A new, local, youth-led cafe in the Central District is offering customers more than just a cup of coffee. Creative Cafe, located on the first floor of the historic Washington Hall, greets customers with a swell of warmth from freshly brewed coffee and soft R&B music that fills the space. During their usual coffee runs, Seattleties may be used to the pristine and superficial appearance that conglomerate cafes throughout the city convey. However, Creative Cafe intends to create a home away from home for each customer who walks through its doors.
The cafe is operated by Creative Justice, a youth arts and restorative justice organization, in the hopes of creating a robust communal space for individuals of all ages within the Black and African diaspora of Seattle. Creative Justice partnered with Black Power Unlimited (BPU), which prioritizes physical spaces for BIPOC communities and manages the first floor of Washington Hall. BPU leases the space to Creative Justice to operate Creative Cafe.
The first floor of Washington Hall now not only has a cafe but a lounging area decked out with comfortable leather chairs and bookshelves with literary works from a variety of BIPOC authors such as Amiri Baraka, Colson Whitehead and Margot Lee Shetterly. Along the walls are large photographs taken by renowned photographer Al Smith in the late ‘60s and ‘70s of Black Seattleites enjoying themselves at Washington Hall.
The historic landmark was built in 1908 and operated as a venue space for significant cultural performances and events throughout the years. In 2009, Historic Seattle, with the support of 4Culture, was able to save the building from being demolished. It is now a home for organizations like Creative Justice. The building holds the laughter, steps and memories of many people from all walks of life and is being used to create new memories by a community seeking such a space.
The existence of Creative Cafe was a tribute to the late Rahwa Habte, a well-loved community member and co-founder of BPU. Alongside her remarkable achievements for her community, Habte was the co-owner of Hidmo, an Eritrean restaurant widely regarded by locals as a safe space for BIPOC artists to gather in the Central District. BPU and Creative Cafe are looking to follow in Habte’s footsteps by sustaining a physical space that lives up to the familiar memories and presence the restaurant has cultivated for BIPOC artists in Seattle.
One of Creative Justice’s visions is to prioritize the involvement of youth and young adults within the cafe and throughout the first floor of Washington Hall by offering a safe space where art and economic opportunities are accessible to them. Creative Cafe employs young adults between the ages of 18 to 25 who are paid $25 hourly, offered an Orca card and health benefits and training by experienced baristas. Daniel Bash, director of Creative Cafe, said that the young adults are encouraged to be creative and have control over the space, including which music to play. The TV usually plays either a video essay on hip-hop or a reality show a person wouldn’t normally come across at a Starbucks.
By the youth, for the youth
Creative Cafe opened its doors on Jan. 15, with many customers checking out the space after participating in the MLK festivities at Garfield High School.
Bash recalled how busy opening day was, with customers curious about what the cafe had to offer, noting how well the young people behind the counter did under that kind of pressure. Bash, who has over 20 years of experience in the food service industry, is looking to instill these youth with the skills to become the next generation of great Seattle baristas. He believes that welcoming a customer and also leaving them wanting to come back is a skill that has become a lost art among baristas. Another of his priorities is teaching baristas at Creative Cafe to become more in touch with their senses so they’re less reliant on thermometers or timers. He said working closely with the baristas has taught him many things about young adults, especially their way of approaching the workplace.
“It’s wonderful in so many ways; it’s inspiring and it’s fun. The frustrating part, oftentimes, is that I see myself at that age in them so I find myself lecturing myself,” Bash said. “I have to remind myself that they’re not me. [They’re] young so there are certain struggles they haven’t gone through yet to develop the skills to deal with those struggles.”
The cafe is unique in its approach of allowing young people to have control over the space and be listened to by their mentors when they want to change certain things. Bash specifically pointed out how young people are usually exploited when working in the food service industry. He explained that, at Creative Cafe, a barista can relax as long as their tasks are completed rather than feel compelled to find busy work. The known saying within the industry of “if you’re leaning, you could be cleaning” isn’t followed within Creative Cafe. He hopes that through this training at Creative Cafe, young people will feel empowered enough to speak up when they’re being mistreated and to create positive change for their workplace, craft and community.
Along with dismantling harmful workplace practices, Creative Cafe is mindful of how it sources its coffee. Through 10 hours of labor each day, coffee farmers receive only on average between 7% to 10% of the retail prices from the coffee they grow. However, Creative Cafe is looking to change that by receiving its coffee from Fulcrum Coffee Roasters; its connection to coffee farmers was the reason why Creative Justice and the cafe wanted to work with Fulcrum.
Third places
Through its partnerships, Creative Cafe seeks to be a third place for its community.
