FRESHLY PLANTED, DEEPLY ROOTED: Holding Space for Understanding Across the African Diaspora
- Kiesha B. Free
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
by Kiesha B. Free
As an independent cultural worker, I spend a lot of time tending to the wounds and unmet needs created by the cultural norms that govern our lives. Sometimes that looks like highlighting work that others are doing to address these issues. Other times, it means building from my own lens. In my projects, I often focus on creating containers where we can see each other more clearly and, in doing so, also see ourselves.
Freshly Planted / Deeply Rooted was one of those containers.
On April 4th, I invited a multi-generational audience to gather in downtown Seattle for a Black diasporic community conversation. That day carried history. It marked 58 years since the assassination of Dr. King and the arrests of young activists in Seattle whose resistance helped spark the local Black Panther Party. It was an apt day for growing understanding and investing in solidarity through honest conversation and arts immersion.
“Everybody has a story. Our history, it doesn’t sit still. It
keeps moving…” - Stephanie Johnson-Toliver
Across the diversity of Black heritage, we carry so much with us. And despite the common refrain that “Black people are not a monolith,” some of our expectations still suggest belief in a singular Black experience. But, as one of the event’s storytellers, Dei’Marlon Scisney, named, “We are essentially a world of Black folks within one city…” That truth grounded our time together discussing Black life in Seattle.
Born-and-raised Seattleite Marie Kidhe of RieImagine Solutions served as my co-producer and as our ARTS at King Street Station Advisor. Through her stewardship, Freshly Planted / Deeply Rooted was proudly featured within the ARTS gallery space where their current exhibits from Imani Sims and Delbert Richardson provided a powerful, complementary backdrop for the conversation.
We were intentional about how the space was held. The featured storytellers - some born and raised in Seattle, some who have moved here - were not there to provide answers or perform as a panel. They helped hold the room and offered stories that stretched across generations and geographies. The experience was supported by poets, a live painter, catering, documentarians, and loving volunteers - all reflecting the diversity of Black life.
This was not about solutions. It was practice listening and reflecting on how our ideas of Blackness impact one another. It was practice staying present with someone else’s truth. And we must keep practicing because, as attendee and historian Stephanie Johnson-Tolliver shared during the event, “Everybody has a story. Our history, it doesn’t sit still. It keeps moving…”
Afterward, attendee Joké Durojaiye reflected that hearing Seattle’s Black history from those who lived it “shifted something… I left feeling small, but in the very best way.” Every person who left asking new questions or seeing differently is a blessed seed planted in our collective garden.
Just like Hey, Black Seattle! is more than a website, Freshly Planted / Deeply Rooted is more than an event. Each are offerings of support for our community’s vulnerabilities in a world that would rather exploit them. If you feel called to support this work, I invite you to reach out at kiesha.org.
Freshly Planted / Deeply Rooted Photo Credit: Nii Okaidja Media
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With a 20+ year career spanning technology, media, and live performance, Kiesha B. Free is a dynamic speaker, host, and independent cultural worker devoted to helping people reclaim themselves - and recognize the impact they have in shaping the world around them. She was recently named one of Seattle Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2025 for her work at the intersection of culture, community, and leadership.
She is the producer and host of YOU Better!, a podcast exploring the personal journeys of people who aspire for personal truth despite societal demands. Whether on stage as a poet, stand-up comedian, or narrator, or in community as the founder of Hey, Black Seattle!, Kiesha creates spaces that invite honesty, reflection, and deeper connection.
A proud graduate of Spelman College, she currently serves on the board of Ase’ Theatre in Seattle - continuing her commitment to building and sustaining spaces where culture and community can thrive.
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