civil rights

  • Where Is Dr. King Living Today?

    Where Is Dr. King Living Today?

    At the start of every year, we celebrate the life and achievements of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Although his life on Earth ended in 1968, his words and deeds inspired many people to carry on his life’s work right up to this very day. For your own inspiration, here are some of their stories… Continue reading

  • Local Heroes in Black History, Part Two

    Continuing on our tour of landmarks named for local Black heroes, here are just a few historical figures who should be household names in Seattle. Perhaps you’ve noticed new activity in the old fire station at 23rd and Yesler, across the street from the Douglass-Truth Branch Library. In 2020, the space was re-dedicated as the… Continue reading

  • Black History in Fiction

    Each February, many readers come to the library to check out the latest titles on Black history. Don’t read history books? No worries! Whether you enjoy historical or literary fiction, thrillers or fantasy, romance or mysteries, here are some recent books that immerse us in the lived experiences of Black Americans throughout our history. By… Continue reading

  • Take a walk with MLK Jr. this Monday

    Take a walk with MLK Jr. this Monday

    Last year around this time, as folks surfing wave after pandemic wave faced a difficult decision of whether to gather together on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we suggested for those staying home a streamable festival of films about MLK and the fight for Civil Rights. Now that more of us are feeling comfortable out… Continue reading

  • A History of Seattle Police: Part 2, East Precinct – Controversy from the Start

    A History of Seattle Police: Part 2, East Precinct – Controversy from the Start

    Content Warning: This post links to an historical newspaper article that uses the term “homosexuals,” which is an outdated term used to characterize gay people as having a psychological disorder. In response to local interest on the history of policing in Seattle and community-driven police reform movements, Shelf Talk presents a three-part series that dives… Continue reading

  • A History of Seattle Police: Part 1, Accountability

    A History of Seattle Police: Part 1, Accountability

    Recent events have again highlighted long standing discussions on public safety, the appropriate use of force, the goals and mission of police forces, and accountability to the public, among related topics. In Seattle, how have these conversations changed over time, and what lessons might we find in the past to provide direction and shape public… Continue reading

  • Never Again: Japanese American WWII History and American Muslim Rights Today

    Seventy-five years ago, approximately 7,000 Seattleites were ordered by the U.S. military to leave their homes and sent to incarceration camps. Most ended up at desolate Minidoka in southern Idaho. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, signed on February 19, 1942, two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, forcibly evacuated 120,000 Japanese Americans… Continue reading

  • Civil Rights in the 1940s: When Seattle began to grow up

    The 1940’s were times of change for Seattle, as the world war and social pressures associated with it brought the beginnings of maturity to the city. Seattle’s African American citizens experienced much of this change directly. Populations from the south, and elsewhere in the country, were drawn to better-paying war work in Seattle and brought cultural… Continue reading

  • At the River I Stand screening at the Douglass-Truth Branch

    At the River I Stand, a film detailing the strike of Memphis sanitation workers in 1968 will be screened at Douglass-Truth Branch in the Gayton Family Meeting Room on May 16, 2013 at 6:30 PM. King went to Memphis to support and advise the strike, and there he lost his life. Continue reading

  • Seattle in Black and White

    Seattle has a reputation as a progressive, tolerant city, but as recently as the 1960s, racist laws and practices made Seattle a very unequal place to live. The University of Washington’s Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project has uncovered restrictive covenants—prohibiting the sale or rental of property to members of specified racial or ethnic… Continue reading