Tag: history

“I think decolonizing is what needs to happen because we’ve internalized all these layers of oppression and are reproducing oppressive behaviors ourselves. I think we need to start to dismantle the systems inside of us, and simultaneously do that with our surroundings.” An Interview with Kelly Baur, Part 2

Interview conducted by Pete Shaw PS: I remember when Teressa Raiford was on trial, and the day before the actual jury trial happened and one of the arresting police officers was caught flat-out lying, and of course it was Teressa’s lawyer’s fault for doing that to her, for exposing her, for tricking her into lying.…

“I guess when I say fascists, I am referring to people who think oppression and oppressive systems are positive and worthwhile endeavors, or somehow a necessary part of society.” An Interview with Kelly Baur, Part 1

Interview conducted by Pete Shaw Kelly Baur was one of many people arrested by the Portland police while confronting the white supremacists who held a rally in downtown Portland on June 4, 2017. She had recently returned to Portland after spending time in Chile, arriving here only a few days after white supremacist Jeremy Christian…

Undocumented, Unafraid, and Still Standing

Story by Pete Shaw One of the many great works of art to come out of the Civil Rights Movement was the Billy Taylor and Dick Dallas song “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free,” its best-known version performed by the late, great Nina Simone. Its most poignant line, “I wish…

75 Years On, Story of Japanese American Incarceration Disturbing Mirror for Current Immigrant and Refugee Policies

Story and photos by Pete Shaw It’s been 75 years since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the forced incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. The order, which in an immediate sense was a response to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, resulted in a…

Where Do We Go From Here?

Story by Pete Shaw Judging from Facebook on the morning after the recent elections, it seems there are two very important things that need taking. One is that the proposed wisdom that we were watching the destruction of the Republican Party turned out to be false. Instead, it is the Democrats who have imploded, or…

A Meditation on Malheur and Meaningful Organizing

Story by Pete Shaw When the healthcare law debate was raging a few years back, there was a rally at which people were urging Senator Ron Wyden to support the “public option,” something that perhaps would have more rapidly led to single payer health insurance system. If memory serves, the precise point of the rally…