Real Change News

"The Voting Rights Act's significance—and what its destruction means—can be traced back to what the Southern states themselves said they were fighting for. Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, in his 1861 Cornerstone Speech, declared that the Confederacy was founded on the belief that Black people were not equal to white people and that slavery was their natural condition."

To check out this analysis by Debra Hannula (), buy a copy of this week's issue from your local Real Change vendor or go to realchangenews.org.

Seattleites gathered Memorial Day weekend for the 55th annual Northwest Folklife festival (), which "creates opportunities for all to celebrate, share and participate in the evolving cultural traditions of the Pacific Northwest." Real Change Design Editor Martin photographed the event.

To check it out, buy a copy of this week's issue of Real Change from your local vendor or go to realchangenews.org.

What if the people most affected by homelessness got to tell their own stories?

📰 The Changing the Narrative Journalism Training Academy, run by , trains people with lived experience of homelessness to become journalists.

"This is not my mural; it is our mural. This is not just a threat to me; it's a threat to us all."

🏫 Bellevue College is rededicating Yonsei artist and activist Erin Shigaki's mural depicting Japanese-American mass incarceration during WWII at Bellevue College, making it a permanent art piece on campus, following its defacement.

🍪 New Vietnamese-American Bake Shop opens in CID.

🎻 Folklife Festival coverage from this weekend

Find Jose Martinez (Badge #15049) at Pike Place this week! Support your vendors by purchasing a paper, vendors keep 100% of their earnings.

"The most amazing human being we have ever known — highly intelligent, extremely talented and deeply sensitive to the needs of others." — Juniper Blessing's family

Nearly 100 people gathered at UW's Red Square to mourn Juniper Blessing, a trans woman and student whose life was taken on May 10.🕯️🏳️‍⚧️

Speakers at the vigil included Val, an SDS organizer, who called UW out for providing insufficient protection for its vulnerable student communities.

A UW Turning Point USA event featuring Chloe Cole, a critic of gender affirming care, prompted student organizers to plan a rally calling on the university to revoke TPUSA's status and stand in solidarity with trans students. Cole canceled the event, claiming Antifa threats.

The suspect is being held for premeditated murder in King County with a $10 million bail set.

Link in bio for the full story by .

Read the news this week.

🏳️‍⚧️ UW Students lead the vigil as Seattle mourns the loss of Juniper Blessing, remembered for her beautiful voice and beautiful soul.

🌎 Afghan immigrants and refugees grapple with the loss of social services via

⚠️Israel intensifies targeting of Palestinian workers via

💬 New comics from the .and.eye and speak on homelessness and politics.

✍️ New on page 2.

Find Wayne G (Badge 13531), a 10-year vendor at the Safeway on East John st In Capitol Hill. Support your vendors by purchasing a paper, vendors keep 100% of their earnings. His message to Seattle: read the news!

Our recent price change did not come about as a quick decision, but rather after deep conversation with vendors, staff, and our community.

Please read the statement from our board.

"This is not simply a price increase. This is a raise.

Real Change vendors are self-employed. They purchase papers at a wholesale price and sell them directly to readers, keeping the difference as their income. At the old $2 price, vendors earned about $1.40 per paper sold. At $4, they will earn approximately $2.75 per paper, nearly doubling the income from every sale.

That means fewer papers to pay for groceries, bus fare or other essentials in this expensive city. This provides vendors a stronger earning power from the same hard work. It means recognizing the real value of vendors’ labor: building networks through local news, remembering regular customers, earning trust and showing up every day."

https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2026/04/29/raise-message-newspaper-price-increase

Spring at the Heron's Nest means harvesting, transplanting, and giving back. Since 2020, the Shared Spaces Foundation has been rehabilitating 3.5 acres in the West Duwamish Greenbelt — growing food, restoring native plants, and returning the land to the Duwamish Tribe. That transfer happens this June.🌱

"The Duwamish tribe has ancestrally stewarded this land, and for them to be able to continue to do that is really special."

Read the full piece by by picking up a paper from your local vendor today! Also available online.

⚠️Digital Equity is Housing Equity ⚠️

According to the city's own data, over 55,000 Seattleites lack access to an adequately sized device, and of those living below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level, only 30% feel confident completing basic digital tasks.

The city of Seattle must have a bold vision for the future, that both addresses the immediate needs of our most vulnerable community members, and invests in the tools and resources needed to support continued growth out of homelessness. In a future ever more dependent on the internet and technology, our city must prepare community members for the realities of a digital world.

Read the full op-ed by Morgan Costello-Hostettler of in this week's issue.

NEW PAPER OUT TODAY!

💻 Digital Equity is Housing Equity - Mayor Wilson's new push for technology and service access for our unhoused neighbors. Via

🌱We move at the speed of the land. rehabilitates acres for the Duwamish Tribe by

🌏 Happy AANHPI Heritage Month! Learn where to celebrate around Seattle with

Read how a South Seattle doctor bridges Indigenous and Western medical practices via and

📷 Front cover by Martin.

Find Kirk Byrd (Badge #3114), a vendor since 1998 selling Real Change on Pike St. this week. Support him or your favorite vendor by purchasing a paper!

Our community came together and helped us raise over $58,000 towards jobs, justice and journalism this spring 🌷

Your support helps renew hope and opportunity for hundreds of vendors and powers real change for the year ahead.

Thank you for investing in our work and showing up for our vendors every single day. This truly wouldn't be possible without you 💙