Curbside Heroes

05/21/2023

Wordle 701 6/6

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10/11/2020

On a stroll in the neighborhood, run i to this little art piece in the middle of the park left to be seen. It’s a good reminder that the Voting Pamphlet is here for us Oregonians, and while our ballots are on the way, voting has started in many places in The USA. Oregon has been voting by mail for decades now, it’s safe, it’s effective, and it’s a massive step forward to guard everybody’s voting rights. Make a plan, and vote!!!

08/03/2020

They have been labeled as out-of-control anarchist, Antifa shock troops, “looters”, “professional rioters”, the “real deal’, even “terrorist” trying to burn down America’s cities. Accused of terrorizing Portland, turning it to a "city under siege", when in reality, the unrest was mostly centralized around three city blocks. Life went as normal as it can be under stage one re-opening, remember Covid 19? We are still coming back from a stay at home order due to a pandemic that is still raging. Back to the protest, who are these people? They are teachers, nurses, accountants, waiters, bar tenders, students, employed, furloughed, unemployed, self-employed, moms, dads, veterans. They are African American, Caucasians, Hispanics, African, Muslims, Christians, Jewish, Atheist, Buddhist, and the list goes on. The president of the United States, himself, declared protesters “enemies of America” at a press conference. Then he sent assets from some the agencies with the most troubled track record on human rights to “quell” the uprising. Let’s make one thing very clear, these are NOT the “enemies of America”, they are in fact, “America". The only “enemies” should be those brutalizing them as they express not just their first amendment rights, but the love for a country with a more just and fair future. (📸 by )

07/25/2020

Members of the Wall of Moms lead the march to the Multnomah Justice Center on the 58th night of protest in Portland, OR. The Wall of Moms, stand in the front line trying to protect protesters from the federal riot agents, and have been met with indiscriminate force, physical violence, tear gas, stun grenades by those who have sworn to serve and protect. Yet, night after night, they come back, now they are joined by leaf blower wielding dads, and the wall of veterans. The message is very clear, “feds go home”. The Wall of Moms, are yet another example of Portland’s captivating creativity when it comes to protest. The Moms have earned the hearts of the world, with their courage, hearts, and strength, in their response against the violence exhibited by federal security assets sent to Portland by the Trump Administration with the mandate to “quell”, the protest. This federal marshals come from a mosaic of agencies, including border patrol, all coordinated by DHS (Department of Homeland Security). (Photo by )

07/20/2020

A dancer performs to the words of Anya Pearson’s “What it is and What it isn’t”, during the performance “Pavement”, a co-production between Risk/Reward & Boom Arts in partnership with xray.fm and Portland Opera. “Pavement. Parking Lot Drive-In Performances”, played at the parking lot of the Portland Opera on Saturday July 18. Portion of the proceeds go to “Don’t Shoot PDX” to support the present movement for racial justice, just playing out on the other side of the river.

Across the Willamette river, the protest has regained ferocity at the Justice Center in downtown Portland, as the paramilitary federal assets are violently repressing the mostly peaceful protests. Acting on the President Trump’s recent executive order, “Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence”, he personally authorized the deployment of federal militarized assets to quell more than just a protest, but to quell dissent, while pushing a false narrative of siege and lawlessness, far away from the reality on the ground.

In moments of fracture, during the moments of change, culture and art flourishes. Murals and art grow on boards, walls and sidewalks, and also music, art, poetry also feeds the movement of justice and equality. Business is far from normal due to covid, business closures that started before the pandemic are all around our cities, but business and life, are going on in the measure that the pandemic allows, even near the Justice Center. There is no back to normal, but a moving forward, with a majority that supports the protest, and a push for the right for a better future. (photo by )

07/13/2020

Inspired by the quote “Repair the Future”, from the poem “Weather” by Claudia Rankine, a group of artist, educators, students and volunteers, lead by artist Emily Lux ( ) and Addie Boswell, use art as a tool for social justice, for education, and to heal by raising visibility for POC, while offering a message of hope. Among the volunteers, a diverse group of youth drawn from the Beaverton School District, third biggest in Oregon.

