Washington
For Sterling K. Brown, Hulu’s ‘Washington Black’ seeks Black joy, not pain
James Pardon/Disney
“Your legacy isn’t just the work that you do, it’s the opportunities that you create for other people.” —Sterling K. Brown.
For Sterling K. Brown, part of the appeal of producing and starring in Hulu’s Washington Black (July 23) was mentoring Ernest Kingsley Jr., the young actor playing the title character. “If I’m in a position where I can help somebody get an opportunity to do it, that means a lot to me, because your legacy isn’t just the work that you do, it’s the opportunities that you create for other people,” Brown said. Based on the bestselling novel, Kingsley plays George Washington “Wash” Black, a young boy who escapes slavery and, through his scientific mind, sets off an unexpected adventure. Brown plays Medwin, whose life intersects with Wash. “It seems most Black stories that are for mainstream consumption have to do with Black pain, have to do with Black trauma,” Brown said. “So I thought, how awesome would it be to take this historical context but to still illuminate, [and] highlight, joy, hope, faith, love, etc.” And for Kingsley, the story has broad appeal—”that universal story of us going through that harrowing narrative and pain in our past and triumphing over it.”
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Editor’s Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
Sterling, you can always take top billing, but for this project you’re supporting and producing. What about this inspired you to want to make it?
Sterling K. Brown: It was the central character. It was a young boy who finds himself in the midst of slavery, but through the power of his imagination, of his hope, of his faith, is able to transcend his circumstances. And it’s also the community that protected his dreams, right? Recognizing the power and importance of dreamers and how dreaming is contagious. I think that’s why, oftentimes dreamers are sort of snuffed out and taken out, and why people need to protect them, because they recognize that, like so many of us, [they] are just trying to survive, or just trying to make it from day to day to day, until you come into the presence of a dreamer, and they say life is bigger than what you can currently imagine. And if you follow me, I can show you something bigger. That’s who Washington is, and I’ve never seen that in the historical context of slavery, not allowing slavery to define who he is as a person, but allowing his creativity to be fully manifested and ultimately be like this brilliant creator, the seeker of love and beauty everywhere that he goes, and bringing that contagion with him.
Disney/Chris Reardon
That’s one of the things that I think I was so pleasantly moved by the story is that so often, when it comes to depictions of slavery in film and television, joy and hope are often not necessarily part of the story. And those stories are very important to tell. But I loved the aspect of hope that this story has.
Brown: It was very important to me. Interesting enough, this project came to me before American Fiction. But American Fiction actually talks a lot about how it seems most of Black stories that are for mainstream consumption have to do with Black pain, have to do with Black trauma, right? So I thought, how awesome would it be to take this historical context but to still illuminate [and] highlight, joy, hope, faith, love, etc.
And Ernest, taking on this role, the title role, that’s a lot this early in your career. Did you feel the pressure of the title role? And how did you go about finding your version of Washington?
Ernest Kingsley Jr.: Of course. Look, I did feel some pressure. It was quickly dissipated by the cast around me, the community around me, and someone like Sterling as well, who’s been such a mentor and a friend and a brother. He definitely was showing me the ropes all along. I was really being supported by the talent and the love and care by our cast and crew. And in terms of research, I guess to start off with, definitely reading the book. The show kind of branches off from it. Reading the book was a great foundation for me, just to kind of initially get into the world of Washington Black and the epicness and the journey and the story, and then obviously, going deeper into other things and the time period. But it was definitely the book that launched me into it.
Disney/Chris Reardon
Even though this is a work of fiction, it does really illuminate part of Black history that not a lot of people know much about. Black pirates, for example. Was there any part of this history that you learned something from?
Brown: I love the Dahomey, which also is echoed in [The] Woman King. I loved the sort of throughline of the Afro Nova Scotian community that we’ve discovered in Halifax, right? And I’ve worked in Charleston, South Carolina, on a TV show called Army Wives, for a long time and the Gullah accent [also called Geechee] I found very peculiarly in Halifax, Nova Scotia. And I was like, “You guys sound like you’re from South Carolina.” “No, we don’t sound like we’re from South Carolina. We’re from up here.” And I’m like, “Whoa, what are you talking about, man?” And it’s sort of like the accent that Medwin uses, because I thought that 50 percent of all Africans that entered into the United States came through a port in South Carolina called Sullivan’s Island, right? And so for me to hear that accent when I went to Halifax was this incredible moment, like, “Oh, wow. We really did make it.” This underground railroad is not something that I just heard about. I see the evidence of it here in Nova Scotia while we’re shooting on location. It was a magical moment for me.
And Ernest, what about you? Did you learn anything about this history?
