Kevin Allen among Black History Month award recipients

SEATTLE (Feb. 24, 2023) — All organizers, social justice champions and labor leaders in the Pacific Northwest have likely crossed paths with Kevin Allen. Among other things, Allen is a proud rank-and-file member of the Washington Federation of State Employees, AFSCME Council 28; Vice President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO; and Vice President of the Puget Sound Chapter of of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.

If you find yourself at an event where Allen is in attendance, it is a pretty good indicator that you are fighting the good fight.

On Saturday, Feb. 25, Allen will be among the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Committee’s Black History Month award recipients at a ceremony and reception at 3:30 p.m. at the Holgate Street Church of Christ, 2600 Holgate St. in Seattle. He is the 2023 recipient of the organization’s Tyree Scott & Beverly Sims Labor Award.

The theme of Saturday’s awards event — which is open to all — is BLACK RESISTANCE: Holding the United States accountable to live up to its ideals of freedom, liberty, and justice for all. All of the following MLKCC award recipients characterize and embody the principles of non-violence and reconciliation that guided the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement:

● Dr. Maxine Mimms Change Maker Award: Mary Flowers
● Tyree Scott & Beverly Sims Labor Award: Kevin Allen
● Larry Gossett, Servant of the People Award: Lyle Quasim
● Norman “Norm” Rice Public Servant Award: Harold Scoggins
● Mona Bailey Education Advocate Award: Linda Thomas Black

Allen’s award is named for two prominent Black labor organizers. Tyree Scott led the United Construction Workers Association and devoted his time to combatting racial discrimination in the labor movement. Beverly Sims was one of the first Black women to complete the IBEW electrician apprenticeship program and also worked for the Northwest Labor Employment and Law Office. They were recently featured in the UW Libraries’ Black History Month Challenge.

“Congratulations to Kevin Allen on this well-deserved honor,” said April Sims, President of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “Kevin is a tireless activist for organized labor, civil rights and social justice, and he definitely deserves recognition for all of the great work he does on behalf of all of us.”