Amber D. Dodd

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News >  Pacific NW

‘A better future for our children’: Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations hosts groundbreaking for wellness center

UPDATED: Sat., March 19, 2022

Nez Perce member Liz Arthur-Attao woke up Friday to a regular spring afternoon: 48 degrees and spotty sunlight. Wind brought a chill. The ground was soft and fertile.

A&E >  Art

‘No More Stolen Sisters’: Indigenous artists curate Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women exhibit during Women’s History Month

Sat., March 12, 2022

In celebration of Women's History Month, Gonzaga University's Urban Arts Center is hosting the exhibition "No More Stolen Sisters" to raise awareness for the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women campaign primarily in the Pacific Northwest region.

News >  Higher education

UI professor says Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination is a ‘profound achievement for African American women in the legal profession’

Mon., March 7, 2022

“So what this nomination means is that it’s just a very small step toward recognizing what African American women have contributed to American society and American law in general,” Shaakirrah R. Sanders said. 

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News >  Education

‘Our Community Spokane’: Childhood educator Stephanie Courtney creates book for Spokane’s Black leaders

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 8, 2023

One day, after teaching a curriculum through her program, the Learning Project, educator Stephaine Courtney received an anonymous email from a teacher. They asked how to incorporate Black people in their classrooms.

News >  Spokane

‘Separate histories and shared challenges’: Temple Beth Shalom hosts community panel on the plight of Jewish, Black communities

Mon., Feb. 28, 2022

"When I think about antisemitism and racism, they are both completely grounded in this concept of keeping some of us at the bottom of the barrel, unsafe and unhealthy, and others, typically the white race, in a position of power," Spokane NAACP President Kiantha Duncan said.

A&E >  Entertainment

A ‘melting pot of influence’: Black Violin draws from music styles ranging from classical to hip-hop

UPDATED: Mon., Feb. 28, 2022

When Kev Marcus, one half of the Grammy-nominated duo Black Violin, reflects on the journey of how they've risen, he always cites his ability to be anew. A Black man with the build of an American linebacker, his innate desires to play the viola and violin soothe his inner world but cause friction in the outer.

News >  Education

‘Working to heal myself, my community and those around me’: Spokane artist named activist-in-residence for Eastern Washington University

Thu., Feb. 24, 2022

Shantell Jackson arrived in Spokane in November 2004, eyeing a career in higher education and focusing on diversity, equity and inclusion at Eastern Washington University. After almost two decades of artistic contributions to the city of Spokane, Jackson returned to Eastern as this year’s Activist in Residence for EWU’s Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies program.

News

Idaho cost-of-care policy widens racial, financial inequities across the state

UPDATED: Mon., Feb. 28, 2022

After years of struggling with addiction, Idaho resident Sarah Hill is now using her personal experience to educate and uplift others as a recovery coach at St. Vincent De Paul Reentry Center and Chrysalis, a sober living program for women in Boise. While in recovery, Hill lost custody of her son, who ended up in foster care and juvenile detention centers.

News >  Health

‘Empowering for patients’: Washington bill would require pharmacies to translate prescription information

UPDATED: Tue., March 1, 2022

A bill that would require pharmacies across Washington to translate medical information, such as prescription bottle directions, passed out of committee this week and is awaiting a vote on the Senate floor.

A&E

‘They can’t deny us’: Dr. Dre and friends gear up for star-studded Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show

UPDATED: Sun., Feb. 13, 2022

For Spokane rapper Jango, the past week has been filled with high-energy moments. He’s fresh off a Seattle show, and performing is still on his mind. He’ll be cheering the players in the Super Bowl, but it’s the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show that is just as exciting, and perhaps more meaningful. 

A&E >  TV

TV producer Mandi Price talks representation, Hollywood and more as she prepares for Black Stories Symposium and return to Spokane

UPDATED: Wed., Feb. 16, 2022

In 2014, Mandi Price was hungry for a fruitful career. Hungry for opportunity. Hungry for Hollywood. After eight years of hard work, she has become a producer of some of America’s most beloved shows. “Now every day I look at the Hollywood sign and say, ‘Holy cow, I work here? This is real?’ ” Price said.

