Community Roots

Community Roots is an oral history project about visionaries and change-makers. It explores how people come together to make change and create new possibilities for themselves and their neighbors. It documents important organizing efforts and creative projects from the perspective of people who helped to shape them. Project participants learn interviewing techniques, gather community stories, and help activate the stories through public programming.

Contact Memory Activist, Elaine Vradenburgh, elaine@windowseatmedia.org if you are interested in participating or collaborating.

most recent story

January 25, 2024

“In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. Three months later, Nelson Mandela was freed from South Africa, signaling the fall of apartheid. Everything is changing around the world–standing up against tyranny or bringing down totalitarianism–but then Bush starts a war later that year. So in the 90s, getting together opposing Bush in the war and creating sort of an activist community. There was a lot going on in Olympia. I think there was just a lot going on in general everywhere.”

Artist-activist and one of the founding members of the Liberation Cafe in the ‘90s