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Kenton Park is a rolling, twelve acre, green-space in this tightly-packed city. People from the neighborhood had begun quietly assembling on Sunday, August 9 2020, in socially-distanced and masked groups at the north end of the park since around 6 PM. Unlike the visually packed spaces in the city center so famous from national and international headlines, this scene is more reminiscent of pastoral, little “a” anarchists on holiday during the plague times. Another stark contrast to what national news shows and talking heads discuss, this crowd is noticeably diverse. Portland is a majority white city in the whitest state in the country. The larger number of BIPOC activists present here is indicative of both the neighborhood and the continuing dedication of activists of color to not only control the narrative but to create it.

It started with the Douglas County Public Library’s relatively benign proposed statement against bigotry.

“The Douglas County Public Library denounces all acts of racism, violence and disregard for human rights. We support #BlackLivesMatter,” the statement reads in part.

“Due to your support of Black Lives Matter and the obvious lack of support or trust with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, please do not feel the need to call 911 for help. I wish you good luck with disturbances and lewd behavior,” Sheriff Daniel J. Coverley said in a letter to the library’s board of trustees.

On the heels of a night wherein the Portland Police Bureau beat, flashbanged, and gassed a crowd through the streets of outer Southeast Portland, the teenage-led activist group Youth Liberation Front posted a follow up call to action in the East Portland neighborhood. The announcement, of course, was not unnoticed by the Portland Police Bureau, whose official Twitter account stated unequivocally that “this call for direct action… will not go unanswered,” and that it “[meant] there [was] intent to engage in violent actions.” The interaction would prove to influence both fear in protesters’ minds and anger in the actions of the PPB officers later in the evening.

The intimidation planned for the August 1st “Justice for Womxn of Color” march in La Mesa wasn’t exactly covert. Then again, neither were the knives, bear spray cannisters, and clubs carried by the coalition of white supremacists, border militias, and assorted “patriots” who came together under the banner of Defend East County (DEC). The racists, who claimed to be there to prevent property damage, assaulted multiple people while police did nothing. Racists beat one Black child, leaving a huge bruise near her right kidney and another on her face, photos and off-the-record interviews conducted by LCRW confirm.

Mylinda Mason and Don Grundmann’s National Straight Pride Coalition are returning to Modesto on 29 August 2020 to hold the Second Annual Stanislaus County Straight Pride Event. Mason and Grundmann’s first Straight Pride Parade was marred with complications and family drama.