The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents May 2025 March 27 Detention Center Rally Richard Burton Approximately 300 labor and community activists, including many PSARA members, gathered outside the ICE concentration camp in Tacoma, aka the “Northwest Ice Processing Center” on the evening of March 27. They gathered to express their collective outrage over the ongoing human rights abuses in the camp and specifically the summary detention of two labor activists, Alfredo ‘Lelo’ Juarez Zeferino and Lewelyn Dixon. Dixon (known to loved ones as “Aunty Lyn”) has lived in the US for more than five decades. She works at the University of Washington Medical Center as a Lab Technician and is a member of SEIU 925. In early March, she was abducted at the airport, returning from a trip. A family relative traveling with her waited for hours while she went through the security line with no information. The family member was finally informed via a phone call from Dixon that she’d been detained by ICE. She’s been held now for nearly two months Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez is an organizer and member of Familias Unidas por la Justicia and Community to Community (groups primarily working in Whatcom and Skagit Counties). He came to this country as a young teenager. He was detained and sent to the detention center on Tuesday, March 25. According to witnesses, Lelo was on his way to drop off his partner at her workplace. When he stopped his car, ICE agents confronted him. Not leaving his vehicle, he tried to exercise his rights. But ICE agents broke his car window. At the rally, Lelo’s younger brother took the mic to thank attendees for showing up for his brother and to call for his brother’s release. Unfortunately, these are only two of the estimated 1,500 people being detained in this prison camp, run by a for-profit private company, GEO, which is contracted by ICE. Despite right-wing rhetoric, this ICE facility, like hundreds of other such facilities around the country, is a site for civil, not criminal, detention. That is, those held in this prison camp are not detained because a court has concluded that they are a threat to public safety, nor because they have committed a crime, but simply because they are awaiting the outcome of their immigration proceedings. There are nearly continuous protests and hunger strikes being undertaken by detainees inside this prison against their mistreatment. One reason for these protests is the fact that gross violations of international law are a matter of course there. The United Nations’ Standards of Rules for Treatment of Prisoners, known at the “Nelson Mandela Rules, explicitly prohibit indefinite and prolonged solitary confinement and the imposition of solitary confinement in the case of detainees with mental or physical disabilities. Despite this, however, ICE’s own data reveals that, on average, this ICE prison camp detains people longer in solidarity confinement than any other ICE facility in the country, and detainees are regularly subjected to the use of chemical agents. PSARA activists in Pierce County have participated in many rallies and community events denouncing this prison camp in our midst. We have developed ties with other groups and activists working both to improve conditions for detainees while also calling for the place to shut down. A small but important piece of progress is a piece of legislation in Olympia, HB 1232, allowing officials from our state’s Department of Health to inspect the facility. This bill has passed both chambers in Olympia but with an amendment from the Sen- ate that will now need to be considered by the House. Please contact your state reps to urge them to pass this bill be- fore the April 27 end-of-session. Richard Burton is PSARA's Co-VP for Outreach. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents February 2026 WA State HB 2090/SB 5821: Integrating Advanced Nuclear Energy into the State Energy Strategy Paul Muldoon As a boy I was very attracted to the vision of nuclear energy. I read the articles in Scientific American about the bright future. Even after Three Mile Island I believed a solution could be found. But, like many, I have realized that nuclear is not a solution. It may not have a smokestack but it generates an ugly 1,000+ year exhaust pipe of radio-active waste. Our State Legislature is considering two bills that, if passed, will open the door wide for nuclear energy in our State. Some people say the bills are just a study. Don’t believe it. Read the information below and write or call your legislators to urge them to vote no on this legislation. For additional information please visit the PSARA homepage. This legislation is on a very short fuse. We need to act fast. Suggested email or talking points for your call to your legislators: HB 2090/SB 5821, Integrating Advanced Nuclear Energy Into the State Energy Strategy, are two bills pending in the Washington State House and Senate. They will reintroduce nuclear fission power into the mix of energy solutions for the State’s implementation of the Clean Energy Transformation Act. I’ve read the State House and Senate bills and have a number of concerns including: Overall reliance on technology that, as yet, has not been commercially proven. Lack of limits or guardrails to the scale of nuclear fission waste that can be reintroduced into WA State. Legislation that does not address nuclear waste that will have to be managed for thousands of years. I am not a scientist, but after reviewing the legislation, industry and government information on the current state of the technology, I have serious concerns with incorporating nuclear energy into our state’s energy strategy. Nuclear fission uses a radioactive fuel (U-235) for heat to drive the electric generators. The industry claims their new designs for small modular reactors (SMRs) are not subject to the risks of melt down, but this has not been proven. The industry also claims they have solved the problem of nuclear waste. But Washington State and the Federal Government have had decades of experience with nuclear waste and neither they nor anyone else has yet to resolve the issues. Managing waste cleanup at Hanford alone is now projected to cost well over $500 billion and require 70 more years of work, followed by thousands of years of storage somewhere. The industry claims they are developing recycling/ reprocessing of nuclear waste but there are no answers yet. I have been told that HB 2090/SB 5821 only asks for a study. But this is not what the legislation says. The title of both bills is Integrating Advanced Nuclear Energy Into the State Energy Strategy. Both bills require that a plan for implementation be completed by the end of this year. Neither bill requires a return to the legislature for approval of the new strategy. The legislation also requires the plan to be financed by outside funding consequently the nuclear industry could be funding and potentially guiding development of a plan that is regulating the industry. The bills essentially call for the State to allow an unlimited amount of the new nuclear power with no more review. It does this with no assurance of minimal cautions, including: restricting the size or number of reactors that could be introduced to Washington State; directing the Commerce Department to work with the Department of Environment to assure that all environmental safeguards are taken into account; or requiring a study that includes a full life cycle cost of the nuclear fission solution including the long-term (thousand + years) of the waste. It is obvious that the nuclear energy industry does not want to talk about nuclear waste because they have no comprehensive solution. They continue to claim nuclear energy is a clean fuel. (If you say it enough, people will believe it). Again, I embrace the research but I believe the State should be able to see a commercially proven solution on both the generation and waste management sides of nuclear energy before they buy the product. An honest assessment of the costs, benefits and risks of new nuclear energy would be good. A strategy allowing and encouraging immediate and unlimited construction would be bad. Urge your legislators to vote no HB 2090 / SB 5821 . If you click on the Bill numbers that will connect you with a comment page for your legislators. Editor's Note: PSARA's Executive Board has voted