“I feel like there is a benefit to a sense of bringing a community out, especially for basketball. I know a lot of people that went to the games that came together, just from all the different teams, like Garfield, Rainier Beach, all that, but I also see like there’s a sense of not all of them are going to be able to pop out to the game. You know, I mean, because they are expensive, and they do cost money, so not everyone’s going to be able to pop out. But I feel like the few that do like it really does bring them together, because it’s cool to see another brother at the game or something like that. But events like the World Cup and everything that might be a little tricky because I know those games get really expensive and really packed fast. S I think it does and it doesn’t in a way.”
No I don’t unless you are a black owned business downtown in the heart of everything and you have a team that is helping you with social media and marketing, and help trying to push people to your establishment. But, the business and possibly the Chamber of Commerce and anybody else who pushes these events, I’ve never seem them pushing Black businesses to come and learn about Seattle’s rich Black traditions and the love that we have in our community. You see it down on the waterfront, Pike Place Market, generally where the tourist typically stay. But I think we can do a better job highlighting Black businesses.
Only if we are apart of the brainstorming or the birth of manufacturing these events will we as the Black community will benefit from that. We are usually left out if we are not in the birth of any planning of events as such.
“It benefits us if we know about it. It is up to us to know what’s going on in our city. I’m on the board of Business Seattle, and we are actually the ones that got the World Cup to come to Seattle, and we did that back during the pandemic through board meetings at the convention center and stuff like that, voting on things that we want the city to pursue. If you look at organizations like Business Seattle, they have publications that we put out that highlight black businesses. And it is saying, when you come to Seattle, go to these places. I’m an African, I am a voice, and I am from Seattle, so absolutely we benefit if we know about it.
“I don’t know, you say benefit, but it can and it can’t really. Necessarily, it will depend on if they get black businesses to participate and the spreading of it with all the advertisement. Mm, hmm. But I think that is the only way we benefit for it. But if they don’t involve us in it, then no.”
“We got a lot of African Americans that work down at the climate pledge. You know, in the community, it benefits, especially to support the black guys in the high school because that’s a calling card for them to go down and check out the games. A lot of these guys are in high school playing high school basketball and they have aspirations and dreams. So it truly does benefit them.”
Source: Seattle Medium
