The city of Seattle announced that it would turn a fire station into a community center for black residents after weeks of protests.
The city announced on Thursday that it would be turning over ownership of the fire station to the community in line with a list of demands given to the city from Africatown and other black activist groups.
“We at the City of Seattle understand the urgency behind making bold investments in the Black community and increasing community ownership of land in the Central District,” the city wrote. “The City believes in the vision behind the William Grose Center for Cultural Innovation and we remain committed to making the transfer of Fire Station 6 to the community a reality.”
“We have received Africatown’s list of community requests along with a longer list of asks from other black-led organizations. Deputy Mayor Shefali Ranganathan has already met with the King County Equity Now coalition and, on behalf of Mayor Durkan, she will be working with Seattle Department of Neighborhoods and Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development to work on next steps with the community,” it added.
City of Seattle will transfer Fire Station 6 to community. We understand the urgency behind making bold investments in the Black community and increasing community ownership of land in the Central District. https://t.co/55sPsmDxVJ
— Seattle Department of Neighborhoods (@SeaNeighborhood) June 12, 2020
Africatown is a Seattle-based group that aims to obtain “community ownership of land in the Central District that can support the cultural and economic thriving of people who are part of the African diaspora in the Greater Seattle region.”
The decision to change the fire station into a black community center follows days of protests against racial injustice and police brutality triggered by the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes during an arrest.
Protests in Seattle have been raging for weeks. Protesters gained control of a six-block section of the city surrounding a police precinct, which they have started to call the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. CHAZ has become a police-free city of sorts that even features a sign that reads “now leaving the USA” at its entry point.
CHAZ does have the support of some city leaders, including Councilwoman Kshama Sawant, who believes the precinct should be turned over to the protesters permanently.
