For the month of February, the Mercury is celebrating Black History Month with a feature package dedicated to Black innovation in Portland—edited by author extraordinaire Donovan Scribes. Including:

• 10 Black Portland Innovators and Changemakers You Should Know: Meet a few of the Black Portlanders who are reimagining and rebuilding the fabric of the city.

• Ronin Roc on Why He Sees Black Art as "More Than February": Local artist Ronin Roc is well known for his artistic profiles of Black Portlanders and Americans. Learn more about his process (and his brand new gallery) in this interview with Juma Sei.

• 28 Moments In Recent Black History: History isn't only in black-and-white photos... it's happening now. Check out our recap of significant moments in Portland and Oregon Black history from the last ten years—one for every day of February!

• The Black Byline: Donovan Scribes pens another of his unmissable Black Byline columns—this one exploring the complicated history of "First Blacks" from a national and local perspective.

AND THERE'S MORE!

This issue also spotlights YOUR smart, romantic (and horny) Reader Valentines; a review of the delectable restaurant that pays respect to East Coast Italian food, Sunday Sauce; an interview with Portland's current up & coming band du jour Nonbinary Girlfriend, a theater review of Racecar Racecar Racecar—the Lynchian production of a play from Portland-born Kalan Dana; a review of the irreverent new book, For Human Use by Sarah G. Pierce (about dating apps and... corpses?); some hilariously Portland-specific clip 'n' send Valentines that your smart and funny friends will love; and lots more!

Pick up your print copy at more than 500 spots around the city, flip through a virtual copy here, or read the whole damn thing online!