Race and Equity

More than a month after a man died at an immigrant detention center in Tacoma, federal officials released a report, as required by Congress. The report lacked one key detail: a cause of death. The UW's Phil Neff, project coordinator at the Center for Human Rights, and Angelina Godoy, professor of both international studies and law, societies and justice and the director of the Center for Human Rights, are mentioned.

Like many little girls, a young Kristi Yamaguchi loved playing with Barbie. With a schedule packed with ice skating practices, her Barbie dolls became her “best friends.” So, it’s surreal for the decorated Olympian figure skater to now be a Barbie girl herself. Sapna Cheryan, professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

“3 Body Problem,” a Netflix adaptation of the popular Chinese sci-fi novel by the same name, is causing controversy in China for its depiction of the Cultural Revolution. How do the Chinese people see this crucial period of their history? Madeleine Dong, professor of history at the UW, is interviewed.

You are voting for the first time. Your ballot arrives. But you can’t read it. The text is too small. And when you come to the candidates’ names, they look something like this: T *&%$@(“&^, T>>%@)%|\^^. Such was the experience—more or less—of many older residents of the Chinatown International-District (CID) before the Nov. 2023 elections, according to multiple organizations sponsoring a get-out-the vote event. Connie So, teaching professor of American ethnic studies at the UW, is quoted.

A man who died last week at one of the nation’s biggest immigrant detention centers, located in Tacoma, had been held in solitary confinement for more than three years and possibly almost four, according to federal data analyzed by the UW’s Center for Human Rights. Angelina Godoy, professor of law, societies and justice and of international studies, as well as director of the Center for Human Rights at the UW, is quoted.

Living in a neighborhood with greater poverty in adulthood is tied to lower ovarian reserve, according to a study published online March 5 in Menopause. Anwesha Pan, a doctoral student of anthropology at the UW, is mentioned.

Five local Native American artists and cultural workers shared their feelings about how Lily Gladstone’s Oscar nomination blazes a new path for Indigenous creatives as well as the racist tropes still targeting Native Americans in the media. Charlotte Coté, professor of American Indian studies, is interviewed.

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of HistoryLink.org, Pacific NW Magazine lists 10 key events in Seattle's history. Harold Tobin, professor of Earth and space sciences, and Josh Reid, associate professor of American Indian studies at the UW, are quoted, and the founding of the UW Black Student Union is mentioned.

Many terms in the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) field are frequently used but rarely understood fully. A 10 part video series, entitled “On Our Terms,” was released by the Burke Museum, aiming to reflect on these DEAI terms and offer community-based definitions.

A new study led by researchers at the UW and Northwestern University found about 80% of parents spoke to their children about the Black Lives Matter movement within a year of the murder of George Floyd. Andrew Meltzoff, professor of psychology and co-director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, is quoted.

"Native-led organizations have fought to have the Kansas City team’s name changed for years," writes columnist Naomi Ishisaka. Iisaaksiichaa Ross Braine, teaching faculty in American Indian Studies at the UW, is quoted.

The Seattle Art Museum will remove five Native American cultural items from public view, a spokesperson said Thursday. The museum said the items are all of Tlingit origin, a group Indigenous to what is now Southeast Alaska. They include three headdresses, a dagger and a staff. The UW's Justice McNeeley, repatriation coordinator and assistant registrar at the Burke Museum; and Sara Gonzalez, associate professor of anthropology and curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum, are quoted.

Identity Unboxed, a podcast created by alums Tiana Cole and Brad Blackburn III, explores the experiences of Black professionals in the Seattle area.

For several months between the fall of 2022 and the spring of 2023, two or three researchers at the UW headed to the Puget Sound Regional Archives in Bellevue and spent each Friday digging into Kitsap County deed books — specifically, around 300 bound volumes and 520 documents between 1921 and 1948. The purpose was to identify and map neighborhoods marked by racist deed provisions and restrictive covenants across the state before 1968. Sophia Dowling, project coordinator with the UW Racial Restrictive Covenants Project, is quoted, and team members Erin Miller and Samantha Cutts are mentioned.

In her book “Grandmothering While Black: A Twenty-First Century Story of Love, Coercion and Survival,” LaShawnDa Pittman, associate professor of American ethnic studies at the UW, plumbs the nuances of the role of contemporary Black grandmothers in today’s landscape.