Category Archives: Community Organization

The Sea/Tac Kiki ‘Ballroom Scene’: Bringing Kiki Ballroom to the PNW

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By: Jake, Lincoln, Ravyn, and Zoe

What is the Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene?

Kiki Balls are a tradition that dates back to the 1970s in New York City. In a world that discriminates against Queerness, Transness, and being Black and Brown–Leaders of the Kiki Community founded a movement that celebrates and awards these very identities.  The Sea/Tac Kiki ‘Ballroom Scene’ is a grassroots organization dedicated to bringing Kiki Ballroom culture to the Pacific Northwest. They are intent on providing a space for Black and Brown members of the LGBTQ2S+ community to come together and be authentically, creatively themselves. Those who do not identify with this community are welcome to join but the space is specifically intended for Queer Black and Brown people. The Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene was founded in February of 2019 by Rocky Jones and Chris Davis. Since its founding, it has been committed to providing consistent events, balls, and education to the wide Tacoma community. They have hosted a Kiki Ball every month since February, recruiting judges, DJs, and Houses from Oregon and Washington. They have also hosted weekly classes at the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (T.U.P.A.C) in Downtown Tacoma, WA as well as monthly “takeovers” as a casual spin on the traditional Ball. At these classes, students learn what it means to be a part of Ball culture and how to compete in the different categories of performance. One of the primary goals of this organization is to provide a space where Queer youth can go to express themselves among other like-minded people.

Promotion for a Kiki Ball hosted by the Sea/Tac Kiki ‘Ballroom Scene’.

Who are the founders of the Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene?

Rocky Jones (aka Eleekay Princeton) and Chris Davis (aka ChiChi Princeton) are the founder and co-founder of the ‘Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene.’ Rocky is the House Father of the House of Princeton, which he founded. Chris is the House Mother of the House of Princeton, and also works for the non-profit PCAF (Pierce County AIDS Foundation) for HIV healthcare. Together, they wanted to create a space for Queer People of Color within the Seattle/Tacoma community. Rocky moved to Tacoma from Maryland, where the Kiki Ballroom scene was more established. But even so, Rocky described the scene as “underground underground” because it was not widely publicized in Maryland’s mainstream culture. He was drawn to the openness and freedom of Ballrooms, describing it as love at first sight, but there were a few caveats. Rocky saw fault within the hierarchies of performers and the lack of welcome towards newcomers. When he first moved to Tacoma, there had previously been a Ballroom Scene in Seattle run by Jade Voterslang, but when Jade moved away, the community involvement dwindled. Rocky and Chris established the Sea/Tac Kiki ‘Ballroom Scene’ to fill this gap.

In an interview with Rocky and Chris, they describe the beginning stages of the scene. Chris wanted to start a Black Gay group to build community and have more spaces, so he reached to Rocky and started to hold meetings. The group then moved towards events, and with Rocky’s ballroom history, they decided to have a ball. Rocky said “A lot of people told me: ‘Rocky, you’re crazy. That will never happen here.’ But I’m a strong believer that if you stay consistent and really believe in what you want to do, you can make it a reality. I was not letting it down.”

Rocky and Chris both have a lot on their plates between parenting the House of Princeton, coordinating the Sea/Tac Kiki Scene as a whole, and managing their personal lives. Chris describes their work dynamic: “Rocky is the ideas, the big dreamer, I’m like the reality execute. We have the perfect balance.” Rocky responds, “One thing I like about Chris is that he doesn’t tell me ‘No,’ he’ll say ‘we’re not ready for that yet,’ or ‘we can’t afford it,’ or ‘we need to figure it out.’ With me dreaming big and him keeping me somewhat to a reality level, we’re still gonna grow huge.” The two accredit their success to respect and friendship.

A video from one of the Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom VOGUE/Pose classes taught at the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (T.U.P.A.C).

What is Kiki Ballroom?

One of the best ways to understand the Kiki Ballroom scene is to watch or attend a Ball. Many resources to do so can be found on the Emerald City Kiki Sessions website as well as more detailed information on the scene as a whole.

A video depicting what you might see at a Kiki Ball.

