Opinion
SR editorial: We won’t be proxies for anti-immigrant policy
Words mean things. Or at least they used to. Take the word “criminal” for example. It has been inserted into the debate over immigration, pushed by the Trump administration insistence on arresting, incarcerating and deporting so-called “criminal” aliens. It’s a term that conjures up the perfect antagonist if you’re looking to profit from a paranoid,…
An open letter to my newborn twins
My dear newborn twins, You were born just 76 days after the swearing in of the 45th president of the United States. Your daddy came to Portland with $10 and a plastic bag under the Federal Refugee Resettlement program in 2008, when George W. Bush was still president, after living for almost two decades in…
On taxes, corporations win, Oregonians lose – once again
In the aftermath of the defeat of Measure 97, I wrote “Oregon has to face facts and overhaul our tax system” in the March 24-30 edition of Street Roots, where I explained how corporations are smart as whips when it comes to understanding their self-interest regarding taxes, while the rest of us are invariably bamboozled.…
10 ways you can support Street Roots this season
Here are 10 ways to support Street Roots and vendors this spring and summer. The more you spread the love about Street Roots and the more people who purchase the newspaper, the more successful vendors are. It’s a win-win situation. 1. Stop and talk to your neighborhood vendor. Introduce yourself and let the vendor know…
Editorial cartoon: May 12, 2017
Elizabeth Considine — the creator of Street Roots' editorial cartoon, Sheeptoast — was born in Portland and has been drawing since she could hold a pen. She loves theater, poetry, chickens, growing food, and walking her three dogs in the park. “I find inspiration in the strangeness of life and the character of human nature.…
News
With ICE ‘going after the farmworkers,’ county jails make money
On a sunny Saturday in early May, Ramon Ramirez stands outside The Dalles’ Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Center, or NORCOR, protesting in solidarity with the immigrant detainees incarcerated inside. But for a moment, his eyes are on the sunlit hills that frame this breezy agricultural community. “You see all those trees? Those are cherry trees,” Ramirez…
10 ways you can support Street Roots this season
Here are 10 ways to support Street Roots and vendors this spring and summer. The more you spread the love about Street Roots and the more people who purchase the newspaper, the more successful vendors are. It’s a win-win situation. 1. Stop and talk to your neighborhood vendor. Introduce yourself and let the vendor know…
Culture
Portland’s Parfait Bassale uses the arts to teach empathy
Parfait Bassale is a local singer, songwriter and rap artist who, when he’s not at his day job, produces music out of the basement of his Northeast Portland home. While virtually unknown in the U.S., he’s become popular in Africa in recent years, with several of his original tracks getting regular radio play across Senegal, Niger…
Vendor Profiles
Street Roots vendor profile: The art of being Shaggy
From his backpack, Shaggy pulls a long, sturdy piece of bamboo wrapped in lanyards and trinkets that he has come across in his travels. The artfully decorated walking stick is a reminder to this Street Roots vendor that he is letting life take him where opportunity presents itself. Shaggy, 32, was given his name years ago…
