100 Years of Seattle Activism

The surprising history of Seattle’s century-long fight for human rights. The surprising history of Seattle’s century-long fight for human rights.

In this issue:

Arts & Culture

Met Picks

Your Guide to Seattle Holiday Events, 2017

Feel merry in Seattle this year with a trip down Candy Cane Lane, or take in the ‘The Nutcracker’—ballet or burlesque, your choice.

11/28/2017 By Darren Davis

Met Picks

The Top Things to See or Do in Seattle, December 2017

Hillary Clinton reveals ‘What Happened,’ Jay Z arrives on the ‘4:44 Tour,’ and Velocity Dance Center gets disruptive.

11/28/2017 By Darren Davis

Lexicon Devils

Harsh Realm: The Greatest Prank Seattle Ever Pulled on New York

Twenty-five years ago the national media, obsessed with Seattle's music scene, came calling. The right person picked up the phone.

11/13/2017 By James Ross Gardner Illustrations by Peter Bagge

Best of the City

History

100 Years of Seattle Activism

The surprising history of Seattle’s century-long fight for human rights.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

Eat & Drink

Critic's Picks

Seattle's Coziest Dining Destinations

In the colder months, Seattle knows how to stay warm—and sated by good food and drink.

11/27/2017 By Seattle Met Staff

Eat Here Now

What We're Eating Now: December 2017

This month’s favorites: fiery fried chicken, hearty toast, and one rice bowl to rule them all.

11/27/2017 By Nosh Pit Staff

Slurping Encouraged

Seattle’s Newest Ramen Bars Will Warm Your Soul

A recent crop of ramen spots has arrived in Seattle—each its own soulful iteration.

11/21/2017 By Rosin Saez

Review

“Alexa, What Is Chicharrón?”: 2120’s Big Amazon Gambit

In the heart of Amazonia, 2120 proves winning plates and corporate crowds aren’t mutually exclusive.

11/20/2017 By Jessica Voelker

Editor's Note

Well, That Was a Weird Year

And so was our collective reaction to it.

11/21/2017 By James Ross Gardner

Home & Real Estate

Habitat

A Bold Remodel Breathes New Life into a 100-Year-Old Leschi Home

How the owners of this classic foursquare house brought the space up to their modern tastes without tossing away the old bones.

11/20/2017 By Darren Davis Photography by Haris Kenjar

News & City Life

100 Years of Activism

1972–74: Native Activists Fight for Their Rights to Fish

Plus: Students-turned-protesters occupy a Beacon Hill schoolhouse—known today as the El Centro de la Raza community center.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1999–2003: Progressives Protest the Global Trade Agenda and the Invasion of Iraq

As the Left formed a united front, street protests in downtown Seattle brought the WTO conference to a standstill.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1956–69: Seattleites Stand Up for Racial Justice

The region’s civil rights movement relied not only on African Americans, but activists from many ethnic groups.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1935–42: Locals Protest Anti-Interracial Marriage Laws and Japanese Internment

The only known newspaper to have decried internment policies in the area, maybe even the West Coast, was Bainbridge Island Review.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1917–24: Seattle’s Anti-WWI Women and the General Strike Make News Worldwide

Plus: Washington voters reject the Ku Klux Klan.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

Shade Index

7 Ways 2018 Will Be Better Than 2017

Call us incurable optimists, but the new year has to be an improvement on the past 12 months. Here’s what has us excited about kissing 2017 goodbye.

11/21/2017 By Seattle Met Staff

100 Years of Activism

2015–17: Kayaktivists Confront Big Oil and Washington Confronts Trump

To be continued.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

2012–14: Seattle Pushes for Legal Weed and a $15 Minimum Wage

And paved the way for dozens of other cities and states that have since followed suit.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1991: PNW Riot Grrrls Stage a Revolution

Northwest bands like Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney and Bratmobile pioneered feminism’s third wave.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1982–84: The Trident Nuclear Submarine; Grassroots HIV Care

Plus, an occupation at Colman Elementary leads the way for the Northwest African American Museum.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1970: Anti-Vietnam Protests Break Out—But the Dude Abides

Plus, protests at Fort Lawton make way for the Day Break Star Indian Cultural Center.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1968: Birdwatchers and Mountaineers Defend the Wilderness

“They were then the fightingest and scrappiest outfit around.”

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1953: Filipino Cannery Workers Strike

During the McCarthy era, workers stood up to the Red Scare by refusing to bar Communists in union leadership roles.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

100 Years of Activism

1931: Unemployed Citizens Erect Hooverville

Pictured: Seattle’s Hooverville, as seen in March 1933, settled near where the Seahawks and Mariners stadiums stand now.

11/21/2017 By Madeline Ostrander and Valerie Schloredt

X-Mas Files

As Christmas Goes Corporate, Old-School Santas Are Getting Left Behind

“A company will hire a Santa that’s 18, 19 years old...he has to wear a fake beard, and has no experience, and sits there half asleep.”

11/20/2017 By Emily Alhadeff

Feature

How 'Real Change' Changes Lives

Some 300 people take to the Seattle streets and suburbs to sell Real Change, the weekly homelessness, poverty, and social justice newspaper. They endure wet weather, indifference, and rejection—lots of rejection. Here’s why they still press on.

11/20/2017 By Brooke Jarvis

Instagram Spotlight

Reader's Lens: December 2017

Each month we choose a photo from Seattle's Instagram community to highlight in our print issue and online. (Tag #seattlemet in your posts for a chance to be featured!)

11/20/2017 By Seattle Met Staff

Black Hole Fun

How Nobel-Winning LIGO Lab Detects Gravitational Waves

The LIGO Hanford facility was part of a breakthrough discovery that won the Nobel Prize in October after scientists “heard” ripples in space-time. This isn’t science fiction, though—it’s a cosmic thriller.

11/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Snap Judgment

Should Seattleites Be Allowed to Grow Their Own Marijuana?

Washington’s weed industry is growing like one, but the state bans some users from cultivating it at home. By December, the Liquor and Cannabis Board will recommend whether to change the law.

11/20/2017 By Jaime Archer

Quote Unquote

Is Jay Inslee Ready for the Other Washington?

He won’t say if he’s running for POTUS 2020, but our governor will fight Trump to the finish.

11/20/2017 By Jessica Voelker

License to Speak Ill

Should Seattle Defend Kshama Sawant?

Lawyers fear the defamation lawsuits against the council member could stifle free speech.

11/20/2017 By Hayat Norimine

On The Rocks

Neighborhood in Flux: How Belltown Is Dealing with Its Growing Pains

Wedged between the Space Needle and Pike Place Market, this Seattle neighborhood is a gritty, historic icon of its own. And the community is fighting to keep it that way.

11/20/2017 By Rosin Saez

Lost in Transit

Seattle Has 'Transit Deserts' and—Surprise—It's No Fun to Ride the Bus There

As the city's public transportation system expands, its most vulnerable riders are getting left behind.

11/20/2017 By Hayat Norimine

Style & Shopping

Elements of Style

Prairie Underground Outfits the Outsiders

Resistance is a part of this company's very fibers.

11/20/2017 By Rosin Saez

Travel & Outdoors

Road Trip

How to Find Peace and Quiet in a Whistler That’s Bigger Than Ever

Under new Vail Resorts ownership, North America’s biggest ski mountain isn’t getting any smaller. But it does have some pockets of serenity.

11/20/2017 By Allison Williams