Kiki Ballroom is essentially a mix of performance, runway, and a celebration of Queer identities. At a Kiki Ball, participants will compete in different categories to be judged by a panel of judges, or the audience itself, to win prizes or trophies. There are a variety of categories that one can compete in such as vogue, best dressed, sex siren, face, etc. These categories dictate the performance and presentation of the participant and include their own sets of styles, techniques, etc. This means that performers must dedicate a significant amount of time to practicing for these Balls.  If the performers succeed and are deemed the best by the judges or the audience, trophies and other prizes can be won at Kiki Balls. For more detailed information on these categories go to the Emerald City Kiki Sessions website.

Houses are integral to the Kiki Ballroom scene due to the community they build. Houses serve as families, adding onto the community and support that the scene already provides its members. These Houses are comprised of ‘children’, a House Father, and/or a House Mother. The House Fathers and Mothers serve as leaders and instructors of their House and choose which children can join their house. These families are very close and compete together to win trophies for the collective House.

Music is also important to the Kiki Ballroom scene and has evolved throughout the decades to carry the attitude and power of the performers (Lindores 2018). “‘These are more than just b*tchy songs; they form a soundtrack of power, control, manipulation, escape and fantasy. They glorify gayness and femininity’” (Lindores 2018). Kiki Ballroom is all about expression, making it important for the music to also support this expression (Lindores 2018). In these songs, words that have been used negatively to describe members of the LGBTQ2S+ community are reclaimed and used positively as words full of power and pride. The music is largely electronic and provides many spaces for performers to pose and move along to the beat (Lindores 2018).

A song from an artist on the Emerald City Kiki Sessions resource page that showcases the electronic and lyrical elements of songs used in Kiki Balls.

What is the history behind Kiki Ballroom?

Drag ball culture has been around for over a century; however, throughout its history, ball culture has been steadily changing. The first drag ball, The Annual Odd Fellows Ball, was held in Harlem, New York in 1876. This Ball served as a place for people to dress in drag and compete and compare their displays of gender presentation (Lindores 2018). Drag balls became more and more popular into the 20th century. The popularity of drag balls peeked in the early 20th century due to the increase in racism and segregation entering the mid 20th century (Lindores 2018, Iovannone 2019). Most balls between the 1920s and 1960s consisted mainly of white performers, and when people of color did participate in these early drag balls, they were usually expected to whiten their faces with makeup.(Goodman 2018). Drag queens of color were often derided in mainstream drag balls for appearing too ‘ethnic’ (Iovannone 2019).

In 1967 Crystal Labeija, a Black drag queen, lost the Miss All America Camp pageant to Rachel Harlow, a White drag queen. For years, Crystal had believed that drag pageants favored White queens and was determined to change drag culture to be more accepting and inclusive of people of color. Crystal walked off the stage in protest when she lost, and shortly after, Crystal addressed cameras stating “I have a right to show my color” (Goodman 2018). Crystal’s public accusation that drag event organizers were rigging the vote to select white winners made her a symbol of strength among people of color in the drag community (Lindores 2018).

The moment when Crystal LaBeija protested against the discrimination of Ballroom and decided to change Ballroom herself in order to make it more inclusive.

A few years after the 1967 Miss All America Camp pageant, a drag queen named Lottie began to try to organize a ball specifically for Black drag queens in Harlem. Lottie asked Crystal for help, and the two started a ball in the 1970s that lay the groundwork for Kiki Balls today (Goodman 2018). Crystal Labeija also started a House during the 1970s called House of Labeija. House of Labeija inspired the rise of many other Houses for people of color such as House of Xtravaganza and House of Ninja (Goodman 2018). Today, House of Labeija is considered to be one of the most influential Houses within drag culture, especially in the Kiki scene (Lindores 2018). House of Labeija and other houses for Queer people of color in the 70s were the inspiration for Kiki Balls all across the country, including the ones here in Tacoma.

