If you’re anything like us, what’s happened makes you want to do something. Here are some ideas:

• Stay in the know. Subscribe to Fight the Good Fight, a local email newsletter and website that’ll keep you updated on ways to take real action.
• Attend some events. There’s a West Coast Immigrant Solidarity Rally in South Seattle tonight, a Hate-Free Delridge rally in West Seattle tomorrow, and a Black Lives Matter march on Saturday, August 26.
• Support your neighbors near and far. Fight the Good Fight’s Molly Nixon suggests spending your money at local black-owned restaurants and buying books by black authors. Or, you can donate to one of the nonprofits included in this post about how to support organizations in Charlottesville or a GoFundMe campaign for one of the protesters there who was severely injured.

It’s easy to talk about charged issues only with people who already agree with us. So, we have a challenge for you:

Some time today, start a conversation about race with someone you normally wouldn’t talk to about it.

Unsure how to break the ice? You might find a great starting point in The Seattle Times’ Under Our Skin project, which features locals’ takes on issues like white fragility, institutionalized racism, and racial colorblindness. There’s also this guide for talking to white people about race from The Seattle Globalist.

If it feels like this isn’t a conversation you can have right now, that’s cool. But if you see a way into it, even briefly, we’d love to hear how it went. Send us an email at [email protected]. We won’t share anything more widely without your OK. 💬

• Charleena’s family is suing the city. The family of Charleena Lyles, the black mother of four who was killed by Seattle police in June, is filing a claim against the city. It’s the beginning of a civil rights wrongful death lawsuit, and Charleena’s family says any money they’re awarded in the case will go to her kids. (KUOW)
• Our dry streak is done. That teeny bit of rain we got last weekend was enough to put a stop to our record-breaking, 56-day streak of no measurable rain in Seattle. Can you believe we just spent eight weeks in a dry climate?! 😱 (The Seattle Times)
• Hey Bill, tag #theevergrey? Seattle billionaire Bill Gates joined Instagram on Friday and his number of followers is already through the roof. His first post? Photos of him doing work in Tanzania and a hopeful message about world progress. (GeekWire)
• Seattle athletes have something to say. A couple of our sportier neighbors have been speaking up and making headlines. The Seahawks’ Michael Bennett said he’ll be sitting on the bench during the national anthem every game this season to bring attention to social injustice. And Jess Fishlock of the Seattle Reign (that’s our women’s soccer team) just got written up in SB Nation for her domination on the field and her decision to speak out about how it feels to face “homophobic abuse” on social media. (Thanks to reader Suzi Steffen for the tip!) 🙌
• Got eclipse glasses from Amazon? You might get a refund. Amazon’s had trouble making sure that some of the glasses on its site are actually safe to wear while you, you know, stare directly at the sun. So Amazon is giving a bunch of buyers their money back, just in case. (The Verge)

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY. 👋

We’ll see you tomorrow. — The Evergrey