to oppose HB 20290/ SB 5821 and HB 2103/SB 6004, which also relate to nuclear energy Paul Muldoon is PSARA's volunteer web administrator. < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents May 2025 It’s A Stew: Part 2 the Almost Final 2025 Legislative Report Pam Crone Long sessions are just that… long. As of this writing, 10 days remain in the 2025 legislative session. Cut-offs have come and gone, and we are now in the final stretch. So, what’s not left to do, rather than what is? The Elephant in the Room In short, Washington faces a daunting revenue deficit of $15–$16 billion over the next four years. Legislators have one constitutional duty during odd numbered years: to pass a budget for the state’s operations over the two-year cycle. Everything else is “fluff,” so to speak. That’s not to say policy doesn’t matter – it does. But without the revenue to run government operations, there will be no new programs. And in this cycle, we could see significant cuts to essential services. Revenue bills were not subject to the April 16 cut-off because they are considered NTIB – “necessary to implement the budget.” Over the next 10 days, both chambers will hear and vote on a package of bills aimed at easing the budget shortfall. The final mix of cuts and new revenue that both the House and Senate can agree on – and that Governor Ferguson will sign – is still uncertain. Governor Ferguson first ruled out a wealth tax, and with business lobbying hard against a payroll tax, House and Senate budget leaders went back to the drawing board and cobbled together a new set of taxes. As of this writing, the governor finds that plan “too risky.” He didn’t rule out all progressive revenue options, but finding enough revenue to offset the deepest cuts remains a daunting task. As of April 18, a resolution has yet to emerge, so ending on time April 27 is not a slam-dunk. The 2025 Washington State legislative session has unfolded in a bleak national context. The federal landscape is in disarray, and we are only four months into this administration. I won’t rehash the endless stream of “terribles.” We are all acutely aware of the federal government’s ongoing assaults on people, the environment, and the rule of law. Our state leaders don’t have a crystal ball. Whatever budget they finalize in these closing days won’t fully capture the effects of the broader federal economic and social turmoil – on-again, off-again tariffs; mass layoffs; and more. And then there are the looming Medicaid cuts. In Washington State, 1.8 million residents rely on Medicaid for health care– ourselves, our families, our neighbors. In fiscal year 2023, the state received $12.5 billion in federal Medicaid funding. If that funding disappears, the state cannot close the gap. The suffering will be immense. This is not a rosy picture. We are organizing now to advocate with our federal congressional delegation to stop these cuts. If they go through, the state legislature may have to reconvene in a special session to address the budget crisis. Some Wins Despite the tough climate, we’ve made good progress on our legislative priorities. Our April midway report outlined the bills still alive – and a few that didn’t make it. A high priority was SJM 8002, Protecting Medicare by Leveling the Playing Field. It did not make It out of the second house by cut-off April 16, but will be reintroduced, hopefully, in 2026. It goes back to the Senate where it must be passed again. The following PSARA priority bills passed both houses and are big wins: SJM 8004 – Supporting efforts to advance Universal Healthcare SB 5291 – Strengthening and protecting WA Cares HB 1491 – Creating affordable housing near transit HB 1213 – Extending job protection in the Family & Medical Leave program SB 5041 – Extending unemployment benefits to striking workers SB 5284 – Reducing plastic waste through better solid waste management SJM 8004 bypasses the Governor’s Office and is transmitted directly to Congress, the President, and the Secre- taries of Labor and Health and Human Services. The other bills are headed to Governor Ferguson. He can sign them, veto them, or let them pass into law without a signature. Depending on when the bills land on his desk, he has either 5 or 20 days to act. Note: He has section veto power on these bills, un- like the line-item veto he holds for the budget. HB 1217, the rent stabilization bill, is still in limbo as of this writing. Originally a House bill, it was significantly weakened in the Senate. The House is expected to reject those amendments, sending the bill to a conference committee. The conference committee, made up of Senators and Representatives, will hash out a compromise for an up or down vote by the two chambers. We are hoping for a strong bill that keeps renters housed by stabilizing rent increases. 2026 Revival Bills that didn’t make it this year can be reintroduced during the 2026 short session (60 days). They’ll retain the same bill numbers and hopefully see better results. As always, stay tuned. Pam Crone is a retired lobbyist and Chair of PSARA's Government Relations Committee (GRC). < Back to Table of Contents

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents March 2025 Organizing for Immigrant Human Rights Cindy Domingo Every day for the last month we have been assaulted by the Trump administration’s coup and the dismantling of our government that upholds our US democracy. However, nothing is more heart breaking than the media coverage of handcuffed and shackled immigrants, many of them children, being loaded onto planes for deportation. US citizens are being questioned and asked for birth certificates and pass- ports because they spoke Spanish in public or looked like they were Mexican or Latino. Weare again hearing about parents being deported leaving their children behind. Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents sit outside nonprofits that serve predominantly Latinos merely to intimidate clients, striking fear in employees that one day they won’t see particular beloved people because they were deported. On the legal front, Trump has cut legal aid funding that assists immigrants in their asylum requests. They fled countries where they faced economic hardships and violence. Funding has even been cut for lawyers of children unaccompanied by parents when they crossed the US southern border, leaving them vulnerable to human and sex trafficking. Trump ran on a platform blaming the ills of our society on undocumented immigrants of color. Unemployment, the housing crisis, lack of money for social services, gang and gun violence, and drug addiction are all a result of our southern border not being secure. According to Trump, President Biden and Vice President Harris allowing thousands of “bad” immigrants into our country. Congress followed suit in late January when they passed the Laken Riley Act, named after a Georgia nursing student who was murdered last year by a Venezuelan man. That act, passed with bipartisan support, including Washington State Congresswomen Marie Gluesencamp Perez and Kim Schrier. It is a broad sweeping law that allows for the detainment of non-citizens for almost any crime, including shoplifting. Non-citizens can include DACA students and people on special visas, like the Temporary Status Program. Trump has also canceled funding for refugee resettlement programs that are impact- ing Ukrainian, Sudanese, and other peoples fleeing war torn countries. In Washington State, this is having a devastating impact even though we have one of the best refugee resettlement programs, initiated by Republican Governor Dan Evans in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. Washington State's legal aid programs have already been cut due to Trump and Elon Musk’s cuts to federal funding, and ICE has stepped up the numbers of deportees flown out of King County International Airport. However, Trump’s mass deportation of immigrants and refugees has not gone without a response by the immigrant rights communities, labor movement, legal community, and others. But it will take a mass movement, a broad united front, to both protect immigrants and refugees and project a vision of a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Standing for Democracy (see February issue of The Retiree Advocate) aims to build that united front by calling for a conference in April/May to bring together all those who