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OLIVIA OLIVIA
KEVIN CARTER (13 SEPTEMBER 1960 – 27 JULY 1994) WAS A SOUTH AFRICAN PHOTOJOURNALIST AND MEMBER OF THE BANG-BANG CLUB. HE WAS THE RECIPIENT OF A PULITZER PRIZE FOR HIS PHOTOGRAPH DEPICTING THE 1993 FAMINE IN SUDAN. HE COMMITTED SUICIDE AT THE AGE OF 33.
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Allies, We Love YOU! You have held hands with us on our dark days, celebrated with hugs on our best days. In this edition, you will find many of those unwavering businesses and people who are on the right side of history! We say #ThankYou, and now it’s time for all of us to stand together in our global picture particularly with the rapid changes going on worldwide. We all sense something is going to happen and soon, but what? Below is a short list (in no particular order) of corporate media and internet coverage we have been watching and are very interested in your views (links embedded on www.PQMonthly.com) as the weeks unfold: WWIII – Is it going to happen, did it already start? China calls for ‘people’s war at sea’? Paris Agreement – Sure it’s great for the world if you’re a wealthy country. Thoughts? Terrorist: Who are they, and where do they come from? As many critics have pointed out, terrorism is not an enemy. It is a tactic. Because the United States itself has a long record of supporting terrorists and using terrorist tactics, the slogans of today’s war on terrorism merely makes the United States look hypocritical to the rest of the world. If you are not sure who “they” are, please go to the Global Terrorism Database (Example type Oregon in the search engine and you will see a list of terrorists in our area dating back to 1970). Geo-Engineering i.e.: Chemtrails, GMO’s, Super Bugs, Weather Warfare. Bayer Raises Offer to Buy Monsanto – “Executives of the pharmaceutical giant have said that acquiring Monsanto, the world’s largest supplier of crop seeds and genes, will create a global firm with a deep port-
folio in pesticides, positioned to help farmers around the world produce food for a growing and more affluent population.” According to the Wall Street Journal. Super Bugs – You tell me what this is all about??? Possible Economic Collapse? – The US Fiat/Petro dollar against China’s Global Gold Standard of Strategy. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with 57 founding nations. Both the United States and Japan, two of the world’s biggest economies, did not apply to join. AIIB founding members include China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Myanmar, the Philippines, Pakistan, Britain, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, and Spain. While AIIB reports, more than 30 countries are awaiting membership. The Canadian participation in the AIIB was announced by its Finance Minister Bill Morneau in Beijing, shortly before the start of the G20 summit in Hangzou. Prisons - Most prisons built in the last 30 years are located in rural areas, and they mostly incarcerate minorities from urban areas. Since the Census counts prisoners as part of the prison towns, the rural areas seem more populous and enjoy greater political representation. The result is that black/brown inmates from urban areas boost the voting power of rural, white districts.” According to Priceonomics.com Social Engineering is an attack vector that relies heavily on human interaction and often involves tricking people into breaking normal security procedures - Thereby creating distrust. Some social engineering is all about creating distrust or starting conflicts. These are often carried out by people you know and who are angry with you. But it is also done by nasty people just trying to wreak havoc, individuals who want to first create distrust in your mind about others so they can then step in as a hero and gain your trust, or by extortionists who want to manipulate information and then threaten you with disclosure. Only you can protect yourself from social engineering – Wake up and unplug. I see London, and Black Lives Matter shut down London City Airport! Water Protectors at Standing Rock need our help to protect YOUR WATER! Need we remind you that as I write this on 9-13-2016, the Dow futures fall 150 points amid oil prices. Are these pipes the US dollar a Fiat Currency (formerly a Petro Currency) last lifelines? If you do the math Oil is now cheaper than bottled water, Bloomberg TV reporter David Ingles noted earlier this year. Additionally, the United States is urging allies to think twice before Dawning of a New Monetary System with China’s AIIB (as noted above). Maybe we should reprioritize and barrel up the H2o #Justsaying We, not just the “Illuminati” are Starving our WORLD to death, and if you look up the top 10 most starved countries, the only white face you may see is a doctor if there is one… New World Order - World Discloser? Unlike Nostradamus and the guys on Wallstreet, I may not be able to say exactly what’s going to happen over the next few weeks. However, what I do know is that the scales of lady justice are blind because we know what is right in our heart without being told! The game of duality is over - with that I am off to pick up my Colin Kaepernick jersey as a reminder to myself and other that we are all in this together!
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A SMATTERING OF WHAT YOU’LL FIND INSIDE:
Nestor Miranda Photographer
Columnists &contributors
Finding Leo.......................................................... Page 4
The Shondes ......................................... .................. Page 13
SAGE: Resources For LGBT Elders...................... Page 5
Sankofa Collective Northwest................................. Page 16
Captive Minds .................................................... Page 9
Standing Rock ........................................................ Page 18
503.228.3139
Business & Allies.................................................. Page 10
Embody: We Need To Learn .................................. Page 22
proudqueer.com
DARIA: Straight Ally For The Queers .................. Page 12
AND MUCH MORE!
Samantha L. Taylor, Michael James Schneider, Leo Bancroft, Summer Seasons, Marco Davis, Kathryn Martini, Sally Mulligan, Katey Pants, Queer Intersections
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VOICES
FINDING LEO The Flame Leo Bancroft, PQ Monthly
I was in a bar the other day, telling a story about what’s new with my life. I began by saying, “Well, I’m starting a church…” My friend made a face. Yep. I would make that same face if I heard someone say that. Church is still a bad word sometimes. Life is funny. When I began hanging out in the LGBTQ community in Portland, I didn’t know I was trans, and I tried to keep my faith in God pretty quiet. In a community that has been treated so poorly by the church, the last thing I wanted was for people to think some cis straight woman was coming in to save the gays (spoiler: I wasn’t). Slowly I began speaking more about my faith when I realized that it was helpful to be a Christian ally in support of marriage equality. Ironically, it was on the night I stood in front of the courthouse with a sign stating “Christian Ally for Marriage Equality” whooping and cheering with the rally against DOMA that I realized I am trans. Fast forward three and a half years, and I’m an out and proud trans man, starting a church. Last month, I wrote about a grant that the Oregon Lutherans are using to listen to the stories of the LGBTQIA community and create an alternative worshipping community out of this listening. It is very exciting and intimidating to be doing this work, but I’m thrilled to share that we are beginning to take form and shape. Wehavechosenaname.WeareTheFlame. As we state on our new website, theflamepdx.org, “With this playful name we embrace our LGBTQIA and ally identity, and also evoke images of faith and spiritual renewal. We are an alternative worshiping community, a little start-up church, where we gather, build relationships and community, and share our faith journeys. We celebrate that all gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations are gifts from God and that we are beautifully and wonderfully made just as we are. We bring our questions, doubts, struggles, and joys. This is a group where we work to ensure that everyone feels safe and heard. We celebrate the beautiful diversity of God’s creation, including us!” On the one hand, starting a church in my living room isn’t too much of a stretch of the imagination. When I was twelve, I dressed up in an angel costume to play the role of the pastor in the funeral service for my friend Nicole’s bird. In 2001, at 26, I decorated my living room in a church basement (construction paper signs and all), and threw a costumed themed party at my house, a “Lutheran Church Women’s Base-
ment Potluck”. We dressed up with hats, dresses and gloves, had a great potluck and sang hymns. Maybe my drag persona should be a church lady. Maybe I should accept the fact that as much as I cannot deny that I am trans, I cannot deny that I am a church nerd. Maybe I am starting to embrace that. Fortunately, I am meeting many other LGBTQ pastors and seminarians who are teaching me the ways of being fabulous while being faithful. (for more see elm.org). When I interviewed for this position, I told them that my main slogan is “I don’t care if you go to church, I don’t care if you believe in God. It’s not my job and none of my business. I just want to make sure there is a safe and welcoming church for you if you want it.” This will not change. Even as we start building The Flame, I will never try to convert you. This is just one more part of my life that I can talk about when you ask, “So what’s new?” I don’t blame you if you are turned off by the word “church”, and I will love you just as much if you are never interested in checking us out. You are amazing no matter what. I’ll sign off with the opening we use for our gatherings. “Welcome to the Flame. Here we build a healing community of faith, in which there is room for all. If you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or asexual, You have a place here. If the word queer is painful to you because of how it has been used for bullying, You have a place here. If you don’t believe in God, are mad at God, or just wonder how anyone could have faith, You have a place here. If your faith is solid, and your flame burns bright, or if you have questions, and your flame is wavering, You have a place here. If you are an ally whose heart longs for justice and a world where all are loved, You have a place here. The Flame is a place of love, healing, and celebration. Regardless of your age, income, health, housing status, relationship or family status, race, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, You have a place here. We believe that each one of us has something to offer. Each one of us is beloved and worthy of love. If you need a reminder of this, You have a place here.” If you’d like more information, drop me a line or check out The Flame’s website at theflamepdx.org. We are still just newly beginning, but what an adventure!
Leo Bancroft is a Lutheran trans man. He volunteers on the boards of Cascade AIDS Project and ReconcilingWorks. You can reach him at leo@pqmonthly.com. 4 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR
SAGE: ADVOCACY, COMMUNITY, AND RESOURCES FOR LGBT ELDERS by Sossity Chiricuzio, PQ Monthly
Aging in this country is becoming increasingly dangerous. Dwindling resources and ever-growing generation gaps play a part for everyone, but the fact of the matter is that being LGBT* in this country is still very much a risk. The possibilities of losing jobs, family, housing, or even our lives are very real, and if you add increasing medical needs and fixed income, you could find yourself having to resort to secrecy to access resources and services like many of our elders do. One organization working to bridge those gaps and grow a community around addressing those needs is SAGE Metro Portland. A program of Friendly House, which is the only non-profit in Oregon that provides a full range of community services and programming specifically for LGBT older adults, including Friendly Visiting, social and recreational activities, support groups, Options Counseling, Case Management, community training, advocacy, and resource development. They work to enhance the lives of older gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community members through education, advocacy, outreach and resource development.
PQ: Health care is often fraught for elders, and for folks in the LBGT community, creating a patient population that is often vulnerable and silenced. I hear that SAGE is working on training for health care providers and staff?
They may even discover some ideas they hadn’t considered before, like home-sharing or moving into a manufactured home. Finally, this is a splendid time to learn about SAGE, the organization sponsoring the Expo. Throughout the year, SAGE sponsors educational and social programs, runs a Friendly Visiting program where volunteers visit LGBT elders who need companionship or perhaps help with an errand, and advocates on behalf of LGBT elders locally and statewide.
