Group members: Anny Smith, Jisoo Choi, Corey Henne

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     This quarter, our group had the opportunity to work with the organization WHEEL, Women’s Housing, Equality and Enhancement League. We were tasked with interviewing members and organizers about their history. The goal was to compile information to add to the Feminist Community Archive of Washington. We will discuss what we learned from these women and the connections to in-class readings and discussions surrounding feminist movements. We will also highlight how the two events we attended enhanced our understanding of coursework and how it applies to real-world issues. What we learned served to support how important this archival work is in preserving the histories of groundbreaking women's organizations, like WHEEL, in Seattle and surrounding areas.

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      WHEEL fights against intersectional oppression in multiple layers - as women, as homeless women, and some - women of color. Since the organization is made up of women who are either formerly homeless or currently homeless, they are stereotyped by the majority of others to be inadequately educated and/or are ‘addicts’ of drugs or alcohol. These stereotypes in return harm the self-identity and that alone is one of the major reasons why this project, the community archive, is important. One of the main aspects of WHEEL’s structure is its non-hierarchical model, in which members are not required to pay dues for formal membership outside of participation. All members take equal parts in the voting process to advance projects they work on, and the leadership committee consists of ten Executive Committee members who were chosen by members of WHEEL. Based on information from the interview with Anitra Freeman and Qween B King Rios, we learned that the members encourage each other to be the chair of each meeting and often take turns in leading the daily meetings. Michele also mentioned that the staff does not interfere with the voting process and that the issues at hand are all decided by the members, not the staff. Michele explained that the women and members of WHEEL are the spokespeople for themselves, to the press, and even Seattle City Council.

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      WHEEL’s current projects include silent vigils by the subgroup known as Women in Black. The vigils are held when someone dies outside or by violence in King County. Anitra explained that the purpose was to stand for those who ‘are the most, the most ignored and the most tragic and the most denigrated deaths.’ Most of them went unnoticed. The Homeless Remembrance Project was a direct result of the work done by Women in Black. This project was initially conceived after standing the silent vigils and handing out flyers. The thought was that these fliers were too temporary. They wouldn't exist in a day or two and they wanted something more permanent, a public memorial in a public place for homeless people who had died. Part of this project included the erection of the sculpture titled the Tree of Life in Victor Steinbrueck Park, on October 21st, 2012. This accomplishment was 8 years in the making. Along with the work on the Tree of Life sculpture, the women began work on placing bronze leaves in public places (pavements), called Leaves of Remembrance, to memorialize these people in a more individualized way. The first laying of the leaves was in June of 2011 and is still actively taking requests for leaves.

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      Our group attended two events this quarter. One event was the Womxn’s March 2019 and the second event was with one of the WHEEL organization’s elder members, Anitra Freeman. The first event was attended by a group member, Anny Smith. This was the third such March held in Seattle, WA. The march itself drew people of all backgrounds who had many different areas of concern, from climate change to pay equality to trump’s divisive rhetoric. One of the most impactful parts of the March occurred during the opening rally at Cal Anderson Park. The Blackfeet Tribe Crazy Dogs Society performed a song of blessing. Prior to the blessing, one of the members spoke about marching for their Indigenous sisters, their two-spirit relatives who have suffered colonial gender violence and for missing and murdered Indigenous women. This was a powerful statement, including those who are too often forgotten in these movements. It is crucial that they are front and center.

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       In the second event attended for this project, our group was fortunate enough to have our own event, led by Anitra. Juan Peña and Jisoo Choi visited the Tree of Life sculpture in Victor Steinbrueck Park, across from Pike Place Market. On this second event, we had the privilege to spend time with Anitra and hear the history behind the construction of the Tree of Life and the challenges that came with building a monument dedicated to the homeless community. The organization has a Facebook page dedicated to the Homeless Remembrance Project in it they describe their mission statement of “honoring and remembering people of the homeless community who have died.” Throughout the interview, Anitra reminded us of the mission statements shared by WHEEL. Anitra shared the story of the construction of the Tree of Life. She talked about how it was for the homeless community who are often forgotten and mistreated. One of the biggest enemies against the issue of homelessness, according to Anitra, is indifference and the lack of empathy that exists in our society. When Anitra and members of the WHEEL organization went to meetings with city government or local commissions, often, they had to come prepared with evidence to back up their petitions.

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      For one of our interviews, Anny Smith and Corey Henne visited the WHEEL office in downtown Seattle to interview three women who participate in the organization. We were fortunate enough to interview with members Anitra Freeman and Qween B King Rios, as well as organizer, Michele Marchand. Anitra and Qween B are both formerly homeless women who have been involved with the organization for years. They possess a great wealth of knowledge and experience with homeless organizing in Seattle. Michele has been working in community organizing with homeless communities in Seattle for over 3 decades and is passionate about her work. This is evident in the flyer that they shared with us that included a public statement written by Michele, at the behest of the group, in February of 2018. In it, she spoke of the negative impact on women, and the homeless community, that a city-commissioned report could cause, including defunding WHEEL. The interview itself focused on topics such as the history of WHEEL, the organizational and political structure, and current and future projects involving homeless women and WHEEL, described by members with over 45 years of combined experience. During our interview, a generous donation of a copy of their published book titled The Sisterhood of Homeless Women in Poetry was made to UW Bothell. It is an Anthology of poems and writings by women in WHEEL and a product of their community and culture. This work reminded us of similar work done by collective women who produced This Bridge Called My Back. It is a collection of writings and pieces by women of color in the US. Similarly, WHEEL’s anthology serves as a voice for a historically denied group, homeless women and women of color, who are seeking to bridge social consciousnesses by sharing their diverse and valuable stories.

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      In that same interview with Anitra, Qween B, and Michele, it was clear that each person has been affected by the work they do with this organization. Each one has been personally impacted. But it also felt that, even though each person had a powerful and unique voice, they were connected and unified in the goal to serve other women and to support each other. This movement reminded me of the group ACT UP. It was because of the need for survival that ACT UP was formed. People, primarily gay men at the onset, were being left to die by the administration in the U.S. so they banded together with others in the gay community and demanded to be heard. Similarly, the Women in Black were formed because individuals who died outside or by violence were repeatedly ignored or even relegated to being labeled by pejoratives like prostitute, addict or transient on the back pages of the newspaper. The city of Seattle did nothing. That’s why WHEEL stepped in to stand vigil, to honor and show respect for citizens of this city who deserved more. They could not wait for others to deem it important enough to do, so they did it themselves.       

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      Much like the United Farm Workers movement, co-founded by Dolores Huerta, these women have been united to demand equality, on many fronts, and they needed each other to understand their own true power. Though the women of WHEEL come from many backgrounds they have a shared experience that binds them. They are working to empower each other to find their voices. The work that these women have participated in is important and it is embedded in the history of Seattle and the fabric of the community. It is essential to preserve their work so that it can be shared with the community and with future activists, as a model of how working together, in a non-hierarchical system of leadership, can empower women. Anitra left us with this parting thought in our first interview and we will leave it with you, “Every homeless woman has gifts and strengths”.