Portland Protests: Day 100

My backyard reeked of tear gas yesterday. I've been wanting to write a longer-form piece about what's been going on around me, but it turns out living through history actually totally sucks and I write slowly. This is based on conversations with protestors as well as videos from reporters who were livestreaming that night, plus a little bit of eyewitness documentation from yours truly. Please do share this if you feel it's useful.

For those outside of Portland: the main events happened in the Stark St (which runs east-west) and 122nd St (runs north-south). Street numbers go down as you head east, get higher as you go west.

Friday night was the 100th or so night of protests. People gathered in Ventura Park, a small park around 113th and Stark, 8ish blocks from my house. It was peaceful - there were speeches, music playing, performers. Around 112th and Stark, about 40 cops, with riot vans and an LRAD, assembled.[1]

The protestors intended to march up and down 122nd Ave. It's a main thoroughfare – think one of those wide streets with car lots on either side. But cops moved in very quickly. They claimed that the assembly required a permit (which is false: protests do not require permits[2]) This was interesting – it’s the first time I’ve heard this stated by cops in the 100 days protests have happened. Cops attempted to restrain protestors so they couldn’t leave the park[3].

At this point, protestors went in a few directions. There were conflicting messages being given to the crowd – “stick together” and “be like water” (as in, disperse) were shouted out. Some folks were pushed by PPB through neighborhoods

About 10pm, Portland Police called it a riot and immediately deployed teargas. Protestors threw fireworks, and one Molotov cocktail. Several protestors were caught on fire, one badly injured – the less injured protestors were immediately arrested once the fire was put out.

Read that again – someone else threw a Molotov cocktail. The cops arrested the people who were hit by it.

Arrests started early. In previous protests, cops have tended to wait it out until close to midnight, then arrest people, but people were being arrested before 10pm. In addition, cops assaulted press on the scene[4] as they were filming arrests being made.

The Egg happened. From @catalinagaitan_, “Officers arrest a protester and point out an egg on the sidewalk they say the protestor had been carrying. Press is pushed back away from The Egg.”

We laugh, but– any excuse to shut down lawful protests. Just because we can laugh at what the cops say doesn’t mean our civil liberties aren’t being destroyed.

Portland Police kept up a steady stream of “for the safety of the neighborhood”. The neighborhood kept up a steady stream of “stop launching tear gas at us”. At least one parent was recorded on their property, yelling at police to stop deploying tear gas because their 1 year old infant was sleeping in their house.[5]

Reminder as well that Ventura Park is part of…Ventura Park Elementary School. Tear gas sticks, it seeps into the ground. Cops poisoned an elementary school. Studies are showing that tear gas can have long-term effects – and these are against children. [6]

 

Red box: Ventura Park, where tear gas was deployed. Next to it, you can see the location of Ventura Park Elementary School. Black box is approximate location of my house - where I could strongly smell tear gas.

What boggles my mind is that we’re at 100 DAYS of protesting, and I have yet to hear of a cop quitting. How absolutely brainwashed do you have to be to not stop and think, “are we handling this right?”

Now listen. I’m a pretty boring person. I don’t go for conspiracy theories, I try to look for the best in everyone, and truth is important to me. So when I tell you, I’m scared shitless, I’m not exaggerating.

Portland Police are rogue, and they are meeting any opposition with violence. It’s not going to get better. Ted Wheeler has completely abdicated control over the police, yet keeps control in name only so no one else has authority to do anything.

I’m really afraid this is the scenario we’re headed towards: Biden wins the election. Trump refuses to relinquish command, and sends more troops into “liberal towns” – my hometown – to crush the opposition. Portland Police are already armed and practiced at suppressing local protests. Local organizers are arrested, or simply killed by police.

People have died already. You really think this is going to stop?

Vote Biden. Vote local. Keep protesting. Black Lives Matter.

