Shelf Life Community Story Project
Amplifying community voices, learning from neighborhood stories, and interrupting narratives of erasure in Seattle's Central District.
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Brown People Everywhere

Photo by Jill Freidberg

Photo by Jill Freidberg

Lulu Miles

A neighborhood tradition that I remember is the Black Community Festival that took place down on MLK. And it was HUGE, and it was just like where you couldn't see across the street. It was just packed, I'm talking hundreds of people, and I'm not being dramatic. It was just...brown people everywhere. It was just family. It was just comfortable and just so fun. I remember one year I was in it, and it was just cool to throw the candy and waving at the people that you know. That's what I miss a lot. But that's dissipated over the years. I went, I think it was, two years ago, and I was just like, "Oh my god." It was horrible. It was just horrible. It just didn't seem, well because first of all we're not here anymore. So a lot of us didn't really participate. It's just, you feel out of place now. Whereas before it's just like, "Wow, this is the only neighborhood that I really know." But not it's not.