Future goals for the Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene:

The Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene hopes to continue to provide support for Black and Brown members of the LGBTQ2s+ community by providing a space to be original and creative. The founders of this organization would like to ultimately expand enough to have actual houses to home the House families as well as to one day have an aid center. Because of their focus on Queer youth, the Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene would like to connect with colleges and high schools to get more youth involved in Ballroom. Their objective is for any new individual to be able to find a leader/mentor and family within the Sea/Tac Kiki ‘Ballroom Scene’. This way the community could build them up to be more confident and outspoken, making tackling the challenges of daily life easier. Their big dream would be to one day perform in Paris but ultimately, Rocky and Chris just aim to give everyone the best Ballroom experience they’ve ever had.

How does the Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene relate to African American Studies?

“‘You have three strikes against you in this world. Every black man has two — That they’re just black and they’re a male. But you’re black, and you’re a male, and you’re gay. You’re gonna have a hard f*cking time’”

Paris is Burning

As a result of racism and stigma, Black and Brown people live in a state of double consciousness. W.E.B. DuBois defines double consciousness as a “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity” (DuBois 1994, 2). As a result of being told that they are less-than and treated as such by White people for years, Black and Brown people live with not only their identity but the identity that has been ascribed to them by White people. This means that Black and Brown people must remain constantly aware of how they are being perceived by White people as a preventative measure against any harassment, discrimination, or violence that they may fall victim of.

Although being LGBTQ2S+ is becoming more accepted in mainstream society, those who identify as such continue to face stigma, ostracism, and violence. Venus Xtravaganza, an essential figure in Paris is Burning, was murdered at the age of 23 before the end of the documentary due to her being a transgender woman. Although tragic, it is not seen as a shock even to her best friend and House Mother, Angie Xtravaganza because of the difficulty that comes from being transgender. Although she was murdered in the 1980s, transgender people and other members of the LGBTQ2S+ community are still victims of violence and harassment. Venus Xrtravaganza was a victim of transphobic hate crime; she was murdered based on her identity. She would have to be hyper vigilant, meaning she would always have to be aware of dangerous situations strictly because she was transgender. Even with this vigilance, she was unable to overcome the dangers of transphobia.

Black and Brown members of the LGBTQ2S+ community live with a triple consciousness as they must constantly be aware of their being Black or Brown as well as their sexual identity. The Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene provides a space where these identities can be embraced rather than diminished and hidden as they may often be in the greater world. The Kiki Ballroom Scene allows members of this community to feel apart of a welcoming and accepting community that they may not have otherwise been able to find somewhere else. Understanding the difficulties that Queer Black and Brown youth must go through such as bullying, living with parents who do not understand them, and a lack of access to resources or outlets, Rocky and Chris place emphasis on making the Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene a place where Queer youth under the age of 21 to gather and get support. The Sea/Tac Kiki ‘Ballroom Scene’ is a place where Black and Brown members of the LGBTQ2S+ community can fully embrace their identity without having to worry about how others may perceive them.

A large ball that the Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene will be performing in as well as the last event of their first year of being an organization.

For more information on the Sea/Tac Kiki Ballroom Scene as well as to stay updated on events they are hosting or participating in, visit their Facebook page.

To get in contact with the founders, Rocky Jones and Chris Davis, visit their Facebook pages.

If you would like to attend one of the POSE/Vogue classes that are offered by the Sea/Tac Kiki ‘Ballroom Scene’, the schedule can be found here.

For more information on the Kiki Ballroom scene in general, visit the Emerald City Kiki Sessions website.

Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center – Bringing Dance to the Urban Community

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Created by: Serena , Ale, Alysa, and Diego