Notes

[1] Photographed about 8:30pm

[2] https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/protesters-rights/

[3] https://www.aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/aclu-oregon-sues-city-portland-kettling-protesters

[4] Tweeted video by @MathieuLRolland: “Just got thrown to the ground by PPB while documenting an arrest”

[5] Tweet from @PDXzane and many others

[6] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25633030/

A tiny milestone

A thing I wrote got published! You can read it here: https://impactnw.org/news/adults-disabilities-socialize/

This is especially exciting for me because it's the first time I've been published outside of my own blog. Go me!

via GIPHY

City of Weird

I had a phenomenal weekend at Bitopia, the Bi+ Retreat, so my normally scheduled book review will not be up. Did you know it was possible for me to go an entire weekend without reading a book? This was news to me.

Instead I'd like to spotlight something a friend has been working on: City of Weird: 30 Otherworldly Portland Tales, edited by Gigi Little (and copy edited by my friend). Signing is at Powell's City of Books in downtown Portland, Oct 12th, 7:30pm. I can't be there because I'm hosting a different event, but you should show them some love on my behalf!

Book Review #5: Collecting the Dead

This book is so angsty.

"She had small feet.
"I say she had small feet because to say she has small feet would imply that she's still alive. She isn't. I know. I always know. It's my special ability, my burden, my curse."

"Steps" is a tracker for the FBI. He has a special gift, acquired when he was a small boy, that he must keep secret from everyone he works with. He can see people's shine, the glow unique to each person that they leave behind when they touch something. He can sense someone's life force through the shine, and has saved the lives of many people, but he is haunted by the ones he can't save.

Image credit Goodreads

If you like Elizabeth George, but with fewer female characters, you'll probably like this one. If you wish Psych got a dark gritty reboot, read this book. It's very well written compared to your normal thriller, so even though I'm rolling my eyes at its Sin City vibes, it's a totally decent read. And yeah, I'll be reading the sequel when it comes out.

Collecting the Dead, a novel by Spencer Kope. Published 2016 by Minotaur Books.

Book Review #4: Dory Fantasmagory

There are some great books out there to read to an eight (almost nine!) year old. Harry Potter, for sure. Lumberjanes.

There are lots of wonderful books to read to a five year old. He Came with the Couch is a current favorite, and I'm pretty sure I still have The Great Fuzz Frenzy memorized.

Readalouds for both of them are hard to find. Harry Potter doesn't have enough pictures, and Lumberjanes is too scary for the younger one. The eight-almost-nine year old is going to murder someone if she has to listen to Princess in Black again.

That's why Dory Fantasmagory by Abby Hanlon was such a great find. I started reading it to Beats while their dad worked on dinner, but before long Ellie had snuggled in next to me, the DH was listening in, and their dad was in the kitchen saying "wait wait, what just happened? Read it louder so I can hear!"

Dory is the youngest, with an older brother and sister who have had it up to here with her. They call her Rascal and would really like her to stop being such a baby. Her siblings come up with the frightening Mrs Grabble Gracker, an old witch who steals babies. Of course everything backfires wonderfully.

There are some imperfect things here. For one, I think the kids are broken because they didn't laugh out loud very much - though they definitely liked it. But I've read some books to them that had them rolling, and this one just didn't.

I also have some thoughts on one of the characters. Dory conjures up Mr. Nuggy, her fairy godmother. He's a great guy - terrible at granting wishes and making potions, but he tries his best, happily getting into a dress to look more like a fairy godmother, and always keeping an eye on the time so he can get back home to his wife. I liked that it sparked a conversation with Ellie, whose first reaction was "No, he's obviously a boy so he can't be a fairy godmother." (we're going through some gender conversations in general as she's wrestling with me being nonbinary, so this is not an uncommon conversation for us). However, I'm sensitive to the fact that trans* folks are very often the butt of jokes, and "this boy is wearing a dress!" is a joke that is in this book. It's not presented negatively, but it's a tired joke you see in a lot of kids books, and I wish it wasn't here too.

Despite that piece, I think this book is really good for the girls. Beats gets a character to love who is a lot like her, the annoying little sister. Ellie gets to see the good side of her kid sister. It's funny, it's got great pictures, and a wonderful story. Recommended.