Max Micozzi, Program Coordinator, and several SAGE volunteers told me more about the work they do.
The Expo is Saturday, October 1, from 10am-3pm ($7 entry, lunch included) at Friendly House, a non-profit neighborhood center, and social service agency. Friendly House is located at 1737 NW 26th Ave at the intersection of Thurman St. and NW 26th Ave, on the #15 and #77 bus lines, and is fully accessible. Find more info online at gayandgreypdx.org.
PQ: The Gay and Grey Expo is coming up fast—say more about what it is, what it has to offer, and who the target audience is?
PQ: I’m very excited about the Storycatchers Project. Whose stories will be featured, and what happens after they are caught?
Ruth Szilagyi and Glen Ulmer, SAGE volunteers: The Gay & Grey Expo is SAGE Metro Portland’s biennial event which highlights issues relevant to the senior LGBT community in Oregon. It’s an opportunity to gather information and speak with vendors who have products and services for seniors and are LGBT- friendly. Also, attendees can learn something at workshops designed just for LGBT seniors.
Emily Pittman Newberry, Performance Poet: Story Catchers is a project of the Geezer Gallery through the RACC Arts Equity program, and SAGE is a major partner with The Geezer Gallery and the Story Catcher project. Everyone has life stories. Now is the time to capture yours! I will facilitate the workshop and teach writing techniques, and you can learn collage and layout techniques from renowned cartoonist Rupert Kinnard, former art director of Just Out magazine, Out/Look magazine and creator of Cathartic Comics.
The 2016 Expo theme is “Home Is Where the Heart Is”. We’re focusing on housing - a hot topic for everyone these days. Although most attendees will be LGBT seniors, younger family members helping LGBT parents plan for their housing needs will benefit, as will younger LGBT people wanting to ensure that their straight parents won’t be ostracized by other residents at a housing facility for having LGBT offspring. We have eight workshops planned with multiple panelists--including professionals, consumers, non-profit representatives, housing advocates and SAGE volunteers--speaking about their experiences in various types of housing. Attendees can learn more about aging in place, choose long-term care facilities, stay connected and active, and navigate the affordable housing process. pqmonthly.com
LGBTQ elders are a gift to this world, and your stories can be that gift. This guided 13-week program is for LGBTQ adults 60 years and older. No writing or artistic talent is required, you’ll learn new techniques in creative writing and artistic embellishment. Instructions and all materials are provided, and there will be an opportunity for some work to be exhibited at Artists Repertory Theater for those willing to share. The next series of classes will begin Tuesday, Oct. 4th from 1-3pm at Ainsworth United Church of Christ. For more information email: register@catchlgbtqstories.com or call Emily Newberry at 503-729-6844.
Ma x Micozzi, SAGE Program Coordinator: The LGBT older adults population is growing by leaps and bounds. Those born in the early part of the twentieth century experienced prejudices and discrimination and persevered through secrecy at home, work and in their communities. They are resilient and have paved the way for many of us today, but are often very apprehensive to receive services and medical care due to their experience of historical prejudices. They also know that those serving older adults needing medical care and/or LTC environments, in senior centers and living communities, are not always accepting; in fact, their care is often compromised. The outcome is waiting until a crisis arises and relying on professionals to provide services or going back into the closet for fear of retribution or substandard care if they do come out. This happens at their most vulnerable after all they have survived. sageCARE is a national training model in which certified trainers go into medical and senior service settings to train executive and management staff on why it is important to understand our aging LGBT population, and include these practices in their day to day operations. Training topics to include: Culture, strengths, needs, and challenges of LGBT older adults A history about why LGBT older adults are less likely to access health and social services Best practices for making LGBT older adults feel welcomed and included. Find out more about what SAGE has to offer online: lgbtagingcenter.org/ diverseelders.org/ friendlyhouseinc.org/programs/gay-and-grey/ gayandgreypdx.org/ *I chose to use the same acronym in this interview that SAGE does because the word ‘queer’ was used for many decades as a slur and attack, and is still very fraught with memories of violence and oppression for many elders in our community, and people that SAGE serves. That said, elders who identify as queer are welcome at SAGE and at their events. People you’d like to hear from, or resources to share, please get in touch! sossity@pqmonthly.com SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 • 5
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NEWS FEATURE
CAPTIVE MINDS By: Suzanne Deakins
History is satiated with what happens in a civilization when intellectuals and basically intelligent people turn their back on the ignominious lawmakers. Today, other than a few exceptions the intelligentsia, no matter what their economic level of existence, has all but shut down. We seem to have taken a pill devised to allow our minds to accept dialectic materialism and consumption as the pathway to freedom. This condition and the set of symptoms that are playing out are not limited to any one country but rather seem to be playing out globally. Worldwide the voices and intellects that protest our current conditions financially and in the realm of human rights are drowned out by politics and laws meant to feed the materialism and consumption of an apparent insane humanity. The idea of resolving conflict and poverty are lost on the world where rational thinkers believe that we exist in a world where matter resides over the mind. We are presented with false premises in where language is used to manipulate and control the masses. They tell us we must be poverty-stricken and ill in order to understand those who are poor and don’t receive health care. The wealthy and healthy are determined to understand poverty they must hold the wealth that the poor have no way of managing money. Those in good health are told that the ill without health care are there because they wish this to happen to themselves. Our minds are captivated by what appears to be a resolution of society and human ills. We turn our heads swallowing the bitter pill of false reasoning. Having fulfilled what we think is our intellectual duty to our civic affiliapqmonthly.com
tions and family. We are willing to listen to the wrong dialogue of lawmakers and journalist because they present a kind of logic that we are unwilling to think beyond. And as long as our premise is that matter resides over mind we participate in one of the largest hoaxes of all times. This is that by agreeing, coming to terms through rational and logic makes our premise right. Engaging in logic that is falsely based on assumptions that are semantically misleading and twisted puts our intellect or rational mind asleep. When this happens, our spirit is kept behind an enclosure of separation and pain. We have indeed swallowed the pill of Murti-Bing. We are deluded by our egos thinking that because we believe we are right, we are right. We forget the major premises that Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato used, and we create new facilities that support our twisted concepts of freedom. Because of this false reasoning we forget our true nature and think we are intuitively aligning ourselves with freedom of expression. We think to be safe is our major premises. Thus we reside in fear and are manipulated into agreeing to war and attacks of those who we don’t understand. We lump together ideas into great heaps of all of these… an ultimate black and white system, where the individuality that is represented by freedom is lost. As long as our minds remain captive to the misunderstanding of our major premises, we will remain in the realm of illusion. There is NO democracy or freedom in drawing on false premises. We are not freed from our fear or beliefs of being right. Only when our premises are based on something that is irrefutable can we free our mind from the state of captivity we now find in our world. We don’t have to fear being invaded or losing our way of life, it is already lost. Lost if we don’t move from delusion and start using our minds to resolve the paradoxes and illusions we have been feed. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 • 9
BUSINESS ALLIES NEWS
CUPCAKE JONES By Olivia Olivia
Lisa Watson, owner of Cupcake Jones, showed up the day Oregon overturned its gay-marriage ban in May 2014 to deliver free cupcakes to thousands of celebrating couples and their families. She has continued marching (and baking!) alongside the Portland’s best and brightest LGBTQ community
members ever since, and has two gorgeous shops where you can satisfy your sweet tooth in town: one on NW 10th Avenue in the Pearl, and the other on NE Alberta. Cupcake Jones was also award of “Best of Weddings” 2011-2013 (and counting) by the Knot for their amazing wedding creations, and you can rest assured these creative and unique cupcakes make your special day memorable. Their business also has an event space, which makes for great children’s birthday parties, cupcake-making events, and baby showers (what baby doesn’t want to be welcomed into the world with cupcakes?). To learn more, visit their site at cupcakejones.net, or drop by their locations next time you’re in their neck of the woods.
PHOTO BY OLIVIA OLIVIA
OREGON LOTTERY BENEFITS ALL Our mission is to operate a lottery with the highest standards of security and integrity to earn maximum profits for the people of Oregon commensurate with the public good. Commensurate with the public good means ALL Oregonians. As Oregon’s communities become more diverse, as we become more aware and more educated about our diversity, so do
MALOY’S JEWELRY As proud supporters of Happily Ever After for everyone, we at Maloy’s Jewelry have created an environment that has been inclusive and supportive from day one. We have been celebrating all of the love for 30 years in the heart of downtown Portland. We specialize in amazingly beautiful vintage and antique jewelry. Our on-site jewelers also custom hand fabricate pieces that you can’t find elsewhere. Our primary goal is to help you find exactly the right piece to honor your love, whether that means an Art Deco diamond ring, or a pair of custom built meteorite bands. Most importantly, we work hard to bring mindfulness and keen listening skills
Always have supported LGBT rights, Always will.
our efforts to reach out and embrace it. Being part of, recognizing and celebrating Portland’s LGBTQ community is an important part of Oregon Lottery’s mission to include all Oregonians in the good things that we do. It serves to reinforce our commitment and our understanding to support all communities - all Oregonians - in this place we love to call home.
to every interaction, recognizing that jewelry is a potent symbol as well as a pleasing ornament and an investment. Your jewelry goals are ours… When a couple who had already been wearing rings for 20 years considered buying new ones for their long-awaited legal marriage, we helped them realize that they would actually prefer to have us set a few small diamonds into their original rings, honoring their initial commitment, while adding the extra sparkle of appropriate recognition. We also perform all sorts of repair and restoration right here on site. If you have a treasured memento, we can bring it back to wearable condition. If you have a break in an important costume necklace you want to wear to a Court Pageant, we know how to carefully repair that too. We are located between both the MAX and streetcar lines, wheelchair accessible, with warm friendly staff, and a cute shop dog too. We welcome you.
The Muttley Crew Giving professionals a new leash on life! • Grooming • Doggie daycare • Premium USA made products • Top rated pet foods including Orijen, Acana, Taste of the Wild, Honest Kitchen Go! Now! and Raw foods. *Best in the Biz 2009, 2010, 2011 by Spot Magazine
Visit us! 806 NW Murray Portland, OR 97229 Mon-Fri 6:45am - 6:30pm Sat 8am - 4pm
Call us:
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BUSINESS ALLIES
PORTLAND CENTER STAGE AT THE ARMORY Portland Center Stage at The Armory is the largest theater company in Portland and among the top 20 regional theaters in the country. This year the company celebrates its 10 th anniversary in its home at The Armory, the LEED-Platinum-certified historic building with two theaters that draws 150,000 visitors annually. The company intentionally builds partnerships and programming – working with many local equity and social service organizations – to bridge differences in culture, age and socioeconomic status, offering opportunities for shared experiences and engaging dialogue for everyone in our community. Its Stage Door program offers free tickets to students who attend Portland’s Title I schools, as well as adults who participate in recovery and transition programs from a selection of social service agencies – including 240 homeless
adults who attended a play for free last year through a partnership with Central City Concern. The company also participates in the Arts for All program, offering $5 tickets to recipients of Oregon Trail Card benefits for any production. Regular tickets start at $25 for all productions, and this fall you can catch three great shows at The Armory: the musical thriller Little Shop of Horrors (running through October 16), starring Nick Cearley, who was one of OUT Magazine’s “OUT100” in 2014 for being among the most “compelling and intriguing” out actors of the year; Hold These Truths (running through November 13), starring Ryun Yu and celebrating the life of civil rights hero Gordon Hirabayashi; and The Oregon Trail (running through November 20), written by Bekah Brunstetter, a founding member of gender parity group The Kilroys.
