Story and photos by Pete Shaw The French novelist Honoré de Balzac is often credited with having written that behind every great fortune there is a crime. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, the ubiquitous company that seems able to sell everything to everyone, everywhere, has surely amassed a great fortune. He is the richest…
Category: Authors
Everyday Anti-Fascism, One Milkshake at a Time
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw There is a keen slice of the anti-fascist community whose thirst for combating fascism and its attendant bigotries, particularly white supremacy, is not easily quenched. They require something else, another level of kicks. Their craving was slaked in the early afternoon on Saturday June 29 with a raucous dance party in…
Nine Years After Keaton Otis’ Murder by Portland Police, Community Rededicates Itself To Gaining Justice
• 0 Comments
Ahjamu Umi’s “The Paradox Principles” New Installment in His Reckonings with Power, Self-Determination
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw Power and control of narrative are deeply intertwined. The United States, the narrative goes, does not invade countries, but rather seeks to spread the blessings of freedom, liberty, and democracy. We know this to be true because the purveyors of our capitalist imperial violence have said so. Those who die and…
Balm of Gilead Ghosts Listening Session Over Troubling Police, White Supremacist Relationship
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw If there are guidelines for listening sessions on hot-button issues, clearly none were deployed during the February 21 event at NE Portland’s Maranatha Church that was hastily arranged by Police Chief Danielle Outlaw. The listening session was called due to reports in Portland Mercury and Willamette Week detailing a series of…
Portland City Council Votes to Leave FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw Thanks to Commissioners Jo Ann Hardesty, Amanda Fritz, and Chloe Eudaly, the Portland City Council voted on Wednesday, February 13 to remove Portland from the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The 3-2 decision marks the second time Portland has decided the risks of using its police in cooperation with the…
Panel Explains Why Portland Should Leave the Joint Terrorism Task Force
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw Portland has a multiple personality disorder when it comes to its relationship with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). It refuses to join, then it joins, then it leaves, then it partially rejoins, and then it again fully joins. And now it is once more considering leaving the task force.…
A Sacred Space
• 0 Comments
Survivors Shout Out Their Stories; Fight for Visibility and Justice While Proclaiming Their Truths
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw “And to those who silence and erase survivors, I would like to say, ‘Never question what someone else did to survive in the face of such trauma. Instead, question the assailant. Question the system. Question rape culture. If you are blaming the victim, you’re on the wrong side of the issue.…
Giving Thanks
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw I celebrate Thanksgiving. No, I do not get traditionally festive by wearing hats with buckles and pretending that the holiday itself is based in anything other than colonialism, imperialism, racism, misogyny, and white supremacy. But as a person who in general is extremely thankful for knowing good people doing great things…