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 photos by Pete Shaw Hope is the seed that gives rise to justice. On May 12, a sizable…
Story and photos by Pete Shaw Another year with Covid in the air, and so another year where I was…
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 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 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 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 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…
A Light in the Commons Illumines a Truth Entropy of ordinance Makes for horrid experience Miles of empty real estate Heated for the plumbing Souls shiver on sidewalks Denied legal bedding Shattered Realities And Neighborly Angst Breed environment of Fear No politician will stand against A cadre of neighbors Riddled . . . Scared Enigma how the riddle gets unraveled But folks are being strangled And deprived of their dreams Public Education Fear Remediation It’s our only Hope Teaching All how to cope “R-2-D-2,” Four, Five, Six PBA tries to hex With their war on…
