Mightier than the sword @timgruver - Tumblr Blog

Frank, a Vietnam veteran, walks his dog, Chase, in Seattle’s Chinatown on a Saturday morning. Chase is dressed up as an alligator for his grandson’s third birthday party as they walk to catch their train back home from a costume shop.

“I love dogs, they always kept me company after coming back home from over there,” Frank said. “Dogs are supposed to be man’s best friend, and I guess that’s the case for me.”

#Seattle @

Lucia, 16, joined "Seattle Women March Against Hate," after hearing about the event from her mother. Though she was not old enough to vote in the presidential election, but even as a high school student, she wanted to do what she could to express her support for what she believed the march as a whole: human rights.

#Seattle freespeech park

On “Chinese Adoptees at Home in America

Like the title implies, the New York Times’ glance into the lives of Chinese-American adoptees is revealing, insightful, and moving. Its candid photos powerfully compliment the quotes from Megan Han. While many, such as the header photo, appear posed, others act like the product of a fly on the wall such as those of Lily Larson’s dance lessons with her peers. Perhaps the best is of Jieli Anna Wegerif and her sister, Michelle, embracing on the couch, seemingly unaware of the camera in front of them.

#journalism

Poulomi Basu’s ‘Changing of the Guard’

Being a photojournalist with nothing to photograph is a nightmare any student of the craft can share. Basu’s photo essay for the New York Times captures the kind of bittersweet exhaustion that encompasses photojournalism: waiting for a presentation. The images of tired, uniformed Indian women toiling on the border with nothing to do but watch and wait demonstrates the power of the candid moment amidst the mundane.

Juana (above) explains the meaning and importance of Dia De Los Muertos to audiences at the Buerien Community Center on October 28.

According to Juana, Dia De Los Muertos is a holiday that celebrates the end of one journey and the beginning of another, one that cherishes death as a natural part of life.

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#diadelosmuertos #community #dance

Maria (above, center right) performs a Mexican folk dance with a dancing partner Dia De Los Muertos celebration the Burien Community Center with the face paint of a calavera skull. Despite having been born in the United States, she sees dance as something that always connects her to cultural heritage and her remaining family back in Mexico.

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#diadelosmuertos #community #dance

Ruth (above, center) performs a traditional Mexican tap dance at a Dia De Los Muertos festival at Seattle’s Burien Community Center. She has been dancing since she was five and is a passion that allows her to always feel young at heart.

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#diadelosmuertos #community #dance

Maria (pictured above) dons the dress of La Calavera Catrina ('Dapper Skeleton') a popular icon of Dia De Los Muertos made famous by a 1910-1913 zinc etching by Mexican print maker, illustrator, and lithographer José Guadalupe Posada.

The character, a female skeleton traditionally dressed only in the fashion of a European of her time, was offered as a satirical portrait of Mexican natives who were aspired to adopt European aristocratic traditions in the pre-revolution era.

Maria believes that celebrations like those for Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, immigrants retain a part of their heritage and rich history.

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#diadelosmuertos #community

Milvia Pacheco (right) and Mirta Wymerszberg (left) perform with Calavera, a puppet character created for their children’s play celebrating aspects of Dia De Los Muertos at the Burien Community Center October 28.

A native of Venezuela, Pacheco, who identifies as Afro-Latino, sees her work as a means of community engagement and empowering the Latino community.

For Pacheco, Dia De Los Muertos is a holiday about celebrating the dead passing on to a better place.

“I see [Dia De Los Muertos] as a holiday about opening a door for a friend and an eternal source of love,” Pacheco said.

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#diadelosmuertos #community

Mexican folk dancer José Seja (left) performs with a dance partner during a Dia De Los Muertos celebration at Seattle’s Burien Community Center on October 28.

A native of Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico, Ceja began dancing when he was five years old at the town’s local Elementary School. At 15, he began dancing with professionally and now teaches his own group, “Grupo Folkloric Guadalajara,” which instructs children from two to 14 years old.

“Dia De Los Muertos is not like Halloween. We celebrate the dead, we offer something they like, something they love to eat or see,” Ceja said. “Dance is part of Mexico’s tradition and I’ve been a part of it ever since I was young, I love it and live it.”

#diadelosmuertos #dance #community

A Turkish belly dancer performs at the Turkish American Cultural Association of Washington’s “Turkfest 2016″ at the Seattle Center Armory.

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#turkfest

Two Buddhist worshippers offer incense during a Sunday service at Seattle Choeizan Enkyoji Nichiren Buddhist Temple.

Led by Rev. Kanjin Cederman, the temple follows the teachings of religious teacher Nichiren (B.C.E. 1222–82) with the Lotus Sutra as its central scripture.

For practicing Buddhists, "dharma" generally refers to the teachings of the Buddha. It includes the discourses on the fundamental truths and principles.

Cedarman considers the lessons of Nichiren Buddhism greater than any single teacher.

“Rely on the teaching, not the person,” Cedarman said.

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#nichiren buddhism

In 2006, Master Chang Wu-Na and Dr. Mei-hui-Lu founded the Wudang Internal Arts Academy to instruct students in the Chinese martial arts, physical fitness, and self-defense.

Local students (above) from nearby martial arts schools in the region performed a traditional Taoist lion dance at the academy’s opening ceremony to bestow fortune and good luck to the academy.

#martialarts #liondance