Story and photos by Pete Shaw Another year with Covid in the air, and so another year where I was largely grounded due to health concerns. As well, as comes with age, there were health issues with which I had to deal. But as someone who makes a lot of lemonade, I am once again,…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw The nearly 4,500 members of the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) walked out on strike on November 1. Classroom teachers from the district’s 81 schools came together with students, parents, and other supporters in the community to demand the Portland Public Schools (PPS) administration show respect for them and…
Story by Pete Shaw Another year of Covid, and another year spent largely on the sidelines. Still, there is much to be thankful for this year, including the hope that I will sooner than later be back on the streets. After all, for the first Summer in quite a few years, no fascists marched in…
Story by Pete Shaw The faded spray paint on the corner of Northeast 6th and Halsey reads, “We will always remember you.” The “you” most directly refers to Keaton Otis, the young Black man was murdered there by the Portland police on May 12, 2010. Since his death, that corner has on the 12th of…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Someday they may refer to it as the BVWU Number, the universal standard for the interval between impossibility and achievement. It sure seems like it should be in an organizing textbook. In April 2015, when the Burgerville Workers Union made its debut, it was taking on the challenge of…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw As with so many figures who rose to prominence and power during the Republican Trump Administration, US postmaster general Louis DeJoy has never been shy or subtle about his intentions. Appointed by the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in May 2020, DeJoy wasted no…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw In late February 2020 I went into something like a lockdown. The novel coronavirus was just making news in the United States, and since I take immunosuppressants, my better 99% and I felt it would be best if I laid low. While I had no illusions regarding how long…
Story by Pete Shaw Four years ago in these pages I wrote, “I held my nose and voted for Clinton, and as the returns came in Tuesday night, I was not pleased. But it really didn’t change a thing in my calculus as it were because I see voting as a tactic and not an…
Story by Pete Shaw It is a little early in the Summer for such things, but the lilies are blooming. In the front of my house, there are about 30 of them, some reaching over 12 feet tall. The trumpet varieties reach toward the sky, their flowers blaring unheard but not unnoticed. I am not…
Story by Pete Shaw What material changes will result from the protests, rallies, and other actions demanding transformation to the way policing is conducted in the United States? Calls range from fairly tepid reform to outright abolition of policing. These protests are connected with larger movements seeking to dismantle white supremacy and policing, which is…
