Guy Oron

Seattle

Seattle-based journalist and writer. Staff Reporter @RealChangeNews. Pronouns: he/they. Subscribe to my newsletter Gossip Guy for free!

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Articles

The defund that wasn’t: Tracing the legacy of 2020 in Seattle

1 week ago | realchangenews.org | Guy Oron

Five years ago, the United States was coming apart at the seams. The COVID-19 pandemic rendered millions of people unemployed, forced to rely on benefits from the state. Many began to rethink how society should work, including the role of work, the government and community. Discontent with the vast inequities that define the U.S. was bubbling. The shocking murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin set it all ablaze.
Tent City 4 secures Lake City site at last minute, raises questions about Seattle leadership

2 weeks ago | realchangenews.org | Guy Oron

After a frantic week of advocacy, Tent City 4 (TC4) residents have a place to stay in Lake City, at least for now. However, the lack of a location for TC4 as recently as 17 hours before the encampment was scheduled to move has raised concerns about how serious Seattle officials are handling the city’s homelessness crisis. The sanctioned encampment has been located in the north Seattle neighborhood since May 2024, hosted by the Seattle Mennonite Church (SMC).
Dismantling the myth of meritocracy one cat meme at a time

2 weeks ago | realchangenews.org | Guy Oron

Why are people poor? If you read the mainstream press or tune into a “manosphere” podcast, you will get bombarded with messages that we all have agency, that the biggest decider of one’s material conditions is their own actions. That ending up homeless on the streets or addicted to drugs is due to personal failings, not structural factors outside your control. You just need to hustle harder — get that second or third job — to reach financial stability.
UW calls cops on students demanding an end to ties with Boeing

3 weeks ago | realchangenews.org | Guy Oron

This article was written in collaboration with Gossip Guy. A little before 5 p.m. on May 5, dozens of University of Washington (UW) students and their allies entered and took over the college’s new Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB), setting up a protest occupation. They hung signs calling for solidarity with Palestine, including a large canvas banner taped to a second-floor window proclaiming a new name for the IEB: the Sha'aban al-Dalou Building.
Supporters rally for detained labor organizer in legal limbo

3 weeks ago | realchangenews.org | Guy Oron

Detained labor organizer Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez Zeferino will remain in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, at least for now. On May 8, Tacoma-based immigration judge Theresa M. Scala ruled that she lacked jurisdiction to grant a bond.
UW calls the cops on student protesters who demanded an end to ties with Boeing

3 weeks ago | gossipguy.net | Guy Oron

This article was written in collaboration with Real Change news. You can find it in the paper’s May 14 issue. A little before 5 p.m. on May 5, dozens of students and their allies entered and took over the University of Washington’s (UW) new Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB), setting up a protest occupation.
Why cops lie so much

1 month ago | realchangenews.org | Guy Oron

What do you think of the police? Depending on who you talk to, you may get opinions ranging from positively glowing to deeply negative. Civil rights lawyer Alec Karakatsanis argues perceptions of policing are largely shaped by the news media and how it reports on crime, public safety and law enforcement.
“The real question is, what is the impact of your actions?”

1 month ago | realchangenews.org | Guy Oron

Immortal maxims like “workers of the world, unite” and “el pueblo, unido, jamás será vencido” are used in rallies throughout the world to strengthen and show solidarity. But sometimes it’s not that simple, especially when one person acting in solidarity with another also has power over them. And what even is solidarity in practice, amid people with different privileges and backgrounds, cultures, objectives, languages and definitions of solidarity?
“We’re stronger organized, no matter what happens”: Starbucks workers continue union drive under Trump

1 month ago | realchangenews.org | Guy Oron

When they first burst onto the national scene at the end of 2021, unionizing Starbucks baristas made headlines with their rapid organizing drive. By June 2022, more than 5,000 workers across 187 stores had voted to join the union. Some observers even heralded Starbucks workers as the beginning of a revival of the labor movement in the United States. Then came the union busting.
Artists imagine new housing and community spaces in vacant Belltown building

1 month ago | realchangenews.org | Guy Oron

A coalition of artists, community and nonprofit groups have launched a new campaign to save and restore the El Rey, a broken-down apartment building in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. First built in 1910, the four-story apartment building on Second Avenue was acquired by the city of Seattle in 1985 and transformed into a 60-unit residential treatment center operated by the Community Psychiatric Clinic. In 2019, ownership was transferred to Sound Health, another nonprofit mental health provider.