What is the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center? The Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (T.U.P.A.C.) is a studio located in Downtown Tacoma, providing classical training in the area. The studio was established July 8, 2017 with founders Kabby Mitchell III and Klair Ethridge, giving marginalized communities of children an opportunity to obtain quality dance instruction from local faculty members. The center holds classes for children and adults alike, ranging from a variety of styles including but not limited to: West African, Ballet and Pointe, as well as Hip-Hip and Urban Contemporary styles.
Founder: Kabby Mitchell III In 1979, Kabby Mitchell III became the first African American member of Pacific Northwest Ballet, a ballet company in Seattle. He ranked soloist and left P.N.B. in 1984; he continued to perform with multiple other dance companies internationally. Mitchell grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and studied dance at California’s Contra Costa College. He later earned his MFA in dance from the University of Iowa in 1998. Mitchell began teaching “Dancing Molecules, Dancing Bodies” at The Evergreen State College as a Dance and African American Studies faculty member that same year. Before he passed away in 2017, he started the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center (T.U.P.A.C.). His legacy as a dancer and proud gay man survives in the Seattle arts community.
Kabby Mitchell III
Mission Above all, T.U.P.A.C. focuses on its students. Its mission is to give “deserving youth opportunities to achieve artistic excellence” through “community classes and pre-professional classical ballet training… national and international mentors and intergenerational guest artists… [and] whole person development and community give back” (T.U.P.A.C. website). They seek to “bring classical ballet to an urban community, especially students of color, where they have role models and instructors who look like them and inspire them” (Hemmann, 2019). Through scholarships and free classes, the center makes dance cost-accessible to an urban community, letting students participate in dance who would have otherwise been unable to afford lessons. T.U.P.A.C. brings students together in a close-knit family, where students support each other and teachers serve as role models. Participating in dance not only gives students a chance to develop their skills on a technical level — agility, flexibility, physical stamina — but also on a personal development level. Students learn cooperation, diligence, discipline, and self-confidence. Parents see their children develop both in dance and character. Especially “in families where an activity like dance has never been a part of life, it often has a positive ripple effect for everyone” (Hemmann, 2019).
Achievements T.U.P.A.C. has only been open for a few years, but their achievements are already admirable. In 2018, they did their debut of “The Urban Nutcracker,” performing a story set in Tacoma which brought together students of all ages in an amazing performance. It was “an energy-packed show” with a mix of ballet, hip-hop, and African dance (Hemmann, 2019). They also perform dance in the community at places like the Annie Wright School, NAACP, and the Tacoma Art Museum.
Cast of the Urban Nutcracker posing for a photo after their debut performance
Jenna Frieson, a parent of a T.U.P.A.C. student, says it is “amazing to see her [daughter’s] growth.” She believes “the many performance opportunities give the kids a chance to be in front of an audience and more importantly, they allow the parents and kids a chance to connect with the community.” In her words, the school “[guides] the children to be healthy human beings and good community members.” Seeing high-class performances from other dancers, as well as cooperating with each other, inspires students to learn, dance, perform, and grow.
Membership T.U.P.A.C. works with excellent teachers and performers to bring high-quality dance to students. Klair Ethridge is the co-founder and director of T.U.P.A.C.. She finds high-profile guest teachers and supports students both in and out of classes, even giving them rides home if needed. In her words, she has found that “to help… students realize that in dance class they must keep pushing their boundaries and reassessing themselves by setting new goals.” She believes that “Kabby’s dream has become a reality” and says: “This is always what he wanted; a ballet school where children can practice dance whether their parents are financially able or not, whether they have a ‘classic’ ballet body, or not – whether or not their hair is in a bun.” (Klair Ethridge, qtd. in T.U.P.A.C.: The Inaugural Year) Jade Solomon Curtis is a master teacher at T.U.P.A.C., a choreographer and dance artist. With the motto “activism is the muse,” she uses her dance to express and appreciate black culture. She combines contemporary dance and Hip Hop cultural influences to “ponder tradition and reinvention, social justice, [and] social constructs” through “the lens of a contemporary black woman” (Jade Solomon website). Awal Alhassan is another master teacher at T.U.P.A.C., specializing in West African dance. He was born in Tamale, Ghana and raised “by a traditional drumming and dancing family.” He has “worked throughout Africa both independently and with some of Ghana’s performance groups” (T.U.P.A.C. website).
