By Besa Gordon - With Super Bowl Sunday right around the corner, I stopped by Good Day Seattle to help folks lock in the perfect place to watch the big game — while supporting local businesses at the same time. I teamed up with my guy Mark TellsYa, who took viewers on a quick tour of several spots around Seattle.

Get ready to celebrate community, culture, and Black excellence at the 2nd Annual Black History Month Market & Celebration in Portland, Oregon. Join organizer Juma Blaq for an unforgettable Sunday afternoon packed with family fun, food, and incredible talent. This year is set to be bigger and better than ever, featuring a stacked entertainment lineup and a chance to support Black-owned businesses and farmers from across Oregon.

The future of baseball recently shone brightly at the Mariners Training Center in Columbia City as the Mayor League Baseball (MLB) ID Tour returned to Seattle for its second year. This "pro-style" workout is designed to uncover local gems like Kobe Reese and Cameron Dietrich, who were discovered at last year's tour stop and are now highly-touted prospects in the class of 2028.

The Re-Sole 206, Seattle's inaugural sneaker dry cleaner, recently hosted Northwest Credible Messenger (NWCM) youth for "Designing the Path,” a custom sneaker workshop. The Re-Sole 206 founder, Takiyah "T-DUB" Ward, whose state-of-the-art facility specializes in sneaker cleaning, restoration, and customizing, was all about sharing her knowledge with the next generation. 

My grandmother is from Louisiana, and with her came Creole heritage, Southern tradition, and lessons that shaped the woman I am today. She taught me how to cook real food, the kind that feeds your soul as much as your stomach. She taught me how to bake with patience, season with intention, and move through the kitchen like it’s a sacred space.

#ConvergePDX - At Converge, we believe in uplifting Black joy across the entire Pacific Northwest. Recently, that Black joy was on full, commanding display at The Mixer: Making P(OR)tland Home in Portland, Oregon. At our second year covering the event, the community transformed The Evergreen into a sacred space rooted in presence, storytelling, and community, bringing together Black professionals, creatives, and leaders across Portland.

SEATTLE, WA — In the shadow of Seattle’s tech-driven prosperity lies a harrowing statistic that city leaders are finally being forced to confront: Seattle currently ranks second in the nation for the prevalence of sex trafficking. On Thursday, the Summit on Crime Survivors convened a coalition of survivors, advocates, and policymakers at Seattle City Hall to move beyond the "awareness" phase into increasing resources for survivors. 

The Fred Hutch Cancer Center is hosting a free Colorectal Cancer Community Awareness Event on Saturday, March 7, at 10 a.m. This vital event is designed to empower the community with essential knowledge about colorectal cancer, offering a relaxed and friendly setting to discuss a serious health issue that disproportionately affects Black and Native communities.

Fresh off their five-year anniversary, Communion Restaurant & Bar in Seattle’s Central District recently welcomed Almost The Weekend! co-host Curtis Delgardo II, aka Cuddy, to try Chef Damon Bomar’s house-made Bloody Mary. When Bomar made an appearance on Almost The Weekend! last year, Delgardo famously expressed his distaste for Bloody Marys, but he accepted the challenge to push his palate to new heights. 

The Steelheads are Back! - As the Seattle Mariners embark on their 50th Season, we are proud to help tell a story that was written in these streets long before the first pitch was thrown in a stadium. The rhythm of baseball in the Pacific Northwest didn’t begin with a modern franchise—it was forged in the dust of the sandlots and the roar of a community claiming its rightful place in the sun.

Back2Besa host Besa Gordon recently visited Métier Brewing in the Central District for National Beer Can Appreciation Day on January 24th to chop it up with multi-disciplinary artist Damon Brown, a.k.a. Creative Lou, and Métier Brewing Company owner Rodney Hines. Brown, the visionary behind many of Métier’s iconic cans, is all about representing the stories of Blackness and the soul of Seattle’s Central District.

“We Live In Color” returns for Season 4 this Thursday. This year, we're taking our mission to the next level with the Seattle Gay News (SGN) Community Brief. In partnership with Seattle Gay News, one of the country's longest-running LGBTQIA+ publications, “We Live In Color” is set to make a greater impact and forge more meaningful community connections than ever before.

Yesterday, Besa Gordon stopped by Good Day Seattle on FOX 13 Seattle to talk about a powerful new story highlighting the reach of the Mariners Care Foundation — and how Back2Besa continues to follow stories of opportunity and community well beyond the Emerald City.

Converge Media joins the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and newsrooms across the nation in expressing our profound outrage at today’s federal arrest of three-time Emmy-winning independent journalist Georgia Fort and veteran journalist Don Lemon. These arrests, directed by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, represent a chilling escalation in the criminalization of newsgathering—particularly for Black journalists who provide essential, front-line reporting for marginalized communities.

As a crucial part on Converge Media’s upcoming documentary “Diamond Of Opportunity” about the Mariners Care Foundation, videographer and producer Mat Bermudez journeyed to Anchorage, Alaska, to document the grand opening of a new indoor baseball and softball facility. What he discovered far exceeded the boundaries of a typical sports story: it was an emotional account of community revitalization, accessibility, and representation. 

After nearly one month representing the city-wide Position 9, Seattle City Councilmember Dionne Foster discussed her focus on affordable housing for Black families and homeowners, tackling homelessness, and protecting Seattleites from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

Amarr’s Heart Foundation recently concluded its annual blanket, socks, and glove drive, a community-wide effort to honor the late Amarr Murphy-Paine nearing what would have been his 19th birthday last month. The drive, a collaborative effort with Garfield High School, the Garfield Teen Life Center, and the Garfield Community Center, successfully collected supplies for the homeless and disenfranchised in the Seattle area.

If you’re looking for an episode that feels like community, culture, and connection all wrapped into one — this week’s show is absolutely for you. This week’s Back2Besa is one of those lineups that really reflects movement. Not just physically, from city to city, but emotionally too through the people we meet, the stories we carry, and the moments that remind us why community-centered storytelling matters so much.

The United States Basketball League (USBL) is making a triumphant return for its 2026 season, marking its 40th anniversary and kicking off games in March, 2026. Anchoring the revival on the West Coast are the Seattle Super Hawks, one of eight dynamic teams ready to compete. For aspiring players, the road to the 2026 USBL season starts this weekend at the Pacific Northwest Combine this Saturday, January 31st.

The annual tax season can be daunting, but The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is stepping up to make the process easier. Starting this week, the Library is offering free, in-person tax preparation services across 11 of its locations, thanks to crucial collaborations with the United Way of King County (UWKC) and AARP.