Kingsley: I think Sterling kind of touched on it, the Afro Nova Scotia community. Obviously, we see how Medwin has really upheld and built that community at the time, but also just going there and filming and realizing that they’d been there for nearly seven generations. And just seeing the community they’ve built and how close-knit and tight they are, against all odds, against when they first arrived there, all those generations ago, they were given kind of terrible land, the unfertile land, and what they built from that, what they did, and they’re still there in abundance. Just getting introduced to that kind of culture and community was really cool.
There are also aspects of the characters in this that we so often don’t see, particularly Black characters in science, space, flying, all of those things. Was it important to you for these characters to be doing things that, historically in entertainment, we’ve often only seen white characters do.
Brown: Man, you’re making my heart just crack open in the most beautiful way possible, because there is an active erasure of our history going on in the United States right now. To make it sound as if we just didn’t exist. And there is no American history without Black history. And there’s also a de-emphasis of our history of creativity, of innovation, of invention, right? And so, in order to put that on the screen, hopefully people will reverse engineer and be like, “You know what? I know it’s a work of historical fiction, but what is the history of Black entrepreneurship, invention, creativity?” Because there’s so much that we’ve done, but that’s not highlighted for such a long time, especially as a young person growing up in the States, the idea of being smart and being cool was sort of seen as an anathema. They didn’t cross over with each other, especially in the Black community, actively putting something on screen that shows a very, very cool, passionate, loving man who’s so smart, who’s so imaginative, who’s so creative.
I had a professor tell me once that Black history is American history, you can’t really separate the two. But Ernest, for you, as someone who isn’t American yet you’re telling this uniquely American story, what was it like for you processing how this story is told?
Kingsley: To be really honest, it’s quite like universal in terms of the Black, British and American [experiences]. I feel like that universal story of us going through that harrowing narrative and pain in our past and triumphing over it. And also, just the thing of us not getting the credit for our inventions and beautiful things we’ve done spans across, unfortunately, history across the world. And so it was touching the core of the experience that is universal for us. And I think the thing about seeing this Black boy and him getting the visibility—obviously his credit is stolen, but like the visibility—just the narrative and seeing him build this invention, build this thing with his creativity. There’s something about being seen and seeing that on a screen, as opposed to—like you were saying—you see a very common narrative of certain people do certain things, we don’t see Black people in sci-fi, but you see that in the story. And it’s like, that’s evidence, and that’s permission. So, yeah, it was really cool.
To that, what is really powerful about Washington’s experience is every time he looks to the sky and hopes or dreams. The power of the sky and stars in Black history, in spirituals, in the work of Harriet Tubman, it’s really powerful.
Brown: It does make sense, right? Because if you look just in your immediate circumstances, you may just see fields and places where you’ve labored throughout the day. And so the escape is the sky, right? Like sky is the limit, sky is the possibility, because it doesn’t represent anything that’s immediately around you. It’s like, at least there’s some expanse, there’s space, there’s distance, possibility exists up here. Reality is here [on land], possibility is there, right? Even with regards to Wash and the water, he’s never gone into the ocean and didn’t know how to swim, and then ultimately, my man had to throw you into the water, because the water also represents possibility. It’s the unexplored, right? We’ve explored this part. Where can I go to be free, where can I go to be fully realized, right? And then you have a young boy who goes into the water and learns how to fly.
Sterling, it seems like you’ve had one big project after another these past few years, picking up an Oscar nomination along the way. Do you not like taking breaks? And what is it that makes you want to keep producing projects like this?
Brown: Thank you. That’s very kind. There is a part of you that feels like you want to strike while the iron is hot. There is a part of you that feels like, “Oh, you know what? If you don’t do something, then maybe they’ll forget about you.” Easy come, easy go sort of thing. I do take breaks. Like, I still assistant coach my son’s NFL flag football team. I see my other son play soccer all the time. I take little breaks for myself, but I try to structure it in such a way [that] the TV show that I get a chance to do in the states keeps me at home for about half the year, and then I have the other half a year to play around with. And it’s been a good formula for me, because my family knows where I am most of the time, and then I still have space to sort of scratch the creative itch inside of me, to just do something different. Variety is the spice of life, and I’m so fortunate H. Alan, in an industry that is undergoing a massive contraction; to be busy and people want to work with me that I feel like I should take advantage of this, because not a lot of people are having these opportunities. It’s a blessing.
Disney/James Van Evers
What does it mean for you to mentor someone like Ernest? Considering that you could have easily produced a project for yourself in the title role.
Brown: Sometimes you see people try to make that part their part. I was like, “No, it’s not my part.” But if I’m in a position where I can help somebody, where it is their part, get an opportunity to do it, that means a lot to me, because your legacy isn’t just the work that you do, it’s the opportunities that you create for other people, and hopefully just make it a little bit easier. That’s all you’re trying to do. The people that come behind you, you want it to be just a little bit easier, right? I stand on the shoulders of Denzel [Washington], who stands on James Earl [Jones], who stands on Paul Robeson, like there is a legacy here of performance, and each one of those dudes made it a little bit easier for me. And hopefully I get a chance to do the same.