Significance to Communities of Color As stated before, T.U.P.A.C creates an accessible means for marginalized communities to obtain dance education, specifically the black youth of the Tacoma area. The studio took into account the ways in which a child could not only experience dance in its diverse forms, but also gain an education and enrich the lives of those who join with them. To create this education, T.U.P.A.C. offers parents the opportunity to be members of the Parent Guild Association (P.G.A.) upon registration of their students. The studio uses and emphasizes this program to give parents a way to be more invested in their child’s education and training, considering it “paramount to the success of [their] school” (T.U.P.A.C. Website). Being a black-dominant space, the studio provides the ability for black students to learn and grow with other black students in the community, and allows interpersonal connections and networking to happen from the ground level with people of the same identities. Due to dance traditionally not being an art form in which black people are prominent, T.U.P.A.C. provides all of their students an opportunity to express themselves creatively in a space that was curated by and made for the black youth to partake in. The studio also makes themselves more accessible to students and families through their website, where they will give you the option to shop. This particular shop option is different than the average retail store- it allows for people within and outside of the community to donate to students in multiple ways: through donating straight to the studio, through buying products from the studio, and donating money towards clothing (leotards, ballet slippers, tights). Through this, T.U.P.A.C. allows themselves to become even more accessible to students and families who may or may not be able to afford these materials otherwise.
Significance in Ballet In particular, black people are underrepresented in the ballet community. Theresa Ruth Howard, founder and curator of the Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, says that “ballet is a rarefied career and its icon—a ballerina—is petite, lithe, fragile, ethereal and white. Some call it tradition, others call it the classical aesthetic” (2015). In 2012, the English National Ballet only had two black dancers out of 64, and the Royal Ballet has four out of 96 (Goldhill & Marsh, 2012). Kristan Hanson, a writer for the Encyclopedia Britannica, said that in 2015, “the lack of racial diversity in Ballet was one of the dance world’s most-discussed issues” (2015). Organizations like T.U.P.A.C. give black communities a greater opportunity to participate in ballet, thereby helping to change the perception of this form of dance. T.U.P.A.C. makes ballet lessons more accessible to students of color and works to combat traditional ballet stereotypes.
Connection to Arts Education Background: Redlining and Education Redlining refers to the discriminatory real estate practice of rejecting or limiting the credit extensions and loans of specific geographic areas (Jacobs, 2018). This practice undermines property value by amplifying white flight in “hazardous” and “declining” areas that correspond to integrating neighborhoods; the loss of population starves the areas from economic growth and perpetuates the irrational fear of race as a financial risk (Badger, 2017). As a result, it often lowers resident’s property taxes, thereby making white flight self-fulfilling. The wealth accumulation of redlined households becomes restricted as loans for local businesses and other entrepreneurs are denied based on the perceived risk (Kye, 2018). The drop in the private sector’s willingness to invest encourages businesses to leave the neighborhood. This shrinks the market, cuts employment opportunities, and lowers disposable income. A lower level of income, on account of the loss of earnings, causes a drop in the local tax base as the government earns less revenue from sales and income taxes in addition to the already diminished property tax transfers. Losses in a local tax base are notable in education as an average 45 percent of public K-12 education is fed by local taxes (Turner, et al., 2016). With a lowered expenditure capacity and often without the public support for the state to close the gap, cuts in the school budgets of communities of color are common and tend to hit the arts first, fueling the narrative of part-time art teachers and their barely-breathing programs (Chang, 2018). Education Inequity in the Arts Federal programs like No Child Left Behind are supposed to “create equitable educational opportunities for all students and close achievement gaps among different groups of students, particularly minorities and whites,” but the unsolved effects and continued practice of redlining often outweigh whatever progress this bill provides (Chappell, 2013). African American children are still not able to access the same quality of education as other children, especially in the arts. Math and reading have become integral to the standardized measure of learning, while dance and music fall behind. If the arts are not included in the formal curriculum, allocation of funds diverges more significantly and turns programs from barely-breathing to nonexistent (Chang, 2018). For students in an urban community, losing an arts education creates a pipeline problem, translating later into a shortage of representation.

