The Northwest Cool Zone
The people have taken control the area around a police precinct in a major neighborhood in Seattle. What they've done there might give us a glimpse of a post-policing world
To a casual observer, Seattle might look like something dropped simultaneously out of fantasy and science fiction novels. It sits in the furthest corner of the contiguous States surrounded by mist and volcanoes. Its most famous buildings evoke feelings of a space station. It produced rock and roll hall of fame bands and the most interesting team in sports. I’m sure its residents are rolling their eyes at this introduction, but I’ve never been, so I’m going to stay in this bubble.
Seattle is also a city that’s tactically and politically important in the revolution. It was the home of one of the biggest anti-capitalist movements in my lifetime. Corporate innovators like Jeff Bezos and Howard Schultz use it as their home base for developing new ways to dump money into police tech and stupid new ways to buy groceries. And today, something remarkable is happening. Something that no major news outlet will report on until its too late. The people have control.
There’s a block party going on in the Capitol Hill Neighborhood. They’ve taken control of the area around the police precinct there and are doing everything from playing music to providing an incredible mutual aid and care network. It’s an incredible level of autonomous organizing that has gone so far as to trend on twitter.
But I don’t need to tell their story. They’re doing it themselves.
Read THE DEMANDS OF THE COLLECTIVE BLACK VOICES AT FREE CAPITOL HILL TO THE GOVERNMENT OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON via medium.com