The Big O Talks Rahwa Habte, Mayor Wilson, and Steelheads Sunday on KUOW
The Big O talks on air in the KUOW studio earlier this week. (Photo: Jordan Somers)
The Big O, Converge Media co-founder and host of “The Big O Show,” joined KUOW’s Soundside this week with host Libby Denkmann for a discussion on Central District icon Rahwa Habte, Mayor Katie Wilson’s first 100 days, and a historic shift in Mariners baseball.
Defending Central District Icons
The Big O recounted a recent incident in Seattle’s Central District when he witnessed a poster hanger covering a mural of the late Rahwa Habte at 20th and Jackson. Habte, a beloved community leader and immigrant rights organizer who passed away in 2020, is memorialized on signal boxes throughout the neighborhood.
With emotion, The Big O recalled confronting the post-hanger.
“You’re not going to make this Black woman disappear. Rawha was here. She walked with us. She made a difference,” he said, describing the act of papering over her face as triggering and symbolic of the larger architectural trauma caused by gentrification and displacement.
Upon witnessing the act, The Big O confronted the poster hanger and recorded the interaction on his iPhone. He explained that the worker backed off and expressed a lack of awareness, which he said he hoped will spark a deeper community conversation about respecting local icons.
"That's all we got left,” he said, pointing to gentrification and displacement forcing Black people out of the city. “We got an electrical box with paint to represent our legends and our icons.”
The Big O sits in the KUOW studio earlier this week. (Photo: Jordan Somers)
Assessing Mayor Wilson’s First 100 Days
The Big O shared his perspective on Mayor Wilson’s performance, particularly regarding public safety. He suggested that while Wilson expressed skepticism about surveillance during her campaign, her new openness to surveillance tools like CCTV cameras could represent her efforts to hear from victims of crime and assault.
“When we talk about…public safety…no one is talking to the people who are actually victims of crime,” he said. "When Mayor Wilson got into office, she was forced to now hear or see the other side of the coin.”
On gun violence, The Big O called for a more forceful stance from city leadership.
"We're going to make a stand today just like they've made a stand around ICE," he said, urging Wilson to apply the same level of energy and authority to stopping neighborhood violence as she has shown in the city’s high-profile opposition to federal immigration enforcement.
The discussion also focused on the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department, Seattle’s unarmed crisis response team. Referencing his recent interview with the Mayor, The Big O described the team as "hamstrung" by existing police union contracts that limit their deployment. He issued a challenge to city leaders to "let CARE be great," arguing that these trained professionals are currently underutilized despite being exactly what the public demanded during the 2020 protests.
The Big O (left) sits across from Libby Denkmann (right) in the KUOW studio earlier this week. (Photo: Jordan Somers)
Celebrating the Mariners’ First Steelheads Sunday
Lastly, The Big O recapped how Converge Media family and friends celebrated the first Steelheads Sunday in two suites at T-Mobile Park on March 29.
The Seattle Mariners made history this season by becoming the first Major League Baseball (MLB) team to incorporate a Negro Leagues uniform into the club's standard rotation: the Black and cream Steelheads Jersey, worn on home Sunday games. Converge made the initial announcement in January 2026, which included the Mariners’ $500,000 Steelheads Community Fund dedicated to supporting Black youth baseball and softball leagues.
A lifelong Mariners fan, The Big O said that the team’s decision was a groundbreaking shift in the MLB, setting a precedent for teams across the country to “respect the past and own the future.” Despite Seattle’s relatively small Black population, the Mariners made this decision with historic intention, he said.
“This is a city of 50,000 Black people. You can fit every Black person inside a T-Mobile Park,” he said. “When you talk to the people over there at the Mariners, you feel the sincerity and the extra love and care around this Steelheads initiative.”
This intention, The Big O said, has grounded the action in a larger American narrative. He explained that baseball is the only sport that Black people ever owned, with the Negro Leagues acting as its own Black economy before integration into the MLB in the late 1940s.
"The historic act of the Steelheads will stand forever,” he said.
Listen to the full interview here.
Stay tuned for more episodes of “The Big O Show” coming soon on all Converge Media streaming platforms.
Did you enjoy this blog post? Then consider donating to Converge and supporting our mission here.
