The seventh annual Block Party at the Station, which happens June 17 on 16th Avenue South, promises to be bigger and more def than the sixth, which was bigger and more def than the fifth. Though it started small, and is organized by the people who have close ties with The Station cafe—which recently moved across the street from its old location and has become the anchor business of the new Plaza Roberto Maestas complex—Block Party is evolving into its own thing. But the roots of the thing have not changed—those roots being a commitment to local hiphop artists and a celebration of actual-existing diversity (rather than the diversity you saw in that Pepsi commercial).
Every year, this or that mayor or mayoral candidate visits the party for photo opportunities. This year, however, one mayoral candidate will not be mingling with the crowd but singing her songs and poems of freedom on the stage. That candidate is Nikkita Oliver, whose nom de plume is KO Nikkita. It is no secret that the founder of the festival, Luis Rodriguez (one of the most progressive headz in Seattle), is a big supporter of Oliver.
The event as a whole will be very colorful, with performances by Ce Atl Tonalli, who lead this year’s May Day March for Workers and Immigrant Rights, and the Au Collective (who define themselves as “dance artists of color, women artists, and queer artists”), and Seattle Capoeira Center (capoeira is a form of Brazilian dancing that combines martial art and acrobatics). Yes, this festival is all over the map.
