Lessons from Venezuela: Working Class Solidarity vs. Imperialist Violence
Rae Lee is a regular at my workplace, a friend of a friend, and an anti-imperialist organizer. Given the US’ January attack on Venezuela’s sovereignty, I became curious about Rae’s recent trip there in early December, convened by Simón Bolivar Institute for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples.
Age Verification HB-2112: Who Will it Truly Protect?
HB-2112, or the “Keep Our Children Safe Act,” is currently in committee in the Washington State House of Representatives. Its stated mission is “establishing an age minimum to access certain adult content online.” This argument certainly makes a lot of sense in the abstract. After all, we have age restrictions for adult stores and entertainment venues. Still, it is less the intent and more the execution of these laws that makes them so dangerous.
Haunted Burrow Books Cultivates Local Creative Literary Community
The inside of the shop is tranquil, and yes: there are a lot of horror books! And not just from big-name authors— Haunted Burrow Books makes an effort to lift up voices from smaller presses and places special emphasis on local authors and artists. But don’t worry: If horror isn’t your jam, there are other offerings as well, especially in mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy.
Solidarity Power: Strikes Gain Momentum as Leaders Fail Us
Over the past decade, the means of resistance and the analysis and knowledge behind it has visibly shifted. Instead of posting a black box on social media to project discontent, US-ians have learned to hit their targets where it hurts—in their wallets. We are riding the tailwinds of 2023’s Hot Labor Summer, advancing in the momentum of the BDS movement, and recalling the effectiveness of the Tesla Takedown. We are witnessing the rebirth of a generalized United States labor movement.
Letter from the Editor
Friends and Comrades,
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Resistance. What it means, what it looks like, and how it sticks. What is its staying power? What keeps it going?
Queer Up-and-Comer Alise Garcia Chats Lezztalkaboutit’s Accessible Events
Back in November, I had the privilege of covering the Performative Femme Contest hosted by Alise Garcia of Lezztalkaboutit. It was a stunning display of Queer community. Recently, Alise and I met up for coffee to discuss the purpose of Lezztalkaboutit and what she has in store for the future. We also discussed the importance of community and what it takes to build one.
An Ode to the Occidental Square Ice Rink
There was one person doing laps around the rink with speed and grace and not falling on her back every three steps like the rest of us. I jealously wondered if she had brought her own skates, and if the blades had been sharpened, unlike our dull footwear. Someone told me that this is what professional figure skaters train on, which confused me even more. Because HOW??
What Does Accountability Really Mean?
The word “accountability” seems impossible to avoid for anyone paying attention. Repeatedly, people with power abuse their position. Repeatedly, communities clamor for accountability, a just outcome for all affected persons, and satisfying solutions that will excise the rot from which harm festers and breeds. It is difficult not to feel disillusioned by the usual wishy-washy or dismissive responses, feigned ignorance, and lack of material progress in terms of repairing harm and promoting safety. How are we supposed to hold people accountable, so to speak, if they won’t take accountability?
Twin Peaks: The Return Offers Meditation on Grief, Feeling Life in the Moment
Two days after the dream, I entered a darkly lit theater in Northwest Film Forum to the familiar sound of the synth-heavy, nostalgic yet eerie Twin Peaks theme song, and shuffled into a seat. I was about to spend two hours watching episodes five and six of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), as part of a collaborative screening of the entire 18-episode season held by Northwest Film Forum, SIFF, The Beacon, and The Grand Illusion Cinema between November 13 and December 16 of this year. I had only watched the first four episodes of the first season of David Lynch’s masterpiece series set in our home state. But there I sat, going in blind.
Performative Femme Contest: Uplifting Our Queers on a Dime (and More to Come)
Each femme featured their own unique prop or presentation. Some read Queer theory, some read Sappho, and some read two books at once. The queens who weren’t reading were reapplying their makeup, doing the splits, singing Chappell Roan, or giving flowers out to the crowd. To gain their favor, contestants would flirt with the audience through notes, suggestive gestures, handfed strawberries, and at one point a collar-and-leash lead.