want to stop the mass deportations, and to support immigrants and refugees who are the target of Trump’s inhumane immigration policies. Building for this conference has already begun enabling groups who work in their own silos to work together. Participants for planning include Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), Casa Latina, Washington Immigrant Rights Network (WAISN), One America, LELO/A Legacy for Equality Leadership and Organizing, Pride At Work, PSARA, Washington State Labor Council, King County Labor Council, AFT Washington, UFCW 3000, SEIU Local 6, Unite Here Local 8, APALA Seattle, Communities for Colleges, the Offices of King County Councilmembers Teresa Mosqueda, Jorge Baron, and Rod Dembowski, the Office of Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Community to Community, and other community organizations. If you are interested in planning this conference and ongoing work with Standing for Democracy, please contact Cindy Domingo at cindydomingo@gmail.com or Moon Vazquez at jmoom57@earthlink.net Committee meetings have been scheduled for program, site/logistics, and outreach. Cindy Domingo is PSARA's Co-VP for Outreach and a veteran activist with LELO/A Legacy for Equality Leadership and Organizing and APALA (Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance). < Back to Table of Contents

Join Us for Our Summer BBQ Tuesday August 19th, 12:30– 3:00 pm Seward Park, Shelter #3 5900 Lake Washington Blvd S, Seattle All PSARA members, families and friends are invited to our August potluck barbeque in Seward Park along the shores of LakeWashington. Come and relax in the presence of old growth trees and visit with friends and make new ones. PSARA will provide some veggie, beef and chicken burgers, sausages and drinks. Members should bring a pot- luck dish to share. If you would like to drink something other than carbonated and plain water please bring it along. But note that alcoholic beverages are not permitted. Also not permitted is amplified sound but you can bring along your acoustic guitars and other musical instruments if you would like to play and sing. Tim Wheeler is bringing copies of his new book No Power Greater, the Life and Times of George A. Meyers (see Mike Andrew’s book review in the May Advocate.) He may also bring his autoharp and lead us in a few songs. Robby Stern has offered to lead a walk through trails in Seward Park’s forest which contains some old growth trees. So, bring walking shoes and binoculars. Seward Park is filled with a variety of birds. Perhaps we can encourage some of PSARA’s birders to go along for the walk and identify some for us. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone in person for a relaxing, fun- filled afternoon in the park. Directions for finding Shelter #3 are below: BACK TO THE ADVOCATE

In the Advocate July 2025: Tim Wheeler Tim Wheeler Reads From His Latest Book No Power Greater: The Life & Times of George A. Meyers Saturday, July 26, 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. WSLC Offices, 321 16th Avenue S, Seattle Please join PSARA and our own Tim Wheeler for the Washington state debut of Tim’s latest book, No Power Greater: The Life &Times of George A. Meyers. Tim will read from the book, take questions and comments, and also lead us in song with his trusty autoharp. Copies of No Power Greater will be available for purchase. Tim has generously offered to donate all proceeds from book sales at this event to PSARA. The Retiree Advocate published a review of the book in our May issue. To read the review, go to PSARA.org, click “Newsletter,” then “Advocate Archives,” and search for “202505 May Advocate.” The remainder of this article is an excerpt from this fascinating book: A couple of days before Christmas, 1941, the Maryland Council of the CIO met at a convention in Baltimore. The nation was reeling from the December 7 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor two weeks earlier by Imperial Japan; the US was suddenly plunged into war. Yet even so, sharp partisan politics intruded when the industrial union leaders met in Baltimore. John T. Jones, a leader of the United Mine Workers, had quit as President of the Maryland- DC branch of the CIO. He was following the lead of UMW President, John L. Lewis… John L. Lewis was furious at FDR for rejecting his appeal that he supports the steelworkers in the 1937 “Little Steel” strike marked by the infamous massacre by Chicago police of steel union strikers. Lewis was so angry at FDR that one week before the November 1940 presidential election, Lewis urged union workers to vote for Republican Wendell Wilkie. Lewis vowed that he would resign as CIO President if Roosevelt was reelected. The overwhelming majority of union workers rejected Lewis’ appeal and Roosevelt won in a landslide. Lewis followed through, announcing his resignation as President of the CIO, pulling the UMW out of the CIO. All UMW leaders who held leadership posts in the CIO, including Jones, also resigned. George was chosen unanimously to replace Jones. George Meyers said of his election to lead the Maryland-DC CIO: To my great surprise, at the Council convention…I was unanimously proposed to succeed him. Need- less to say, I was both surprised and honored but only agreed to run if the convention elected an African American as one of our vice presidents. It did, and Joe Neal, a leader of the Steel Local at Sparrows Point near Baltimore, became the first black officer of the Maryland-DC Council. George A. Meyers gave unstinting leadership to the Maryland-DC CIO during his two-year tenure as President. His highest priority was to build labor support for the war effort. For him defeating fascism and organizing unorganized workers were two sides of the same coin... Equally high on the CIO agenda was fighting Jim Crow exclusion of African American workers at plants like Glen L. Martin, Fairchild Aircraft, Beth Steel, the shipyards, and all other jobs in Maryland. Along with fighting racist hiring practices, the CIO demanded equal hiring and equal pay for women workers BACK TO THE ADVOCATE

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents November 2025 An Encounter with Prior Authorization Mike Andrew The story you’re about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Tess Durberville is 83 years old. She’s been a resident in a Seattle senior living community for five and a half years. Tess is a cancer survivor and is living with diabetes and heart disease. Like many seniors on Original Medicare, Tess purchased Medicare Part D coverage to pay for her prescription drugs. More than 67 million Medicare beneficiaries have Part D plans. Tess is an AARP member, and selected a Part D plan from United Healthcare, the company that AARP promotes. It was a prudent buy, something that would give Tess some peace of mind and help her avoid huge out-of-pocket expenses for her prescriptions. Or so she thought. Tess had been prescribed Victoza to control her diabetes. Unlike some brandname drugs, Victoza is not available in any generic form, and therefore is very expensive for patients who lack Part D coverage. Tess took the Victoza shots once a day, and was satisfied with the results. Then, one day, she got a letter from United Healthcare informing her that Victoza was no longer on their approved list of medications. Tess was advised to look at a list of five medications that United Healthcare would pay for and choose one from there. “I was scheduled to have cancer surgery,” Tess told me, “and my doctor thought it would be best for me to continue on the Victoza till I’d gotten through that crisis. But United Healthcare said no. They wouldn’t budge on that. “It made me angry they were so hard-headed about changing from Victoza,” she added, but nevertheless Tess and her doctor decided that Ozempic would be a good fit for her. An added advantage was that Ozempic only requires one shot per week instead of a daily injection. “I was on Ozempic for eight – almost nine – months,” Tess said, “and then I got a letter telling me I need prior authorization for the Ozempic.” Even though it was on the list of approved meds that United Healthcare furnished? Yes, indeed! “They wouldn’t budge on that either.” “It took almost three months to get them to authorize the Ozempic,” Tess sighed. “And I had to pay out of my own pocket.” Was it expensive? “It was expensive. My pharmacy was very cooperative. They tried Good RX and all the coupons they could find to make it as cheap as possible. But it was still expensive. “And the thing that really makes me mad,” Tess added, “is that it’s only a one-year authorization. Now I have to go through it all again. It’s bad enough they make you jump through the hoops once, they want you to keep jumping!” Tess told me she didn’t feel so bad for herself, but for her doctor who had to navigate the prior authorization system. “All that expense,” she said. “All that time and effort!” Because Tess has pre-existing conditions – her diabetes and heart disease – it’s almost impossible for her to switch to another Part D plan. “I don’t think it’s going to matter anyway,” she told me. “They all do the same thing. And I take a lot of medicines. That’s a lot of prior authorizations.” Fortunately, Tess’ day-to-day health is good in spite of her chronic diseases. Unfortunately, her story is not unusual. It's the story of a health care system that centers private insurance companies' profits rather than patients' health. If you also have a story you want to share, email organizer@psara.org . Mike Andrew is the Editor of the Advocate and Executive Director of PSARA < Back to Table of Contents

