As a personal project, I have started what I am calling my Spotlight Series. There are so many people in our community that are working to make things better in some way. My vision is that I want to find them, meet them, photograph them, and tell their stories. If you know an amazing person or a regular person doing amazing things, please send me an email, or fill out our nomination form!

Josh Binda is an amazing young man and I find him inspiring. It is easy to go to protests, but it is hard to organize and lead them. It is easy to say you want to change things, but it is hard to come up with a plan to make change and to do the work to make it happen. When the opportunity presented itself with the Black Lives Matter movement, instead of shrinking to the back, Josh stepped forward and led marches all over Snohomish and parts of King Counties.

Now, he is taking another step forward. He putting himself out there and doing the work. He is running for Lynnwood City Council and would be the youngest black man to have elected office in Washington. I had the opportunity to meet and photograph him for my Spotlight series, but I had actually photographed him before at the Bothell BLM march last spring.

When he was talking, he told me about how his parents came from Liberia and landed on the East Coast. While he was there, he did not feel a great deal of hope and opportunity for himself. That changed when his family moved to Lynnwood. In Lynnwood, he found opportunities and a voice. However, his new home was not perfect. He wants to make it better for all the people in Lynnwood by being their city council member.

Josh sees a great future for Lynnwood. Part of that is because of the expected jump in population and the incredible upgrades in transportation with Lynnwood becoming the hub of all available forms of public transit in the area.

I was able to meet Josh and learn his story through my amazing son, Kyler. Kyler will be managing Josh’s campaign. Be sure to check out the website www.JoshBinda.com, make a donation, and vote for Josh!