With local elections upon us, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about the uprising of 2020 — or more specifically, about the daytime marches during the uprising of 2020.

People came out of the woodwork, both nationally and in the Seattle area, and many of these marchers were out there for the first time — feeling compelled for the first time to make a visible stand against racism and police violence.

But now, when it comes time to vote based on these new values, the packed streets look in retrospect like a mirage.

Were the marches really that meaningless? Was the anger really so momentary?