The fight against the school to prison pipeline.

Black students are three times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers. Schools are more likely to have an officer on site if their student body is more than 50% Black. And Black students represent 31% of all school-related arrests. The school to prison pipeline is a pervasive reality for students of color today.

The Creative Justice Initiative is a Seattle-based community program fighting against this injustice.

At the King County Youth Service Center, racial disparities persist despite reductions in youth incarceration over the last decade. In fact, youth of color constituted nearly 75% of juvenile detainees in King County in 2014; Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities are disproportionately impacted by this system. Using an artsbased approach, 4Culture (a cultural funding agency) and a cohort of other community partners developed Creative Justice to help end the racial disproportionality in youth incarceration.

Creative Justice’s mission is to “build community with youth most impacted by the school-to-prison-(to-deportation) pipeline” and “work together to examine the root causes of incarceration.” It was developed from the No New Youth Jail movement, and hopes to provide an outlet for youth to be affirmed and uplifted and express themselves artistically. Youth may be directed to this program through peer to peer referrals, or by school employees and teachers. Participating youth attend 12 to 16 art sessions each year, where they are taught a variety of art mediums, including songs, sculptures, poetry, screen-printed clothing, herbal medicines, and other art that helps them release their emotions. In addition to art, kids share meals and discuss anti-racism principles and social justice initiatives.

Nyasha Sarju, the Advocacy Director at Creative Justice, began working with the program after attending a Community Action Project that Creative Justice hosted at Langston

Hughes. “The King County criminal legal system continues to criminalize poverty and to cripple people and families who are already in cycles of challenge through things like fines, restitution, incarceration, and unrealistic expectations,” Sarju said. “[The courts] see the issues facing young people who enter but they often do not provide the resources or support to change the material circumstances of the young people’s lives.” The curriculum even involves family members, encouraging participants to com- plete hands-on activities with their relatives. Finally, at the end of every session, youth get the opportunity to present their work through community-based events.

Those in the program receive credit for community service and stipends to help pay active court fines through the Restitution Relief Fund. Sarju believes that this monetary compensation, combined with the art mentorship, will propel students to overcome the barriers they face and graduate.

Moving forward, Sarju hopes that this program will continue to expand and provide opportunities for youth currently involved in Creative Justice to step into leadership roles and pave new paths for the organization’s future. “I hope that one day we are no longer talking about youth incarceration because it will no longer be a thing in our region and eventually across the country.”

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The Facts Newspaper was established on September 7, 1861 by Fitzgerald Redd Beaver as the first Seattle publication focusingonBlacknews.Today,TheFacts remains one of three Black Newspapers in Seattle, now run by Marla and Lavonne Beaver. Operating out of the Central District, it started as a sixteen page issue about Black heritage and success. It now comes out every Wednesday and has a readership of over 80,000 people extending through Kind and Pierce Country.

HeitzgeraldBeaverwasaninspiration. leaderwasateacherandamotivational forthecommunity.Hepaved edthewaywithoneofthefirstBlackorientandnewspapersinthePacificNorthwest, continuedtoprovideencourageeffortsmentforotherpublishersinthearea.His ledtothebeginningoftheSeatMediumtleSkannerNewspaperandtheSeattle Newspaper.WhenMr.Beaver capablepassedin1992,helefthispaperinthe ElizabethhandsofhisprizedstudentMrs. Beaver,whostilloverlooksthe tinuepapertoday.Mr.Beaver’slegacywillcontoliveonthroughhisconnectionsandsupportforthecommunity.

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