Life On The Margins

From Washington D.C. to Olympia, Washington, white nationalist groups such as the Proud Boys have been protesting, often violently, the election of Joe Biden as president. New York Times best-selling author Ijeoma Oluo says their actions have long been a part of America’s white male culture. In her new book Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, Oluo writes that “white manhood is on a suicide mission.” Oluo says “it is our job to pull these men and this country they are so willing to take with them, back from the precipice” We talk with Oluo about the history of white male dominance in America along with why and how it must change in this episode of Life on the Margins

We examine the results of Election 2020 from the extremely tight Presidential race, the divisions in America today as well as state races of note.

Two recent shootings in Seattle’s Rainier Beach community left two people dead and eight injured. Unfortunately, it reflects the growing gun violence problem in Seattle, King County and numerous other major cities in America. Too often, the victims are young men of color. At a time when police accountability has become a major issue, what can be done to curb the violence. Are community-based efforts where a difference can be made? What can be done to stop the gunfire?

The shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin sparked fear, anger, protests, and walkouts in the professional sports world. We talk with New York Times writer Kurt Streeter, a Seattle resident, whose Sports of the Times column examines how the walkouts set a new high bar for protests in professional sports as African American athletes and their allies are demanding racial justice.

In this bonus episode Erica C. Barnett shares how her journey through addiction led her to writing her new book Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery.

The killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed added momentum to a growing movement across the nation calling for police departments to be defunded. In our "LIVE" season 1 finale one of our guests, Ijeoma Oluo, author of the best-selling book, So You Want to Talk About Race, gave an excellent explanation of why she thinks the police department should be defunded. Shortly afterwards, we decided to put together a three-part series with the Seattle Chief of Police Carmen Best, TraeAnna Holiday a community organizer with the King County Equity Now Coalition, and Seattle City Council President Lorena Gonzalez, to hear all sides of this debate.

Part Three :

On this episode, Seattle City Council President Lorena Gonzalez reacts to the surprising retirement announcement of Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best. Gonzalez also talks about the recent council vote to cut the police department budget, the chief’s opposition to the cuts, and the council’s move to re-imagine policing in Seattle

The killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed added momentum to a growing movement across the nation calling for police departments to be defunded. In our "LIVE" season 1 finale one of our guests, Ijeoma Oluo, author of the best-selling book, So You Want to Talk About Race, gave an excellent explanation of why she thinks the police department should be defunded. Shortly afterwards, we decided to put together a three-part series with the Seattle Chief of Police Carmen Best, a city council member, and a TraeAnna Holiday a community organizer with the King County Equity Now Coalition to hear all sides of this debate.

Part Two :

On this episode, TraeAnna Holiday explains the history, background, and holistic approach that King County Equity Coalition is calling for through the Defund SPD movement. Trae highlights that this movement didn't happen overnight and has been the work of multiple community members and organizations over the years.

The killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed added momentum to a growing movement across the nation calling for police departments to be defunded. In our "LIVE" season 1 finale one of our guests, Ijeoma Oluo, author of the best-selling book, So You Want to Talk About Race, gave an excellent explanation of why she thinks the police department should be defunded. Shortly afterwards, we decided to put together a three-part series with the Seattle Chief of Police Carmen Best, a city council member, and a community activist to hear all sides of this debate.

Part One :

On this episode, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best explains her opposition to the defund movment as well as her thoughts on re-imagining policing in Seattle. We also talk about her decisions during the protests downtown and on Capitol Hill, the abandoning the East precinct and her thoughts on the racial justice movement.

To conclude this episode, Erica C. Barnett provides analysis of our interview with Chief Best and highlights some of the complexity currently being dealt with at City Hall.

Patty Murray is Washington’s senior U.S. Senator. She has been serving in the U.S. Senate since 1993. As the nation has been hit hard by two pandemics, Covid-19 and racism, Senator Murray tells Life on the Margin’s co-host Marcus Harrison Green that she has been re-assessing her leadership and thinking about racial disparities in the nation today.

As we mark July 4th and celebrate our nation’s independence, the state of our union is in flux.  Communities of color have been hit hard by the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, a public health and economic crisis. There is a generational shift in the fight against racism and in support of police accountability. It is an election year with the presidency and the direction of country on the line. And yet, there is hope that our democracy will still prevail as we long for better days.

On this special “live” edition of Life on the Margins from Town Hall

Seattle, we examine the challenges and opportunities for we the

people in this turbulent time. We examine the public health racial

disparities revealed by the coronavirus crisis as well as a confounding political debate over wearing a mask to curb the spread of the virus. We also look at race and the Black Lives Matter movement as we come to grips with a pandemic of racism, America’s original sin.