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FEATURE
STRAIGHT ALLY FOR THE QUEERS! By Shaley Howard, PQ Monthly
Over the years the LGBTQ community has experienced all kinds of institutionalized and public discrimination and violence. With this oppression often comes the inclination from within our community to bond together for protection and safety; and understandable to be leery of outsiders. It’s challenging when you are the one being oppressed to see that many people are not the ones partaking in LGBTQ discrimination but are openly defying it; working, supporting, speaking out and politicking for a society where everyone is equal. It’s important for us to recognize these allies who understand the concept from their hearts and minds that ‘no one is free when others are oppressed.’ Daria Eliuk is one of these straight allies. Daria was born in rural Iowa but spent most of her early years growing up in Casper, Wyoming attending the same high school as Matthew Shepard, but several years earlier. She was raised in a liberal household by her ‘hippie artist’ parents. She moved to Portland in 1989 to attend Reed College, fell in love with the city, and stayed. Many people I’m sure recognize her from the hilarious, irreverent, and queer-positive “Daria, Mitch and Ted” radio show on 105.1 ‘The Buzz,’ where she keeps everyone laughing for hours on end. Over the last 20 years in radio, she’s been given such titles as “Portland’s Favorite Radio Personality” to “Most F**kable Female”. She’s also performed in a series of plays for Don Horn’s Triangle Productions and for the Spoken Word around town. The list of organizations, events, and 12 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016
I had the opportunity recently to ask Daria about her background and how she became such an active and vocal ally for the LGBTQ community. PQ Monthly: You mentioned that your parents were liberal ‘hippie artists.’ What was your experience growing up in Wyoming in the 1980’s and with LGBTQ? Daria: My Mom didn’t hold with the notion that gay people were something you had to be a certain age to ‘find out’ about. We always knew that some women loved men, some men loved men, and some women loved women. That notion never seemed anything but ordinary. But the fact was that I grew up in a highly Republican state in the 80’s, it was very, very uncommon for people to be ‘out’. I was involved in sports, drama, creative writing, and speech and debate, and knew gay people, but it was almost never discussed. When a friend did come out to you, it was major. It was an unusual and severe gift and responsibility and loving, trusting gesture. It was being entrusted with something that you did NOT fuck around with because you could actually potentially endanger the person. It made you feel incredibly tender and protective of that person. And that, in turn, made you go hypersensitive to utterances or instances of ugliness or slurs or homophobia around you. Because you DID NOT WANT your friend to have to deal with that, ever, at ALL. It was a ‘say what you want about me, but hurt my friend, and I will destroy you’ philosophy. PQ: Was there anything or anyone in particular that influenced you early on? Daria: MTV and Madonna. Madonna gets joked about, but I don’t think it can be overlooked or overstated how dramatically Madonna personally changed the conversation around America and the world. If you were a girl of a certain age, Madonna was IT. She was the kind of woman we all wanted to be like, fearless
and confident and gorgeous and talented and powerful and having all the fun. And from the very beginning, through word or performance or implication, Madonna’s message about the LGBTQ community was not just ‘Gay people are people too’ but ‘Gay people are AWESOME. THEY ARE AWESOME.’ Be fearless. Be gorgeous. Be powerful. Love your Gay Community. PQ: How did moving to Portland change your views and opinions? Daria: When I came to Reed College I was exposed to the radical splendor of groups like Act Up and Queer Nation. The notion of ‘Love yourself and love your gay community’ was exaggerated and illuminated in a whole different way. I met real life drag queens, a group I’d idolized since John Waters movies and watching La Cage aux Folle in French class. Samesex couples were walking around in the open holding hands!! It blew my mind!!! I had this really intense compulsion to let all these people know ‘IT IS GREAT THAT YOU ARE GAY! I FOR ONE LOVE IT SO MUCH!!’ I imagine it’s a sort of ‘I have black friends!’ Announcement to a black person. You’re trying to say ‘I know some people are prejudiced against you! But I am not!!!’ It comes across as self-congratulatory and self-serving. But you know what? I think it almost never is, really. It’s just people trying to say, and unable to say:
and eventually radio, it’s all been a journey of words and voice with me. The best thing I can do is speak up when I think something is right or wrong or funny or meaningful. And to speak out when I can vocalize for a friend or a group I love and believe in. I’m unbelievably lucky to have that ability available as a job. As someone who’s been out since he was 15 years old and who’s known and worked with Daria for over a decade, co-host Mitch Elliot wanted to share his thoughts on her as a friend and ally, “From the very first moment I met Daria, it was crystal clear that she is a fierce fighter for the rights of the LGBTQ community. I had never been out on the air previously in my career in Atlanta nor Seattle, but Daria was confident that Portland listeners would embrace me and that coming out on the air would be the right decision....it definitely was! Daria hosts countless events for the LGBTQ community. In fact, I’ve never seen her say no when asked to help with an event or fundraiser for the community. I love that anyone in the LGBTQ community can call the radio station, and they are always treated with much love and respect.” PQ: One final question, any thoughts on the upcoming Presidential race? Daria: I support Hillary Clinton. She’s bold and brave, and her opponent is the Antichrist!
I fully acknowledge the community you’re part of has been historically treated inexcusably poorly. And I condemn that. As a member of the community that has hurt yours, I am so sorry. I do not align myself with that. I align myself with you. PQ: Do you remember any particular stories that were pivotal in understanding discrimination of the LGBTQ community? Daria: Freshman year, my dorm mate across the hall was a wonderful man named Kevin Coulson. Among the decorations on my dorm door was a black and white photo of gorgeous Greg Louganis. I had written across the bottom, ‘What a waste.’ Meaning, ‘That I will never be with him.’ So stupid. Kevin took me aside one day early on and explained how, as a gay man, that was hurtful for him to see and why. It BLEW MY MIND. He was so absolutely right, and I was so utterly wrong. It was such an incredible thing for him to do. It revolutionized the way I thought about seriously everything. I needed to educate myself and be mindful of how my words impacted people. PQ: What is it like working in radio and with your co-hosts Mitch Elliot and Ted Douglass? Daria: I work with incredible, queer and queer-friendly, feminist, loving, hilarious people like Mitch and Ted. With speech and debate, writing and drama,
PHOTO BY: DALLAS ELIUK
DARIA
causes she’s volunteered for over the years is never-ending. Some include Basic Rights Oregon(BRO), the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), PQ Monthly, Our House, Girls Inc, Breast Friends, the Oregon Zoo, Children’s Cancer Association and Dove Lewis just to name a few. As soon as LGBTQ marriage was legalized, she got ordained and so far has married at least five same-sex couples. Social equality is what motivates her most so generally, if an LGBTQ friend or acquaintance asks her to emcee or judge an event, she’ll do it if able.
pqmonthly.com
ENTERTAINMENT FEATURES
THE SHONDES ON NEW BANDMATES, A NEW ALBUM, AND HOW IT ALL COMES TOGETHER into something that we hope is inspiring... We use ourselves as the litmus test in a way. Eli: We write songs that we feel compelled to write, but I also think we consciously write songs that we want to hear, that we would want to listen to if someone else had written them. We need to hear songs of hope and optimism, so we write them. Then we get to play them a million times, and it makes us feel better! Hopefully others too :)
By Max Voltage
As a classically trained violinist who gigs in the indie music scene, I’m always in search of non-classical projects that successfully incorporate strings. Few bands do this as well as The Shondes, and their catchy rock anthems full of tender truths have become a staple of my violinspiration playlists. They are currently on tour with their newest album, Brighton, and in anticipation of their Portland show, I got the opportunity to ask them a few questions. PQ: The sound of your new album is very much influenced by the musical energy of your two new members! How did you fold them into the project? Louisa: As we settled in to write Brighton, we knew we wanted the right people with us throughout the songwriting and studio process. We sought out Alex and Courtney carefully, and it has more than paid off. We all learned how to work together and let the songs work themselves out. It’s been hard work, of course, but also effortless in a way. They are incredibly talented musicians and beautiful people. Eli and I feel very lucky to have them as a part of this band now! PQ: Do you ever get stuck or divided in the creative process? Louisa: Obviously in collaboration, there is friction, disagreement, push and pull -- but it has never turned into any sort of impasse. And that’s kind of incredible, especially for Eli and me, having been through so much trying to find the people who wanted this as badly as we did, and had the energy and skill to contribute at this level. PQ: One thing I’ve always loved about your music is that alongside the hard truths, there’s a strong thread of hope and optimism. How do you stay inspired and channel positivity? Louisa: The answer to this question is: by writing and playing music. This band is THE most central way that we have directed our energies (rage and sorrow included) pqmonthly.com
PQ: Eli, as a fellow classically trained violinist, I, of course, want to nerd out about your amazing violin parts in this new album! What is your creative process? How does your classical training inform/influence your playing? Do you improvise during performances? Eli: I think the Classical training I had was so ingrained from such a young age that it’s not something I reflect on at a conscious level at all. It’s the technique I was trained with, and while I don’t keep that technique up to Classical standards anymore, it’s still the style I use. I don’t often improvise on stage, but do use improvisation a lot during songwriting, and it’s a really fantastic way to work. It makes every song feel like an exploration, and there’s an exhilarating feeling when you land on a part you really like, like digging around and discovering a gem. PQ: Your track Carrion Crow is quite the call-out. Is it challenging to be that honest? Is there an edge for you, sharing such truths publicly? Louisa: I think people know that songwriters write about their lives (like Corin Tucker said “don’t tell me your name if you don’t want it sung,” right?), and a song isn’t supposed to be a journalistic account of events. It’s an entirely subjective emotional expression, so I don’t sweat it too much. The subject of Carrion Crow may or may not hear the song. As they may or may not know, it’s about them. I think, more importantly, listeners will relate to it because A LOT of us have let a ‘Carrion Crow’ type get too close, suck away our livelihood, and gaslight us about what’s happening -- hopefully not for too long though! And
honestly even for me the song brings at least a few different people to mind. PQ: You’re playing at the Know, which is closing in November as a side-effect of skyrocketing rents in Portland. What are your thoughts on gentrification and the effects on grassroots artists, and playing one of the last shows at this Portland punk establishment Louisa: As a New Yorker, my perspective on gentrification is informed by the particular ways that race and class interact with housing and economic policy and trends there -- I’m sure there are many commonalities and differences in Portland. But for me, as a white artist, I try not to carelessly lump myself (as an “artist”) into the broader category of people being negatively affected by gentrification. It is certainly true that there are economic consequences for *all* of us non-1%-ers, but I have found white punks and other artists often try to generalize ourselves into the category of the “negatively impacted.” In a way that can be both self-aggrandizing and erasing of structural racism, and the ongoing realities of capitalism...So often artists with privilege are active participants in early gentrification and then complain about it when the process continues (as it does) beyond their means, without taking responsibility for their role in it. This is a complicated question! PQ: Touring can be rough, how do you get your individual self-care needs met? Louisa: I have been touring since I was 13, so I’ve had 20 years to figure out how to eat, and sleep, and move, while on a tight, constructed schedule, and living mostly in a van. In the Shondes, we have also been through some particular challenges that have helped us learn how to make space where there isn’t much. We toured immediately after Eli’s final chemotherapy session, and we are now touring during my pregnancy. I think we’ve learned through touring, as in other areas of life, that the work suffers when we aren’t really ok physically and emotionally. So there’s no glory to be found in sublimating our needs for the sake of the band. We make it work! Eli: It really helps that all of us just communicate pretty directly about what we need. “Hey guys, I need such and such right now”, and then we just make it possible the best we can. Luckily none of us have wildly different desires around sleep/drinking/partying. We all have fun, but really value taking care of ourselves. It also really helps that we all get along well. Of course, everyone needs space sometimes, but being in the van with each other for twelve hours at a time doesn’t feel bad so bad when we all like each other! Check out more about The Shondes, their latest album, upcoming shows and music videos at http://www.shondes.com/ SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 • 13
CALENDAR
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door after 9 p.m. at Eagle Portland, 835 N Lombard St.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
Portland Race for the Cure. 25th Anniversary of the Portland Race for the Cure by Susan G. Komen Oregon & SW Washington. The Race brings together community, celebrates survivors and forever fighters and raises significant dollars for critical services in the fight against breast cancer. Watch the race and enjoy a festival of music, snacks, costumes, awards, prizes and more. 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Tom McCall Waterfront Park.
