Tag: Organizing

Today’s Progress Indebted to Sustained Activist Efforts

Story by Pete Shaw A month ago I attended the 10th anniversary memorial for Keaton Otis, the young Black man executed by the Portland police near the corner of Northeast 6th and Halsey. That corner has become hallowed ground. For an all too short spell, Otis’s father Fred Bryant held a monthly vigil at the…

A Migrant Movement For, Of, and By Migrants

Story by Pete Shaw Since declaring himself a candidate for the presidency of the United States, Republican Donald Trump has made clear his disdain for migrants. On the day he announced his candidacy, Trump declared that all Mexicans were criminals, particularly inclined toward rape and drug dealing. Trump quickly followed this by saying he assumed…

Dreaming of Freedom

Story by Pete Shaw Near the end of Walidah Imarisha’s presentation at the University of Portland’s inaugural MLK Day ON event, a man posed her a question reeking of defeat. He wondered just how people could possibly organize and achieve greater justice, and ultimately true freedom, without a leader such as King, whom he described…

Finding Victory After One Year of Trump

Story and photos by Pete Shaw In the post-mortem of Donald Trump’s election, I noted how for folks involved in activism, not much was going to change. The hard work of organizing, regardless of who became president, was going to continue. If my memory serves me well, I wrote that under Trump, the primary difference…

A Shining Light Rolls On

“Days up and down they come Like rain on a conga drum Forget most, remember some But don’t turn none away”                                –Townes Van Zandt   Story by Pete Shaw At the end of this month Portland will be losing organizer…