I live in Capitol Hill in Seattle, a few blocks from CHAZ/CHOP, and these accounts felt very true to my own experience of reading about the protests vs actually experiencing it. There was so much talk about the very tragic shooting that happened there which finally caused the city to shut it down, but all I could think about was the viol…
I live in Capitol Hill in Seattle, a few blocks from CHAZ/CHOP, and these accounts felt very true to my own experience of reading about the protests vs actually experiencing it. There was so much talk about the very tragic shooting that happened there which finally caused the city to shut it down, but all I could think about was the violence that happens every year in Capitol Hill and the Central District, Seattle’s historically black neighborhood (which borders Capitol Hill directly) and how the shootings and stabbings that happen every year in the Cal Anderson and in the CD are virtually ignored by everyone who doesn’t live here.
In July, a teenager was shot and murdered a few blocks from my apartment, same as happens almost every year. But it wasn’t at the protests, so who cares? None of my rural relatives emailed me in concern - no one even knew it happened. Last year, in May, another young black man was shot to death outside the neighborhood bodega down the street from my apartment, less than a ten minute walk from CHOP. Again, no one talks about that terrible incidence of gun violence, and it barely even made local news, but I still see the memorial flowers left in his honor there by his devastated family and friends every time I go for a walk. Yet a shooting happens at a protest, and it’s national news. I understand why that is, but it doesn’t make it right.
Personally, I never felt unsafe in downtown Capitol Hill, except when I saw the cops in riot gear patrolling the streets.
I'm another Capitol Hellion, and when my parents asked me years ago, if I ever felt uncomfortable living in the big city (I'm from Alaska), my answer was "I've always felt safe around my neighbors, but let me tell you about the cops, they scare me."
I live in Capitol Hill in Seattle, a few blocks from CHAZ/CHOP, and these accounts felt very true to my own experience of reading about the protests vs actually experiencing it. There was so much talk about the very tragic shooting that happened there which finally caused the city to shut it down, but all I could think about was the violence that happens every year in Capitol Hill and the Central District, Seattle’s historically black neighborhood (which borders Capitol Hill directly) and how the shootings and stabbings that happen every year in the Cal Anderson and in the CD are virtually ignored by everyone who doesn’t live here.
In July, a teenager was shot and murdered a few blocks from my apartment, same as happens almost every year. But it wasn’t at the protests, so who cares? None of my rural relatives emailed me in concern - no one even knew it happened. Last year, in May, another young black man was shot to death outside the neighborhood bodega down the street from my apartment, less than a ten minute walk from CHOP. Again, no one talks about that terrible incidence of gun violence, and it barely even made local news, but I still see the memorial flowers left in his honor there by his devastated family and friends every time I go for a walk. Yet a shooting happens at a protest, and it’s national news. I understand why that is, but it doesn’t make it right.
Personally, I never felt unsafe in downtown Capitol Hill, except when I saw the cops in riot gear patrolling the streets.
I'm another Capitol Hellion, and when my parents asked me years ago, if I ever felt uncomfortable living in the big city (I'm from Alaska), my answer was "I've always felt safe around my neighbors, but let me tell you about the cops, they scare me."