GET
OUT! Want more? We’ll give you everything. Head over to pqmonthly.com and check out our online calendar of events, submit your own events, and send photos for your event. Also, remember to carefully examine our weekly weekend forecast — with the latest and greatest events — each Wednesday (sometimes Thursday), online only. --MATT PIZZUTI, CALENDAR EDITOR PQ MONTHLY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
PQ Monthly’s September Press Party. Celebrate the release of the September/October issue with PQ staff and local community members and activists. Hosted by Salvageworkspdx at Salvage Works, featuring art by David Lynch of Think Tank Studio, beer from Backwoods Brewing, live music by Cedar Teeth and food carts. As always, entry into the PQ Press Party is open to all and FREE! 5 p.m. at Salvage Works, 2024 N. Argyle St.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
Undergear. Your sultry, studly underwear night at the Portland Eagle is back monthly now. Raffle and Clothes Check provided by Cub Cleaners. Don’t forget; check your clothes for free entry, otherwise it will be $5 at the
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EVERY SUNDAY
Drag Brunch: Testify at Stag with Alexis Campbell Starr. From 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. every Sunday, Starr brings you the city’s hottest drag performers, drink specials (5 for $5 mimosas, $5 American Harvest Bloody Marys), and tasty brunch. Be there promptly at 11, children—it’s a sell-out crowd. Stag, 317 NW Broadway. Superstar Divas. Bolivia Carmichaels, Honey Bea Hart, Topaz Crawford, Isaiah Tillman, and guest stars perform your favorite pop, Broadway, R&B, rock, and country hits. Dance floor opens after the show. Check out the newest and freshest Diva hits, plus a variety of diverse talent. 8 p.m., CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis. Free!
DANCE
IT OUT
EVERY MONDAY
Family Home Evening. A weekly, post-work lounge party every Monday night at Vault, featuring DJ Orographic (Bridge Club, Queerlandia) and occasional special guests (Sappho fills in now and then). Jens Irish serves you happy hour all the live long night. 7 p.m.-11 p.m., Vault, 226 NW 12.
EVERY WEDNESDAY
Amateur night at Stag PDX, though they won’t look like amateurs, trust. Hosted by Godiva Devyne, come gawk at the pretty dancers. And talk some shit with the Devyne Ms. G. 9 p.m., Stag PDX, 317 NW Broadway. 14 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016
Drag Queen Bingo with Poison Waters and friends. Drag Queens and Bingo are perfect way to get through a hump day. Join the fun at McMenamins Mission Theater for a fabulous evening hosted by Poison Waters with performances by Kourtni Capree and Ciara Dela Rosa, and win great prizes. 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at McMenamins Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan St.
graces the Rose City with he ever-relatable wit this Septem Tickets start at $39.00. Kelle Auditorium, 22 SW Clay St. Pizza Party! Hang out with your friends and dance-ish to some ridiculous music that yo hosts John and Rob and Ana Megan have picked out for y Play games and win edible p Music by Casual Aztec, Sapp Huf N Stuf and Orographic. $
p.m. to midnight at Mississipp
Hempstalk F Food and Craft friendly with no a $5 suggested Tom McCall Wa
KT Tunstall a KT Tunstall’s m women and pla
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
Wanda Sykes in Portland! Our favorite out proud queer woman of color comedian
EVERY THURSDAY
Hip Hop Heaven. Bolivia Carmichaels hosts this hip-hop-heavy soiree night every Thursday night at CCs. Midnight guest performers and shows. Remember those midnight shows at The City? Bolivia does! 9 p.m., CC Slaughters, 219 NW Davis. Free.
FIRST SATURDAYS
Hard Yes presents: Yes Please! Yes Please is a monthly queer dance party for the dark, dirty and fabulous who just wanna dance. The party also features guest performers from Portland and beyond plus resident DJ Sappho alongside a rotating lineup of guest DJ’s providing you with a healthy dose of: House, techno, deep disco and hard f*ggotry. Cover $7. 21+. 9 p.m. at Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St. Sugar Town. DJ Action Slacks. Keywords: Soul, polyester. Great place to find the ladies, to mingle, to get your groove on. 9 p.m., The Spare Room, 4830 NE 42. $5. Pop Rocks! 80s music aficionado DJ Matt Consola (Bearracuda) is hosting a very special 80s anthem night at Euphoria Nightclub. The space will be enhanced with an 80s theme featuring dancers, games and an official Dungeons & Dragons Gaming Table, visuals, rad 80s movies, drink specials, a photo booth, coat check and special guest DJs. 10 p.m., Euphoria, 315 SE 3. No cover. Pants Off Dance Off. Come get bold and bawdy at Crush Bar’s monthly clothing-optional dance event, a bar-as-you-dare safe space to break character without risking your day job (no cell phone photos allowed, folks!) Come early—the place gets packed and space is limited. $5 cover after 9 p.m. with a clothes check for $2. 1400 SE Morrison St.
7:30 p.m. at th
firming space for music and mingling. Correction: Bi/Pan/Fluid/Q 8 p.m., Crush, 1400 SE Morrison.
SECOND FRIDAYS
Slo Jams is a Queer Modern R&B & Neo Soul Dance Night at Local Lounge. DJ II TRILL (TWERK) and DJ MEXXX-TAPE lay down everything from Mary J // Jagged Edge// Keyshia to Badu//Lauryn Etc. 10 p.m., Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. $5.
SECOND SATURDAYS
Hot Flash: Inferno. (Second and Fourth Saturdays) In the heart of Portland is where the women are—dancing the night away and burning up dance floors the second and fourth Saturdays of every month at Trio. Welcoming all women, queers, and their allies. DJ Lauren joins Wildfire, and thi night features dancers from up and down the I-5 corridor. 6 p.m p.m., Trio, 909 E. Burnside.
CALENDAR SPONSORED BY
SECOND TUESDAYS
Bi Bar—every second Tuesday at Crush, and it’s an open, bi-afpqmonthly.com
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3
er mber. er
Tegan and Sara at the Roseland Theater. Identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quinn and Sara Kiersten Quinn bring their ultra-modern, ultra-catchy electronic sound to the Rose City. Passionate advocates for the LGBTQ community, they’ll perform from 8 p.m to 11 p.m. at the Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave. Tickets are $35.
h o our a and you. prizes. pho, $3, 8
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8
pi Pizza Pub, 3552 N. Mississippi Ave.
SEPTEMBER 24-25
Festival. Two Days of Hemp and Music with over 80 t Vendors focused on the many uses for hemp. Family o illegal drugs or camping allowed. Free for all ages with d donation. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at aterfront Park.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
at the Wonder Ballroom. Scottish singer-songwriter mellow yet emotional folk flavor is a favorite with LGBTQ ays an affordable show in Portland. Tickets $25-28, doors
he Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St.
is m.-10
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14
Dance Yourself Clean. An Indie-Pop Dance Party with music inspired by LCD Soundsystem. A Lights & Music Collective event. Featuring tracks from CHVRCHES, Miike Snow, Haim, Charli XCX, MØ, Empire of The Sun, Purity Ring, Twin Shadow, Icona Pop, Grimes, Bag Raiders, Kate Boy and more. Cover $5 before 10:30 p.m. or $8 after. Doors open at 9 p.m. at Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St.
THIRD MONDAYS
Queer.
t
Bearracuda PDX. Join Bearracudda for a debut night at the new venue, with DJ Del Stamp in from Vancouver, DJ Matt Stands arriving from Seattle, furry gogo dancers, a laser light show and projections. $6 before 10 p.m., $10 after at the Bossanova Ballroom, $722 E. Burnside Ave.
Bump, grind and crash into your favorite queer friends at Gay Skate. Look for our publisher, who’s always handing out copies of PQ. And, you know, you’ll probably get a date. Every third Monday. Food drive for Take Action Inc. 7 p.m., Oaks Park, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way. $6.
THIRD TUESDAYS
Beareoke PDX is BACK! Invite all the bears & chasers you know who karaoke. Free! 9 p.m. at Scandals, 1125 SW Stark St.