“There’s so many people who use social media consumption as activism, and I don’t think you can make really big changes in the world without actually being with other humans together,” Bash said. “To be able to have a space that’s welcoming and open and also inviting to people to come together and be people together.”
Bash said third places have dwindled dramatically in recent years, with more people post-pandemic looking to digital platforms for community over physical spaces.
The idea of a third place was first coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1999 book “The Great Good Place.” Oldenburg defines third places as informal and neutral spaces.
These third places foster another opportunity for community members to discuss matters that directly affect them such as politics, health and safety. Third places offer an immediate sanctuary for community members who want to create change for themselves.
Bash said it’s especially important for a third place to be recognized as a safe space by youth and young adults who want to hang out with their peers and also to create something of their own.
This is something Creative Cafe is looking to cultivate for the Central District. In October 2023, there was a shooting outside of the A 4 Apple Daycare Learning Center that forced staff and children to hunker down. Then in December, on the heels of two back-to-back shootings, there was a robbery outside of Garfield High School and two people were shot in the neighborhood the same week. According to Bash, Creative Justice was approached by elders within the community who were advocating for a safe space for community members to turn to in the midst of these horrific shootings.
‘Cool souls’
Being a part of a safe space is why Kash Jones, a barista of Creative Cafe and a member of Creative Justice, eagerly waited for the chance to work at the cafe. The feeling of being needed was what pushed Jones to apply to become a barista. Through working at the Creative Cafe and learning from Bash, Jones has seen a work culture that appreciates, values and humanizes baristas. In her first days working at Creative Cafe, Jones recalls Bash emphasizing that there aren’t enough safe spaces for people of color and told her Creative Cafe was here to serve as that safe third place for her.
“There’s so much hate in this world [so]I think it’s really cool when you come into the [cafe] — it’s almost like someone is giving you a hug. I always learn something from the people that come into the [cafe] and they leave a cool message,” Jones said.
“There’s been a lot of cool [moments]. I call them universe moments where the universe just does it for a reason. It all happens for a reason,” she said. “[I] met a lot of cool souls that come through here, and I love that the souls that are attracted here are usually the right kind of souls.”
Jones says a lot of these “cool souls" are becoming her morning regulars so much that she is starting to know their orders by heart. It’s been a challenge for Jones to learn the ins and outs of how to make a good cup of coffee, but the process has been uplifting as she learns from baristas with over 15 years of experience. Jones said she worked closely with one experienced barista who patiently walked her through each step of making a latte.
“At the end of it, she was like, ‘Stop apologizing for making it wrong,’ and then she was like, ‘Keep doing it,’ and saying that [I] was on the right path,” Jones said. “She didn’t need to say that, [and] I don’t know why she said that to me. But, I know I’m in the right place when reassurance like that [comes] from strangers.”
Jones described Creative Cafe with clear admiration and emphasized how good it is for the cafe to be operating within Washington Hall. As an artist herself, it’s inspiring for her to witness a collaborative space like Creative Cafe take form. Jones shared that it inspires her to want to create something similar in the future.
That welcoming feeling was also felt by first-time customer and Central District resident Meagan Crawford. She noticed the welcome sign outside the front entrance of Washington Hall whenever she’d walk to work. Crawford took a liking to the photos that hang from the walls of the cafe and the intricate West African decorations laid across the tables.
“I noticed that it’s more personal, [and] I feel like they could be like a part of the family. It really felt close and intimate, and I like that,” Crawford said. “Most of the time, coffee shops are in and out, and [baristas] don’t really talk to you. But these guys were welcoming and just inviting, and that’s important. It just makes me want to come back.”
Crawford moved back to Seattle two years ago and said it was great to see a local coffee shop that has a different approach to operating than other cafes in Seattle. She believes it’ll also be a great opportunity for her to learn more about events taking place within her community, and she values knowing there’s a safe place for the young people she usually sees wandering around the neighborhood at night.
“I’m hoping that this coffee shop stays open for the long term and people can come in, [connect] with their community and see the difference [the cafe] is making here,” Crawford said.
Creative Cafe hopes to generate enough income to fund Creative Justice’s 12- to 16-week-long project sessions that focus on artistic skill building and host discussion panels with learning objectives centered on anti-racism and social justice, as well as creative work projects that vary between groups and individuals.
“The space is who’s really in it. [This] space is like a vessel, [and] it’s really going to depend on who shows up and who comes through in terms of how the character of the space is going to [become],” Bash said. “The money goes right back to Creative Justice, and the money is going right back into serving the youth.”
Marian Mohamed is the associate editor of Real Change. She oversees our weekly features. Contact her at [email protected].
Read more of the Feb. 21–27, 2024 issue.