«The multihued group of activists, supported by the local SEIU and Seattle-area community groups, won a ballot initiative in the airport town, Sea-Tac, to raise airport worker wages to $15. The margin of victory was just 77 votes.

Sensing momentum, however, the coalition of supporters made a wild bet that they could win in an even bigger fight, in Seattle itself. By that time, in the spring of 2013, Seattle fast-food workers of every color were walking out in one-day strikes and organizing across the city. By August 29, on a national day of action that coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington, the streets of sixty cities teemed with fast-food workers demanding higher wages. But they weren’t alone: retail workers from department stores like Macy’s and chains like Victoria’s Secret also joined in. A year later, the demonstrations would include adjunct professors with graduate degrees. By May 2014, the Seattle City Council voted to make theirs the first American city to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour.»

I remember this (Seattle raising the minimum wage to $15). Predictions of disaster seem to have failed to materialize.

Just remember: good news is possible. This is Solnit’s “hope”.

(Those aren’t scare quotes.)

20% through “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together” by Heather McGhee.