Pastor Patrinell Wright and The Total Experience Gospel Choir recently joined the West Hill Community Council to promote unity in Skyway at a free Friday night outdoor movie “The Great Debate.”
“Music can reach people no other art form can reach,” said Wright, who started the internationally renowned 30-member choir in 1973. Sounds of inspirational music moved through the warm night air as the choir sang “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” and other favorites. Selections included “Ave Maria,” sung in Latin by Ray Dalton and Camila Recchi.
The varied rhythms of the songs reflect the community’s diverse population. Wright said Skyway’s diversity is partly due to the high cost of living in the urban area. “It’s hard for people of color to live in Seattle proper,” she said. Some people who resided there for years have been “forced to move out” and relocate to Skyway.
The neighborhood has absorbed an influx of diverse groups, including people who speak limited English. Wright noted that “The diverse groups are stacked on top of each other.” Communication becomes difficult. An “explosive situation” can result, she added. Wright said the council invited the choir to perform before the movie to help “heal the area.” She smiled then and said, “And that’s what we’re in the business to do.”
Healing will take time. The community still mourns the tragic death of 12-year-old Alajawan Brown, an innocent victim who was shot in the back on April 29 while walking home after getting off a Metro bus on MLK Way South and 129th Street. Brown was returning from Walmart where he purchased a pair of football cleats. He died near the 7-Eleven doors where he ran for help.
Violence and crime in Skyway serve as calling cards for media coverage. “Skyway stays in the news,” said Wright, who believes it is as important for the media to cover positive things taking place in the community.
“The media tends to focus on the crime up here,” said Michele Savelle, a volunteer for Skyway Solutions and owner of GIS and Graphic Design. “People are afraid to come up here. (But) there are a lot of positive things here.”
The free outdoor family movies are just one example of those positive things. On Friday nights, cars, blankets and outdoor chairs line the parking lot between U.S. Bank and the post office on Renton Avenue South and South 126th Street. Movies start at dusk. The other evening Skyway resident Elaine McMillon took advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a family outing with her son and two granddaughters.
Mandy King’s brother and sister-in-law live in Skyway. King, an Auburn resident, said the movies are a “fun, free event for the family.” Her two sons, 2-year-old daughter and 7-year-old niece all patiently waited for the performance and movie to start. Jesse, age 6, said he came “‘cause it’s fun.”
Another event sponsored by West Hill Community Council and the West Hill Business Association is the upcoming Skyway Car Show and Community Fair on Sep.11. Information regarding the show is posted on the council’s website at http://www.westhillcommunity.com/. Paul Berry, council president, said the council “functions as a focusing entity and community conduit between King County and the citizens.”
Free movie nights reflect to the community that there is an organizing center in Skyway, Berry said. They also provide a place for “people to connect together on a summer Friday night.” Free Friday night movies continue through August.
