By Ahjamu Umi It was April 29, 1992. I remember the moment when the verdict was read, acquitting four L.A. police officers in the beating of Rodney King. In spite of all of the assurances by mainstream civil rights leaders, we knew L.A. was going to blow up. Within hours, people started taking the streets…
Category: Essays & Letters
The Pot Calls the Kettle Black
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by Vargus Pike Once again in America the pot is calling the kettle black. In a grandstand maneuver, our illustrious president stands tall with Elie Wiesel at the national Holocaust museum to speak out against the governments of Syria and Iran and the way they control their citizens’ internet and phone access. Meanwhile, the NSA…
Radical/Anti-Capitalist Caucus Rejects Legitimacy of Elections
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by the Radical Anti-Capitalist Caucus With state primaries on the horizon, the Radical/Anti-Capitalist Caucus of Occupy Portland rejects the legitimacy of this year’s elections. We believe city problems are inadequately addressed by local elected officials. These problems can only be addressed by a politics of popular liberation and direct community empowerment. Regardless of who wins…
An Interview With Noam Chomsky
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This story is from the Occupied News Wire. It originally appeared at the Boston Occupier. In early March, Boston Occupier staffer D.J. Buschini sat down with Noam Chomsky, M.I.T. linguistics professor and acclaimed intellectual. The full text and video of this exclusive will be published shortly on bostonoccupier.com DJ Buschini: A good deal of committed…
How Rose Found Her Roar
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by Angella Davis Today it was my privilege to sit down with Rose and Pam Hogeweide at Anna Bananas in North Portland to discuss Rose’s arrest on the morning of Occupy Portland’s eviction. They are a dynamic and strong mother and daughter that I first met after seeing proud mother Pam’s twitter posts announcing Rose’s…
Open Letter to Mayor Adams
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by Kip Silverman Mayor Adams, In response to your recent tweet referencing Occupy Portland being in Chapman Square stating: “I gave it a try. Not safe,” I would just like to say that this comment is ridiculous. The “safety” issues raised by yourself and your chief of staff Jennifer Yocum and others were addressed when…
The Downside of Spontaneity When the Police Plan to Act Up
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by Adam Rothstein On the night of Saturday, April 21, a group of Occupy Portland activists briefly “re-occupied” Chapman Square, spurred by a Facebook post sent that very evening. The media, the city, and the Police have, as usual, engaged in their own misguided interpretation of events, attempting to spin it as a trash-talking, beer-drinking…
A Brief History of May Day
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This article is from the Occupied News Wire. It originally appeared in the Occupied Oakland Tribune. By Scott Johnson – @OakScott For nearly 150 years, May 1st has been an international day to celebrate and defend the rights of the working class. While the immigrant rights movement and the Occupy movement have helped bring it…
Nine Questions about Hanford And Nuclear Waste; Does Anyone Have Answers?
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by Lauren Paulson 1. Are the nuclear reactors from decommissioned U.S. submarines still being barged up the Columbia River to be deposited at Hanford? 2. Is there a nuclear waste-contaminated water plume leaching its way to the Columbia River? If so, when is it expected to infect the Columbia River water table? Is other low…
(Only a Few) Candidates Gone Wild
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By Elona Trogub “Candidates Gone Wild”, an event organized by the Bus Project, was not only an exercise in democracy, it was a blatant slap in democracy’s face–a reminder that our democracy only goes as far as the thickness of a candidate’s checkbook. Although poignant questions about racism and equity were raised–for example, why only…
