Story and photo by Pete Shaw History, it is said, is written by the victors. Their perspective and their stories…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Workers at the Arbor Lodge New Seasons’s grocery store at 6400 North Interstate Avenue…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Over 1,100 New Seasons Market workers from 11 Portland area stores went on a…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Last year I began this annual piece at the Portland Occupier with: “Another year…
Story and photo by Pete Shaw History, it is said, is written by the victors. Their perspective and their stories are presented as unimpeachable. From this favored perch, the present is interpreted and the path to the future is mapped. A new book, Memory & Place in Black Portland, adds its voice to the long…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Workers at the Arbor Lodge New Seasons’s grocery store at 6400 North Interstate Avenue walked off the job for the second day in a row on Wednesday January 29. According to the New Seasons Labor Union (NSLU), the Unfair Labor Practice strike was again called because Randy Foster, who…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Over 1,100 New Seasons Market workers from 11 Portland area stores went on a one day strike on Wednesday November 28. The New Seasons Labor Union (NSLU) called the strike in response to the company’s “numerous ongoing unfair labor practices.” Would-be shoppers were met by picketing union members and…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Hope is the seed that gives rise to justice. On May 12, a sizable crowd of 35 people showed up at the corner of NE 6th and Halsey, where people have been gathering for nearly 14 years now, month by month, to mark the anniversary of Keaton Otis’s murder…
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 Last year I began this annual piece at the Portland Occupier with: “Another year with Covid in the air, and so another year where I was largely grounded due…
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…
Story by Pete Shaw The late Joan Didion once wrote, “We tell ourselves stories in order to live.” While I agree with the general tone of that statement, there are always exceptions to even the…
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…
Story and photo by Pete Shaw About 17 years ago, I was hanging out with Friend Cyndy, and after a good amount of Friday drink she suggested we head to a not far away Vietnamese…
Story and photo by Pete Shaw History, it is said, is written by the victors. Their perspective and their stories are presented as unimpeachable. From this favored perch, the present is interpreted and the path to the future is mapped. A new book, Memory & Place in Black Portland, adds its voice to the long and rich legacy of those challenging this privileged narrative. The history described in it is that of the Black community and culture that once thrived in North and Northeast Portland, particularly in Albina where the majority of Black people settled following World War II and…
Story by Pete Shaw Power and control of narrative are deeply intertwined. The United States, the narrative goes, does not invade countries, but rather seeks to spread the blessings of freedom, liberty, and democracy. We know this to be true because the purveyors of our capitalist imperial violence have said so. Those who die and suffer under the yoke of these blessings, particularly if they are resisting, are usually deemed terrorists. At the heart of any system and movement lies propaganda. Ultimately, the question is who gets to define who we are, and one of the most important aspects of…
By P. C. Wright It’s snowed more in the Willamette Valley than any Ohio transplant can remember. Bodom E. Switch’s wheelchair idles beside the bed. Rain won’t clear the sidewalks for three more days. The furnace has gone out. My bed is his home. I’ve told him there’s a whole city like this – lost to everyone except those they’ve huddled close to under covers. There’s been lots of huddling going on, he’s said. I’m going out tomorrow. And I smile with full dimples. Our crip muscles tighten in the cold, so our game in the morning has…