THIRD WEDNESDAYS
Comedy at Crush: Belinda Carroll and a slew of locals rustle up some funny. Special guests, and Crush’s signature cocktail and food menus. Donations, sliding scale. (Comics have to eat and drink, too, so give!) 9 p.m., Crush, 1400 SE Morrison. Queens of the Night: Alexis Campbell Starr. That’s all you need to know. But there’s more: she always welcomes a special slew of talented queens for a night that takes Hip-Hop from beginning to end. 8 p.m., Local Lounge, 3536 NE MLK. Free.
THIRD SATURDAYS
Burlescape! Burlesque & boylesque wrapped in a taste of tease! Zora Phoenix, Isaiah Esquire, Tod Alan. 9 p.m., Crush, 1400 SE Morrison. $10. We’re featuring all of Zora’s events online, so get on the net. Undergear: Eagle Portland’s monthly underwear, jock, mankini, etc., fetish party every third Saturday. Free if you arrive before 9 p.m. or if you use free clothes check upon entry after. After 9 p.m. arrivals who do not check clothes must pay $5 entry. Clothes check and raffle prize provided by Cub Cleaners. Eagle Portland, 835 N. Lombard. Stranger Disco. An always-packed North Portland favorite queer pqmonthly.com
3
CALENDAR
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
Q Center’s Game Night for women, femmes and other non-binary folx. “Come hang out and get silly, or serious, or strategic, or whatever floats your boat! This game night is a nice space for all queer women (cis or trans), and for female-identified folks and for non-binary folks to come together to connect. We’ll have some games to choose from, but please bring your own as well! We have: Pictionary, Cranium, Apples to Apples, Blokus Trigon, and Taboo.” 5:30 p.m. till 9 p.m. at the Q Center, 4115 N. Mississippi Ave.
Pride Preview
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3
dance party on North Williams; DJs Stormy Roxx, Vera Rubin and Sappho. 21+, $10, starts at 9 p.m., District East, 4306 N. Williams Ave.
FOURTH FRIDAYS
Twerk. DJs ILL Camino and II Trill. Keywords: bring your twerk. The city’s longest-running queer hip hop/R&B party—where artists, deejays, performers come to mix, mingle, and move on the dance floor. We promise you you’ll move all night long. 10 p.m., Killingsworth Dynasty, 832 N Killingsworth. $5. Club Kai-Kai. A crazy, cozy, packed dance party for queers at Saucebox. Club Kai-Kai (at it’s most basic) is an experimentation of nightlife, performance, and your gender preference. If you have questions, we don’t have answers; we just have a space for you to Kai-Kai. $5 cover, 21+ at Saucebox, 214 SW Broadway. Blow Pony. Check out the classic PDX party’s new venue. Here’s your raunchiest, fruitiest, grittiest, freakiest most fabulous packed dance party. 9 p.m., Bossanova Ballroom, 722 E Burnside St. $7.
FOURTH SATURDAYS
Judy on Duty. Lesbian hardcore. Judys, Judes, and cool ass freaks. Dance it out. DJ Troubled Youth. Organized by Ana Margarita and Megan Holmes. 10 p.m., High Mark Water Lounge, 6800 NE MLK.
LAST SUNDAYS
Sabbathhause Discotheque, gay night is back at Aalto lounge and it is bigger and more queer than ever before. Featuring some of the best deejays and performers around and hosted by night hawk Chanticleer Tru. 8 p.m., Aalto Lounge, 3356 SE Belmont.
Public lecture: The Neuroscience of Prejudice. Learn about the relationship between neurobiology and racial bias from neuroscientist Dr. Larry Sherman. From the creator: “Racism stems from the human brain’s tendency to engage in prejudice, a process that allows our brains to make judgments based on visual information in milliseconds. But why does the brain do this? Can we use science to overcome this reaction, potentially developing methods to combat prejudice and end racism?” Tickets cost $18 in advance or $20 on day of show. 7 p.m. at Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7– SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9
Beardlandia weekend! Celebrate a weekend of parties and entertainment to showcase that hirsute lumbersexual aesthetic that PDX is famous four. Beards, cubs, otters, bears, chasers and friends from around the globe celebrate the events, including Beardy Brunch, Lumbertwink, Rugby and Beard Rubbing Happy Hour, Play Party, Daddy Issues, Beardlandia Beard Contest, Bearracuda PDX: Beardlandia!, Underwear Party, Gamer Meet, Lilith Bear and more! Starting with an 8 p.m. Thursday night meet-and-greet at the Portland Eagle and running through the 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. event Daddy Issues at the Panic Room on Sunday, Beardlandia has too many great events to list them all here. Enjoy a veritable Beard Pride weekend for your whole queer family. Find the full list of the events at beardlandia.com/events. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 • 15
LOCAL
SANKOFA COLLECTIVE NORTHWEST: ON SPLITTING FROM PFLAG, QTPOC CENTERED ORGANIZING, AND THE PATTERNS OF PRIVILEGE Haven so to speak, Khalil has been the social activist who was always inspiring us to show up and fight for our rights, and Antoinette is like a loving mother. I spend 30 minutes with her, and I always leave feeling so confident, as if I could take over the world.”
By Sossity Chiricuzio, PQ Monthly
PFLAG Portland Black Chapter was serving a unique and vital function, and now it’s gone. The Sankofa Collective Northwest has relaunched in its place, delighting many local communities with its mission and the services and programs it will bring, but there is more to this story than the budding good news. The reasons behind the split from PFLAG highlight critical issues in understanding race relations in the local LGBTQ community, and in the power structures of many programs meant to support it. Dawn Holt, President of PFLAG Portland, told PQ Monthly “In October 2015, PFLAG Portland Black Chapter’s Coordinators informed the Board that they were ready to become independent, and began the transition with the full support of the PFLAG Portland Board. Before they were able to complete the transition, they ran out of grant funds to support the new staff they had hired in preparation for their independence.” The staff in question, who had spent endless hours (many of them already unpaid,) nurturing this burgeoning chapter and the community of QTPOC and their families they served, found themselves laid off, with little notice or explanation. Within a few days, all their access to money and resources were cut off; and the infrastructure for their programs was removed, leaving the communities that they serve in disarray and without the critical resources needed to reduce the disparities and improve the lives of Black LGBTQ people in our community. Khalil Edwards, the Co-Director of Sankofa, and previously of PFLAG PBC, shared his thoughts about the split. “It was very upsetting, to say the least. For years we have had this incredible partnership with PFLAG Portland and particularly Dawn Holt, someone I called a friend. It has felt like the ultimate betrayal, and at the high cost of undermining Black LGBTQ leadership and hurting a marginalized and vulnerable community that depends on us.” The extent of the discord can be seen in an email thread between Edwards and Holt about wrapping up final details of budgets and donations, which ended with this line from Holt: “I am now officially done,” she says. “May you not cause as much discord, harm and hurt at the Q Center as you did with us.” When asked what she meant by that, Dawn replied in vague reproach and pleasantries.“While we are disappointed that conversations were shared with you out of context, and at a time of stress for all who grew this chapter from its beginnings, we at PFLAG Portland do indeed wish the new Sankofa Collective Northwest well. We know they will continue to serve their community and carry this important work forward under their new name.” This kind of refusal to acknowledge personal responsibility is part of the overall problem in this split, and also in situations that arise in many of the organizations and nonprofits that serve our communities, in Portland, but also the nation. If a direct conversation about conflict, or 16 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016
The couple are also now board members at Sankofa and were previously on the PFLAG PBC steering committee. When I asked them how the decision-making process happened around dissolving PFLAG PBC, and if they were included in that? Onesha replied “I have had the chance to interact with Dawn several times over the years, and I got the impression that she was a dedicated ally; I am not privy to every detail of the break, so I will not bad mouth this woman. I will say that I wish she would have contacted the steering committee and had a sit down with us before some of these changes were made. I am sorrowful to see things end in this way, and I hope with San“LUCAS SMITH AND LEILA HAILE, SANKOFA MEMBERS, HOLDING A PFLAG BANNER AT PRIDE, JUNE 2016.” PHOTO BY: OLIVIA OLIVIA kofa we continue to create safer spaces about the difference in lived experiences, resources, and and celebrate love. Love for others and more importantly privileges can’t even be had, how can those issues ever be self-love, and that’s what I found at PFLAG Portland Black addressed? Khalil was disappointed by that exchange but Chapter. No matter where we go, what name we use, as long is more concerned with the problems, and communities, as the Black LGBTQ community keeps the love, I know we that have been left without support. will be just fine.” “Things didn’t end well, and that is sad,” explained Edwards. “I can understand her feeling hurt and harm, but I know all of us worked very hard to move forward together. Beyond her hurt, beyond my hurt, is the hurt and damage to the wider Black LGBTQ community. We work and hear from folks daily seeking housing, struggling to make ends meet and put food on the table, being kicked out of their homes and being attacked at school...the list goes on. We hear from folks daily sharing that they were ready to leave Portland before they found us, they didn’t think anyone cared about their issues. That is the hurt and harm I am concerned with. We know what an important role we play in this community, and that is something that should be afforded the importance and severity it deserves.” Onesha and her wife Keesha, say that they came to PFLAG in 2011 feeling very broken. They were recovering addicts, homeless, and out of work. Although the recovery community helped them get clean and stay clean, they weren’t really supportive of the couple’s relationship. They described PFLAG Black Chapter as a God-Send, encouraging the couple to be happy in their relationship and to work on their problems. Even more important to them was the safer space it gave them to celebrate their love. They spoke of how they were the first Black Lesbian couple to get married in Portland, and how they now have good jobs, a nice home, and a healthy relationship. “Khalil Edwards and his mom Antoinette [co-founder of PFLAG PBC] have been extremely supportive of us every step of the way,” explains Onesha. “September 1, 2016, I celebrated 5 years clean and 10-11-16 my wife Keesha Dumas will celebrate 5 years clean. Because of the role models we found in PFLAG we learned how to, as Antoinette would say, fight fairly. It’s hard to be a Black person in America period, but to be Black and Gay well, that is a whole other level of oppression. PFLAG Portland Black Chapter gave us a Safe
Along with the communities, they serve, several of the staff members were left scrambling for personal resources as well, as there were no severance arrangements. This left Olivia Olivia, Communication Specialist, without an income, and shortly after that, no place to live. The housing market in Portland continues to price people out of the very areas they work and serve in, further complicating the ability for QTPOC to survive in this city that was literally built on a racist model, and in which historically Black neighborhoods are being gentrified at ever increasing speeds. “I am appalled by Dawn’s carelessness in the matter,” said Olivia, describing Dawn’s quick decisions and closing of accounts. “It is probably the most unprofessional way I’ve ever seen a leader of a major nonprofit behave - laying off staff with less than a week’s notice, leaving us houseless, with no safety net or severance. My problem isn’t that there was a disagreement between how the organization should be run - but that Dawn would take such an extreme step in light of her first disagreement with the only organization specifically serving the Black LGBTQ community.” “This is not how adults resolve the disagreement,” she added. “This is not a responsible timeline for resolving an organization’s conflicts. This is not the way a cis het white ally should behave or for that matter any director or president of PFLAG. It is my opinion that she is not suitable to lead the organization and that PFLAG National and the LGBTQ community and allies as a whole should condemn her actions and ask that she step down immediately. We deserve better, and this is a chance to learn.” When Dawn was asked what she--as a white, heterosexual, cisgendered person--saw as her role regarding interacting with and serving communities that are so different SANKOFA COLLECTIVE NORTHWEST page 17
