​A diverse group of Washington state educators — representing public schools, independent schools, and Educational Service Districts — collaborated to produce this document. They solicited feedback from parents, students, teachers and multilingual experts across the state prior to publication.
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​​SEATTLE — Seattle Theatre Group’s Elevate is designed to uplift and celebrate the voices of Black and Brown people, especially youth.

The performers are all using an art form called spoken word.
Shakiah Danielson, the show’s artistic director, describes spoken word as the jazz of poetry.

“It’s unbridled. You don't necessarily have to make things rhyme and there's an art not just in what you say, but how you say it,” explained Danielson.
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​The effects of the pandemic required all of us to adjust our every day — and for some people more than others. Last year’s uprisings against police brutality on Black lives, continued disproportionate immigration enforcement targeting Latinx immigrants, and recently, increased violence against the Asian/Pacific Islander community, alongside the intersections that extend discrimination beyond racism, have forced us to contend with an undeniable history of policies that privileges certain groups over others.

According to the United States Census: The Columbia City neighborhood in Rainer Beach, South Seattle is the most diverse area in the U.S.A.; with the most languages spoken here than in any other zip-code in the entire U.S. On Rainer Ave lies an oasis of anti-racist, decolonized education. Rainier Valley Leadership Academy (R.V.L.A.) is a middle-school/high-school where true eduction and herstory thrives. Decolinizing spaces and minds is an actual, factual reality in these walls. Art and leadership flourish in this institute and one of the Hip-Hop highlights that reside there is a 14 year-old 8th grader named King Zaae.​