The Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board will consider the nomination of the building at 2320 E. Union St.at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow in Seattle Municipal Tower, room 1756.

If you would like to go to the meeting you can speak to how it does or does not meet the Designation Standards for up to 3 minutes.

The main entrances to Seattle Municipal Tower are located at the corners of 5th and Columbia St., 5th and Cherry St., and 6th and Cherry St.

SEND COMMENTS TO:  Erin Doherty, Landmarks Preservation Board Coordinator. [email protected]

They will accept comments on the application and how it does or does not meet the Designation Standards  THRU THE END OF TODAY, FEBRUARY 4TH for inclusion in tomorrow’s notes for the meeting.

ATTEND THE MEETING:  If you would like to go to the meeting you can speak to how it does or does not meet the Designation Standards for up to 3 minutes.

Link to the designation standards: http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/designation_process.htm

Link to the meeting agenda: http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/documents/agenda_lpb_041.pdf

The Central District, as part of the 23^rd Avenue Corridor Improvements Project, will soon be getting some new public art. Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture announced last week that artist Martha Jackson Jarvis will create the piece.

Among the project’s many improvements to the area around Union, Cherry, and Jackson includes art focusing on “historically relevant narratives of the neighborhood and stories of the people who have lived or created significant impact in the neighborhood.” Jackson Jarvis, creator of many public art projects, will be tasked with meeting that goal. The Washington, D.C.-based artist has shown work at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Studio Museum of Harlem (New York) and Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow).

We don’t yet have details on where the art will go, when it will be installed, or what Jackson Jarvis will choose to focus on.

photo by waynewalsh

The Central District Flickr Pool contains hundreds of images of scenes in and around our neighborhood. Interested in being part of it? Check out the pool here. If we like your photo, we may feature it on the front page of Central District News!

photo by swilson3971

February is Black History Month, and throughout the Central District you’ll find numerous opportunities to celebrate, learn, and engage.

The Northwest African American Museum has a full calendar:

PITCH BLACK: AFRICAN AMERICAN BASEBALL IN WASHINGTONSaturday, Feb. 1^st
New Exhibition Opens!

Baseball in Washington’s black communities has a strong but quiet history. Most people know the segregated history of our national pastime, but few know how the story played out on the baseball fields in Seattle and throughout Washington. Left without a professional Negro Leagues team until 1946, much of our State’s black baseball history was undocumented. Pitch Black features vignettes of this rich history using iconic artifacts, photographs, and oral histories. Organized by NAAM. On view in the Northwest Gallery through November 9th.

FILM VIEWING: MORE THAN A MONTH
Thursday, Feb. 6, 7pm
Free with admission

Should Black History Month be ended? That’s the question explored by African American filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman as he embarks on a cross-country campaign to do just that. Both amusing and thought provoking, the film investigates what the treatment of history tells us about race and equality in contemporary America.

GALLERY TOUR AND QUILTING WORKSHOP
Sunday, Feb. 9, 12–3pm
Registration will open on January 30^th, $10 per person; Free for Members.

Join Northwest artist Marita Dingus for a tour of her new exhibition Marita Dingus: At Home. Objects from Dingus’s home, including her collection of African and Caribbean figures, are the basis of this intimate and revealing exhibition. In contrast with the gallery setting, a series of photographs taken by Spike Mafford will show how the artist actually lives with her art. Following the tour, Marita will conduct a quilt patch project for visitors to record a memorable event in African American history while learning about the history and influences of traditional African textiles on her artwork.

FILM VIEWING: SING YOUR SONG
Thursday, Feb. 13, 5pm
Free with admission

This film surveys the life and times of singer/ actor/activist Harry Belafonte. From his rise to fame as a singer and his experiences touring a segregated country, to his provocative crossover into Hollywood, Belafonte’s groundbreaking career personifies the American Civil Rights Movement and impacted many other social justice efforts.

THE BLACK SOUNDTRACK with Charles Mudede
Saturday, Feb. 15, 7pm
Tickets: $10; Free for Members. Ticket available on February 1st

Writer, filmmaker and cultural critic, Charles Mudede will help us celebrate the black image on the big screen by exploring sections of global cinematic history using film clips and musical scores inspired by international musicians, directors, and thinkers. Later he invites listeners to discuss what they see and hear.

EDUCATOR & FAMILY DAY
Presidents Day, Monday, Feb. 17, 11am–5pm
Sponsored by

Free admission

with a dynamic offering of programs throughout the day. At 1pm local historian Judy Bentley co-author of Free Boy, will present curriculum materials related to the remarkable story of Charles Mitchell, a 13-year-old slave who escaped from Washington Territory to freedom in Canada on the Puget Sound’s tiny Underground Railroad. At 2pm, storyteller Eva Abram will present an interpretation of Charles Mitchell’s life. Art-making activities for kids of all ages are available on a drop-in basis throughout the day.
Light refreshments will be served. Free admission is made possible by Bank of America.

