Opinion

Tired: Sourdough. Wired: Homemade ice cream. Photos by Blair Stenvick When the esteemed Wm. Steven Humphrey, editor-in-chief of the Portland Mercury, first asked me if I wanted to write an opinion piece looking back on my 2020 experiences, I balked. This year was traumatic yet dull in so many general and specific ways that I […]

Getty Images / Ponomariova_Maria [In an effort to reflect on a very tumultuous year, the Mercury asked several Portlanders to look back on their 2020 and share how their lives have changed and what they’ve taken away from their experiences. Dr. Marisa Zapata the director of the Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative at Portland State […]

Opportunities for change in 2021 include an overhaul of the City of Portland Charter. COSMONAUT / GETTY IMAGES 2020 set the stage for challenging some of the most profound structures and assumptions that this state and country have been built upon—through genocide, land theft, slavery, and colonialism. The murder of George Floyd and uprisings for […]

“We are united.” Wm. Steven Humphrey [This year’s news cycle was a vicious one, and left little time for reflection. As 2020 nears its end, we’re taking the opportunity to look back on the most important Mercury stories written during the past year. This article was originally published on June 1, 2020. We hope you’ll […]

ALEX ZIELINSKI [In an effort to reflect on a very tumultuous year, the Mercury asked several Portlanders to look back on their 2020 and share how their lives have changed and what they’ve taken away from their experiences. Nkenge Harmon Johnson is an advocate and CEO of the Urban League of Portland. Here is her […]

grase / iStock / Getty Images Hey pals ‘n’ buddies! If you’re anything like me, you’re feeling like those exhausted first-time marathon runners, with bloody nipples and covered in sweat, desperately trying to cross the finish line of 2020. Which is why I’d like to share (and I really want you to hear) these four […]

The exterior of a Portland area Fred Meyer. Kroger, Fred Meyer’s parent company, stopped giving its frontline workers hazard pay in May. Blair Stenvick [In an effort to reflect on a very tumultuous year, the Mercury asked several Portlanders to look back on their 2020 and share how their lives have changed and what they’ve […]

Me on my first day of canvassing, February 9, 2020. Candace Avalos [In an effort to reflect on a very tumultuous year, the Mercury asked several Portlanders to look back on their 2020 and share how their lives have changed and what they’ve taken away from their experiences. Candace Avalos is a Blacktina, a former […]

mrPliskin / iStock / Getty Images Plus Hello Mercury friends (and frenemies)! If you’re anything like me (and may god have mercy on your soul if so), right now you’re feeling an odd combo platter of “relieved” and “freaked the fawk out.” I’m “relieved” that someone other than a racist, Molotov cocktail-throwing monkey is going […]

cameron whitten Nick Mendez Every one of us deserves the love, support, and community we need to live our best lives. But the unfortunate reality is that we depend on unjust and broken systems that appear to work fine for a privileged majority, but harm Black, Brown, and Indigenous people every day. We all need […]