“Just 26 percent of African-American adults surveyed in 2008 reported having received any arts education in childhood, a huge drop from the 51 percent who replied affirmatively in 1982.” (Robelen, 2011)

Organizations like T.U.P.A.C. lessen the strength of the pipeline problem by providing affordable dance lessons for students who would otherwise have not had the opportunity to participate. It is an exemplary story of community that deserves high praise.
Bibliography Badger, Emily. “How Redlining’s Racist Effects Lasted for Decades.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 24 Aug. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/08/24/upshot/how-redlinings-racist-effects-lasted-for-decades.html. Chang, Alvin. “We Can Draw School Zones to Make Classrooms Less Segregated. This Is How Well Your District Does.” Vox, Vox, 27 Aug. 2018, www.vox.com/2018/1/8/16822374/school-segregation-gerrymander-map. Chappell, Sharon Verner, and Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor. “No Child Left With Crayons.” Review of Research in Education, vol. 37, no. 1, 1 Mar. 2013, pp. 243–268., doi:10.3102/0091732×12461615. Goldhill, Olivia, and Sarah Marsh. “Where Are the Black Ballet Dancers?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Sept. 2012, www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/sep/04/black-ballet-dancers. Hanson, Kristan M. “Addressing Racial Diversity in Ballet.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1 July 2015, www.britannica.com/topic/Addressing-Racial-Diversity-in-Ballet-2030912. Hemmann, Gale. “T.U.P.A.C.: Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center Brings World-Class Dance to All.” South Sound Talk, 7 Jan. 2019, www.southsoundtalk.com/2019/01/03/t-u-p-a-c-tacoma-urban-performing-arts-center-brings-world-class-dance-to-all/. Howard, Theresa R. “Diversity Is the New Black.” Dance Magazine, Dance Magazine, 28 Dec. 2015, www.dancemagazine.com/diversity-is-the-new-black-2307002349.html. Jacobs, Tom. “’White Flight’ Remains a Reality.” Pacific Standard, 6 Mar. 2018, psmag.com/social-justice/white-flight-remains-a-reality. “Jade Solomon.” Jade Solomon, www.jadesolomon.com/. Kye, Samuel H. “The Persistence of White Flight in Middle-Class Suburbia.” Social Science Research, vol. 72, 2018, pp. 38–52., doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2018.02.005. Macdonald, Moira. “ Kabby Mitchell III, First Black Dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Dies .” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 11 May 2017, www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/kabby-mitchell-iii-first-black-dancer-with-pacific-northwest-ballet-dies/. Sailor, Craig. “He Brought TUPAC to Tacoma’s Underserved Kids, but Famed Dancer Won’t See Final Work.” Thenewstribune, Tacoma News Tribune, 13 July 2017, www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/article161164353.html. “Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center.” Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, 2017, tacomaupac.org/t-u-p-a-c. “Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center: The Inaugural Year.” The Tacoma (WA) Chapter of The Links, July 2018, tacomalinksinc.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/TUPAC-Booklet-Final.pdf. Turner, Cory, et al. “Why America’s Schools Have A Money Problem.” NPR, NPR, 18 Apr. 2016, www.npr.org/2016/04/18/474256366/why-americas-schools-have-a-money-problem.

