Writing on the Wall
Enrique Bautista writes about graffiti, belonging, and finding new ways to leave a mark on the world.
So Much Together: As Often as the Bold
Fear is central to our human experience, a powerful force that extends beyond our individual lives into political and cultural realms. In an uncertain world, the opportunities for fear to take root and spread are infinite. In this So Much Together workshop, we take a non-judgmental approach to fear, viewing it not as our enemy—but as a catalyst for self-discovery and transformation.
Boarding School Inheritance
Nolan James Briden writes intergenerational trauma and incarceration in this excerpt from Prisons Have a Long Memory: Life Inside Oregon’s Oldest Prison, a collection of writing by prisoners at Oregon State Penitentiary.
Finding a Voice as an Advocate for Others
Sosan Amiri and Rozzell Medina speak about power, justice, education, and community.
"Farming Is So Much More than Food"
An interview with Megan Horst of Portland State University on the future of Oregon's food systems. By Dylan Jefferies
People, Places, Things
Tabitha Espina remixes the Oregon Department of Energy’s 2020 statement on climate change and energy in Oregon.
I Dream an Oregon
Trying to get Oregonians to invest in antiracism left me frustrated and disillusioned. But I’m still pushing. An essay by Bruce Poinsette
Taking Up Space
Mareshah “MJ” Jackson writes about how the story of Blackness in the outdoors is more than a narrative of tragedy.
Safety, Justice, and Policing
A conversation with Nkenge Harmon Johnson, president and CEO of Urban League of Portland, and activist and data scientist Samuel Sinyangwe, cocreator of Police Scorecard and Mapping Police Violence.
Think & Drink with John Haroldson, Adrienne Nelson, and Shannon Wight
Join us January 22 for an onstage conversation on democracy, justice, and the American court system.
Saturdays Inside
Madeline Baars Brandt writes about her experience of driving girls to visit their incarcerated mothers.
Think & Drink Portland 2019–20: Making Democracy
Four onstage conversations with activists, writers and civic leaders about how we make decisions together in our communities
Civil Discourse and Civil Resistance
Oregon Humanities’ 2018–19 Think & Drink series examines themes of journalism and justice.
Engagement and Environment
OPAL seeks to bring more voices into conversations about environmental justice.
Peace and Dignity
Mohamed Asem writes about finding community in shared stories of unjust detention in an excerpt from his memoir, Stranger in the Pen.
Acceptance
Shilo Niziolek writes about the impact of Marylhurst University's closure on its students.
Editor's Note: The Point of the World
Editor Kathleen Holt on children, caution, and turning toward the struggle for justice.
Engaging as Fellow Humans
Tyler White creates conversations for social change.
From the Director: Word Problems
Executive Director Adam Davis on the provocations of language and the search for the right words in a flawed world
Albina Rising
Deonna Anderson writes about how a group in Portland is working to undo the harm of urban renewal and heal the wounds of a community.
Never Paid in Full
April Slabosheski on what Holocaust reparations can teach us about seemingly immeasurable debts
Editor's Note: Chipping Away
Kathleen Holt on eroding the system of patriarchal oppression as a parent.
Protecting Inequality
Anoop Mirpuri on the economic causes of racist policing
To Heart Mountain
Alice Hardesty travels to see the site of a World War II prison camp that her father designed.
Finding Home at the Mims
From the 1940s to '60s, the Mims House was a safe place to stay for African Americans traveling through Oregon. Now it’s a gathering place for the Black community in Eugene. Video by Nisha Burton.
People Aren’t Illegal
Photographer Ezra Marcos Ayala reflects on the making of “To Live More Free”
Who is Not at the Table?
Filmmaker Ifanyi Bell reflects on the making of “Future: Portland 2”
Within Makeshift Walls
Author Eric Gold on the Portland Expo Center’s era as a prison for Japanese Americans during World War II.
A Tremendous Force of Will
A conversation about the Great Migration's and the civil right movement with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson
Stolen Land and Borrowed Dollars
Creative resistance bloomed in the lead up to the Vancouver Olympics. An excerpt from Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics by Jules Boykoff
My North Star
How Mumia Abu-Jamal Led Me to Activism. An essay by Walidah Imarisha
Trademark Offense
Bandleader Simon Tam explains his fight to trademark his band’s name, “The Slants.” Tam recently argued his case before the US Supreme Court. He won.
A Return Passage
Reporter Putsata Reang and photographer Kim Nguyen share their stories of leaving their home countries as refugees, meeting as students at the University of Oregon, and returning to Southeast Asia as journalists. A film produced by Dawn Jones for Oregon Humanities.
Full Circle
Two journalists return to their native countries to help other journalists express dissent.
Magazine Podcast: Quandary
Talking about Ferguson, feminism, and filling out forms with Oregon Humanities magazine contributors
The Late Show
Journalist Nigel Duara on the media becoming part of the story in the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
Feel-Good Feminism
Bitch Media cofounder Andi Zeisler wonders if feminism's pop-culture cachet has doomed the movement.
Boxed In
Writer Wendy Willis ponders which race to check and which people to leave behind when asked about her racial and ethnic background.
What It Means to Say Portland
Mitchell S. Jackson on the experience of growing up Black in North and Northeast Portland.
Monstrousness of Empathy
When a private tragedy becomes public property. An essay by Nancy Rommelmann
Food Forward
Robert Paarlberg on the history of the Green Revolution and the future of global food production
Against Custom
The first peace advocates imagined a new story for the United States. An essay by Margot Minardi