Black History Today: Kitisha Jones, carrying a legacy of servant leadership

Black History Today: Kitisha Jones, carrying a legacy of servant leadership

Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and recognizes the people among us who are boldly shaping the future. The long-running series has continued to grow and now lives as an exhibit at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle.

Read More

Black History Today: Levi and Aaron, unapologetic and brilliant expressions of love

Black History Today: Levi and Aaron, unapologetic and brilliant expressions of love

Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and recognizes the people among us who are boldly shaping the future. The long-running series has continued to grow and now lives as an exhibit at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle.

Read More

Black History Today: Dr. Joshua Dawson, next-generation healer and community leader

Black History Today: Dr. Joshua Dawson, next-generation healer and community leader

Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and recognizes the people among us who are boldly shaping the future. The long-running series has continued to grow and now lives as an exhibit at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle.

Read More

Black History Today: Najee Ladd-Ali, dynamic community leader and spiritual explorer

Black History Today: Najee Ladd-Ali, dynamic community leader and spiritual explorer

Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and recognizes the people among us who are boldly shaping the future. The long-running series has continued to grow and now lives as an exhibit at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle.

Read More

Black History Today: Kadin Coleman, beloved young leader with the wisdom of an old soul

Black History Today: Kadin Coleman, beloved young leader with the wisdom of an old soul

Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and recognizes the people among us who are boldly shaping the future. The long-running series has continued to grow and now lives as an exhibit at the Northwest African American Museum in Seattle.

Read More

Laying Bare the Must-Ignore List

It used to be each day the sun
Just rose up in the sky
And after arcing gracefully
Just fell back down at night
But slowly we’ve replaced our lives
With numbers signifying
Every moment, every breath
The judgment magnifying
Till without ever really trying
We'd digitized in code
Every second of our lives
A dam where time once flowed
A burned-out car to block the road
But we don’t notice we’re confined
What’s yours is yours, what’s mine is mine
It messes with your mind
Fear will keep the local systems in line
Convinced that there’s not enough
Until we lilies of the field
Are twisted ‘round our neighbor’s trunk
Each groping for the sunlight hung
Like a carrot out before us
Hoarding, hating, guarding, waiting
Our anxious angel chorus
Before long our must-ignore list
Has grown several light-years long
And we’ve fully convinced ourselves
That nothing’s really wrong
So, I’ve annotated each complaint
In a format organized
To be quite quickly understood
By human and snake alike

Number 1:
Too many lies
That keep us all in prison
Birth to school to work to death
The dream of capitalism
(But far from honest living)

Number 2:
See Number 1

See?
It’s a flaw in the very system
Nothing within it to be done
We’ve been set up to run and run
And run and run and run
And run and run
And run
Until our days are done