Hilltop Action Coalition

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By Aria, Nicole, Amaris, Sharon, and Natalie What is the Hilltop Action Coalition (HAC)? At the time the Hilltop Action Coalition was founded in 1989,  Hilltop was the 3rd most dangerous city in the United States behind Compton and Los Angeles, due to the migration of gangs from California. Members of Hilltop were concerned with the heightened drug and crime rates of the community and were disappointed with the lack of government response the community was receiving. Now, HAC wants to inform the community of changes going on in the community that affects its citizens. For example, the light rail that will go from downtown Tacoma up through Hilltop and eventually to Tacoma Community College. The Hilltop Action Coalition is an ongoing and developing organization that tries to change and adapt based on the needs of the community. The official mission statement of the HAC is: “The Hilltop Action Coalition is the “Communications Anchor” for the Hilltop Area community. Our Volunteer network of Neighborhood Leaders, Community Block Programs, Informational Outreach, and Advocacy Work are at the heart of the community building work HAC is famous for.” How do you establish a membership?  When it first began, the Hilltop Action Coalition was self-funded by a few people in the Hilltop community, who eventually got more people from the community involved with the organization. Currently, HAC members are mainly in one of three groups: city officials, residents of Hilltop, and donors. The HAC is open to anybody and everybody, but members must be engaged in the organization’s events and attend the monthly meetings. If an individual wants to and is active enough in the organization, they can become a neighborhood leader, someone who represents and advocates for their community. What is the significance to communities of color and to the broader community?  Because of the Hilltop Action Coalition’s history, the organization is often perceived by others as a policing organization. Members of the organization worked with the police department to lower drug and crime rates in the community. As a result, many black men were arrested, giving HAC a bad reputation for the families of those incarcerated. Now HAC’s main objective is to inform people of new developments going on in their community, such as affordable housing initiatives. HAC also works with housing developers to reverse the displacement already seen in the community. HAC also aims to create a powerful example for young and older people of color in the community. By getting people of color into leadership roles, providing a safe place for community members, creating the right image of the organization with the use of representation, they hope to inspire people of all colors and ages to be proactive in their community. What are its goals and objectives? Gentrification can’t be stopped in the community, so their goal is to work and adapt to it. Getting black people in positions of power is important for the community to flourish. The idea is to have a solid footprint in their own neighborhoods. Their goal is for people of color to continue to feel comfortable in their own community while these changes are being made. The light rail being built has made it more difficult for current black-owned businesses to get the same attention as they did before. Which is why HAC is creating maps of alternative routes people can take to get to these places. While the affordable housing buildings are in the process of being built, the Hilltop Action Coalition is working with local businesses to occupy these storefronts. Their goal is to have them be black-owned businesses. What are some achievements of HAC? Why are these achievements important?  HAC is thrilled to be able to have paid staff before, HAC was run by devoted volunteers that volunteered hours of their time every week for no pay. The HAC is able to put on two annual fundraisers to benefit their organization, which allows them to expand. 35-40 attendants to each community meeting allows HAC to reach more people in the community to educate and receive input. Having more consistent people to be neighborhood leaders and hold a say in local occurrences Another achievement of the Hilltop Action Coalition is that they are now recognized by city funders and have been awarded competitive grants. This means that they are taken more seriously as a nonprofit organization as opposed to being disregarded by the community officials. This also means that the HAC is able to invest in important necessities that are needed to preserve and grow their organization, such as new technology and office equipment. The HAC publishes their very own local Newspaper that includes contributions of articles and poems from local business owners and residents of a range of ages. They pride themselves on the “Hilltop-centric” lens of the topics they present. This newspaper reaches over 5,000 people. The way it is spread throughout the community is divided between publicity online, and exchanging information with community members and spreading the physical copies. You can easily find access to all of their previous journals on their website.
Is gentrification a current concern for Hilltop?  In 2008-09, the HAC projected that access to healthcare would be Hilltop’s main concern in upcoming years, however, migration of people began to raise housing prices and change the city in ways no resident would have expected. By the time it was too late, the residents of Hilltop realized that access to healthcare would not be as significant of a problem as the gentrification the city was soon to endure. Subtle changes by the city began, and Hilltop’s name and history started to be slowly erased. Signs were put up renaming Hilltop as “Upper Tacoma” and “New Tacoma”. Magnet school Bryant Elementary became a Montessori school where parents had to apply for their children to be accepted, and the catchment zone placed limitations on the families that could enroll. Older middle and lower class residents of Hilltop have been taken advantage of because of their age and financial stability. People research homes and their inhabitants in the community and entice older residents to sell their homes to them for a moderate price so they can renovate the homes and place it on the market for more. The average home in 2015 was $200,000, now the average cost is $350,000 with homes selling for half a million. Another issue that comes from gentrification is the decline in Black-owned businesses. At one time, Hilltop was home to many prominent Black-owned businesses, but today that number is down to three; Mr. Mac’s Men’s Clothing Store, Scott’s Funeral Home, and Fish House Cafe.
Connections:  The Hilltop Action Coalition has been working with the residents of Hilltop to protect the community from ongoing issues such as gentrification and the rising cost of living. The foreboding changes that are being anticipated with the construction of the light-rail are a concern to the current residents as they are aware of the impact of influxes of people and how that impacts their local economy and urban areas. The concept that we chose to work on is gentrification, we decided to focus on gentrification because the Hilltop Action Coalition does a lot of work to help the Hilltop community that is affected by gentrification and the rising cost of living. While the HAC focuses on other issues such as educating the community and community clean-ups, a significant amount of their energy is spent on helping the Hilltop community deal with gentrification. Although gentrification cannot be completely stopped, they try to make sure that the members of the Hilltop community can survive gentrification without being completely pushed out of their homes. The work of the Hilltop Action Coalition will matter as long as gentrification is happening in Hilltop.