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…
Story by Pete Shaw On second thought, hold the fries. In fact, hold the burgers and shakes too. That was the message sent to Burgerville management from February 1 through 3 when workers at four Burgerville stores went on strike and called for an indefinite boycott of Burgerville. For those three days, outside Burgerville branches…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Another day, another fight over a proposed shelter for people without housing. Saturday January 20 saw nearly 75 people gathered near the corner of Southeast Foster and 61st outside the empty storefront that the City has proposed as a haven for about 100 people without housing. Nearly all of…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw In the post-mortem of Donald Trump’s election, I noted how for folks involved in activism, not much was going to change. The hard work of organizing, regardless of who became president, was going to continue. If my memory serves me well, I wrote that under Trump, the primary difference…
Story by Drew Elizarde-Miller and Pete Shaw Over 100 human rights activists and leaders from dozens of cities across the US came together at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church in Vancouver, Washington, on December 9 to launch a national campaign against President Rodrigo Duterte’s “fascist dictatorship in the Philippines” and form the US chapter of the…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw A year ago, as I began composing our Thanksgiving article, I was in the pits. I was in the middle of a 4 month bout with a foot infection that found me largely lying on the couch, keeping the foot elevated, and feeling frustrated at not being able to…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw The commerce surrounding the Winter holidays seems to begin a little earlier every year. When I was growing up in the 1970s, it commenced sometime after Thanksgiving, although without the madness now associated with the day after. However, about a month ago I was in a big chain hardware…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw “We will always see ourselves as a sanctuary city and we will continue to be welcome to everyone,” said Ted Wheeler after he was elected mayor. His words were given official imprimatur in late March when the City Council declared Portland a sanctuary city. It was a symbolic gesture,…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw There are some combinations that seem so natural, it is hard to imagine a world without them. Pizza and beer, burgers and fries, Lennon and McCartney, and Donald Trump and Nazis quickly come to mind. Now you can add to the list, Burgerville workers and the Community Alliance of…
Story by Pete Shaw Since the white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in mid-August that saw the murder of one anti-fascist and numerous injuries to other opponents of white supremacy, people throughout the country have stepped up at similar gatherings to tell white supremacists that they are not welcome. In Boston, thousands of people…
