-needs residents.
Still, several nonprofits urged council members to pass the bill without amendments, arguing the added restrictions could slow resources to people experiencing homelessness and further stigmatize them.
Jake had a question for city leaders: “Who do you care more about? You care more about the kids or the homeless drug addicts?”
Watch the full discussion in the video above.
Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.
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