A&E >  Art

Ideas of home: Black Spokane artists are featured in Gonzaga’s Urban Arts Center exhibit ‘Home: Imagining the Irrevocable’

UPDATED: Thu., Feb. 10, 2022

Yes, Black History Month is a celebration, but it still pulls Black people to answer a gritty question about their livelihood beyond resilience: How does one build an identity, home, in a world that is unapologetically, and actively, anti-Black in policy, action and culture?

News

Celebrating Asian cultures, Spokane’s Lunar New Year event returns to Riverfront Park after nearly 90 years

UPDATED: Thu., Feb. 10, 2022

After 89 years, Spokane’s Lunar New Year celebration returned Saturday at Riverfront Park, showcasing Asian cultures through food, dance, fashion and music

News >  Religion

Immigration attorney sues World Relief alleging nonprofit rescinded Spokane job offer because he is gay

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 27, 2022

An immigration lawyer who was offered a staff job at World Relief only to have the offer rescinded the week before he was to start has filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination because he is gay.

News

‘Historic and symbolic’: Leaders from Spokane’s Asian communities excited for first local Lunar New Year celebrations in over 80 years

UPDATED: Sat., Jan. 22, 2022

For the first time in 89 years, Spokane organizations will be kicking off the Lunar New Year with an outdoor celebration.

News >  Nation

We the People: Martin Luther King’s fight for equality for all changed the way America protests

UPDATED: Tue., Feb. 8, 2022

Each week, The Spokesman-Review examines one question from the Naturalization Test immigrants must pass to become United States citizens.

News

For Martin Luther King Day, Spokane organizers adapt to COVID-19 surge for safe celebration

Fri., Jan. 14, 2022

With the omicron variant of COVID-19 surging, in-person events once marked safe by vaccines and negative tests are moving to virtual or being canceled altogether, including – for the second year – Spokane’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day March.

A&E >  Entertainment

Spokane artists to celebrate, heal and shine in inaugural Jazz Easy at Montvale Event Center

UPDATED: Thu., Jan. 13, 2022

In a musical celebration of Blackness, healing and authenticity, Williams Homegirl Sells is presenting the inaugural Jazz Easy at Montvale Event Center on Saturday. "Black people, we have always fallen back on music," Spokane realtor and event creator Latrice Williams said. 

News

‘These answers will come back to us.’ Architect and Spokane tribal member Shawn Brigman ignites a new path in recovering Indigenous canoe culture

Sun., Jan. 9, 2022

For many artists, the art-making process is spiritual. One must mentally and firmly grasp onto sparks of creativity and deliver it into the physical with care and precision, a meticulous intentionality. Some ideas blossom quickly and take decades. For other people, like architect and artist Shawn Brigman, creating art is an early, swift concept.

News >  Washington

Pullman weighs removing Thomas Jefferson portrait from library after complaints

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 24, 2022

The Pullman Library Board of Trustees is considering a request to remove a portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president, from the Pullman Neill Library.

News

Difference Makers: Roberta Wilburn reflects on the ‘huge growth’ of diversity and inclusion at Whitworth University

UPDATED: Sat., Jan. 1, 2022

Last summer, Roberta Wilburn was enjoying the perks of her new life as a retired educator, wrapping up a 13-year stint at Whitworth University. She steadied her newest endeavor as the founding president of an independent consulting organization she shares with her husband, James. 

News >  Pacific NW

After teens going to an LGBTQ library group were met with protesters in North Idaho, a debate has erupted about the region’s political climate

Thu., Dec. 16, 2021

After young teens and their families were met with anti-LGBTQ protesters as they entered the Post Falls Library for a friendly gathering in November, local organizations are looking for ways to shield students from such elements of Idaho’s social and political climate.

News >  Pacific NW

Mujeres in Action to debut documentary on domestic violence in Latinx communities in Friday night gala at The Hive

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 9, 2021

El poder de contarlo. The power to tell.

A&E >  Art

Terrain debuts clothing line Terrain X

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 2, 2021

Before you read anything further: find a full body mirror right quick. ... OK, you're back. Could you see the culture you come from looking back at you? Is it in the fuzzy socks Grandma knits and gifts every Christmas? The gold or silver cross hanging from a chain in the center of your chest?

News >  Health

The origin of ‘omicron’: How do you pronounce the new coronavirus variant, and more importantly, why?

UPDATED: Mon., May 30, 2022

Not much is known about the mysterious omicron variant of the coronavirus that is cropping up around the world. The mystery extends even to the pronunciation of the word “omicron,” which is a letter in the Greek alphabet.