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from herself? And if she pursued ongoing racial/social justice training or involvement in activism beyond her volunteer work for PFLAG, she again sidestepped the question. “One email does not tell the whole history of PFLAG Portland’s chapters, which have a strong, demonstrated, decades-long history of supporting Portland’s diverse LGBTQ communities,” Holt said. “The chapters’ members and leaders--families, allies, and LGBTQ people--are proud of this shared, groundbreaking work.” This isn’t a question of just one email, however, or even just one opinion. Multiple Black LGBTQ folks spoke to Holt directly long before we asked her about it, and the pattern of deflection and disrespect from her in those emails, texts and voicemails are clear and familiar. Rather than speaking to her own personal experience and acknowledging the direct hurt and miscommunication that had been conveyed to her, and then using that as a means to move forward into a better understanding and possible future healing or collaborations, she folded herself into the safely anonymous ‘we’ of the organization as a whole and tacitly denied responsibility. This is a familiar pattern when it comes to privilege. Failing to step outside of our own experience and seek out training or knowledge that would lead to more informed and intersectional activism. Failing to realize that ‘ally’ is a verb, not a noun, and not a designation we can give to ourselves. It is hard to thank someone for pointing out where you’ve gone awry or hurt them; hard even to admit
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it; sometimes almost impossible to believe it’s a real thing because it doesn’t suit our picture of ourselves, or how the world works. Hard, but a requirement for genuine change. The point of PFLAG Portland is to serve and advocate for the LGBTQ population of Portland as a whole; to be a source of compassion and connection and understanding. Their heart is in the right place, but to say that every community can be equally served with the same model is to miss a chance to help achieve actual equity in resources and support. It also fails to acknowledge the fact that both the working class queers of color who were staffing PFLAG Portland Black Chapter and much of the community they serve, are not living in the same world as someone who can afford to volunteer their time. There are also cultural considerations, and disproportionate rates of harm and danger involved in being Black and LBGTQ, that require different kinds of support than the general network allows for. Justin Pabalate, Co-Executive Director of the Q Center--where PFLAG Portland Black Chapter was located, and where they are looking forward to housing Sankofa as well--feels that “Conflict is natural and expected. Especially given that we LGBTQIA+ people of color live in white town Portland, OR.” “Am I surprised that there was a conflict between QTPOC leaders and an allied white organization?” he added. “No. We may be connected by our shared experiences around sexual orientation, but the beautiful and sometimes painful reality is that we are also more attuned with intersectionality. Because racism runs deep and in typically unseen ways, QTPOC community members are usually the ones who have to do the education, the activism, and suffer through our allies’ learning process.”
“Conflict is easy,” he concluded. “ Honoring space for healing, owning mistakes, working towards a long-term resolution, those are all hard. It’s inevitable that our white allies will make errors and cause trauma, but in my experience as a biracial person (which is different than those of black community members,) I’ve found compassion for them and the remembrance of what good they have brought helps me heal and forgive. There is a time for the hurt and for healing. It’s important for us, QTPOC community members, to remember that we’re here for each other and to reach out to one another for support. When allies make mistakes, as we all do, my hope for them is that they reflect, learn and do better.” Transformative social justice works best when we all work together, but the system is so imbalanced that it often becomes a case of asking too much of the people that are oppressed and too little of the ones who benefit most from the way things are. Sankofa Collective Northwest is choosing a path that is rooted in their own community, their own lived experiences, and their own understanding of how to make that work. Centering the work, they need to do around the communities they serve, and constructing systems to keep it sustainable. Pushing us all forward with their momentum and self-respect, though it should never be their job to do so. To support Sankofa in their relaunch, visit bit. ly/2c289RH. Sossity Chiricuzio is a writer and columnist based out of Portland, Oregon. She is a regular contributor to PQ Monthly and focuses on social justice, communication, community, and changing the world. You can reach her at sossity@ pqmonthly.com or follow her online @sossitywrites.
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NATIONAL
WHY THE WHITE HOUSE NEEDS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE STANDING ROCK DISPUTE
By Mark Trahant, Trahant Reports
I’ve been thinking a lot about the silence from the White House on the situation at Standing Rock. There have been so many calls to get involved, including a direct plea from Chairman David Archambault II.
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So on Wednesday President Obama finally spoke; answering a question in Laos. He cited the stellar record of his administration and then he said: “And this issue of ancestral lands and helping them preserve their way of life is something that we have worked very hard on. Now, some of these issues are caught up with laws and treaties, and so I can’t give you details on this particular case. I’d have to go back to my staff and find out how are we doing on this one. But what I can tell you is, is that we have actually restored more rights among Native Americans to their ancestral lands, sacred sites, waters, hunting grounds. We have done a lot more work on that over the last eight years than we had in the previous 20, 30 years. And this is something that I hope will continue as we go forward.” Of course, this has been an amazing eight years. Or should I say almost eight years? The president was on the other side of the world answering a question when he had not been briefed. The president doesn’t have the
time to watch the news, or read newspapers, so issues even as important as this one can slip by. But there should have been a paragraph, a short memo, something that was placed in front of the president. Instead, the president, who has done more for Native Americans than anyone else, had a deer-in-the-headlights moment, not unlike George Bush or Ronald Reagan. What should the White House be doing? Ideally, propose a solution. President Obama’s executive order on tribal consultation is clear about what should be done. It says: “History has shown that failure to include the voices of tribal officials in formulating policy affecting their communities has all too often led to undesirable and, at times, devastating and tragic results. By contrast, meaningful dialogue between Federal officials and tribal officials has greatly improved Federal policy toward Indian tribes. Consultation is a critical ingredient of a sound and productive Federal-tribal relationship.” There are hundreds of people camped near the Standing Rock Reservation, ready to engage in peaceful, civil disobedience, who are trying to avoid those devastating and tragic results. Meanwhile elected North Dakota government officials — who cannot even bring themselves to visit the camp and learn about what’s occurring — have a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of the protest and are calling STANDING ROCK page 19
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for more law enforcement action, including the National Guard. Some history: Over the years I have interviewed a number of people who have worked in the Nixon White House. There were three major crises involving Indian country: the occupations of Alcatraz, the Bureau of Indian Affairs headquarters, and Wounded Knee. John Ehrlichman and Leonard Garment both told me about the tension between those who would use government power — law enforcement and troops — versus those who wanted to find a peaceful resolution This is only the story as remembered by government officials, not the full account. That said: Alcatraz was first. The California island was occupied in November 1969 by a group of college students that would form “Indians of All Tribes.” Goals ranged from inter-tribal ownership to the creation of a new university, museum, and cultural center. But the federal government wanted the island back. “What I sensed,” Garment told the Nixon Library in 2007, “was that the administration did not want any bloodshed. That there was already a lot of trouble in the country. I mean, later on, when there was Kent State, I mean, all of these problems were … quite explosive.” But Bob Kunzig, who was the federal official responsible for the island, wanted the Coast Guard to land on the island and remove students by force. “When I heard about that,” Garment said, “I said tell him to forget about it so there was a kind of a little bit of a battle, not a battle royal, a battle royalette, a miniature battle, because he didn’t have the standing to do anything nor did anybody want bloodshed over Alcatraz. So it turned into a very interesting symbolic issue, which worked well for the Indians and it worked well for the administration. It worked well for the processes of history because here was Alcatraz, this prison island, a lump of rock, and here were these people, Indians, out on the island, and here was the federal government withholding its powerful, its armed fist, and waiting them out. And it was an interesting time, learned a lot, had a lot of people who were very angry, wanted us to provision the island and it was a way of sort of, at least for me, of striking a balance between trying to enforce the law and also not to be so heavy-handed that we wind up in a mess, in a bloody mess. So that was, that was Alcatraz.” The same parameters were in place during the BIA takeover. The Nixon White House looked for solutions, one even as unconventional as paying the occupiers to leave town, money that was supposed to be used for people to buy bus tickets home. Garment told me “we were condemned, investigations were held, hearings, but there was no bloodshed.” Wounded Knee was different. Nixon wanted action. We know from his secret tape recordings that he wanted the White House visible. He suggested lots of meetings where officials would be “going out and finding every camera you can get your hands on to put across a foundation. It pqmonthly.com
would show the White House in operation.” But if that didn’t work, the president was willing to use military force. “I think we ought to move tanks, the whole goddamned thing. Put a division in there, if necessary,” the president said. “It’s time for action on it. If some Indians get shot, that’s too goddamned bad. If some Americans get shot, that’s too bad, too.” Garment said the 82nd Airborne and the Marshals were ready to move in “and that would have been bloody because they did, there were weapons.” But it was a general, Volney Warner, who talked the White House down. “He just went through what would happen. The number of troops that would be used, the tear gas, the number of deaths that were likely and when he finished there was no more talk about taking them out by force.” Of course, Standing Rock is different. And one of those ways is frightening: Instead of debating the power of the federal government, we’re already seeing the use of a private security force who do not answer to civilian authorities. Indeed one of the problems here is that the owners of the Dakota Access Pipeline cannot wait for a peaceful resolution to unfold; the partnership’s entire strategy is to build the pipeline quickly before the regulatory process can catch up. The partners want banks to know this can be done fast and without political interference, avoiding the kind of delays that killed the Keystone XL pipeline and more recently, the Sandpiper Pipeline. Energy Transfer Partners were clear about this plan. In May, for example, a spokesperson told The Forum News Service that its “depth of experience and relationship with regulatory agencies has made the company confident enough to start construction before all permits have been granted.” And the state of North Dakota is eager too. Statements by the governor, county officials, and the company all acknowledge that protests are protected by the First Amendment. But they also frequently use the word “lawful.” They see protest as holding a sign, not holding a line. They misunderstand the nature of civil disobedience and the long-term presence of people who are willing to disobey an unjust process and unjust laws. The key to successful civil disobedience is moral authority, not “lawful” slogans. How much government power will be used to protect the Dakota Access Pipeline? Or will that be a private security force that uses attack dogs and more? Is the state, the company, willing to kill to enforce its outcome? And now, potentially, the National Guard. As Nixon once put it, “if some Indians get shot, that’s too goddamned bad. If some Americans get shot, that’s too bad.” The White House has two great powers. It can shine a light on the story, the whole story. It can also convene. Bring together the Dakota Access Pipeline Partners, the state, the tribes, and make sure that the outcome does not end up a bloody mess. Mark Trahant is the Charles R. Johnson Endowed Professor of Journalism at the University of North Dakota. He is an independent journalist and a member of The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. On @TrahantReports”Twitter @TrahantReports. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 • 19
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FEATURE
REFUSE THE BITTER PILLS By Suzanne Deakins