And for you, Ernest, it’s so rare for someone your age to have this kind of mentorship. What is it like for you to have this support?
Kingsley: I don’t think there’s enough words that I could use to describe the level of gratitude. The level of support and love and care that Sterling has poured into me from when I was 21—I’m 24 now—has been second to none. The last three years, he’s been nothing but support, like a pillar. We’ve seen how this industry can be, especially with the strikes and stuff, and it’s not lost on me how rare it is to have that kind of support system with a star that Sterling is a gift, it’s an absolute blessing. I’m really grateful.
For more than a quarter of a century, bargain hunters and collectors have eagerly awaited the annual return of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts’ Treasure Sale, and this fall, the tradition continues with its 26h year. Organized by the Singer Society, the museum’s volunteer organization, the sale has become a community institution — an event that transforms the museum into a labyrinth of hidden gems, unexpected discoveries and the irresistible excitement of the hunt, with part of the reward being supporting the museum.
Unlike ordinary shopping trips, the Treasure Sale is closer to an adventure. Every corner of the sale holds the promise of something surprising: a piece of jewelry that once lit up a costume ball, a painting that’s just right for that empty space on your wall or a piece of furniture whose patina carries decades of stories.
Shoppers return year after year not just because the prices are unbeatable, but because the atmosphere crackles with possibility. There is no telling what might turn up, and that unpredictability is part of the thrill that keeps the tradition alive.
But the Treasure Sale offers more than just the joy of discovery. Each purchase, no matter how small, directly supports the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts.
Proceeds help sustain exhibitions, educational programs and outreach efforts, ensuring that art remains accessible to the entire community. That means the vintage chair carried home or the collectible carefully wrapped in tissue doesn’t just enrich a buyer’s life — it helps keep the museum vibrant and active. In that way, shoppers can leave knowing they’ve found something meaningful in more ways than one.
The event begins in grand style with a special preview party on Friday, Oct. 31, from 5-8 p.m. Halloween provides the theme, adding a festive atmosphere to the exclusive opportunity. Guests will sip wine, enjoy hors d’oeuvres and mingle with fellow treasure seekers, all while enjoying the coveted first look at what’s on offer.
For $45 for museum members and $50 for non-members, attendees gain not only early access to the sale but camaraderie and the thrill of being the first to scoop up the best finds. Imagine strolling out the door with a unique collectible or perfect accent piece. It’s an evening designed for those who relish both celebration and strategy, and registration is required in advance to secure a spot.
Adding to the excitement is this year’s raffle, a chance to win a garden cart filled with hand-picked sale items and gift cards to local businesses. Tickets cost $10 and can be purchased online before the event or in person at the museum.
The winning ticket will be drawn during the preview party, though attendance is not required to win. Even those who can’t make it to the sale can participate in this chance at a prize that embodies the spirit of the event.
After the preview party, the sale continues throughout the weekend and into the following week. Doors open to the public on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and again on Sunday, Nov. 2, from 1-4 p.m.
The final day, Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., is reserved for what has become known as “Bag Day.” On this day, shoppers can fill a museum-provided bag with as many items as will fit for only $20 (some items are excluded). For many, this is the most exhilarating moment of all — an all-out treasure hunt where creativity and keen eyes are rewarded with armfuls of finds at an unbeatable price. Admission is free Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.
Of course, the Treasure Sale would not be possible without the generosity of the community. Donations of gently used furniture, artwork, collectibles, jewelry and other items are accepted most of the year, with the deadline for inclusion in the sale being mid-October, giving residents an opportunity to clear out attics, basements and closets while supporting the museum. For many donors, the knowledge that their once-loved pieces will find new homes — and raise funds for the arts — is a reward in itself.
Ultimately, the Treasure Sale is more than a fundraiser. It is a tradition, a celebration and an adventure all in one. It invites shoppers to embrace the thrill of the hunt, knowing that each discovery carries with it the joy of the find and the satisfaction of giving back.
Whether arriving for the fun of the preview party, the excitement of weekend browsing or the high-energy of Bag Day, every visitor comes away with a story — and often with treasures that will begin a new chapter in their lives. This fall, the atrium of the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts once again becomes a place of possibility, where the only question is not whether you’ll find something, but what treasure is waiting just for you.
Bailey Rafter is manager of marketing and publication for the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts.
Washington
Washington Employers: Prepare for Hiring Practice Shifts as New Background Check Requirements Take Effect in 2026 + 2027 – Jackson Lewis
Takeaways
- The amended Washington Fair Chance Act prohibits employers from requesting an individual’s criminal background information before a conditional offer of employment is made.
