A Message to the City from Betsey Brock

It’s Thursday, July 2, and FYI, mark your calendars, this column is taking tomorrow off, in honor of the national fiction that July 4, 1776 is this country’s birthday (its actual birthday is August 1619).

Today we turn to someone who’s a total connector in the world of culture, Betsey Brock. She knows art people (she helped lead the Henry for almost a decade), film people (worked at Reel Girls, served on the board of Northwest Film Forum), dance people (advisory board member of Velocity), performance art people (she’s now the executive director of On the Boards)—the list goes on.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about my position as a leader of an arts organization in this city,” she says, “and I’ve been phone-banking, and donating money, and marching, and contacting my elected officials, and really connecting with with my community in a different way—but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m doing it from a position of privilege, as a white woman, a product of white-supremacy culture, in an organization and a field that is inherently part of a systematic history of exclusion.”

She has more to say along those lines. But first, here is some beautiful footage of Lake Washington.

Thank you, Betsey, for this message.

Thank you for being real, and humble, and showing us the joy of the lake but also showing us the kind of work that white people need to be doing right now. White supremacy was created by white people, it benefits white people, and it’s up to white people to get rid of it.

And hey everyone? Especially those of you who believe 4th of July is a special day and you have to “honor” “freedom” by yakking it up at your friend Thad’s apartment barbecue? NO!! No apartment barbecues for anyone this year. Nada. Negatory.

Maaaaaybe you’re allowed to go to a barbecue at a lake, if you mask up, but the weather’s gonna suck, so just stay home. Almost every barbecue is not worth it, in the end, anyway—ever notice that? The only fun thing about a barbecue is being on your way to a barbecue. So just say “I’m going to a barbecue” all day while staying home, and you’ll get all the dopamine and none of the COVID.

Since you’re staying home, you’re not going to be ingesting a pound of Cool Ranch Doritos, four devilled eggs, a hot dog, and a bunch of Thad’s homebrew, so go get out the ice cream and the powdered sugar and any sprinkles you have a make an entree-sized dessert for yourself.

Ice cream sundaes in the kitchen during quarantine are actual freedom.

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Previously in this series:

Shaina Shepherd’s message to the city on July 1.

Rodger Burnett and Joyce Ramee’s message to the city on June 30.

Charles Leggett’s message to the city June 29.

Rachel Guyer-Mafune’s message to the city on June 26.

Liz Hayes’s message to the city on June 24.

Nicholas Bernard’s message to the city on June 22.

Tariqa Waters’s message to the city on June 19.

Bruce Clayton Tom’s message to the city on June 18.

Isaac Gutierrez’s message to the city on June 17.

Markeith Wiley’s message to the city on June 16.

Aleksa Manila’s message to the city on June 15.

Derrick Ryan Claude Mitchell’s message to the city on June 12.

Bret Fetzer’s message to the city on June 11.

Kyle O’Quin’s message to the city on June 10.

Elisheba Johnson’s message to the city on June 9.

Michael Jinsoo Lim’s message to the city on June 8.

Brandon Ivie’s message to the city on June 5.

Kimya Dawson’s message to the city on June 4.

Jennifer Nelson’s message to the city on June 3.

Erin Jorgensen’s message to the city on June 2.

Brangien Davis and Daniel Spils’s message to the city on June 1.

Timothy De Clue’s message to the city on May 29.

Elizabeth Aquino’s message to the city on May 28.

Christopher Frizzelle’s message to the city on May 27.

Elby Brosch’s message to the city on May 26.

Mila Skyy’s message to the city on May 22.

Michael Lee’s message to the city on May 21.

SassyBlack’s message to the city on May 20.

Seattle Symphony horn section’s message to the city on May 19.

Lori Goldston’s message to the city on May 18.

Ibidunni Ojikutu’s message to the city on May 15.

RL Heyer’s message to the city on May 14.

Garth Stein’s message to the city on May 13.

Okanomodé’s message to the city on May 12.

Zoe Scofield’s message to the city on May 11.

Aham Oluo’s message to the city on May 8.

Pete Rush’s message to the city on May 7.

Trent Moorman’s message to the city on May 6.

Renée Valencia’s message to the city on May 5.

Justin Huertas’s message to the city on May 4.

Charles Mudede’s message to the city on May 1.

Kathryn Rathke’s message to the city on April 30.

Anthony White’s message to the city on April 30.

Miss Texas 1988’s message to the city.

Matt Bishop’s message on April 27.

Cherdonna’s message to the city on April 26.

Shenandoah Davis’s message to the city on April 25.

Lorena González’s message to the city on April 24.

Clyde Petersen’s message to the city on April 23.

David Ritt’s message to the city on April 22.

Sara Porkalob’s message to the city on April 21.

Julia Sweeney’s message to the city on April 20.

Linda Derschang’s message to the city on April 19.

Molly Sides’s message to the city on April 18.

Nick Garrison’s message to the city on April 17.

Tomo Nakayama’s message to the city on April 16.

Rebecca M. Davis’s message to the city April 15.

Heather McHugh’s message to the city on April 14.

Brandon O’Neill’s message to the city on April 13.

Kate Wallich’s message to the city on April 12.

Rebecca Brown’s message to the city on April 11.

Lucien Postlewaite’s message to the city on April 10.

Betty Wetter’s message to the city on April 9.

Amanda Morgan’s message to the city on April 8.

Nancy Guppy’s message to the city on April 7.

Jonathan Biss’s message to the city on April 6.

Chris Jeffries’s message to the city on April 5.

Lesley Hazleton’s message to the city on April 4.

John Roderick’s message to the city on April 3.

Bill Carty’s message to the city on April 2.

Price Suddarth’s message to the city on April 1.

Kary Wayson’s message to the city on March 31.

Ellen Forney’s message to the city on March 30.

Major Scales’s message to the city on March 29.

E. J. Koh’s message to the city on March 28.

Ken Jennings’s message to the city on March 27.

Demarre McGill’s message to the city on March 26.

Lynn Shelton’s Message to the City on March 25th.

Timothy White Eagle’s message to the city on March 24.

Cookie Couture’s message to the city on March 23.

Sarah Rudinoff’s message to the city on March 22.

John Osebold’s message to the city on March 21.

Ben Gibbard’s message to the city on March 20.

Nathan Chan’s message to the city on March 19.