Story and photos by Pete Shaw One of the last events I was able to cover prior to the onset of the novel coronavirus was of my Friend Walidah Imarisha speaking at the University of Portland’s inaugural MLK Day On event, on January 20, 2020. After a year and change of masks, social distancing, lockdowns,…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw There is an odd moment at the end of the first section of Walidah Imarisha’s Angels with Dirty Faces (published by AK Press), that only reveals its peculiarity in retrospect. While visiting her adopted brother, Kakamia, who is in prison for conspiracy to commit murder, Imarisha meets a man…
Story by Pete Shaw Walidah Imarisha was winding down a late November presentation about alternatives to police and prison at Portland Community College when a person in the audience announced the failure of a Ferguson, Missouri grand jury to indict Officer Darren Wilson for murdering Michael Brown. Imarisha paused, then shook her head. “I’m…
