Seattle City of Literature Stands with the Writers of Color Alliance
At Seattle City of Literature, we have had a strong working relationship with Hugo House, and we celebrate the role it plays in the community and in Seattle’s status as a designated UNESCO City of Literature. However, as we have followed the efforts of writers of color to bring equity and accountability to Hugo House, namely the labor of Claudia Castro Luna, Anastacia Renée, Harold Taw, Dujie Tahat, and Shankar Narayan, we have been concerned by Hugo House’s response.
Nonprofits everywhere are being tasked with constructing ways to better serve our communities as we recognize how deeply imbalanced philanthropy is, and how rooted it is in white supremacy. The incredible gift that these community leaders are giving Hugo House—the specific grievances, concrete ideas for solutions, and the generosity they’ve afforded everyone involved—cannot be overstated. When faced with the overwhelming prospect of dismantling a system that predates us and, for many people, a system that is only just now becoming visible, a custom-designed map for an organization’s journey is invaluable.
Hugo House is a hub in our literary city; and a literary city is only as strong as the stories it shares—and how substantively it cares for its storytellers. Hugo House has corresponded with the community (specifically in emails stating it wants to “do better”), but the organization has thus far failed to listen to community members who have put in uncompensated labor to help Hugo House examine itself and transform. This is a betrayal of the organization's mission at the most basic level, and a breach of the community's trust—a breach that will be difficult to repair.
In its approach over the last year, Hugo House has not only undercut the work of individual staff members and teachers who have pushed for racial equity, the House’s leadership has also disrespected the writers who started the racial equity pledge. It has failed to receive this situation for what it is: an opportunity to not just appreciate the richness of the community it serves but to grow as an organization with the entirety of our community in mind.
As non-profit arts organizations, none of us can avoid the work of self-examination, least of all on racial equity. Seattle City of Literature is committed to amplifying anti-racist efforts and interrupting the systemic oppression that has too long favored Seattle’s majority-white cultural institutions. We honor the labor of our community’s activists in their continued work for access. And we hope that Hugo House, as it strives for racial equity, will listen when held accountable, provide leadership that can meet the current moment, accept the gift of transformation, and model what organizational growth can be. As we await Hugo House’s response, Seattle City of Literature stands with WOCA organizers and offers them our continued support.
“Opening the literary world to everyone who loves books or has a drive to write,” as Hugo House’s vision statement says, should be a mandate and not just a message.
