On June 12, farmworkers at King Fuji Ranch in Mattawa began a strike after reaching a tipping point of abuse. The Mattawa workers are here on H-2A visas, which are designed to bring agricultural workers from abroad when an employer expects a shortage of workers domestically. Most of the guest…
Works in Progress
A state that deprives some people of equal rights and privileges can not call itself an egalitarian, democratic state. Yet we’re taught that a commitment to equal rights and democracy is exactly what makes the United States “exceptional.” So the dissonance between the practices of exclusion that were defining aspects…
Reflections on community and contemplation: Ever since the attacks of September, 2001, we Americans have been subjected to a relentless barrage of news, analyses, studies, and reports about terrorism. In light of recent terrorist incidents in Europe as well as our homeland, we are tempted to conclude that Islam itself is somehow to blame...
As WIP is going to press, Ziegler and her team are completing the Lacey Food Bank community art project. Concrete is poured and the stencils described below to be incorporated into the sidewalk. Make time for a visit to the bank at 7027 Martin Way in July....
An independent entirely community-created entity: Do you ever “round up” for the Community Sustaining Fund (CSF) when making a purchase at the Olympia Food Co-op (OFC)? The spare change left when you round up to the next whole dollar, instead of jingling in your pocket, adds up to become sustaining fund grants, and an opportunity for social, environmental and economic justice projects....
The community we want to build: For all practical purposes we live in a society fixated on increasing the economic value of those who are already wealthy by decreasing the economic value of the other humans. The success of the first project requires the completion of the second: the two states are directly proportional to each other....