PSARA Oral Histories Project: Larry Gossett Return to Oral Histories Main Page Larry Gossett Interview PSARA Advocate February 2023 Page 4 Part I March 2023 Page 9 Part Ia July 2023 Page 8 Part II August 2023 Page 8 Part IIa A Story of the Great Migration North (As described by Larry Gossett) By Angie Bartels Larry Gossett is a former King County Council member, a longtime activist, and a member of PSARA's Executive Board. Angie Bartels is PSARA's Membership VP. This story is part of a series of interviews she's doing with PSARA members. Angie Bartels is PSARA's membership VP. This is one in a series of interviews she's conducting with members of PSARA. The Gossett family joined the Great Migration of Blacks leaving the old Confederate States between World War I and the end of World War II. Nearly 6,000,000 Black people headed for northern cities during this time period. Joining this historic migration were Nelmon and Johnnie Gossett. Johnnie was born in Nigton, an all-Black town- ship in southeast Texas.Nelmon was born in Marshall, a very small country town also located in southeast Texas. They had met while students at Texas College, a small historically Black college located in Tyler, Texas. The only work available to Black young adults was picking cotton, so that is what Nelmon was doing in May, 1944, whenthe white boss paid him only one dollar for working from sunup to sundown. Nelmon was no fool – his slip said he wassupposed to get $1.75 that day. He protested to the white boss man and demanded his full pay. The white man replied,“Boy, you don't talk to me like that. You're not going to get no $1.75, nigger. You keep talking, I'm going to whip your assand have you put in jail!” Nelmon was extremely upset and wanted to argue. But he knew there was no way he could win, given the operations of the Jim Crow south. He went home to his new wife, Johnnie, and said, “Honey, we're getting out ofhere, this is it! These white folks are crazy. We are going to leave before I do something I will regret or die from… Where's that place where your sister Editha moved to?” Johnnie said she and her husband Woodson had moved to Seattle, Washington. Nelmon didn’t know where Seattle was, but he knew it was up north. Editha told her younger sister that her husband justgot a job in the war industry up in Seattle. She said they were hiring Negroes in the lower-pay- ing jobs. Nelmon and Johnniepacked their things and joined the Great Black Migration to northern cities. It was mid-July, 1944, when they got on the Greyhound bus heading to Seattle. They had a box of chicken to eat when they boarded the bus in Tyler. Neither of them knew how far Seattle was. After aday on the bus, they got scared and asked the driver, “How much longer before we get to Seattle?” He said, “It will takeabout one more day.” They both wondered, “Oh, my God, where is this place?” The bus driver explained that they weregoing up near Canada, which made them even more nervous. They didn't know what to do, so they just stayed on the busthat sec- ond day and eventually disembarked in Seattle. Nelmon got a job working at Todd Shipyards making $8 a day, way more money than he had ever made picking cotton down South. When they arrived in Seattle, Johnnie went to a doctor and found out she was pregnant with their first child. The only clinicthat would accept her as a low income patient was Thompson Clinic, located on East Broadway Street near the old KingCounty Hospital. When Johnnie, Nelmon, and Editha arrived at the clinic with Johnnie in labor during the early morninghours of February 21, 1945, the white nurse at the front office immediately saw that Johnnie was a “colored girl” and toldher she would have to pay $175 for childbirth care. Nelmon didn’t have any money on him, so the staff said Johnnie and Editha could stay, provided that Nelmon went home and brought back the money. They agreed, and Nelmon went to see if hecould hustle the money up. In the meantime, Johnnie’s water broke while they waited for a room. When the nurse announced to Johnnie and Editha that a birthing room was ready, they were told that this was the roomthey used “for colored girls.” As they walked into the dark and dingy room, the nurse went on, “You colored girls are always having babies, anyway.” The nurse went on with her ignorant and stereotypical lecture, “You colored girls know theroutine.” Then she left the room. Johnnie was only 20 years old and Editha was 26. Neither of them had ever had a baby.They just looked at each other in fear and anxiety. They were young Black women from the South, so they didn’t speak up.And unfortunately, they really didn't know anything about having babies. Johnnie’s labor intensified, and she thought that she had to go to the bathroom. There was a bedside commode, so Edithahelped Johnnie onto it. Johnnie felt like she was having “the worst bowel movement ever.” She kept pushing, and suddenlya baby popped out. The young women were stunned! The nurse had left the room, and neither Johnnie nor Editha knew what to do. Johnnie remembered that she had seen a movie recently with Nelmon in which a baby was born. She remembered the doctor slapping the baby’s behind to get it to cry. So Johnnie slapped her baby’s behind, and itbegan to scream. After the newborn started screaming, then and only then, did a nurse run into the room and finish thebirthing process of properly cutting the umbilical cord, etc. Johnnie finally asked, “What is my baby?” The nurse said he was a boy. Upon Nelmon’s return, he was told that he had aboy. Johnnie and Nelmon proudly named their baby boy Lawrence (Larry) Edward Gossett. Nelmon and Johnnie went on to have five other children: Brenda born in ’47, Ricky in ’49, Glen in ‘52, Theresa in ’53, andPatrick in ’55. And in spite of the ugly racism that weighed against them, they continued to have high hopes for their six children. Johnnie and Nelmon Gossett, Larrry’s parents, stayed with Johnnie’s sister, Editha, the first three months they were in Seattle. In October of 1945, they were lucky enough to secure a one-bedroom apartment in Duwamish Bend, a low- income housing project located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. During the end of World War II, it wasn’t easy for a newly married Black couple to move from the deep rural South to a bigNorthwest city like Seat- tle. Both Larry’s parents had lived their entire lives in rural Texas, where the racial restrictions wereenforced in an ironclad fashion. In addition to Larry’s parents receiving slave wages for jobs they did in Texas, it was illegalin the South for most Blacks to quit their jobs without the permission of their white bosses. Johnnie and Nelmon Gossett, Larrry’s parents, stayed with Johnnie’s sister, Editha, the first three months they were in Seattle. In October of 1945, they were lucky enough to secure a one-bedroom apartment in Duwamish Bend, a low- income housing project located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. During the end of World War II, it wasn’t easy for a newly married Black couple to move from the deep rural South to a big Northwest city like Seat- tle. Both Larry’s parents had