Claudia Rankine, originally wrote that poem for the New York Times book review inspired by the present historic moment. Between verses twenty and twenty-one, she says “We’re out to repair the future” when alluding to the present wave of anti-discrimination protest. In her poem, she speaks of an umbrella to shield her from the weather, but it’s a metaphor for the present.

“… I say weather, but I mean
a form of government that deals out death
and calls it living…”

The mural while in centric downtown Beaverton, is not obvious from the busy Farmington Road, but can be easily seen from SW Angel Ave, between Farmington and 1st Avenue, just off Watson. The wall was kindly donated by Pedro’s & Kim Upholstery.
(📸 by )
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@ Pedro & Kim's Upholstery

07/11/2020

Acts on vandalism on community art supporting Blacks Live Matters.

Educators, children, and volunteers from the community came together to create art in support of Black Lives Matter. The increasingly diverse Beaverton School District allowed them to display it at Cedar Park Middle School’s fence, in the busy corner of Cedar Hills Boulevard and SW Park Way. For many educators, it is important to assure their POC students, and to have an answer for all children trying to make sense of the present moment. This can be an opportunity for children to understand what is racism and discrimination, and equip them to fight it via education. Teachers, students and volunteers, created a variety of paintings and signs calling for justice and equality, in solidarity with George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others killed in police violence. They also displayed solidarity with latinos, emigrants and LGBT. Unfortunately not all members of the community understand the value of art as a tool to fight discrimination, and the installation was vandalized at least five times. One of the children artist witnessed as three grown white men destroyed her painting displayed on the fence, she asked her mother, “Are those the men that killed George Floyd?”.

The Beaverton School District gave them until July 7th, after that asked to take down the art, citing concerns of white supremacist attempting similar responses, they also changed their message board from “Black Lives Matter”, to “Return to School Q/A on You Tube…” .The art was moved across the street to a United Methodist Church, where it can still be seen as drivers commute, in its place volunteers made hearts out of flowers, and left a message “Love Matters”. ( photo by )
@ Cedar Park Middle School

07/08/2020

Patriotism, disent, and protest. Merriam-Webster dictionary makes a distinction on these definitions, similar at first glance, but can follow complete different paths. “Nationalism and patriotism are similar insofar as both words emphasize strong feelings for one’s country. However, the two words are not synonymous. Nationalism, while it refers to loyalty and devotion to a nation, tends to imply the placing of that nation above others, a tendency that is not necessarily implicit in patriotism.”

Why that love has the form of embracing all the citizens, and building a future where we can all live in justice and equality. Photo from earlier in June, a peaceful protest at the Morrison Bridge, in Portland, OR. (Photo by )

07/01/2020

Omar is a day laborer at Voz Worker’s Rights Education Project ( ). He lives in a tent and checks in daily, bright and early, gets a cup of coffee and waits for a job opportunity. Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project was founded in 2000, and is the only organization in the state of Oregon working with the day laborer community. Day laborers are temporary workers, many of them immigrants, many of them homeless, many of them facing multiple barriers to long-term employment. COVID 19, has scared clients away significantly, without work, the situation for this group living in the fringe of the labor market, has deteriorated considerably, homelessness and food insecurity being on top of the list. Voz, conceived as a place to find fair job opportunities, and to provide education to day laborers has become more like a pantry operation, distributing food and checking in connecting workers with social services. (📸 by )
# #2020

06/27/2020

"Tu lucha es mi lucha", written in Spanish, translated to English it means "your fight is my fight".
On Thursday June 18, the supreme court ruled in defense of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, DACA, a program born out of an executive order by former president Barak Obama. It has been the target of President Donald J Trump anti-immigration rhetoric since day one of his administration. His views of immigrants, specially latino and muslim, had crossed the boundaries of a stringent policy on emigration, into a full racist rhetoric, since the start of his race for the white house. HIs hard line approach to undocumented workers and refuge seekers, has rendered tough images of infants on cages, arrests of parents at schools and places of employment, prolonged incarcerations in harsh conditions, lack of access to basic needs, legal access or communication with families, and even death. This actions have sparked heavy criticism nationally and internationally. Far from attempting to dilute this critical moment in black history in America, more marginalized communities, like latinos and first nations, are joining the mobilization in support of of the African-American community, in the hopes of extending justice to all. (Photo by )
#2020

06/25/2020