Seattle Parks and Recreation recently announced its intent to erase the Black Lives Memorial Garden in Cal Anderson Park, a move as cowardly as it is offensive, echoing a history of redlining and racial discrimination that persists in American institutions today.
Cal Anderson Park, named for the first openly gay member of the Washington State Legislature, itself holds a legacy of protest. Most recently, the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) found its home there during 2020 demonstrations against police brutality when a standoff with the East Precinct of the Seattle Police Department ended in the abandonment of the building.
Yet, despite complaints from some Capitol Hill residents and a failed mediation with the Parks department, who incidentally began and then abandoned a community dialogue about the garden in 2020, the Black Lives Memorial Garden has persisted. It has moved beyond an origin story symbolic of opportunity, joy, and resilience during a time of collective darkness. Now, the Black Lives Memorial Garden reminds us that Black, Indigenous, and People of Color in Seattle continue to be marginalized by a government that has so neglected their communities it cannot even recognize the incredible achievement of their resilience.
