On being ‘woke’

I strongly concur with the recent column by Keith Livingston, who outlined the difference between those who are supposedly “woke” and those who oppose “wokeness.” Being “woke” is simply to be a progressive — one who actually believes in diversity, equity and inclusion as they apply to us and to our institutions.

The sadly misguided Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (along with some of our own politicians) has a “war on wokeness,” which includes the banning of books, banning of a great deal of Black history, demonizing anything referring to the gay community, and making sure that women have no reproductive rights … in other words, returning to 1955, when white, straight men were the be-all and end-all of American life.

But we have changed over time to a multi-racial nation, one where whites could be the minority race within two decades; and where some of our greatest “captains” of industry, or creatives in the arts, come from our LGBTQ or minority communities. To undermine and disparage these citizens is to undermine ourselves. Our community and nation will best survive if everyone is encouraged to attain their full potential.

The Federal Way school district has, for some time, been the sixth most diverse in the nation. It’s time that we all respect and appreciate our communities’ appeal as a diverse city that respects its vulnerable populations.

Lorie Lucky, Des Moines

Diversity etc.

Let’s remember we had young progressives in office who were voted out by a minority of voters who chose to vote. These “leaders” seemed so threatened by (or aligned with) anti-vaccination zealots that they waffled to gather the minuscule courage and depth of thought to state unequivocally that they didn’t wish illness or death on anyone regardless of whether we got vaccinated for Covid or chose to wear masks. “Back in the day,” there is no way dedicated representatives like Jeanne Burbidge, Dini Duclos, Gregory Baruso, Martin Moore and others would have ever fallen so short.

Our elected mayor championed diversity commissioners Gregory Baruso, Trenise Rogers, Nichelle Curtis-McQueen and Sela Roosevelt to start a Diversity Fair (Flavor of Federal Way), but our Diversity Fair hasn’t come back. In one of the most diverse cities in America, it would be comforting to see the mayor press his city council to show they will embrace diversity, equity and inclusion as much as the city of Kent. The silence raises fear that we are going backward to a long abandoned road with policies marginalizing the Black, Indigenous, people of color and the LGBTQ communities. Some in our community might even believe these “leaders” relish their opportunity to do so. Leadership matters, representation matters and voting matters.

Hiroshi Eto, Federal Way

Council positions

Wake up Federal Way!

Hey Federal Way! Wake up! Just so you know, if you are a Democrat or independent, you have one representative on the Federal Way City Council, Lydia Assefa-Dawson. All the other Federal Way City Council members are Republican and on June 26, they voted to add another Republican to their club to fill the vacant position.

You can begin to change this by voting out the Republican members of the FW City Council in November. It’s past time to have council members that care about you!

Madelyn Grayson, Federal Way

Does someone have to die?

Since 1988 the people of the Hillside Heights area have tried to get speed bumps installed from 1st Avenue to 4th Avenue S. on 317th Place and from 316th Street to 318th Street on 4th Avenue S. with no luck. Yet as I travel around the Federal Way community, I constantly see speed bumps in residential areas.

I don’t get it. Cars, buses, trucks, etc., are constantly going at a high rate of speed on both streets. A stop sign was placed at the corner of 4th Ave. S. and 317th Place, but that does nothing to slow traffic. Like I said, I don’t get it. One year a car knocked down a light post and another year a car crashed into a house. I don’t get it. Does someone have to die?

Walter Kostecka, Federal Way