On April 25, 2019 the Washington Fair Trade Coalition sent the following letter to the Seattle City Council in support of the Resolution from my office demanding President Biden end the U.S. policy of opposing the international campaign to get the Word Trade Organization to waive the intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines, so that […]

“It is a testament to the power of mass action with multiracial, working-class solidarity. All credit goes to the rank-and-file activists in the Black Lives Matter movement for this victory.”  Press release – April 20, 2021 SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), chair of the Council’s Sustainability and Renters Rights Committee, sent […]

Dear Friends, This morning I want to share with you a heartwarming and inspiring story from nearly 7 years ago. It’s about how East African immigrant single-mom tenants of public housing got organized with their fellow tenants and defeated an attempt to increase their rents by 400 percent over six years!  Ironically, though, I was reminded of […]

Wednesday April 14, 2021 Dear Mayor Durkan, I was disappointed to see your response to the valid community concerns about your planned sweep of homeless people sheltering in Miller Park this Friday, April 16. Both the response from your office (below) and from the Human Services Department (HSD) under your direction, ignore the demands of […]

April 8, 2021 Dear Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seattle Human Services Department Interim Director Helen Howell, I am writing to ask what steps have been taken to make hotel rooms, tiny houses, and permanent supportive housing available to the community members currently sheltering in Miller Playfield, and to urge you to rapidly expand Seattle’s tiny […]

The Covid-19 pandemic has made the need to protect school children, their families and educators from the devastation of eviction, and the negative ripple effect throughout the entire community, all the more urgent. Below is a link to draft legislation “prohibiting evictions of children, their families, and educators during the school year” which I will […]

NEWS RELEASE March 23, 2021 ‘Renters’ movements will need to go up against powerful corporate landlords and the political establishment. Just this week, a Democrat-dominated State Legislature created serious loopholes in basic tenant rights bills.’ SEATTLE – Vowing to push back against the continued drive by corporate landlords and the political establishment to limit renters’ […]

We need at least a hundred buildings like the Clay, the Liberty Bank Building, and other community-controlled affordable housing. So as we celebrate this morning, I also urge the residents of the Clay and all community members to join with our movement to fight for an expansion of the Amazon tax, which we won last […]

Solidarity and congratulations to UFCW and grocery store workers who won a victory this week as a Federal Judge struck down the completely spurious lawsuit brought by massive grocery store chains against workers receiving hazard pay in the middle of a historic pandemic. Solidarity with all essential and front line workers, all of whom deserve […]

Socialist Alternative and I, like so many community members, are horrified by the murders of 8 people, including 6 Asian-American working-class women, in Atlanta last night. Condolences and solidarity to the grieving family members and friends. It is vital that we all stand with our Asian American neighbors against the spiking hate crimes happening across […]