That’s More Oregon for the uninitiated. I woke up on Monday morning knowing I was in the right place.
I managed to get up early (honestly one of the most challenging goals on this trip), and get breakfast with my host, Adam, and his friend Petey who I had met the night before upon arriving. We talked about both of their work with the Jericho Movement, specific cases of political imprisonment, and our hopes and frustrations with organizing in general. Since Adam works overnight shifts, he napped for a bit and I caught up on some work for the journey. There’s a lot going on behind the scenes between writing, editing, and coordinating the upcoming week and I am ironing out the pattern of how that will work. I was able to talk with his roommate, Nick, who studies emergency management (think more sustainability and neighborhood support than FEMA camps here) about the interconnections between everything we’re dealing with on the planet right now. It’s reassuring the way that most of the people I meet are tackling one piece of the puzzle or another.
I headed across town to meet my friend Daisy for the first interview of the day at her Portland home. We met in 2014 when she co-led a workshop from the IWW and have kept in touch. Her 7 month old son, Lucio, greeted me at the door and we sat down to talk worker collectives, life without a boss, and how we can use those models to address climate change and all other forms of domination as we build a better, more horizontally organized society. I’ve loved talking with two parents so far and learning about the ways that they are teaching their children about how to be in the world during incredibly challenging times. Her full interview will be posted later this week and portions will appear on Praxis this Saturday.
From there I packed up my stuff at Adam’s and followed him down to KBOO, where he is part of the Prison Pipeline Collective, which produces the weekly radio show, Prison Pipeline. I loved seeing their on air booths, studios, offices, and all of the friendly people of community radio. I conducted my interview with Adam there and we talked about his work with Jericho, the ways that the prison system and state repression tie in to climate change, anarchism, and the ways we can use community media to tell our stories. He told me about the Cascade Media Convergence, coming up this fall, and I for one am excited to strengthen my regional ties to other indie media producers working for social justice there later this year. His full interview will be posted later this week and portions will appear on Praxis this Saturday.
After meeting the Prison Pipeline Collective, who you’ll meet when I begin posting my portrait series this week, I headed out to St. John’s to reunite with a dear friend who had agreed to host me for my second and final night in Portland. Naaman whipped up some dinner from his backyard garden and we talked about his work with survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, staying positive despite the state of the world, and our shared affinity for Yoko Ono. He convinced me that I should reach out to her in New York so we’ll see how that pans out. In the morning, he made me delicious breakfast and informed me that another Spokane ex-pat, Leah, was only a few blocks away. It was great to reconnect with her and she shared wisdom from her new-ish freelance career as a journalist, laughed about the endearing weirdnesses of Spokane and Portland, and helped me make some great contacts for the upcoming months. She and Naaman both agreed to be part of the still mysterious portrait project (launching soon here) so you will see them and hear some of their thoughts.
I left Portland from our coffee meeting and headed south to Eugene to visit former guest and longtime radio host, John. He and I caught up about life and our respective political scenes and settled in to do our second interview for Praxis. We discussed his anti-civilization stance, the contradictions inherent in using technology to decry technology, and the necessity for action as we enter an urgent timeline for making significant social change. He was preparing for his weekly live show, Anarchy Radio on KWVA and we talked about our experiences with radio, a medium we both enjoy. His full interview will be posted this week and a portion will appear on Praxis this Saturday.
I was on schedule to backtrack to Salem, where I’d be staying with a friend’s family, but walked outside to find a fully flat front tire. (I was too upset to remember to photograph it, but I’m sure you can imagine) Thankfully, my dad had re-enrolled me in AAA and the owners of my borrowed car also have roadside assistance, so I was able to, with only a little delay, get some air, get to a tire store, get patched and back on the road. I didn’t photograph any of this delightful experience, but it ended up being surprisingly useful and interesting. My real vision for the portrait project I’m doing during this trip is to talk to normal people, strangers and friends alike, about their experience. So in the tire store waiting room, I took advantage of this first opportunity and met some great people. I had started there a bit bitter about being late for dinner and ready to send some messages and look at some internet on my phone, but with John’s conversation about human connection in mind and my camera right next to me, I decided to ask the family next to me to participate.
When I finally made it to Salem, my friends the Eatwells lived up to their name and fed me a delicious dinner and a much needed slug of wine to recover from my tire scare. I was too comfortable to remember to take photos of the feast or their sweet dogs, but their hospitality was appreciated. Hopefully by reading, you’ll see why I have deviated from my daily schedule of posting and combined these two long days into one long post. From here, I’ll be heading into California and out of my beloved Pacific Northwest comfort zone. It’s been great to hear from people along the way and please continue to contact me if you have ideas for stories, interviewees, or the rest along the way.
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