STORYTELLING
WHAT THE GRIOT SAID
Thursday, Feb. 20, 11am–noon
Free

Gifted griots—or storytellers—enchant both young and old with tales recounted following oral traditions. Children of all ages are invited to experience the ancient art of storytelling with stories from around the world or just around the corner.

NAAM STORY TIME
at Barnes & Noble Pacific Place
Saturday, Feb. 22, 11am
Free

Bring your little ones to hear Museum Educator Katie Williams read from the award-winning children’s book Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine. A portion of purchases made in-store from February 15 thru 22 will be donated to NAAM – be sure mention us when you check out!

PECHAKUCHA SEATTLE
Afrofuturism: A Journey Through Race and Time
Thursday, Feb. 27
Presentations start at 7pm
Free with admission

Some say Afrofuturism is a practice of discovering what lies beyond the here and now, through the lens of the African American experience. Great artists of our time are creating visual art, sounds, and stories that explore outer-space and inner worlds, technology, society and race. Join us to learn more about Afrofuturism and the artists, through the quick presentation style of  PechaKucha. Let Seattle’s foremost thought leaders and visionaries take you on a fantastic voyage through race and time. Presenters include: Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Donald Byrd, Charles Mudede, Zola Mumford, Christina Orbe, and more… .

 

At the Experience Music Project, an event relevant to the Central District:

In celebration of Black History Month, The EMP Museum, Ezell’s Chicken and Brandkings are taking out time this February 1, 2014 to bring people together to reflect on the
causes and effects of gentrification for an event titled “Through The Eyes of Art.” The evening will feature an
art exhibit, from local painters and photographers, a keynote address by Seattle City Councilmember, Bruce
Harrell and a live performance and video presentation, from hip-hop artist Draze. Tickets are free but must be reserved on Brown Paper Tickets.

At Capitol Hill’s Annex Theater, a play called Black Like Us:

Black Like Us is the story of an African-American woman’s decision to pass for white in 1958. It follows her story, and those of her sister, her daughter, her three granddaughters, and her two grandnieces, as they all in turn discover her secret-and each others’ existence.

Black Like Us runs during February, and while staging it during Black History Month is certainly intentional, this is a play about much more than race. It is at its core the story of a family, and of the sweet, complex, and exasperating relationships that exist between sisters. It is also the story of a family that lives in Seattle, and the history of the Central District and the Civil rights movement in this city are woven into the narrative. With a diverse all-female cast, a dash of history, and a lot of humor, Black Like Us explores the effect one woman’s decision has to reverberate through the generations.

At the Garfield Community Center, an event called One Human Race:

Sunday February 23, 2014
2:00 – 4:00 pm
GARFIELD COMMUNITY CENTER
2323 E Cherry St
Seattle, WA 98122
What did Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and Baba Guru Nanak teach about equality and non-discrimination? What remedies did these holy founders prescribe to combat racism? Are religious mute on this issue? Join us at this unique interfaith event as we explore these questions and more.
Free!
Regsiter for event: http://www.amiseattle.org/RegisterForEvent.aspx?INo=28
SPONSORING ORGANIZATION: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community – Seattle
CONTACT: Waqas Malik
CONTACT PHONE: 206.851.0788
CONTACT EMAIL: [email protected]
Read the event flyer

 

Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments and we’ll add to the post!

This post is part of a series of profiles of Central District residents, part of the “People of the Central Area” project developed and written by Madeline Crowley.

So, you grew up in the Central District?

Let me tell you one story about growing up here. When I came home from school my Dad sent me to get some milk from Poppa’s Grocery (where the Urban League is now). I’m hearing music coming down the street. It sounded really good so I kept walking over there. The music was going, everybody was swinging and clapping; it was wild, wild, wild. There was no air conditioning so the door was thrown open. I just stood there and watched ‘til the song ended thinking, ‘That’s what I want to do with my life!’ Then, this guy came out bumping against the door, stumbled to a car and drove away like he was drunk. I stood there waiting for the music to start up again but there was no music – then people started leaving.

So, the stumbling guy was the music?

That’s right. That was Mike Taylor, a great piano player even now. After a few minutes I peek into the room. Billy Tolles, the boss tenor player, and Tommy Adams are just sitting there on stage, like, what are we going to do now? The piano player was gone. He wasn’t a drunk. He just looked drunk because he had Asiatic ‘flu, and he had been throwing up so he couldn’t stay. Billy Tolles saw me and said, ‘Hey, ain’t you a Holden? Don’t you play?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I play!’

