seattle
Battle royal: Exclusive interview with David Solnit reflecting on 10 years post-Seattle
The Battle of the Story of the Battle of Seattle
(AK Press,
2009;
$12.00)
On Nov. 30, the 10th anniversary of the Battle of Seattle we spoke to organizer David Solnit about his new book compiling stories and evaluations of the success of the protest in Seattle. Solnit discusses the negative messaging in the mainstream media during and after the Battle of Seattle and how activists need to control their messaging.
Solnit also speaks about building a sustainable movement. After Seattle activists moved on to other projects and didn't evaluate the successes and failures of the Battle. 10 years later activist movements are combating crimes against the climate and need to learn from and build on these successes.
Red Seattle: A travelogue
An old episode of Frasier, the television comedy set in Seattle, focuses on an impending strike at the fictional radio station where Frasier works as an on-air psychiatrist. Whether the script writers knew it or not, they were tapping into the radical history of a city that has the dubious or proud distinction of being the location of the first general strike in American history. And that's not all.
In a recent visit to the compact west-coast city about two hours south of Vancouver as the Nexus card let's you fly, er, drive, I uncovered numerous examples of Seattle's connections to the labour movement, indigenous struggles for survival and the haunting licks of Jimi Hendrix's weeping guitar. It was a visit full of eye-opening surprises.