Seattle’s “CHAZ” 14-Jun-2020

I want to share some of what I saw and heard last Sunday afternoon and early evening on Seattle’s Capitol Hill in its “Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ), apparently since renamed CHOP for “.. Organized Protest”. (1)

Some may notice the high percentage of white folks. Many of them, like me, seemed to have taken the first decent weather day on a weekend to find out what the heck is really going on there. Yet a number of them made clear they were committed to promoting the seriousness of the issue for our culture at large.  That sentiment is exemplified by a poster that shows up in a couple of my videos to claim:

“IT IS NOT US HELPING THEM. WE ARE THEM!”

Several of my favorite stills (2 shared) show a TV camera crew in front of the boarded-up precinct headquarters as a tall, young white guy (in red and black shorts), whom I’d seen earnestly “working the crowd” near there (another video), was now making sure both sides of his sign made it into the news feed.

On one side it said:  
“WHY ARE YOU HERE? ARE YOU LEARNING?“.

On the other side:  
“THIS A PROTEST NOT A PARTY”.

As my shots move on in time, you’ll pick up more of the flavor of those who were staying over multiple days, a much more mixed crowd.  Note: my ‘voiceover’ in an early video misidentifies the SPD Precinct building. I was guessing at the time, but eventually corrected it in a later video when I found the real thing a block further up Pine, whose intersection with 11th street became the main stage for formal presentations and speeches.
The few videos capturing portions of speeches may carry the most important substance here – trying to express the goals of those closest to the organizational efforts.  It was significant to me that all the speakers I heard were women, in fact, women of color, although it’s clear from TV clips that men were speaking as well. The featured speaker in my videos is a bit more militant than I might recommend (should anyone want my opinion), but then again, I have not had her experience.
What is clear to me from what I saw and heard is that a whole lot of local folks of all colors, especially white, are taking this round of support for Black Lives Matter more seriously – and conscientiously – than in any other protest movement (since the 60’s) that I have witnessed personally. 

My shared albums:

1.  Selected videos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xcz2w1Jt1zFqvJ4F9

2.  Selected stills: https://photos.app.goo.gl/vGwsN88iJX89wtYa6
I‘d like to draw attn to the 7th and 8th still photos, to which I have added descriptions. They feature young white volunteers at work in booths:

• She’s actively collecting garbage (as were numerous others I saw during the day).  
• He’s actively trying to give away food to passers-by: “Here – Take the whole bag!”

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(1)  This local news story includes video footage shot the same day as my visit: https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/protests/seattle-capitol-hill-organized-protest-chop-chaz/281-5a47e1b9-b8b2-4a03-85be-7a32b8e56289