Story and photos by Pete Shaw A crowd of over 400 people gathered in Peninsula Park on Sunday July 14th in response to the verdict that acquitted George Zimmerman of second degree murder and manslaughter charges. Zimmerman was on trial for killing 17 year old Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida. At…
Category: Pete Shaw
People Rally Around the Country in Support of Pelican Bay Prison Inhumanity
• 1 Comment
Story and photos by Pete Shaw On July 8th in Chapman Square over 100 people joined numerous rallies around the country in support of the Pelican Bay Prisoners Hunger Strike. The hunger strike–the third called by inmates in Pelican Bay prison in California–was called over the same demands that propelled the other two strikes. Those…
Immigrants Rally to Keep Their Families Together
• 0 Comments
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Gathered around pairs of shoes representing fathers and father figures who have been detained and deported, over 70 people assembled in front of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office at 511 NW Broadway on Monday June 17th to demand Congress and President Obama create and pass immigration legislation…
California Inmates Undertake Hunger Strike to Protest Inhumane Conditions
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw In July, 2011, approximately 1000 of the 1100 prisoners in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) of California’s Pelican Bay State Prison began a hunger strike to protest conditions. The strike lasted three weeks, spreading to another 13 state prisons to include over 6600 inmates. The Pelican Bay prisoners issued five core…
Local Video Illuminates Harrowing Pattern of Police Violence
• 2 Comments
By Pete Shaw On May Day 2012, when a Portland police officer told the group of folks who had gathered in Waterfront Park for an unpermitted march on Portland’s streets that they should obey the laws, but if not, well, there would be consequences, I had a feeling there would be trouble. There were many…
Housing Justice Advocates Land Trial Date
• 0 Comments
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Local housing justice activists will go on trial in June for their attempts to help keep a foreclosed family in their home during an eviction in which police used pepper spray against protesters. In October 2012, deputies from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and Portland police evicted Patricia…
Big Grain Shuts Out Longshoremen Struggling for Workplace Equity
• 0 Comments
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Columbia Grain locked out ILWU Local 8’s grain handlers on May 4 in Portland, accusing them of “engaging in inside game’ tactics, including slowdowns, work-to-rule, and demands for repeated inspections of the same equipment – all designed to negatively impact Columbia Grain’s operations.” Late the next day, twenty of…
Local High School Students Stand Against Standardized Testing
• 0 Comments
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Joining the growing ranks of students and teachers protesting standardized testing, over 60 Grover Cleveland High School students walked out of their classes on Thursday April 18. The students, who are members of the Portland Student Union (PSU) see the tests as an unreliable way to evaluate their actual…
Portland Water Fluoridation Debate Flows On
• 1 Comment
Story and photo by Pete Shaw The Portland City Council unleashed a torrent of community activism last September when it unanimously voted to fluoridate Portland’s drinking water. Within a month, anti-fluoridation group Clean Water Portland delivered more than twice the necessary signatures to refer the issue to the ballot, where, on three previous occasions, Portland…
Cooler Heads Prevail as County Finally Cracks Old ICE Agreement
• 0 Comments
Story by Pete Shaw Multnomah County Commissioners unanimously supported a resolution on April 4th revising the Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) plan for handling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detainers. Under the new rule, which goes into effect on April 15th, the MCSO says it will only honor ICE requests to hold prisoners it believes to…
