Story by Pete Shaw “I’m here, and I’m tired, and I’m speaking out with all the strength that I have. We need 15 now.” Those words, spoken by Janice Niag, a First Student bus driver, demanding changes to the City’s Fair Wage Policy summed up the feeling at SEIU Local 49 Hall on October 20.…
Category: Pete Shaw
Community Church Providing Sanctuary for Immigrant Rights Activist Francisco Aguirre Fighting Threatened ICE Deportation
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw Francisco Aguirre became alarmed when 12 federal agents appeared at his Fairview, OR home at 7 AM on September 19. They refused to state the purpose for their visit, but, when pressed, the lead agent said it had something to do with Aguirre’s business. Aguirre found it suspicious that a dozen…
Activists Protest Smart Track–Wyden’s Rebranding of Fast Track
• 0 Comments
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Portland and Eugene activists disguised in Groucho Marx glasses and mustaches turned in over 3000 signatures to Senator Ron Wyden’s office to demand Wyden cease the undemocratic processes found in Fast Track legislation. Fast Track, which is used to ease the way for passage of trade agreements such as…
Artesia, New Mexico Ground Zero for Inhuman Treatment of Asylum Seekers
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw In recent weeks there has been widespread media coverage of the plight of refugee children entering the US after fleeing violence in Central America. While those numbers had been steadily increasing over the past few years, they jumped to crisis levels a few months ago. Despite its obligations under international law…
Activists Call for Moratorium on Retaliation Against Refugee Children
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw Since last October over 57,000 unaccompanied children have been detained while crossing the Mexico-US border. About 75% of them are fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, countries where US foreign policy elements such as so-called free trade agreements and the drug war have often resulted in corrupt and brutal…
Gaza Atrocities Called Out
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw They have names. Mohammad ‘Atwa Khattab. Hasan Abdul-Majid al-Bayyoumi. Arwa Mahmoud Dheir. You might not know that from the corporate media’s coverage of Israel’s assault on the people of Gaza. But they do have names. Maha Raed Abu Suleiman. Ismael Shahin. Marwa Ahmad Abu Amer. Ahlam No’man Zo’rob. Their names…
Rally Underscored Abysmal Treatment of Refugees, Need for New Immigrant Rights Policy
• 1 Comment
Story and photos by Pete Shaw A crowd of 50 people gathered outside the Federal Building in downtown Portland on July 31 to demand an end to the deportations that have torn apart so many immigrant families. Those deportations have also engulfed children who are fleeing violence in Central America–much of it induced by US…
East Coast Roads Take Me Home
• 0 Comments
Story and Photos by Pete Shaw Every so often, when mentioning that I write for this publication, I get asked whatever happened to the Occupy Movement. The question often confuses me because it implies a singularity where I see linearity or even a sort of feedback loop that links past with present and constantly…
R2DToo Founder Guilty of Trespass, Police Interference; Probation Stipulates Community Service
• 2 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw Ibrahim Mubarak has been found guilty of trespass and interference with a police officer stemming from a February 27 incident in the parking lot under the west end of the Burnside Bridge. Mubarak is the co-founder of Right 2 Dream Too, the downtown rest area serving people without housing. After the…
Portland Activist Commits Civil Disobedience in Effort to Disrupt Oil Transport
• 1 Comment
Story by Pete Shaw Police arrested Portland Rising Tide (PRT) activist Irene Majorie on June 30 for locking herself to a 55 gallon barrel filled with concrete that was placed on the railroad track leading to the ArcLogistics crude oil terminal in Northwest Portland. Majorie was arraigned at the Justice Center on July…