Our society conflicts with contractions that put our future in peril. As we approach the election of our presidency more than a 4-year term is at stake. The very freedoms we have fought for may be on the chopping block. When one group loses freedoms, the whole world loses. Living with contradictions has become a way of life for intelligent people. With Ketman like qualifications, leaders assert they have the right to be wrong. Being wrong is more than just aligning oneself with a mistake it deals with joining the delusion of a democracy and the right to expression. Our human past is replete with revolutions born out of Ketman like silence. The Ketman effect is when those in a position to change the course of history, by positive assertion of Truth and premises based on Truth and reality, and yet they deny what is right out of fear and lack of courage. Simply put, the act of covering one’s behind… rather than take a stand for what is right for all people. Refusing to be responsible is opium to the ego mind. Intelligent leaders are swept up in the euphoria by being mediocre and their unwillingness to shout out for what is right. Why are we willing to sacrifice our sense of justice and equality for all, for this illusion and euphoria of being mediocre? What kind of pill have we been swallowing to allow our country, our world get to this place in consciousness. While we criticize another country for their incarceration of individuals for their need to express themselves, we vote in politicians that would limit our freedoms. We vote in those who tell us that our freedoms are confined to their narrow view of life. We hear politicians say that those who are homosexual aren’t of God… what is next? Will we vote these idiots into office and watch while they say those who practice learning another language or reading a book or producing a painting are not of God? Not as far-fetched as you might think. Historically the lack of support of arts and languages is the path that dictators take. pqmonthly.com
The question remains why are intelligent people willing to stand behind a premise that is foul and destructive? How does one live with a contradiction knowing the Truth and yet prepared to live the lie? Searching through all that I can I am stupefied by this willingness to accept erroneous beliefs except for one small idea. We have lost our courage and pioneering spirit. Becoming complacent in our convictions and willing to side with erroneous beliefs… Forget about the red and yellow peril of the past generations and look at what we are constructing. As the leader of democracy, we are a peril to the very health of what democracy stands for. We have decided that equal is treating everyone the same rather than celebrating the individuality of being. We have decided that we know what is of Truth. Our policy is no longer one of embracing the huddle masses… but of exclusion. The courage to be, takes us out of the illusion of ordinary into an extraordinary state of existence. Our lives become one of embracing individuality and yet understanding the core of all life is of one idea no matter what it is called. Those with the courage of being, don’t have to spout their passion they live it. They are willing to stand up in the face of adversity for what is Truth and right for all. Those with the courage to be, protect children from the rhetoric of fear and the opium of delusion. Individuality becomes a source of pride and celebration. Freedom for all is the major premise of governing law. The courage to be, is more than accepting Truth. It is about freeing our minds from the captivity of the delusion of freedom and ego. As long as our intellects remain captive, we will cover our behinds and invoke the Ketman aspect of consciousness. To become courageous refuse to swallow the bitter pills we are handed stand up to those who would pervert our freedom and feed us false premises. Call out: Those with the courage to be, protect children from the rhetoric of fear and the opium of delusion. Individuality becomes a source of pride and celebration. Freedom for all is the major premise of governing law SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 • 21
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VOICES
EMBODY
WE NEED TO LEARN By: Sossity Chiricuzio
The planet cries for us. I’ve heard it since I was a small child, quiet in the night. The world cries for us because we are so broken. Because we lash out, and gobble, and posture, and are enduringly stubborn. Insistent on our own pleasures, our own power, our own image. Selfish. Entire species lost. Water full of plastic and waste. Mountains shredded into minerals. Skies burning away. But we like our engines. We need to get there fast. We like those toxic colors and scents cooked up in the lab. We’ve gotten accustomed to the flavors from every corner of the world. We prefer to eat only the soft centers, but still, don’t share the rind. We prefer it disposable. We prefer to do it all our way. We can’t be bothered to gently explore, gathering the medicine and food. We can’t be bothered to seek out visions, preferring explosion filled fantasies instead. We can’t be bothered to remember to say thank you. Not to the creatures we consume, nor the plants. Not to the dirt, or the wind, or the water, or the stars. Not even to each other. Of course, when I say ‘we,’ I mean human beings. But we do not create ourselves equally. We do not all forget, and plunder, and mistake autonomy for authority. We do not all settle for this violently bright playground we’ve tried to turn the planet into. ‘We’ is tricky. The opposite is ‘they,’ and we know where that leads. War, famine, rape, crusades, torture, slavery. We’ve done it. We still do. We find reasons. We invent them. We turn them into religion, and politics, and tradition, and commerce. There is always a reason to take what we want, no matter who else needs it. No matter the sacredness, or the science, of leaving it be. No matter the value, inherent, that never sought our covetous approval. We that takes is almost always white. We that takes is almost always wealthy, or at least comfortable. We that takes is almost always able-bodied; is almost always male; is almost always the spitting image of what has been forcibly defined as normal. We that takes is already calling me a traitor, a radical, a troublemaker, for saying so. We don’t like to hear the truth. We need to learn. We have an enormous imbalance of power and resources and rights. Of the quality of life, of safety, of access, of respect. And being white means that I am part of we that takes, born into it, no matter how much I push back against it, no matter how I try to break the lens of privilege. I cannot forget it, or be complacent in it. I cannot refute it, or gather good deeds like gold stars. I have to recognize it, watch for it, own it and move forward in unlearning it.
And that’s the least I can do. The world needs more. We need more. We need to learn to actually be a part of the growth, to value transformation more than comfort. We need to be ready to actually share, and not just the scraps. We need to release our white knuckle grip on control and let ourselves be absorbed into the ferment. To shine like one star in the sky and not a neon sign. Standing alone as monuments to ego and bootstraps is killing us. Those ideas are false idols. Are make believe. Are poison. We have to commit. We have to transform. Some humans are spending their lives trying to survive and dismantle our corrupt police states and political systems; to protect the planet and the creatures on it; to knock down walls of ignorance and hate. Who are trying to save us all from ourselves? Almost always people of color. Almost always poor or working class. Almost always survivors of generations of oppression and exploitation. Almost always vilified and dismissed and locked up and sent away if not outright murdered. As for the rest of us? Donating money is something, but it’s not enough on its own. Having friends that are different than ourselves is something, but it’s not sufficient on its own. Voting liberal is something, but it’s not enough on its own. Petitions aren’t enough. Yard signs aren’t enough. Occasional volunteering isn’t enough. The world is trembling under the pressure of our taking. The very ground beneath our feet is shifting in pain. We are the breaking point. Can we survive ourselves? Can we finally expand our definition of ‘we’ to all humans? Can we stop gouging lines in the ground and calling them logic? Can we learn to find joy in giving, and do it even without witness or praise? Can we come to understand that none of this belongs to us anyways? None of this belongs to us. We have taken the gift of life and turned it into an ugly contest, and ‘we’ never intend to let ‘them’ win. This is not living. This is consuming without compassion, and scrambling to survive. Somewhere between new awareness and old knowledge is a way to actually be ‘we.’ Somewhere between science and simplicity. Somewhere between our gut and our heart. We’ve given too much credence to our brains, twisty and layered and indoctrinated as they are. We need to pay attention to the hollow places inside us and learn to recognize resonance again. We need to learn how to define human as another creature on this planet, and not the image of God. We are not made sacred by standing on top of everything else. We are barely sacred at all anymore.
End note: If you have questions or topics you’d like me to cover, products you’d like me to review, people you’d like to hear from, or resources to share, please get in touch! sossity@pqmonthly.com 22 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016
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OPINION
FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER 9/11, AMERICA FAILS TO END TERROR
By Arab American News, Editorial
Fifteen years have passed since the planes hit the towers in New York. Beyond the immediate tragedy, the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, gave birth to the disastrous “War on Terror (WoT).” A decade and a half and multiple wars later, the world is a far more dangerous place. On the second anniversary of 9/11, the United States had been in Iraq for six months. Then, seven in 10 Americans falsely believed that deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Hussein was a secularist who was viewed as an enemy by al-Qaeda-type groups. As a matter of fact, Osama Bin Laden turned against the United States because he was not given a chance to fight Hussein after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1991. He thought the U.S.-led coalition in the first Gulf war violated the Holy Land of Hijaz by operating from Saudi Arabia. As former Secretary of Treasury Paul O’Neil revealed in
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Ron Suskind’s book “The Price of Loyalty,” George W. Bush was planning the Iraq invasion as early as February 2001, seven months before the attacks. Bush employed lies to turn 9/11 into a catalyst for his neoconservative aims. He used the tragedy to push his ideological agenda on the people of the world, setting in motion the violence and terrorism that would ravage the Middle East and target Western cities from Paris to Brussels to San Bernardino. President Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize in his first year in office, but unfortunately, he followed in his predecessor’s footsteps, albeit through different tactics. The Bush and Obama administrations have failed in containing and destroying the extremism that led to the murder of thousands of Americans on 9/11.The same kind violent psychopaths who attacked the United States in 2001 control swaths of land across the Middle East despite — if not because of — the war on terror. Bush’s Iraq war was a well-documented disaster. The invasion, followed by de-Baathification policies, are direct reasons behind the rise of ISIS. Obama did not make matters better. His intervention in Libya proved to be catastrophic. The North African nation is now divided between two governments and countless militant groups, including ISIS, which has controlled parts of the coastal city of Sirte. Although a U.S.-backed campaign to recapture the town from terrorists appears to be succeeding, regaining Sirte will not rid Libya of the violence. Militants fleeing Sirte will pose a threat to neighboring Tunisia and other African countries. Obama’s Syria policies have also further destabilized the region. While Washington has failed miserably in its quest to find and support “moderate” rebels, U.S. allies (namely
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar) have been backing radical anti-government groups, including al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization that attacked America on 9/11. History repeats itself. As the CIA backed the anti-Soviet Mujahideen in Afghanistan, various intelligence agencies and regional allies are supporting questionable militants in Syria, who could one day turn their guns against the United States, like Bin Laden. Both Obama and Bush strengthened the underlying causes of extremism by contributing to the resentment against the United States. Bush’s invasions and Obama’s drone wars perpetuated the notion that America is an enemy of the people of the Middle East. In his historic 2009 speech in Cairo, Obama made it clear that the United States is not at war with Islam. But his actions over the following seven years did not match his rhetoric. His “targeted killings” have caused hundreds of civilian casualties. The lack of transparency around the drone program keeps the American people in the dark while failing to quell the expansion of terrorist groups in the region. The American government has also maintained its close ties with Saudi Arabia, which, in the words of New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, pours money into peaceful countries to nurture extremism. Washington continues to sell the tyrannical Gulf monarchy billions of dollars worth of weapons, overlooking the kingdom’s abuses and disregard for human life. On the 15th anniversary of 9/11, our hearts go to the victims of the attacks, not only the thousands of innocent New Yorkers, but also the subsequent millions of atrocities of the War on Terror.