Food Security is Food Justice (and a Climate Solution)
“People on food stamps are lazy!” A phrase I and many others have heard too often. In the summer of 2019, I was in my 2nd year at the Seattle Aquarium, managing a little over 400 community partnerships, serving on several boards and committees, and I had just become the newest member of the Washington State Environmental Justice Task Force.
I was also on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. Food stamps.
Under the Covers
You wake up in hazy, hot darkness beneath your comforter. There is a sound coming from somewhere in your room. It is the sound of a foot, shifting positions. It is soft, but heavy, as if someone tall is trying not to make any noise. You go through your list. Your roommate. But he is gone until Tuesday, and it’s Sunday. And why would he come into your room unless it was an emergency. Your girlfriend, but you saw her last night at her place and then left. Sometimes she comes here to shower after the gym, which could be it. Very quietly, you turn your wrist towards your face. It glows green, illuminating the time: 3:32 a.m. So yeah. Your girlfriend would not be coming from the gym at this time.
Announcing: The Echo is The Gregorys’ Media Sponsor!
This past year has been a time of wonderfully huge growth for our li’l publication that could. We’ve taken our first steps from the online woods into the public eye around town, and we couldn’t be happier with our trajectory as the new year approaches. We’re immensely grateful to everyone who’s come along with us on the journey and helped us reveal our creative natures via support and readership.
As such, it is with great pride that we announce that The Echo is the media sponsor for The Gregorys!
The Baroness
The rain fell hard as the moon hung in the obsidian sky like a chandelier. Bramble Manor stood resolute over the dark village of Black Brier. The village, founded on partial truths and gossip, sat at the edge of the cloaked woods surrounding it like a crescent. The only way to leave was down an unkept dirt road through an opening in the black woods.
The Rotten Luck of Melinoë
It was just plain rotten luck, or perhaps some cruel twist of fate, that Melinoë, the goddess of nightmares, had plenty of nightmares of her own.
Nightmares of smooth scales and winding bodies pulled flush against her own. Serpents, snakes. They curled around her shoulders, tangled in her hair, corkscrewed around her wrists and ankles. They pulled taut, slithered, and writhed, covered her mouth, her eyes, her ears. And she woke up gasping.
HUMP! Redefines Community with Humans’ Most Basic Instinct
On The Boards hosted the “pervs” of Seattle for part two of its 20th anniversary year. Submissions from all over the world to our backyards were carefully curated down to a selection of erotic short films that have a little bit of everything for everybody. And at least one thing that expands your mind to possibilities previously unthought of.
Masterful Morgue Anne Spills Rendezvous Tea, Urges Support for Displaced Performers
Over the past decade, Morgue Anne has forged a creative home at The Rendezvous, a historic venue in the heart of Belltown, where, until a few weeks ago, you could see everything from live music, to comedy shows, public figure drawing sessions, burlesque performances, and beyond. “I’ve been working at the Rendezvous in one way or another for the last ten years or so. I’ve been the events and booking director for the past three years,” she said. But her experience goes beyond just booking the shows:
Letter from The Editor
I joined The Echo because I see the same spark and desire in everyone who creates with us. When one of our writers interviews someone with important, silly, or beautiful things to say about their work or life, we all shine. When another writer pours their thoughts and emotions into a piece of narrative or poetry, someone’s cup is filled for the day. Or when still another Creative captures a salient scene with their camera, Truth regains a beacon.
Federal Cuts to Public Media May Bring Devastating Consequences
The true value in community media is in the way it forges local connection and identity, providing spaces for diverse voices—something that is often lost in conglomerate media, who tend to cite the same sources (often one another), parrot the same talking points, and create an overwhelming agenda on behalf of their owners or investors.
Friday Afternoon Tea an Inclusive Respite for All Communities
I closed out Pride Month by attending the fabulous and charming Queer Talent Show at Friday Afternoon Tea in Wallingford. This Queer and woman-owned business is a wonderful location with kind and knowledgeable staff, and their get-together for the end of Pride was cozy, loving, and all-around magical. Owned by the amazing Friday Elliott, Friday Afternoon Tea is quite simply the place to be.
