Radio producer Jenny Asarnow and documentary photographer Inye Wokoma, who previously produced The Corner, received an $8500 grant from the Seattle Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs to explore the significance of blacks spreading out from the Central District to other parts of Puget Sound.  

Here is Inye’s description of the project:

Over the past twenty years African Americans in Seattle have spread out from our roots in the Central District. Now we live all over King County. How does this decentralization affect our ability to create and maintain black community?

We are creating a series of short documentary videos and will screen them at a community forum this spring. Your contribution will help make the videos and the community forum richer.

This site has been set up as a space for you to share you stories and opinions while the project is in progress. MAKE SURE TO CALL THE COMMUNITY STORY LINE AT (253) 642-7672 BEFORE MARCH 17and your contribution may be shared here on the site.

So… how are you experiencing the black community now that African Americans are so spread out around the Puget Sound?

 

A sample conversation from the project’s Facebook page:

206 Black-The Diaspora Conversation Starter #4: How important do you think it is that black people live and work close to one another to maintain a sense of community? How are you maintaining your community ties when black people are so spread out around here?

David Daniels: I believe what the Black Community lacks is “a vision” for what the community could be. “Without a vision the people perish”. A “think tank” to lay out a plan for what the community might look like in the future would a place to start. Without this vision of the future, there is nothing for the community to work towards and it devolves into simply reacting to the today that someone esle designed yesterday. Community is not what it used to be. This forum is an example of how it has changed.