Justin “Scrappers” Morrison at North [The following is a guest editorial by Sarah Shaoul, a longtime Portland small business owner and the founder of PDXSOS (SAVE OUR SHOPS).—eds] As Portlanders we adore our small businesses. Our neighborhoods are filled with a diverse and inspiring mix of stores, restaurants, and art houses. These shops are where […]
Opinion
Posted inOpinion
A Note from the Mercury’s Editor: Squad Goals
Cunaplus_M.Faba /iStock / Getty Images Hey Mercury pals! Wm. Steven Humphrey here, editor in chief of the Portland Mercury. First things first: HOW ARE YOU DOING? Please know that you are deep in my heart during all this madness, and I am rooting for you every single day. Second things second: HOW AM I DOING? […]
Posted inCops
Hall Monitor: An Authorized Militia
Law enforcement officers approach protesters Saturday night. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland Hall Monitor is a regular column on issues related to Portland City Hall and its influence on the community it serves. — On Saturday morning, hundreds of law enforcement officers swarmed into Portland, sent to monitor a potentially violent rally organized by the Proud Boys, a […]
Posted inLGBTQIA+
On the Anniversary of the March on Washington, Remember Gay Hero Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin Library of Congress Today is the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a pivotal moment in the 1960s civil rights movement for Black Americans. The occasion is being commemorated with a new March on Washington—and with smaller marches in other cities, including Portland. When we remember the original […]
Posted inOpinion
A Note from the Mercury’s Editor: How We’re NOT Wasting Your Money
DAMEDEESO / GETTY IMAGES Dear sweet, party pals: Transparency, people! That’s what I’m all about. Remember in my last column when I was bellyaching about needing a therapist? You don’t see many other newspaper editors complaining about their deteriorating mental health! Or the time I described how I sometimes process my emotions by “pee-crying” (uncontrollably […]
Posted inNews
The Five Stages of Kamala Harris
Biden/Harris campaign When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit and changed everything, I began thinking a lot about the Kubler-Ross model of grief, which breaks the process of grieving down into five states: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The idea is that people work through these five emotions while grieving, and can bounce back and […]
Posted inOpinion
Guest Editorial: Black Lives Don’t Matter in Portland
Liia Galimzianova / iStock / Getty Images Plus Black lives don’t matter in Portland. I know, I know—controversial statement. You ask the “average” white or non-white Portlander that lives a life replete with white privilege (in a city that, according to 2019’s US Census population estimates, is 77 percent white and less than 6 percent […]
Posted inOpinion
Hall Monitor: Fair Weather Wheeler
Mayor Wheeler speaking to protesters on July 22. Nathan Howard / Getty Images Hall Monitor is a regular column on issues related to Portland City Hall and its influence on the community it serves. ___ Now that the federal police have retreated from the front lines of Portland’s nightly demonstrations, Mayor Ted Wheeler has returned […]
Posted inNews
A Journalist in Jail: What I Experienced After Being Arrested by Portland Police
Freelance Reporter Andrew Jankowski Courtesy author If you’ve been to jail before, you might not be surprised by anything I have to say, other than this: I get it now. I get it so much more clearly than I did, and I’ll keep using this knowledge moving forward. Look, I’m not the first, second, third, […]
Posted inCops
I Know How to Cover a Portland Protest. So Why Am I Shaking?
Portland police officers in downtown Portland in the early hours of July 18. Mathieu Lewis-Rolland This essay by Karina Brown, a Portland native and Courthouse News reporter, was first published by Courthouse News on July 21. It’s being shared here with the permission of both the author and publication. Follow Brown’s reporting on criminal justice […]
Posted inMovies & TV
A New, Black Batwoman Brings Out the Trolls
Javicia Leslie (a Black actress) replaces Ruby Rose (a white actress) as Batwoman… what could go wrong? Courtesy CW / Amy Sussman / Getty Images Earlier this month, Warner Bros. Television, the CW, and Berlanti Productions announced that Javicia Leslie would be the new series lead of the CW superheroine action drama Batwoman. Leslie, a […]
Posted inOpinion
Why Can’t I Stop Watching This Portland Police “Support from Community” Video?
PPB UPDATE, July 21, 11:03 am: Less than 24 hours after the publication of this article, PPB removed the video… because of copyright infringement: PPB’s twitter The video is now, sadly, lost to history. But the analysis remains. ORIGINAL STORY: During this time of COVID-19 social distancing, it’s easier than ever to become fixated on […]