lived their entire lives in rural Texas, where the racial restrictions were enforced in an ironclad fashion. In addition to Larry’s parents receiving slave wages for jobs they did in Texas, it was illegal in the South for most Blacks to quit their jobs without the permission of their white bosses. Larry said, “When my parents left the South, it was a veritable police state – they had to use separate toilets, water fountains, and restaurants. Blacks were treated as being inferior to ALL white people, and the police kept them under control.” In the North, the white man’s rules weren’t as restricted. Larry’s parents could eat in any restaurant they wanted. They could drink from any water fountain and use any toilet available. Neither of them was called “Nigger” in the days after they migrated to Seattle, but some of the fears learned down South remained within their consciousness. Around December of 1945, Larry’s parents got on a Seattle bus to ride downtown. The bus was very crowded, so they were not able to sit together. Johnnie sat in one of the horizontal seats, while Nelmon sat nervously nearby in a vertical seat next to a white man. After a few more stops, the white man next to Nelmon disembarked. About half a mile later, a young white woman boarded the bus and took the seat next to Nelmon. After a few more stops, Johnnie looked over at her husband and saw he was sweating profusely. Then she heard him say, “Johnnie, we gotta’ get off this bus. I am not feeling well.” They immediately got off the bus, and Johnnie nervously asked Nelmon if he needed her to try and get an ambulance. Nelmon responded, “No, I don’t need an ambulance, honey. The problem is that was the first time in my life I had ever sat next to a white woman, and I was scared to death.” This is a classic example of Black reaction to the ways of white folks in the North versus the South. Larry’s Daddy knew that if had he sat next to a white woman in the South – anywhere in the South – he would be attacked, beaten, jailed, or pos- sibly lynched. In Seattle, Larry’s Dad wasn’t sure what could happen to him if a white woman sat next to him. His southern conditioning made him very scared. By 1956, Nelmon had the best blue- collar job of his life – working for the United States Post Office in West Se- attle. And he had accumulated enough money to buy the family’s first house. Nelmon told Johnnie, “Honey, I want to look for a house out here close to the West Seattle Post Office, so I don't have to drive a long distance to work.” At that time, most Black people in Seattle lived in the Central Area, but Nelmon wanted a house in West Seattle close to his new work place. He went to not one, but two white realtors, both of whom told him the same thing: “If I show a Negro a house in West Seattle, I will get run out of business. But I will show you a house in the Central Area.” The first time he heard this, Nelmon got really mad and went home and devised a new approach. He decided that he would approach a second realtor differently than he did the first. He confidently told the second guy, “I'm looking for a house.” The realtor said, “Okay, why don't we take my car and check a few out.” Nelmon thought they were going to drive around West Seattle, but instead, the realtor drove onto 35th Ave SW headed towards the West Seattle Bridge. At this point, Nelmon knew his cause was hopeless and resolved that he would not get a house in West Seattle. Instead, he bought a house on the corner of 18th and Alder, right smack dab in the middle of the Central Area, where all their new neighbors would be Black. The Gossetts learned that white people in Seattle practiced de facto segregation. “There were no laws saying you can only live in the Central Area, but that was the only place a white real estate agent would dare show you a house. After that experience, Daddy started calling Seattle “up south.” He controlled his anger and got on with it, always working to get the best for his family where it could be gotten. For the first time in his life, Larry was enrolled in an elementary school that was 98.6 percent Black. “The only thing white about that school was the teachers, nothing else,” Nelmon said. But Larry, Brenda, and Ricky adjusted quickly and attended Horace Mann Elementary. Larry made a lot of friends at his new school. His friends introduced him to the Rotary Boys Club, where they played ping pong and basketball. In the 7th grade Larry was sent to mostly-Black Washington Junior High School. There he played on the varsity basketball team as a 7th and 8th grader. “When I was in 11th grade, my daddy purchased his second home on Beacon Hill. I transferred to Franklin High School, which by 1962 was 85 percent white. That was the first time that I consciously went to school with a majority of white kids, and I wasn't as scared as my daddy. I rapped on the white girls and they were responsive. That was an interesting phenomenon because when white man rules, you can't power talk to no white girl. I was an athlete. I wanted to stay at Garfield because I was a basketball player, they were a fabulous team and the kids I grew up with. But I enjoyed Franklin High School in ‘63. Now, I didn't have no racial consciousness or anything like that. “I dated white girls, many of them. Also, some of the white girls started the Larry Gossett Fan Club when I made the varsity Basketball Team at Franklin High School. They wore buttons that said Gossett Fan Club and they were 99 percent white. There was one Chinese girl who became a city council member, Cheryl Chow. She was in the Gossett Fan Club and went to high school with me. My sister kind of got fed up. One day, we’re just sitting around after school and she said, ‘Big Brother, so embarrassing. He doesn't shovel any coal, just snow.’ So Momma didn't know what Brenda was talking about so she says, ‘Brenda, doll, while we were living in High Point, your daddy and Larry shoveled coal into that furnace so we would have heat!' And my sister Brenda got upset with me. ‘Momma, he doesn't go out with any Negro girls, he only goes out with white girls!’ Momma said, 'Oh, that's what you mean! Well, honey, he can go out with whoever he wants.' Poor Brenda left the room in disgust. “I was an athlete in high school, and that had its privileges. I got pretty good grades because I wanted to play college basketball, even though I was very short, 5’7”. So I told my daddy that I wanted to go to junior college because I thought that would be my best chance to start in basketball. And Daddy said, ‘I have something else in mind for you Larry. I've already checked your grades. Your grades are good enough to get into the University of Washington.’ My daddy was the first person I ever heard reference the University of WA as the University of Washington. ‘And that's where I want you to go, boy.’ Daddy called me boy, I don't know where he got that from! And I said, ‘No, Daddy, I want to go to junior college.’ And then Daddy looked at me and said, ‘Boy, now I got to thinking. I'm gonna’ take you to the Registrar’s Office at the University of WA and enroll you.’ And I don't know if you're aware of this but back in the fifties and early sixties, you don't be saying ‘no’ to your black parents. I was 17 so I didn't talk back to Daddy. “The next week he set an appointment with the Registrar and he took me to the University of Washington. The Registrar and Daddy went over my transcripts and she said, ‘Yeah, Larry's grade point average is right up there. But he needs to take geometry.’ I'd had algebra and you couldn't get in the U back in those days without geometry. So Daddy said, ‘What can we do, because I'd like to get him in.’ And she said, ‘Okay, I will enroll him in the University beginning winter quarter, but not in September of ‘64. Then she turned to me and said, ‘I need you, this summer and fall, two quarters, to enroll in geometry at Central Seattle Community College.’ We were living on Beacon Hill then, so I could get over to Broadway easily. ‘But he has to get at least a C in geometry.’ Daddy said, ‘Yes, I'm going to enroll him in school to start winter quarter.’ So, I got a C both quarters, and they let me in the UW in January ‘65. So that's how I got to be at the University of WA. And I knew that I was way too small to try to be able to make the team at the UW. I wanted to but I didn’t get there until January, the third month of basketball season in college. So I didn't even try out. I just focused on becoming a graduate of the University of Washington.” Part II: Black Power Captures Larry Gossett’s Soul While in Vista The American war in Vietnam was escalating in 1965 as President Lyndon Johnson doubled the number of men drafted into the armed services. During this time, selective service requirements, deferments, and exemptions changed rapidly in the government’s efforts to make the draft appear “fairer.” By 1966, a draft lottery was instituted, which no longer provided exemptions to college students. Young men were all given a draft number between 1 and 366, corresponding to their birthday, and lower numbers were called up first. It was at this time that Larry Gossett's life changed dramatically. “I found out in late fall of 1965 that there were only two ways you could avoid the draft, and that was to join the international Peace Corps or the domestic Peace Corps, which was called VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). The international Peace Corps required a two-year commitment to serve poor people abroad. That made me nervous, because I had never been outside the boundaries of the United States. I had lived my entire life in Seattle, except for the brief period of time that I lived in Los Angeles. But because I learned that VISTA was only a one-year commitment for volunteers to live and work in a poor urban or rural area in the US, I decided to apply. That felt right to me, and fortunately, I was accepted. I became a VISTA volunteer in March of 1966 and was sent to Toledo, Ohio, for three months of training. “All our training instructors were professors or graduate students at University of Toledo. We lived and worked in the Black community of Toledo during our VISTA training. Like most cities in our country, Toledo was racially segregated. I lived on Door Street, and everybody on that street was Black and lived in big ghetto houses reminiscent of those located in the Central Area of Seattle. “Our instructors gave us an interesting list of exciting and inspiring books to read. The most memorable was The Other America, by Michael Harrington, an awe-inspiring historian. His book was very enlightening as it told the truth about what it is like being poor across our nation. I had never read any book like this before, and it had a surprisingly dramatic impact on me. This book made me realize the extent of poverty in Appalachia, among the poor Mexicans, and of course, poor Blacks and Whites. Mr. Harrington’s writing made me empathetic and caring about being poor in America. We were then assigned to read highlighted parts of Manchild in the Promised Land, by Claude Brown, another book which raised my awareness about a poor, young Black kid growing up in Harlem. The streets he had to survive on were far tougher than anything I had experienced in Seattle or even knew existed in our country. Once again, I was surprised by the feelings of anger and frustration I felt about what I had read. “Then our VISTA trainers introduced us to Before the Mayflower, a History of Black America, by Lerone Bennett Jr, one of America's top Black historians. This book, more than any other, made me realize how little of Black history I knew, especially being a third-year university student. I was already a junior at the UW but had never had a class that exposed me to reading this kind of history. Our VISTA instructors had us discuss what we read with them, but the process that proved most meaningful to me was the discussions following our reading of Rules For Radicals, by Saul Alinsky. I realized quickly why this book was a central part of our assigned readings. Mr. Alinsky got right to the point about what a VISTA volunteer’s duty and responsibility must be: “To serve and organize the poor, so that they will desire to be on the front lines in the battle to combat, eliminate, and liberate themselves from the crushing impact of poverty in America.” “By the end of the 12-week training period, my thinking about being poor in the United States was changing, and I had not yet been told where I would be sent as a VISTA volunteer. The head VISTA instructor finally approached me and said, “Mr. Gossett, you are going to be a VISTA in New York City.” He told me I would be working for an anti-poverty program called the Lower East Side Narcotics Center. He explained, “You’ll be working with young addicts and kids who were on the track to possibly becoming drug addicts.” I said, “WOW!” He concluded by explaining to me, “You will hopefully organize an anti-drug youth center for kids under 15 years old on the Lower East Side of Manhattan Island. “I became very excited but nervous about my VISTA placement. I had just turned 21 and had never been east of Idaho before I flew into Toledo a few months before. Now I was about to be sent for a year to the biggest city in the United States, the Big Apple, New York City! “Little did I know that my year in VISTA would become what I still consider to be the signature experience of my life. My flight from Toledo landed at LaGuardia Airport in mid June, 1966. I took a taxi straight to the Lower East Side Narcotics Center. When I got there, a staff person was awaiting my arrival. She had put together a nice packet of information about the agency for me. She had already told me on the phone that the agency had found temporary housing for me at the Henry Street Settlement House, located only a block from the agency. My room did not have a private bathroom, but it was very modern, comfortable, and secure. It was a cool place to spend my first few months living in New York City. Larry was certain his year in VISTA was going to be an important and meaningful life experience. To start it off, he told his family and friends back home in Seattle that he arrived in New York City just two weeks before Stokely Carmichael, the National Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), articulated a call for BLACK POWER. The phrase spread through all of New York City very quickly, but he reported that it had gone through Harlem like wildfire. Given the trajectory of his life, he felt it had been very fortuitous that he landed in a city so nice they named it twice: New York, New York. In retrospect, he felt very fortunate that he got there at about the same time the Black Power movement arrived. He remembers visiting Harlem and Bedford Stuyvesant, and greeting groups of Black people on the streets with the salutation “Black Power!” Larry said, “I remember greeting people in shops and at the office, ‘Black Power, man, Black Power!’ Everyone in the Black community began greeting each other with the phrase Black Power! so how could I have not been impacted by all of this? “I loved my work with the Lower East Side Narcotics Center, especially the satisfaction I got from setting up a youth center on 5th Street between Avenues C and D. This street was one of the poorest on the Lower East Side. About 80 percent of the youth we served were Puerto Rican and 15 percent were Black. Two other VISTAs worked on the project, and five NYU students came down regularly to volunteer and work with us for school credit. We built a very effective program for about 300 kids who joined the 5th Street Clubhouse within the first month of advertising the club's opening. We set up some of the best English-Spanish tutoring programs, which teachers identified as the best they had ever observed. We took hundreds of kids on field trips that emphasized cultural exposure. I remember in the fall of 1966 taking a group of Black and Puerto Rican youth to the Apollo Theatre to see Gladys Knight and the Pips. As soon as Gladys came out on the stage she said, ‘Black Power Y’all!’ Our youth from the Lower East Side loved it. The whole audience broke out in thunderous applause, responding ‘Black Power’ to her at least 15 times. On the subway home, the kids kept saying ‘Black Power’ including the 9 of the 12 kids who were Puerto Rican, not African American. I loved and learned from these very memorable experiences. Most of these youth had never experienced or thought that they would ever experience a successful drug resistance program. Juvenile counselors would come and check out our program and then work to replicate it. “I think that the Puerto Rican and Black history lessons we taught at the clubhouse raised all of these kids' consciousness about being Black and Puerto Rican in New York. These interventions made a huge difference in whether or not these kids passed their school classes. It also enabled them not to fight against their own people. In this regard, I was surprised how quickly they learned and remembered Puerto Rican and Black creators, who invented things like the concept of zero, the invention of the stop light, and filters that keep electric lights burning for a long time. They loved stories about the Black Buffalo Soldiers and the role they played in the West after the Civil War." Despite the sense of enjoyment I got from working with all these youth on the Lower East Side, I always had a special yearning to work in Harlem. I found out, after about six months of working exclusively on the Lower East Side, that VISTA was looking for supervisors to lead the expansion of their programming in Harlem. Our efforts on the Lower East Side made me a frequent visitor to the office that coordinated VISTA work in the five Boroughs of New York City. So when they found out I would be amenable to working in Harlem, we were able to work a plan where I supervised VISTAs in Harlem for four days a week and continued working about two days a week on the Lower East Side. I was excited because I was already spending a lot of time going to Black Power meetings and demonstrations in Harlem, organized specifically around the unjust effort by the US Congress to kick Adam Clayton Powell out of his House seat where he had been representing Harlem for over 20 years. They accused him of womanizing and missing important meetings. His constituents let it be known that they did not support his expulsion, but Congress successfully, for a short while, voted him out of his seat and called for a new election to replace him. “Harlem was the largest Black ghetto in the United States in 1967. I was told that more than 565,000 people lived in Harlem, nearly all of them Black, Puerto Rican, or Dominican. At the same time, Seattle had a population of about 600,000. But Seattleites occupied land about one hundred times larger than the 45-blocks-long and seven-blockswide space that Harlem occupied. “I was assigned to supervise four VISTAs at Harlem Youth, Inc. The first thing we did was a door-to-door survey on the most crowded block in Harlem. That block was 117th Street between Lenox and 7th Avenue. (Today, Lenox Avenue has been renamed Malcolm X Blvd.) We were also assigned to set up youth programs for kids 11 to 15 years of age on three other blocks: 122nd, 137th, and 143rd Streets. Our survey of 117th Street revealed that about 9,000 people lived in oldand dilapidated eight- and nine story tenement buildings. We couldn’t believe it was possible to have that many people living on one block. I had this same curiosity on the Lower East Side, so I got eight young students at NYU to help me go door to door on 5th Street between Avenues C and D. That block had an estimated 6,000 people living on it. About 1,000 were youth 10 to 15 years of age. This concentrated poverty really impacted and astonished me. I thought it unbelievable that any human being would be forced to live in overcrowded spaces, like the Lower East Side and Harlem. I'm from Seattle, where we had 250 people living on both sides of the street. Yeah, they were all Black, but in Harlem, they were all Black too. In Harlem and on the Lower East Side they had five, six, seven people living in every tiny one- and two-bedroom unit, on every floor, in these roach- and rat-infested tenement buildings that occupied every block. I read in the Amsterdam News, the Black newspaper of Harlem, that 60 percent of all the Black people in Harlem lived below the poverty line. “This survey made me dig out an article I had read in the summer of 1966, in The New York Times. It said that if every person in the United States were to live in New York City, and the population of each block would be based on the average number of people living on the average block in Harlem, which at the time was about 7,000 people, all 300 million Americans would fit on just one-half the blocks in New York City. This was a shocking reality to me, the estimate of how crowded these conditions in Harlem and the Lower East Side were. “In his autobiography, Malcolm X said that on average, two to three Blacks were killed every week in Harlem by police, that Blacks owned no more than two percent of all the stores on 125th Street, and that there was only one high school, Franklin, serving 565,000 people in Harlem – and nearly 70 percent of the students in Harlem dropped out of school by the 9th grade. These school statistics really shocked me. I recalled that in Seattle there were 12 public and 4 Catholic high schools, while Harlem had only one. That's how oppressed and segregated the African American population was in Harlem.” Larry became a frequent visitor to Michaux’s bookstore, (technically called the National Memorial African Book Store, but known to the community as Michaux’s), Harlem’s premiere bookstore, located on 125th Street. This bookstore was a great reservoir of Black history and culture. Larry started reading everything he could afford to purchase on Malcolm X and on past and present great Black writers, who wrote about the experiences of Black people in Harlem during the 20th Century. “One of the clerks in the bookstore with whom I had struck up a friendship said to me one day, ‘Larry, you should read something a little broader than just Black history. You seem to be serious about social movements. Why don't you read Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels? Why don't you read the Communist Manifesto?’ I replied, ‘Where I grew up, everyone says that Communism is bad and evil.’ He said, ‘You have to broaden your horizons. You need to be able to make interconnections between the struggles of poor people here in Harlem, Seattle, and with other places around the world. Karl Marx and Fred Engels will provide you with some good food for thought that you should be aware of. “His persistence had an influence on me, so I bought the Communist Manifesto. I took it home and read it, and went back to the brother who had urged me to read it. I said, ‘Wow, I wonder why I was never encouraged to read this at the UW!’ ‘What made the most sense to you, my man?’ he asked. You have to remember, I'm a descendant of Africans brought to America to work as chattel slaves for 246 straight years for no pay. It made sense to me when they said, ‘the people who do the work in any society or community ought to have a major say in determining where the fruits of their labor go and for what it is spent.’ Maybe they call that communism or whatever, but it made a lot of sense to me. I was thinking, why was I so scared to read stuff about socialism before? “In short, when I left Michaux’s bookstore, VISTA, and NYC at the end of my year and a half in VISTA, I was a radically changed man – philosophically, dress, attitude, values, everything. I even changed my name from Larry Gossett to Oba Yoruba. I would never go back to being bourgeoisie and brainwashed again. VISTA had changed me, the Black Power movement had captured my soul, and I was down for the cause and the people. “At the end of my VISTA term, I wanted to go back home. Many VISTAs stayed in the community that they worked in, but I always had the intention of going back home to Seattle. I landed in Seattle on September 15th, 1967, and my mother and youngest brother, Patrick, came to the gate of the airport to pick me up. But guess what happened? Both walked right by without recognizing me. I had a lot of hair, a big natural, and I wore a dashiki and African beads, and like other Black Power advocates, I wore sunglasses. Finally, I said the magic word, ‘Momma.’ She and Patrick recognized me by my voice. Momma looked at me and said, ‘Larry, is that you, boy?’ She kept calling me Larry, and I should have waited until I got home, but I said, ‘Momma, my n ame is Oba Yoruba.’ And she said, ‘Yuba who? Boy, I gotta get you home so your daddy can see you.’ I smiled confidently and walked to the car with Momma and my little brother, Patrick. “The entire Gossett family embraced the changes I had gone through, after a while that is, and supported me in my work for social justice through the Black Power movement we were about to establish on the campus of the University of Washington and in Seattle's Black community."