- All employers are covered by the new law, and the new requirements are effective beginning 07.01.26 and 01.01.27, depending on the size of the employer.
- Employers have time to prepare and should consider taking proactive steps.
Related link
Article
In the 2025 legislative session, Washington State expanded its Fair Chance Act in a number of different ways to impose additional limits on employers’ criminal background inquiries of applicants and employees. The changes go into effect for medium and large employers in July 2026 and for small employers in January 2027, giving employers plenty of time to get ready.
Employers with employees in the City of Seattle are already subject to most of these new requirements and restrictions. Therefore, the changes to state law will supplement those Seattle requirements and apply to employers throughout the State.
Timing of Inquiries
Unless otherwise required by law, only post-offer criminal history inquiries and criminal background checks will be permitted. Previously, an employer could potentially inquire earlier, after a candidate was deemed “otherwise qualified.” If a candidate voluntarily discloses a conviction prior to any offer, the employer must provide notification of the law and an Attorney General Fair Chance Act guide for employers and job applicants.
Once receiving information about a candidate’s criminal history, an employer must proceed with caution. The use of automatic disqualifiers for employment cannot be relied upon unless permitted by law.
In addition, the fact that someone has a pending or prior arrest record should not be considered. For individuals convicted of a crime, Washington law will require a legitimate business reason for denying employment.
Individualized Assessment
Washington employers will be required to follow a specific individualized assessment process prior to denying employment. The process mandates:
- Notifying and identifying the record on which the employer relied for purposes of assessing its legitimate business reason;
- Holding the position open a minimum of two business days to provide the individual a reasonable opportunity to correct or explain the rehabilitation, good conduct, work experience, education, and training (“individual assessment factors”); and
- If, after giving the individual a reasonable opportunity to provide additional information, the employer makes a tangible adverse employment decision (such as rescinding a conditional offer or rejecting someone otherwise qualified), the employer must provide the individual with a written decision, including specific documents as to its reasoning and assessment of each of the relevant factors. This analysis would also include considering the impact of the conviction in the position or business operations, and its consideration of the individualized assessment factors.
Exclusions
The law recognizes a variety of exclusions, such as:
- Federal contract recipients;
- Employers hiring persons who will have unsupervised access to children under 18, vulnerable adults, or vulnerable persons as defined by statute; or
- Employers such as financial institutions that are expressly permitted or required under federal or state law to inquire into, consider, or rely upon information about an individual’s criminal record for employment purposes.
Employers should consult with legal counsel to determine if they fall within an applicable exclusion.
The restrictions apply to applicants for Washington-based employment and to Washington-based employees, regardless of whether an employer is based in Washington.
Enforcement
The law will be enforced by the state attorney general, which already enforces existing provisions of the law. The new law allows the attorney general to assess increased penalties. The attorney general may seek other damages, fees, and costs, as well.
Key Steps for Employers
Employers have time to prepare and should consider taking proactive steps:
- Review recruitment processes to ensure they do not request criminal background information before a conditional offer of employment is made.
- Determine which forms will require updating in 2026.
- Review any contracts in place with third parties to ensure compliance with this fair chance initiative.
Employers should keep in mind their obligations under the federal and state fair credit reporting acts if they plan to obtain criminal history reports from third-party vendors.
Jackson Lewis attorneys are available to provide employers assistance with this and other workplace issues.
The GymDawgs will kick off the 2026 season with the annual Purple & Gold Intrasquad in December at Alaska Airlines Arena, with more details to come. UW begins regular-season competition on Jan. 3, hosting a quad meet in Seattle with Cal, Oregon State and UCLA.
The following week, the GymDawgs travel to Tucson, Arizona, to take on the Arizona Wildcats on Jan. 9. Washington then heads east to College Park, Maryland, for its first Big Ten matchup of the season against the Terrapins on Jan. 17. The Huskies return home on Jan. 24 to host Rutgers before closing out January at UCLA on Jan. 30.
Washington opens its February slate of Big Ten meets on Feb. 7, hosting Illinois. The Dawgs then travel to Columbus, Ohio, for a Valentine’s Day matchup against Ohio State on Feb. 14. UW returns home on Feb. 21 to face Minnesota before wrapping up the month at the Big Four Championships in State College, Pennsylvania. Big Four action against Penn State, Nebraska and Michigan will be available on the Big Ten Network.
The GymDawgs take a short break from Big Ten action in March, beginning with a meet at Southern Utah on March 6 in Cedar City, Utah. Washington then hosts Sacramento State on March 13 before heading to Berkeley, California, on March 15 for the Cal Quad Meet, featuring Cal, UC Davis and Penn.
Washington will compete in its second Big Ten Championships March 20–21, with the location to be announced at a later date.
For more information on Washington gymnastics, follow @UWGymnastics on Instagram and X.
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