Rising to the top of the legal profession is daunting for any lawyer, but particularly so for women in the hyper-competitive world of law whose upper echelons have long been guarded by powerful men.  Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, who joined the Washington State Supreme Court in 1992 and became C...
[caption id="attachment_35448" align="aligncenter" width="375"] Joseph Sylvester Jackson (center) was the Seattle Urban League's first executive secretary.[/caption] Before Black History Month comes to a close, one Seattle institution and its leader deserve the spotlight for its work promoting raci...
[caption id="attachment_33929" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Photo credit: iStockphoto.com/jacoblund[/caption] Minority tech workers in Washington and California have scored a significant win in the ongoing battle against systemic pay and hiring discrimination in the United States.  More than ...
[caption id="attachment_33164" align="aligncenter" width="525"] Photo credit: iStockphoto.com/wildpixel[/caption] Charlotte E. Ray defied overwhelming racial prejudice and sexism in 19th-century-America to become the first practicing African-American female lawyer in the United States. Her story is...
[caption id="attachment_30671" align="aligncenter" width="260"] Washington's first Black senator, John Henry Ryan. Courtesy Washington State Digital Archives[/caption] John Henry Ryan was a successful journalist, businessman, solicitor and politician who defended Black rights and voices at a time a...
[caption id="attachment_27502" align="alignnone" width="525"] Photo credit: iStockphoto.com/lisafx[/caption] Workers’ rights group Working Washington has proposed a plan to help minority workers in the coming year, in the wake of the economic devastation these workers experienced in 2020. “Black...
[caption id="attachment_27283" align="alignnone" width="525"] Photo credit: iStockphoto.com/eggeeggjiew[/caption] Firing pregnant workers who can’t perform certain job duties like lifting heavy objects is against the law. But that didn’t stop a pair of FedEx contractors from terminating delivery...
[caption id="attachment_20525" align="aligncenter" width="525"] iStock.com/Kunal Mahto[/caption] Undocumented workers in Washington state who missed out on coronavirus-related federal assistance have access to financial help. A new $40 million relief fund setup by Gov. Jay Inslee and a coalition o...
A Washington law passed last year raised hopes among minority and marginalized populations whose access to public resources has withered since affirmative action was banned in the state in 1998. But before the law went into effect and reintroduced diversity goals into public education, employment...
When the COVID-19 pandemic swept over the U.S. in March, federal and state governments intervened with emergency measures to shore up company balance sheets and provide temporary benefits to employees being laid off and furloughed. Now, as businesses contemplate reopening, some of those workers ar...