Spokane's Black Leaders are Building a Thriving Community in Eastern Washington

Did you know Spokane has a thriving Black community?

We traveled across the mountains to see how community leaders are working to create a center for Black culture in Eastern Washington.

“We’re building culture,” Latrice Williams, owner of Vision Properties in Spokane, said.

Last weekend we met with three Black women making a name for themselves and their community in the Lilac City at the Spokane Black History Month Resource Fair and Panel Discussion. The panel took place at the Spokane Public Library and featured community resources, discussions and more around the continued uplift of Spokane’s Black community.

KREM 2 News Anchor Channing Curtis hosted the panel and discussed her experience coming from Dallas to Spokane, saying that although the town might be smaller the power held in community is still very present.

“There’s a thriving Black community here that comes out and supports each other,” Curtis said. “We have doctors, lawyers, teachers. You name it, we’re doing it out here in Spokane.”

Executive Director of The Learning Project Network Stephanie Courtney said that the community in Spokane is building the resources they need to thrive on their own.

“We have to have that conversation of what do we do to keep our progressive here who really want to build community and homes and a great quality of life,” Courtney said. “We’re not going to wait for someone to bring that, we’re going to create it.”

Watch the video to get an inside look at the work community leaders are doing in Spokane and hear from individuals about what makes the Black community there so special.