Opinion
A streetwise perspective on housing, mental health
Housing activist Ptery Lieght has been involved for years in efforts to make safe, affordable housing available to all. He has been active in Portland’s two legal camps for the homeless, Right 2 Dream Too (of which he is a founding member) and Dignity Village.* Lieght and I are both involved with Rethinking Psychiatry, a…
Tillimook Burn catastrophe not all about Mother Nature
Summer 2015 found forest fires sweeping across the West, and indeed Oregon, with a ferocity that has not been experienced in quite some time. Several historically minded reporters dredged up allusions to The Tillamook Burn as a sort of historical barometer to gauge the severity of the current conflagrations. It is an appropriate exercise. As…
Vendor finds a way to heal by helping others
Rebekah’s story, like those of so many people who come through the door of Street Roots, is a story of trying to find redemption against a backdrop of poverty and tragedy. Abuse. Trauma. Human suffering. Death. It can be overwhelming. The ugly circumstances of poverty often are both cruel and unforgiving. Witnessing people continue on,…
News
Mary Bowers is an inmate’s link to the outside world
Mary Frances Bowers, a petite, elegant, retired college professor with a soft voice and an air of calm assurance, has been calling, writing and visiting one of her former students in prison for the past 23 years, ever since he was incarcerated for aggravated rape and murder. “He’s been in every medium and maximum security…
For Shakey Graves, dreams are becoming reality
Shakey Graves was born one evening around a campfire with friends. But he sprang to life when his creator, Alejandro Rose Garcia, an Americana musician from Austin, Texas, tried the name on for size at an open mic. It fit. As Juliet says in Shakespeare’s classic tragedy: “A rose by any other name would smell…
Dear white Portland …
Before sharing the mic with the nine young men seated with him at the table, moderator and Multnomah County employee Kory Murphy solemnly listed off statistics illustrating the challenges they face as black youths in the United States. “Homicide is the leading cause of death for African-American males between ages 10 and 24,” he said.…
