Story and photos by Pete Shaw When workers are fighting for their rights and dignity–and they are always fighting for those–the three most important words are solidarity, solidarity, and solidarity. With the possibility of at least three major strikes hitting Portland in the next few months, speakers at a recent Strikes on the Horizon forum…
Category: Headlines
MLK Rally Honors More Radical King
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By Pete Shaw Today, politicians of all stripes will step into celebration of the life and vision of Martin Luther King, Jr. The rhetoric of justice will be heavy, and praise for King’s dream will abound. Most pronouncements will overlook King’s latter years when he fought for the abolition of poverty and the redistribution of…
Students School PPS Board Amid Strong Show of Support for Teachers
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Story by Pete Shaw The Portland Public Schools Board of Education received a lesson from the students it is supposed to serve on Monday night: we are people, not commodities, and we demand that our education serve us. It was a lesson for which most of the Board did not care. The students were part…
TPP Fast Track Legislation at Critical Crossroads
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By Pete Shaw Congress is poised to abdicate both its constitutional and ethical responsibilities. On Thursday January 9th, Senate Democrat Max Baucus, Senate Republican Orrin Hatch, and Republican Representative Dave Camp introduced legislation that would grant President Obama “Fast Track” authority for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Free Trade Agreement. Although the Constitution grants Congress power…
Forum Urges People to Sink Fast Tracking of Trans Pacific Partnership
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Story and photo by Pete Shaw The Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), for the moment, is faltering. The so-called free trade agreement (FTA) would dwarf all other FTAs that came before it. Trade negotiators and the multi-national corporations for whom they shill have been working in secret to hammer out the details, but so far they…
Hungry for Fair Pay, Fast Food Workers Push Back on Starvation Wage
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Story and photo by Pete Shaw Demanding a pay hike for fast-food workers to $15 an hour, Portland activists rallied outside the McDonald’s on SW 6th and Main on December 5 as part of a national day of action. Portland was one of a hundred cities in the country that saw people demanding an increased…
Undocumented Youths Pushing Boundaries to Remain in US
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Story by Pete Shaw Tired of waiting for the federal government to reform immigration law, a growing group of young people without documentation has decided to take matters into its own hands. Undocumented and Unafraid, they are taking the fight to the heart of the US immigration enforcement, challenging the system head on, and even…
Families of Detained People Without Documentation Fight to Reunite For Thanksgiving, Demand a Just and Humane Immigration Policy
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw This Thanksgiving Asbel Sanchez and Susana Garcia will likely not have their husbands. Their children–Asbel and Leonidas; and Yoliana and Victor–will probably not have their fathers. Those absences are because those husbands and fathers have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The situation is not unique. Since…
Portland Students Support Teacher Contract Demands, Fight for Quality Schools
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Story and photos by Pete Shaw As the Portland Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education–with the notable exception of Board member Steve Buel–tries to ram a contract down the throats of the teachers, the students have a message for them: teachers’ working conditions are our learning conditions. The recent push for school reform, at least…
Fred Bryant Crusaded for Police Accountability; Survivors Recommit to Quest for Justice
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Story by Pete Shaw Fred Bryant was laid to rest on November 9, 2013. Bryant, who had suffered a stroke in early October, passed away on October 29th, in the 53rd year of his life. He is remembered by many Portlanders for seeking justice for his son, Keaton Otis, who was killed by the Portland…
