Pen & Eye

Pen & Eye #17 – SODA and SOAP

By David Stoesz and Marie Bouassi November 30, 2024

Two people stand in a cemetery under the moonlight, gripping a shovel. Tombstones labeled "Soda 1992-2020" and "Soap 1992-2020" loom ominously, etched with skulls and crossbones—a stark reminder of society's discriminatory policies that buried more than just products.

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2024 issue of Seattle magazine.

Page 1: Comic illustrating Seattle's history of unjust policies through the pen and eye, focusing on a soap law used for discriminatory profiling. It features city council decisions and a quote from Andrew Lewis.

Page 2: In a pen-and-ink comic strip, a satirical city hall meeting unfolds with exaggerated caricatures debating city services and policing. Amidst the witty banter and oversized protest signs, sharp-eyed attendees engage in spirited exchanges that reveal the humor in civic chaos.

Transcript

<h4>Page 1</h4>
<h5>Image One:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “Seattle’s history is full of terrible policies: Car Impound Ordinance, Hot Spot Policing, No Sitting Law, Poster Ban, Teen Dancing Ordinance, Red-Lining, Racist Housing Covenants RIP.”
<em>ALT Text:</em> The names of old policies are graved in gravestones in a cemetery.
<h5>Image Two:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “The city council recently unearthed a couple of these policies from the past: Stay Out of Drug Areas (SODA) and Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution (SOAP).”
<em>ALT Text:</em> The policy names are shown on gravestones as two women with a shovel walk by.
<h5>Image Three:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “SOAP allows Seattle police to dispense with due process and arrest people based on their perceptions.”
<em>ALT Text:</em> A Seattle police officer is shown looking judgmental, as if deciding who to arrest based on appearance alone.
<h5>Image Four:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “This is a department that gave special treatment to one of its own officers caught in a sex scandal. The troubled officer says ‘I am going through divorce’ as the arresting officer replies ‘OK, brother. I’ll try to make this as painless as possible.’ The news appeared on 9/18/2020 in the Seattle Times.”
<em>ALT Text:</em> A news-style illustration suggests favoritism within the police department, with an officer receiving lenient treatment despite misconduct.
<h5>Image Five:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “The city council unanimously repealed the original SODA and SOAP laws in 2020, citing ‘disastrous racialized impacts of these policies on Black and Indigenous communities.'”
<em>ALT Text:</em> A city council member, identified as Andrew Lewis, is shown making a statement against the laws ‘They were wrong when they were enacted.’
<h4>Page 2</h4>
<h5>Image One:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “In exhuming SODA and SOAP, the current city council ignored mountains of evidence presented by dozens of groups.”
<em>ALT Text:</em> A visual representation of various advocacy organizations, including ACLU, Lake City Partners, Chief Seattle Club, MLK Labor, Transit Riders Union, Real Change, Seattle Indian Health Board, King County Department of Public Defense, Strippers are Workers, Evergreen Treatment Services, Purpose Dignity Action, Puget Sound Sage, forming a collective voice against the policies.
<h5>Image Two:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “These groups explained that exclusionary zones do not reduce drug use or sex work and harm drug users and sex workers by, among other things, making them subject to arrest in areas where services are.”
<em>ALT Text:</em> A police van is parked outside a social services center, with an officer monitoring individuals entering the building.rug-user entering a church that is offering a free meal, while a police officer is watching.
<h5>Image Three:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “Sex trade activity on Aurora Ave. largely stops at the border with Shoreline. In vain, Shoreline officials explained to SODA/SOAP sponsor Cathy Moore that they credit pedestrian safety improvements and social services, not exclusionary laws, as mentioned in KUOW on 8/19/2024.”
<em>ALT Text:</em> A smiling Cathy Moore is shown dismissing the data, with the word “FACTS” floating around her.
<h5>Image Four:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “Rather than listen to their constituents in a public meeting about SODA/SOAP, the Seattle City Council threatened to arrest them, just as they’d done with six commentators in February.”
<em>ALT Text:</em> Protesters hold a sign that reads “No to racist policies. No to SODA. No to SOAP,” while council members look on dismissively.
<h5>Image Five:</h5>
<em>Text:</em> “While the city council exhumes undead policies, their imperviousness to reason and seeming determination to harm the community can make you wonder who the real zombies are.”
<em>ALT Text:</em> A surreal illustration depicts Seattle City Council members as zombies rising from graves labeled with regressive policies. Rob Saka, Cathy Moore, and Sara Nelson are drawn as the undead, making nonsensical statements like “We need more tools” “We don’t have a perfect solution” and “We cannot not do anything more.”

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