PROJECT
About WSOS
For over a century, the laws and policies that govern how we use streets in Seattle, WA, have largely been written, enforced, and adjudicated by white people. Whose Streets? Our Streets! (WSOS) is a majority-BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) group, convened in July 2020 by Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, dedicated to reviewing and revising laws and policies to better meet the needs and support the lives of all street users — in particular, the BIPOC community who have historically been excluded from the full and free use of this shared public space.
WSOS uses a pro-equity, anti-racist framework to review laws and policies governing the use of streets and also develop a vision of, and recommendations for, how our streets can be safe, thriving places without the use of armed police.
This includes recommendations to cease involvement of the police in traffic enforcement, prioritize non-punitive methods for making streets safer, abolish enforcement of actions that don’t harm other people, invest in communities of color, and to trust, support, and invest in the owners and experts of those communities.
Recommendations
Our values, principles, and recommendations can be found here.
Who We Are
Royal Alley-Barnes. Executive Director, Center on Contemporary Art.
Juan Jose Bocanegra. MEChA. El Centro de la Raza. La Raza Unida Party. American Indian Movement.
Clara Cantor. Community Organizer, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways.
Alex Lew. Transportation Planner, Sound Transit.
Ayan Musse. Anti-racist community organizer. Decriminalize Seattle. Seattle People’s Party. The People’s Institute Northwest.
Phyllis Porter (Co-Chair). Black Girls Do Bike. Rainier Riders. Rainier Valley Greenways-Safe Streets. Seattle Neighborhood Greenways Board of Directors.
Yes Segura. Founder of Smash the Box. Urban Planner, Designer, Cartographer
KL Shannon (Co-Chair). Community Organizer, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways. Seattle People’s Party. Jobs With Justice. Mothers for Police Accountability. Defender Association’s Racial Disparity Project. Seattle MLK Coalition.
Peaches Thomas. Community Organizer, Duwamish Valley Safe Streets.
Organizational mentions for affiliation purposes only
Contact
wsos@seattlegreenways.org