What was the neighborhood like when you were young?

The neighborhood was very mixed, really integrated around 14^th  & Fir. I thought the whole world was like that. There was one guy who was Chinese and he went to war for the Americans that lived in the apartment. He owned the apartment complex that was next to our house on 14^th and Fir. He went in the 2^nd World War and he came back…Howard was his first name. He also owned Poppa’s Grocery Store on 14^th and Yesler. He walked with a limp and he was good to all of us, he was nice and we all bought groceries from him. On the other corner, the southwestern corner of that same intersection was another building owned by another Chinese man.

One of my first jobs was working at his grocery store washing vegetables and fruit to put in the freezer at night. Then my Dad said, “Go out and get a job; go get you a paper route.” So my brother and I went and got paper routes. We didn’t have to make any money, but we had jobs.

You mentioned Bruce Lee lived there. Do you remember what street that was?

Oh yeah! Fir! That’s where our family house is. And it’s right across the street from the Washington Hall where my Dad used to work in the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s.

Bruce lived in the Fir Apartments right across the street from our house, we lived at 1409 and he lived across the street. Right across the street from Washington Hall, there’s a garden, that’s where the Fir Apartments were. That’s where the big old building owned by Japanese was, it was a big old building.

In the neighborhood of that time, everybody knew us as the Holdens. Everybody in the whole neighborhood knew my folks because they were musicians and they played in all the places in the Central District.

Click here to read the complete story.

Decades of service to the community was recognized Tuesday as the Seattle City Council’s transportation committee voted its approval of a new honorary designation of a portion of 19th Ave running from the edge of Capitol Hill into the Central District as Rev. Dr. Samuel B. McKinney Ave. The designation won’t mean a change of names for 19th Ave but it will be accompanied by the addition of special street signs marking the honorary avenue.

Connecting E Union to E Madison and McKinney’s Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the quarter-mile stretch will honor the longtime pastor who left the pulpit in 1998 after 40 years leading the congregation. As he approaches his 90th birthday, the neighborhood around the church and the stretch of 19th Ave that will feature street signs honoring the reverend continues to change with increasing redevelopment.

“The City of Seattle is fortunate to be home to outstanding community and religious leaders who have done much to shape the conscience of Seattle,” the resolution for the designation reads. The full document is below.

The designation will be voted on by the full Council next week. We’ll check in on the timeframe for when the new signs will go up along the stretch of 19th. Continue reading →

From SPD’s Blotter:

Officers arrested a registered sex offender for attempting to lure two young girls into his parked van [yesterday] evening in the Central District.

At approximately 5:25 p.m. officers responded to the area of 23rd Avenue and East Yesler Way for the report of a man trying to lure a 12-year-old girl into his van. Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect attempted to lure two 12-year-old girls into his van while they walked down the sidewalk in the 2400 block of East Yesler Way.

Officers contacted the suspect, a 72-year-old man, who was sitting in a light-colored minivan located in the 2400 block of East Yesler Way. A computer check showed that the suspect was a registered sex offender and he was subsequently taken into custody.

Officers are currently interviewing the suspect at the East Precinct. Upon completion of the interview, the suspect will be booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Child Luring.

There was never any physical contact between the suspect and the two 12-year-old female victims.

This remains an active and on-going investigation.

Prosecutors have charged a 23-year-old suspect in a nearly deadly robbery attempt and stabbing on the Seattle University campus earlier this month.

CHS was the first to report on the mugging and stabbing incident that put 23-year-old student Geoff Vincent in the hospital with life-threatening injuries in the early morning January 15th attack near 10th and Marion. Police arrested three suspects after swarming the area and searching with the K9 unit. Two of the suspects were teenagers. The other, 23-year-old Brandon Pamon now faces first degree robbery charges in the attack.

Prosecutors last week said they were weighing charges against the male teen in the attack who was 15 at the time of the incident. Because the suspect was 15 at the time of the incident, he may be tried as a juvenile and not an adult.

According to the charging documents, Pamon was convicted for a 2008 residential burglary and multiple misdemeanor crimes as an adult. His juvenile record includes multiple felony convictions. Since turning 18, Pamon has been booked at least 11 times and had five warrants issued for his arrest, prosecutors said.

According to police, the victim said the suspects began following him near 10th and Pike as he walked back to the Seattle U campus around 1 AM that morning. Vincent told police he was jumped as he entered campus and said tried to fight back and drew a knife when he saw one of the suspects carrying a blade as they violently knocked him to the ground and began beating and robbing him. In the subsequent fight, Vincent was stabbed, piercing his heart and lung. After hospitalization, Vincent is back on his feet, according to his Twitter feed.