“I think the most important thing to me is that we would have healthy, abundant Orca relatives in the Salish Sea. To me, that would just be everything. I’m not Coast Salish, but I have spent a lot of time learning from my Coast Salish relatives out here and they talk about that when we see the health of our salmon, and we see the health of the Orcas who rely on that salmon, then we see health in our communities.

And so, I think that to me, if we saw hundreds of Orcas thriving, which means that we see millions of Salmon thriving, that would be like the epitome of a healthy community that’s thriving here in Seattle. And we would see healthy animals, healthy humans, healthy trees, and it would just be, it would be amazing.”

“The public deserves to be amongst something beautiful that provides health benefits. I think about affordable multifamily homes in proximity to beautiful trees and green space. I picture forests that are devoid of litter. Folks find a way to see the connection between their individual choice in their actions and the well being and health of the collective. And that includes our plant and animal neighbors too. And so I picture forests that don’t become dumping grounds or trash sites.     

I picture forests with a lot of different kinds of understory and ground covers, and mushrooms popping up. And all the kinds of birds that you know live here or stop through coming through the forest and different kinds of creatures to.”

“When I think about the year 2070, I go back to Schmitz Preserve, where we started this story. The way it looks, the way it feels, the biodiversity, the wildlife, the huge, old trees, that’s how all of this area used to look… We live in a Native City, what if by the year 2070 it looked more like Indigenous land?”

“Octavia Butler when she was living here, she talked about Washington State in particular being a utopia for where the world would come to get natural resources. Which was a trip.

Bountiful. There, there is no competition.  There should be no hunger in Washington State. I walk around and I pick blackberries, I walk around and I picked some herbs. I walked around, I pick some apples and some pears. And no one was no one was responding to me as if I was stealing from them.  I didn’t take more than what was needed. And if there were some that were already on the ground, then I would take those, there’s no worry. There’s there’s no worry you don’t see the sorrow for at least you don’t see the sorrowfulness of hunger.”

“High density, zero carbon emissions, green buildings, green rooftops, vast green spaces, clean water, free flowing water, public spaces that have all of those elements within them.”

“I see a bustling community. I see children being able to play. I see people walking down the street talking to each other. I see finding a commonality to street festivals or barbecues. I see people that come to the neighborhood, being purposeful of why they’re in the neighborhood if they don’t live there. I see all hands on deck. I see people people engaged in conversations upliftment and growth.

I see development in this area and not development where you get gentrified, but development where you honor those that are here. I see people growing their own gardens. I see people exchanging different items for survival, whether it’s water, food, or shelter or laughs. I see beauty. I see a world, a city that honors those that came before, but also see the clarity of the future. 

I see young people, young children playing hopscotch, dancing and hearing the rhythm of the community that you’re in, smelling the food, and seeing the smiles and the waves of one another to each other. 

I see the growth like these trees, that we all stand tall, that we’re all proud that we all represent, how we have grown, what are our roots? And everybody understanding that each element of one another adds to the beauty of the life of the community that we’re in. 

I see my grandson, playing as a grown man, contributing as a grown man, loving, protecting, honoring, living, enjoying life. 

I see a great future for 2070. If all those things happen, I’m with it. 

If they don’t, we’ll be right back here in 2070, having same conversations that we had in 2020 or 1990, or 1860, or 1619. We’re going to be in the same position. So we have to change institutions. We have to get back to human interaction. We have to get back into valuing each other, allowing someone’s truth to be their truth, and not feeling like we even have to be a part of it. But in support of it.

I heard Malcolm X say, now that I have a new understanding of what human beings are, I understand that everything that I’m about everybody is not. But the one thing that I can do is support their efforts, and they support mine. And regardless of if I’m a Christian, or you’re a Muslim, or a Jew, or a Buddhist, regardless if you’re Black or you’re white, you can support each group of people by being there and giving what they ask of you, and not demanding to be included, where you’re not included. 

And then when it’s time for us all to come together, that we all come together and show our strength. And I believe in that, I would love to see everybody respect the plight of the black man and black woman in America. And understand that since 1619, we’ve been planning the Great Escape. But the system’s, the institutions, the energy has not allowed for that. And now we’re in a new day. 

So the 400 years slave is over, that curse is over. We’re in a new day. So I’m hopeful. I’m very, I love this energy. I love what people are doing and saying, Now let’s get to action. Now let’s get to what is gonna make us all stand tall like these trees that are as different as we are sitting here, but they stand in harmony. How do we get to harmony?”