West Seattle Indivisible explores community-support opportunities, plans next demonstration
By Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
West Seattle Indivisible members gathered Sunday for the first time since last month’s second nationwide No Kings demonstration, and while plans for the next protest were part of the discussion, the most urgent topic was community support in a time of growing need.
More than 70 people showed up for Sunday’s meeting at the Center for Active Living in The Junction. Organizers Laurie Reinhardt and Amy Daly-Donovan said they saw this meeting as a sign of their movement’s growth and potential for more of it. “[We’re here to talk tonight about] how we can spread our tentacles, how we can grow and reach, in ways we aren’t able to do today.” said Reinhardt.
They began with a debrief of the second No Kings demonstration on October 18th, held in many locations, including here in West Seattle at The Junction. West Seattle Indivisible said its final count for the rally here was around 1,500 attendees, five times the number who gathered here the day of the first No Kings demonstration.
But mainly they looked toward the future. The biggest announcement for the night was that West Seattle Indivisible is tentatively planning a march for late January, roughly around the time of last year’s inauguration, on either January 17th or 24th. They plan to start around Hiawatha Playfield and proceed to The Junction. One planned feature, a member from the events-planning team said, is an artistic procession of signs: “We want to create 365 signs to embody this year, one for each day naming what we have lost, a display reminding us and the public that our grief is collective, and that these things we have lost are not gone forever, and we are fighting to keep them or fighting to get them back.” They are in talks this week to plan the event, including obtaining permits from the city.
Attendees also heard more immediate ways to take civic action to support neighbors in need.
Keith Hughes of the Westside Neighbors Shelter took the podium, speaking to the need for the shelter. “We are a [non-profit] organization, all of our support comes from this community, […] and a lot of people working at that level together makes a difference,” Hughes said. He said that the shelter had hosted 72 people the previous day, and that recently there has been a sharp increase in the amount of people the shelter has served, so donations to help cover the shelter’s costs are welcome.
Hughes closed his pitch with a somber anecdote relating to the shelter’s need increasing because of the fedeerak government shutdown: “I have right now six ladies coming to the shelter every morning for breakfast, in their late 50s and 60s. All of them are government employees who have been laid off [because of the shutdown]. […] The face of homelessness is changing, and it’s changing quickly. It’s not just drug addicts and alcoholics on the street – it’s people like you and me who have lost their job, and we need to stand up for them in these tough times.”
West Seattle Indivisible members also heard from Emily and Devon of the West Seattle Mutual Aid Party. “We are a mutual aid group, working out of the Highland Park neighborhood, with members all over West Seattle and White Center, helping to support unhoused neighbors. We provide [things like] food, water, hygiene items, survival supplies; we help fill in those gaps that aren’t being served by [public] programs.” Devon said. Emily added, “Even though we can’t change material circumstances overnight, we can make things a little safer.”
They said that people interested in the West Seattle Mutual Aid Party could attend one of two events they were hosting this week: their monthly arts and crafts night tomorrow (Tuesday, November 11), 4:30-8 PM at Southwest Library (9010 35th SW), and CPR/Overdose Response training on Wednesday the 12th at The Heron’s Nest (4818 Puget Way SW).
Kate, who described herself as a “recent Chicago transplant,” passed out small whistles to meeting attendees on behalf of the Washington Whistle Warriors. She said she was inspired to take up the cause after activists in Chicago recently used whistles as a way of communicating to neighbors and fellow officers that ICE officers were in the area. If you’d like to find out more about her organization, you can visit the Whistle Warriors’ page here.
The gathering also was intended to gather supplies for local food banks, particularly the West Seattle Food Bank and White Center Food Bank. “As we know, we’re in another precarious moment in the midst of the Trump Administration, where SNAP benefits are being threatened. But people have come to the table to contribute to local food banks and mutual aid efforts,” said Reinhardt. They planned to bring a large amount of donations from the meeting to WCFB this afternoon.
The group also talked about the importance of conversation. Group leaders said that between this meeting and the prior one, they held a challenge for each member to talk to at least ten other people about difficult political subjects. Many participated, and at least one member, Donna, said they’ll continue focusing on ways to engage others in conversation.
The organizers also passed out a flyer to all attendees with 13 actions members could take. Many of these actions reflected the same messages shared by the speakers of the night – donate to mutual-aid organizations and continue strengthening the organization. But they also emphasized that members should contact their representatives on political issues they care about, such as phoning congressional representatives, or participating in Postcards 4 Democracy.
Daly-Donovan also encouraged members to consider several other organizations for mutual-aid support, such as the Long Haul Kitchen, and for members to see the Mutual Aid Hub website for other local opportunities.
The meeting ended with a potluck, and more conversation.
