social justice
Paradox of passion, apathy impacts young voter turnout
Younger voters care deeply about renter protections, homelessness, social justice and racism — but will they go to the polls to make their voices heard in this year’s election?
With hard-earned acceptance, Sikh community flourishes on both sides of border
South Asians in the Pacific Northwest reflect on the different journeys Sikhs took while making the United States and Canada home.
Ongoing racial reckoning in the post-George Floyd era
Commentary: Three years after the Summer of Racial Reckoning, a divided populace still grapples with damaging and sometimes deadly effects of racism, and with how to talk about the issues.
Listen, and support Indigenous voices
Commentary: Knowledge and awareness of the challenges Indigenous peoples face are good; what matters is action.
Fact-checking what’s being said around Whatcom’s Proposition 5
Whatcom voters will decide Nov. 8 on the Healthy Children’s Initiative, a property tax measure to fund child care and early-learning programs.
Council votes to create Racial Equity Commission: reflections of a post-modern revolutionary
Commentary: A Whatcom County Council vote established a racial equity commission; now, the challenge for supporters is to engage others in the conversation, an organizer writes.
Economic mobility starts at birth
Commentary: Even though everyone wants to give their children more and better opportunities than they had, the deck is stacked in favor of babies born to families steeped in “social capital.”
Child care shortfall frustrates families, hampers local economy
Demand far outstrips the supply of available and affordable child care locally. The problem is multifaceted, as solutions also will need to be: Part 1.
A twisted path to homelessness
A community resident finds herself without long-term housing after a downward spiral into homelessness.
Who are the homeless?
Our concept of the “deserving poor” needs to expand past attitudes mirroring 17th and 18th century mores that drive today’s ambivalent response to homelessness.
Raising awareness of missing, murdered Indigenous women
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day is observed on May 5, and in an installation at the Lightcatcher Building through May 15.
City of Bellingham police chief hiring process — success or flop?
A local civic action group is hoping Bellingham’s next police chief will work to strengthen community cohesion and be transparent and accountable to the public.
Reflecting on International Women’s Day
Much change has happened since 1910 when the idea of an International Women’s Day was proposed by Clara Zetkin at the International Conference of Working Women. A lot still needs to change, notes a Community Voices contributor.
Food security requires connection to land, to each other
Feeding communities is particularly challenging now, in the face of systemic upheaval, climate change and uncertainty. San Juan islanders making key connections to build resilience for future food security met recently in an ag summit.
Confrontations, demands for parents’ rights challenge local school boards
Impassioned conversations are occurring nationwide as sometimes large groups of parents show up at once sparsely attended school board meetings — including in Whatcom County — with local issues including COVID-19 mask mandates, critical race theory and sexual health education.
Police, mental health workers face challenge, confusion with new use-of-force law
House Bill 1310 established new rules about use of force by police when it took effect in Washington last month, and law enforcement and social service agencies continue to grapple with confusion related to challenges to the new law.