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NATIONAL
FILIPINO AMERICANS SOUND OFF ON TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION SPEECH cited the case of a Philippine citizen living in California who was convicted of plotting to join Al Qaeda. Prior to his speech, Trump went to Mexico earlier that day to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto, a conversation he said was “thoughtful and substantive.” The Republican candidate said he and the Mexican president did not discuss the latter’s government footing the bill for the border separating the U.S. and Mexico. However, during his remarks, Trump suggested otherwise.
By Christina Oriel, Asian Journal
In his anticipated immigration speech in Phoenix, Ariz. on Wednesday night, August 31, these were some of the policies Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said would help “take our country back.” “When politicians talk about immigration reform, they usually mean the following: amnesty, open borders, and lower wages,” Trump said. “Immigration reform should mean something else entirely: it should mean improvements to our laws and policies to make life better for American citizens.” The issue of immigration — particularly undocumented immigration, which Trump said is “one of the greatest challenges” the country faces — has been a bedrock of the real estate billionaire’s campaign. In announcing his candidacy last year, he mentioned that Mexican immigrants were “rapists” and “bringing drugs” into the United States. Following the attack in San Bernardino, California in December, Trump proposed banning Muslims from entering the country until lawmakers “can figure out what is going on.” Last month, he even received backlash from many Filipino-Americans when he suggested curbing immigration from “terrorist nations,” including the Philippines. He
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“We will build a great wall along the southern border. And Mexico will pay for the wall. One hundred percent,” he said. “They don’t know it yet, but they’re going to pay for it.” Among other policies, he proposed in his hour-long remarks included: end catch-and-release; “zero tolerance for criminal aliens”; “cancel unconstitutional executive orders and enforce all immigration laws”; suspend issuance of visas without proper screening, and making sure countries take back deported individuals. Though reports leading up to the long-awaited speech speculated that he would backtrack from his hard-line immigration stance in an attempt to garner broader appeal, he reiterated that those without papers would be deported. “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country,” he said. He went on to add that under his administration, a pathway to legal status would be impossible for undocumented immigrants because “those days are over.” The only solution, he said, would be for them to return to their home countries. “For those here illegally today, who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only. To return home and apply for re-entry like everybody else, under the rules of the new legal immigration system
that I have outlined above,” he said. For some Fil-Am Republicans, Trump’s speech supported their beliefs that potential immigrants should wait in line to enter the U.S. Consuelo Almonte, founder and president of the Philippine Community Center Services for Aging in New York, applauded Trump’s speech and said he “expresses the failures of this administration.” “I am with Trump for zero tolerance for illegal aliens that [are] flooding our schools, our hospitals [and] social welfare. It is a burden for the citizens and taxpayers,” she said. “Furthermore, there should be extreme vetting for those who want to stay here. Those who desire to stay here should assimilate and respect our laws and accept our norm of life. Otherwise, why would anyone want to live in a place where they despise the way of life? Simple as that.” Emmanuel Tipon, an 83-year-old immigration lawyer from Hawaii, said the core of the immigration debate is the “well-being of the American people.” “Filipinos waiting for visa availability should be taken care of first before letting others in. Immigration policy should be based on national interest [and] what is good for America,” Tipon said on Thursday, Sept. 1. Lisa Noeth, a Fil-Am small business owner and grassroots Republican Party volunteer in Las Vegas, told the Asian Journal that “there is a misconception about Mr. Trump’s tough stance on immigration.” “Illegal immigration in the United States should not be taken lightly, because if you are entering the United States illegally, it is a criminal act. Here is an example of why illegal immigration must be halted under Mr. Trump’s administration,” she said. “I’ve heard stories countless Filipinos, who’ve applied for their visas to come to the United States. Unfortunately, the immigration process takes them 10-15 years to have their visas approved to legally [come to] the United States.” Shirlene Ostrov — a Fil-Am retired Air Force colonel who is running under the Republican ticket in the race for Hawaii’s 1st IMMIGRATION page 25
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congressional district — said Continued from page 24 Trump’s policies show “his concern for safety” and are “good attempts to restore law and order” in the country.
Americans for Hillary, said, “If Trump were elected, he actually would create a barbaric state of America because all of us would continuously have to look over our shoulders. Undocumented people would have to live in fear of being deported every day.”
“As the daughter of immigrants, I do believe in a vibrant immigration system that is enforced properly and takes into account the safety and security of American citizens,” Ostrov told the Asian Journal.
“As the first Filipino American in the California Legislature and the son of an immigrant, I am disgusted by how casually Trump speaks about deporting millions of people, including Filipinos. He has demonstrated a willful ignorance about America’s history and our values, and is simply unfit to serve as president of our United States of America,” Assemblymember Rob Bonta told the Asian Journal in a statement. “The only candidate with the vision to lead and a plan for comprehensive immigration reform is Secretary Clinton.”
However, she noted that she disagrees with “the notion of ideological certifications,” a screening test that Trump said would ensure the U.S. was bringing in people who “share our values and love our people.” Earlier in August, the Republican nominee proposed the vetting system, alleging that the U.S. government does not know exactly who is coming in. On the other hand, the campaign for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said it was Trump’s “darkest speech yet.” “Donald Trump once again showed us that he will continue his decades-long record of divisiveness and campaign of hate by pledging to forcibly remove every single undocumented immigrant from our country,” the campaign said. Similarly, Clinton supporters echoed the campaign’s reactions. Meriam Reynosa, a member of Filipino
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Aries Dela Cruz, president of the Filipino American Democratic Club of New York, said listening to the speech “seemed like a nightmare.” “In that America, Filipino immigrants like my family and me are not welcome. The Filipino community will not be fooled by Trump’s hostility against our families and his desire to round us up. It’s clear now that he is not the leader of a party or a campaign, but a hate movement. That’s why we will be out in full force in November to vote for Hillary, and why we are working every day to make sure our community’s vote and voice will be a decisive one,” he told the Asian Journal in an email.
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NATIONAL
VOICES
THE SECRET LIFE OF SUMMER SEASONS: HOW CUPCAKES MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER
By Summer Seasons
I met Lisa Watson at Red Cap Garage quite a few years ago when I was up there watching Poison Waters host Drag Race. The place was packed, the lines for drinks very long and Poison was giving these girls some pretty incredible challenges. Out of the crowd, I spot this shorter beautiful woman with cupcakes in her hands, and I’m thinking, wow I wanna be friends with her because she’s got cupcakes! Poison walks over while the girls are performing and I see her talking to this woman, so I figure here’s my chance to introduce myself and get my hands on one of these cupcakes. I walk up to her, we exchange pleasantries and then she introduces me to Lisa Watson. I remember immediately being taken aback by that warm smile, but I couldn’t help the task at hand of getting my hands on one of those cupcakes. Poison announces that Lisa will be providing cupcakes, and I immediately ask if I can have one. She tells me of all the different varieties that they have, but I’m drawn to the one she said was Peanut Butter and Jelly. When I say, it’s the best dessert I’ve ever put in my mouth that is not an understatement. It was a peanut flavored cupcake filled with Jelly inside and a peanut butter crème. As a person who loves peanut butter more than anything, I think I remember telling her it was sooooooo good I could slap my own mother, and immediately asked if I could have another. I remember taking the cupcake around to some friends I had around the bar and telling them about how good it was. It’s pretty rare that I get so passionate about food like that, but how could they take my favorite thing and turn it into and even more favor26 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016
ite thing. I was officially hooked on Cupcake Jones. Throughout that year of Drag Race, I made it a point to come often in the hopes I’d run into Lisa and be able to devour one of her delicious cupcakes. I remember telling everyone I knew including my own mother about my new favorite treat, and I was on a mission to make everyone enjoy the cupcakes like I did. Eventually, after a few times, Lisa began to recognize me, and we became friends. As the years passed and Lisa and I became greater friends, I was introduced to her husband Peter whom I immediately fell in love with as well. The more I learned about Cupcake Jones, the more I was intrigued by supporting them and their venture to have a successful business. I discovered that they had a charity donation program where they gave away a portion of their proceeds to a different charity every month. As a person who longed to be in a non-profit, I was quick to support them in their endeavors to raise awareness for all the new ones they chose to support. One of the things I admired the most was that they chose smaller ones frequently who not only could benefit from the money, but their exposure was critical too. It became pretty clear to me that Lisa and Peter were not only willing to put their money where their mouth was, but they were willing to invest their time as well. I discovered that Lisa had signed on to Our House’s dinner series not only as a host but also chairing the efforts too. Every day I saw her working tirelessly to go to dinners, create cupcakes for them and get people involved in them too. It is because of Lisa that I went to my first Dinner Series dinner, and I had an absolute blast! This past year I got the privilege to go with my mom to the Cupcake Jones Dinner, where we got to make our own cupcakes, be served delicious Cocktails by Dave Behrend and an excellent meal by Emily Quick. We had such a great time at the event that my mom buckled in her cupcakes after the event, because as she called them, they were “precious cargo”! When I tell you how much love I have for Lisa and Peter, I don’t think it’s easy for anyone to understand. While I recognize that we are not Best Friends, I know that they’d do whatever was needed for me if I asked and I’d do the same for them too. Lisa and Peter are the kind of individuals everyone should strive to be, and their product is above par too! If you ever have the privilege to see Lisa’s office, you’d see the abundance of awards that she and her bakery has earned, and rightfully so. When you give back so much to the community that you love, the community definitely gives back to you. pqmonthly.com
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