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents June 2025 Resisting Immigrant Deportations – This Is Just the Beginning Cindy Domingo Two hundred fifty people packed Seattle’s International Association of Machinists Local 751 union hall on May 3rd, with another 60+ online, to de- liver a powerful message to the Trump administration that they would resist deportations occurring at a massive level in the US. In a show of unity, a multi-racial crowd of Asian Americans, Latinos, and white people coming from over 150 organizations/affiliations listened to three different panels composed of immigrant rights organizations and advocates, elected officials, lawyers, educators, and representatives from faith-based organizations, labor, and community-based organizations. The new organization Standing for Democracy was the convenor of the conference, which was cosponsored by another 20 organizations, including PSARA and the major statewide immigrant rights organizations NW Immi- grant Rights Project and Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network. Opening keynote speaker Rosalinda Guillen, Executive Director and cofounder of Community to Com- munity, provided a vision for Standing for Democracy as she recalled the history and work of the Washington State Rainbow Coalition (WSRC) of the 1980-90’s. WSRC, often portrayed as a multi-racial movement that had an inside/outside Democratic Party strategy, was part of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition, but maintained its independence from Jackson. The WSRC developed a comprehensive forward- looking program, which encompassed a local, state, national, and international platform that guided its domestic and foreign policies that remain relevant today. Elected officials and political candidates coming to the WSRC for endorsements were measured by that program. For many during that period, the WSRC became the model of what participatory democracy could look like in the context of a progressive program and party. Presentations by County Council member Teresa Mosqueda and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (via video message) both signaled that the first 100 days of the Trump administration’s policies are quickly moving us towards fascism. The attacks on immigrants, misinformation, denial of due process, and Trump’s seizure of power held by Congress and the Courts is the classic playbook of dictators and authoritarian regimes. Both women called on conference attendees to continue to resist and organize because it is the power of the people that will stop the dismantling of our democracy. The conference reflected the willing- ness of people to come together to de- fend immigrants but also peoples’ need to develop concrete strategies and plans to further disrupt Trump’s over- all move towards fascism. As Jayapal stated, the attacks against immigrants are about all of us and all our democrat- ic rights. While Standing for Democracy in Washington State is just beginning, some ideas from the conference are already taking form. Out of the conference panel on litigation strategies, a group of lawyers led by Attorney Michael Withey are developing a legal “Strike Force” that will use various tools like the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to uncover information on the strategies of ICE and local police forces in Washington State. As a sanctuary state, local police forces are not allowed to cooperate with ICE on sharing information on immigrants or cooperating on arrests for federal civil immigration violations. Information from FOIAs could lead to further lawsuits to stop illegal activity. King County Councilmember Jorge Baron, a longtime leader on immigration policy in Washington State and nationally, and Mosqueda both called upon Standing for Democracy and attendees to assist in developing and supporting policies that resist the Trump administration’s attacks on im- migrants, diversity/equity/inclusion, and programs such as Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare. Washington State has already been targeted by Trump for severe federal budget cut- backs. Although that policy has been contested in court, the two Councilmembers along with Seattle City Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, who presented on the allies panel, need a strong movement to develop new revenue to support core programs for working class people of our state and those most impacted by poverty and racism. Organizers for Standing for Democracy are considering going to the vari- ous organizations that cosponsored the conference and others across the state who are interested in building an inter- sectional movement to resist Trump’s anti-democratic policies and his moves toward fascism. There are many organizations operating throughout Washington State that work on a variety of issues, including in rural Washington and in municipalities of various sizes. These organizations do great work in their communities. As a new organization, we want to know how we can move forward together without usurping what others are doing already. One of the ideas that evolved out of the Social Forum model was the concept of Peoples’ Assemblies where communities of particular areas or sectors come together to develop their own platform based on their experiences, knowledge, and aspirations. This model has the potential of develop- ing a statewide platform similar to the Washington State Rainbow Coalition. Another tool that the National office of Standing for Democracy has developed, which was tested at the conference, was a curriculum on fascism that could potentially be adapted for use in particular sectors or communities. Standing for Democracy is holding a follow-up Zoom gathering on May 22. It is open to conference attendees who would like to further develop ideas and strategies for working together to grow our movement. Cindy Domingo is PSARA's Co-VP for Outreach and a veteran activist with LELO (Legacy of Equality, Leadership, and Organizing) and APALA (Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance). < Back to Table of Contents

Become a PSARA member today or renew your membership. Membership, Renewals & Donations Join us in our work to make retirement real for all generations and in our fight for social justice, economic security, dignity and a healthy planet for all of us. Basic Membership $20/year Supporting membership – $50/year Sponsoring membership – $100/year To become a PSARA Member, Renew your Membership or Make a Donation chose one of the following options. By Credit Card: Click on this link to take you to an Act Blue page where you can choose the amount. Gift Membership: If you are giving a gift membership online, please write in the “note” box field during checkout the following items for the person receiving the gift: First and Last Name, Email and phone number, Address (if possible). Click here if you are interested in making a tax deductible contributionto the PSARA’s 501C Education Fund.

The Retire Advocate < Back to Table of Contents January 2025 We Remember Norma Kelsey Contributions from Maureen Bo, Cindy Schu, Nancy Greenup, and David Kelsey The Puget Sound area labor and social justice movements lost a fierce activist with the passing of Norma Kelsey on September 21, 2024, at age 89. Norma was a leader of the Office and Professional Employees Union Local 8 (Secretary-Treasurer 1985-1989, President 1989-2001) and worked for Plumbers Local 32 and Laborers Local 440 for many years. Norma also held various leadership positions with El Centro de la Raza, Mothers for Police Accountability, Coalition of Labor Union Women, and the Martin Luther King County Labor Council. Norma served on a citizens’ panel of the Seattle City Council’s World Trade Organization Accountability Review Committee and was a member of Puget Sound Alliance for Retired Americans (now PSARA). Norma was a true trade unionist and believed in the movement with her heart and soul. Norma was born September 19, 1935, in Independence, Kansas. Her grandparents settled there years before, having arrived in a covered wagon. In her youth she was a member of the Salvation Army Church where she was taught that her role in life should be to help others. Later, when she began to work for unions, she recognized a familiar belief system of helping and giving to others. She brought those values full strength to her work for unions and the community. Norma was married at age 16, but this brutal first marriage ended in divorce. She later married Bob Kelsey and moved to California and eventually to Washington, where they raised four children and several adopted and foster children. Norma and Bob, usually with their son Jack, traveled extensively to Nicaragua, Venezuela, the Philippines, Haiti, and throughout Europe and Central America. The travel often involved reconnecting with former refugees who had fled violence in their home countries and who had been aided by Bob and Norma when seeking housing and assistance in the United States. Norma provided a key leadership role in the mid-1980’s, when a group of women, led by former Local 8 Board Member Maureen Bo (who after the revolution was elected Business Manager), decided their union was headed in the wrong direction. Norma’s kindness, vision, and belief in social justice and creating a humane community helped to provide a focus for their shared work. Maureen, Norma, Nancy Greenup, and Janet Graham, along with others, ousted Local 8’s leadership at the time. They fought off a hard push for an ill-advised merger with another union, which would have stripped Local 8 of its own direction. Instead, they reshaped their local into the vibrant, progressive labor union it is today. These founding mothers focused on building a transparent, fiscally responsible, and democratically run local with organizing made a top priority. Norma’s labor friends remember her passion and kindness, which will live on in so many of the hearts she touched. Her determination was unmatched. And she never lost sight of the important goals she had for a more just world. Norma taught us endless lessons in perseverance with dignity. She was truly one of a kind. The world is a better place because of her. < Back to Table of Contents