Yesterday, Converge Media joined hands with the Seattle Public Library and the Black Heritage Society of Washington State to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the name change of Douglass-Truth Library. Part of that celebration was an informative discussion about the Soul Pole. A story that Converge Media documented in 2022 captured the reinstallation of the Soul Pole and its enduring legacy and representation of the Black community and their pursuit of freedom. 

Andrew Harbison, the former Interim Director of Library Programs and Services at the Seattle Public Library, explained that the Soul Pole was created over the summer of 1969 by six students believed to be part of the Rotary Boys Club, led by artist and activist Raqib Mu’ied (formerly Gregory X). The group carved a donated telephone pole into a design of faces and figures that represents 400 years of Black history. It was then installed in 1973 at the Douglass-Truth Branch, now a reminder of the fight for Black liberation in Seattle and beyond. 

Poet, artist, Elijah Mu’ied, Raqib Mu’ied’s son, said his father trained all his children to search for freedom, focusing on being a teacher for his people and a resilient advocate and lover of the Black community. While Raqib has passed, the Soul Pole embodies his legacy “from the ground up,” in his son’s heartfelt words.

After nearly 50 years of endurance, a collaborative project between Art Tech, the Black Heritage Society, and Corine Landrieu, a top conservator in the Pacific Northwest, sought to conserve the Pole from elemental deterioration. In 2022, the Pole was reinstalled post-conservation, stretching Raqib’s legacy and leaving the Central District with a towering reminder of the community’s unyielding resilience. 

For more information, visit the Douglass-Truth branch’s website spl.org/hours-and-locations/douglass-truth-branch, and be on the lookout for Converge’s upcoming story on the branch’s 50th anniversary celebration of its renaming at whereweconverge.com.