Oral History

Wa Na Wari announces the Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute, a pilot oral history / community story training program. In 2021, a six-person cohort will explore the ethics, techniques, best practices, tensions, and dilemmas of oral history. The cohort will then practice their new skills by conducting oral history interviews with local community members around three topics: Black educators, Black barbers and beauticians, and Black experiences on the Seattle waterfront. Upon completion of the Institute, cohort members will receive compensation of $4,000 and a certificate of completion.

Why oral history and why now?
The Seattle Black Spatial Histories Institute is one way, among many, that Wa Na Wari seeks to build collective power towards a future of Black ownership and belonging by rooting our work in a legacy of Black resilience, creativity, and self-determination. Training community members in the techniques and best practices of Black memory work is an important step towards shifting power around whose stories are told, how they’re told, and what place those stories hold in the shaping of Black futures.

“It’s really important for us to create a Black-centered space where people feel safe and welcome, and to be their full selves, but also to have a place that holds memory, for what the community was, but also for what we think the community can be.” Elisheba Johnson

2021 Cohort

Sierra Parsons is a community organizer who works and lives in southeast Seattle. She helps to lead WA-BLOC, a community-based organization rooted in the Rainier Beach neighborhood. Some of Sierra’s work includes advocating for and designing restorative alternatives to youth incarceration in King County, disrupting the relationship between police and Seattle Public Schools, and fighting for tenant rights to hinder displacement amongst a coalition of other community organizers and local political leaders. Sierra is invested in cultivating intergenerational leadership and elevating youth voice. She shares Ella Baker’s belief that knowledge of Black history is the foundation of grassroots collective action. In her free time, Sierra enjoys learning how to computer program, eating mac and cheese, and occasionally roller skating.

Ricky Reyes is a Seattle-based, Tacoma-born, researcher, creative, and arts administrator. An avid musician, writer, and photographer, Rick finds community in creating with and performing alongside fellow musicians, writers, and creatives.

Ariel Paine, father, music producer and local hip hop artist. Born and raised In the Central District. I love spending time with family, travelling, making music and doing art or archiving projects. Also known as ampfire 206, I use music to paint pictures of my life growing up in the district.

Ardo Hersi attended Seattle Central College. She works full-time in education with youth. Her passion is storytelling and writing poetry. She has done work with KUOW since 2014 as an advanced producer. Currently, she helps facilitate workshops and was the co-host of the “Snapshots” series for RadioActive. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, she started an online Somali-centric clothing and jewelry business. She was a creative director for a two-part series highlighting the achievements of Somali women in the Seattle community. She participated in and helped with a short documentary on mental health in the African Diaspora with community organizers. She is a community organizer for Black social justice and Muslim immigration rights. She has conducted anti-racist trainings for all age groups. She is the daughter of refugees who fled Somalia via Kenya, has seven siblings, and is fluent in Somali.

Brenetta Ward is a Seattle-based fiber artist, third-generation quilter and community advocate. Using cultural textiles, vintage photographs and symbolic embellishments, she designs narrative quilts that tell personal stories. Brenetta is committed to discovering, sharing and preserving her family history and helping others do the same. She serves on the boards of the Black Genealogy Research Group and Grandmothers Against Gun Violence Foundation. Brenetta believes we must tell our stories, write them down and claim our legacy for generations to come. If we don’t, we run the risk of being omitted from Seattle’s history.

Akoiya Harris was born and raised in the Central District of Seattle, Washington and is a proud alumni of Garfield High School. She graduated from The Ailey School’s Certificate Program where she had the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of her body's relationship to movement through technique and choreography. While her main practice is dance, Akoiya also creates using poetry and collage. She is currently a company member with Donald Byrd’s Spectrum Dance Theater. Through her art, Akoiya hopes to give voice to the stories, both known and unknown, of her community and honor those who came before her.