I have worked for a variety of publications. Here are some samples of work that I have done in the past.
What makes a home?
I believe in the radical notion that housing is a human right, and that everyone deserves a place to call home no matter their social class or background. Since I moved to Portland in 2013, the cost of housing has increased and the impact of gentrification has spread. The socioeconomic implications of this led me to write my honors senior thesis on the experience of the Eastern African immigrant population here. All of this has led me to my current project— Rose City Residential— a media project about housing issues in Portland.
Come Thru market celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Come Thru Black & Indigenous Market took place on Oct. 12 at the Redd East Event Space (831 SE Salmon St.), with musical performances to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Raceme Farm Collective and Black Food Sovereignty Council & Coalition organized the event that featured performances by vendors including song and drumming by 7 Waters Canoe Family and drumming by Black Futures Farm; Aztec dance by Yankuik Ohtli; a performance by Kiki House of Flora; and a music set by DJ Gila River Monster. While the market has been a bi-weekly occurrence, happening every other Monday from 11 a.m. to 3 – p.m. throughout the summer, it will switch to monthly as the weather cools down.
Portrait of an Artist: Jozimar Matimano paints in the colors of freedom
Jozimar Matimano is a full-time laser print operator working second shift at a local manufacturing company and an art student, pursuing his future career as a fine artist. At 25, his determination and work ethic are admirable. But what is most remarkable is all that Matimano has endured to now be pursuing his American dream. He is a refugee who arrived in Manchester with his family of eight less than four years ago.
Mulugeta Seraw remembered
The Urban League of Portland held a conference on Nov. 13 at University Place Conference Center to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the death of Portland resident and Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw. Street sign toppers featuring a portrait of Seraw with details of his life and death were installed in the Kerns neighborhood by his family members and community leaders during a Nov. 14 commemorative gathering on the block where he was killed in Southeast Portland.
Police violence by the numbers
Sam Sinyangwe, a policy analyst and data scientist who works with communities of color to fight systemic racism through cutting-edge policies and strategies, gave a talk on Nov. 29 at the Smith Memorial Ballroom. The event was hosted by Oregon Justice Resource Center, a statewide non-profit that works on criminal justice reform, sponsored by Portland State.
Fed Up
Student groups are struggling to afford food for their events now that Chartwells Catering has bumped up prices on the student snack menu by 300 percent this term. Chartwells, a division of Compass Group USA Inc. and branded on campus as PSU EATS, signed a 10-year contract with Portland State in 2017 for exclusive rights to provide meal plans and food service in Smith Memorial Student Union, the Viking Pavilion and PSU’s dining halls.
Love and Sex in the Cities of Today
Sex and the City is not just for your sassy, single aunt. I recently binge-watched the entire show spanning from 1998–2004 and got sucked into the realness of the complicated, messy relationships. The show resonated with me so deeply that I couldn’t put the remote down. I finished all 94 episodes in two weeks, and yes, I am aware that I need a life. The generation born the year Sex and the City first aired will soon be old enough to order cosmopolitans—the drink of choice for single women in Sex and the City. Not only have the drink tastes of single women changed over the past twenty years, but so have dating norms.
PSU community weighs in on Portland’s Housing Bond
The 2018 General Election ballot on Nov. 6 will include Portland’s Housing Bond initiative, which aims to authorize $652.8 million in general obligation bonds to fund the acquisition of 3,900 affordable housing units in the Portland Metro area.
Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the future of consumerism
The holiday season retailers are counting on shoppers to take department stores by storm on Black Friday and scour the internet for deals on Cyber Monday. Shoppers in the United States spent a record $5 billion in 24 hours during Black Friday last year, according to Adobe Digital Insights, a firm that tracks 80 percent of transactions from 100 major retailers. The same year, Cyber Monday became the largest online shopping day in U.S. history, with $6.59 billion in digital transactions.
A Candle in the Darkness
Dr. Baher Butti’s earliest memory dates from 1963, when he was just two years old. His uncle took him to visit his father in prison, where he was serving time for his political activism. Butti’s bloodline of activism runs strong. Besides his father’s stint as a prisoner, Butti’s grandfather — Iraq’s first minister of culture — started a newspaper and went to prison for opposing the British colonial mandate. Later, Butti’s father inherited the newspaper and became the chief editor.
The Architect of Her Own Future
It was her birthday, an especially happy one because she got to see her mom. Johana Amani and her sister rarely saw their mother because they were living with their father. But on that day, when she was 6 or 7, her mother came to see them at school, wrapping a traditional garment around Johana’s waist and making her a proud Congolese woman.
From Fist Fighting to Mediating
Bernal Cruz had just been suspended from high school for taking part in a fist fight when one of the school counselors stopped him and said, “I think you would make a really good mediator.” Despite some detours along the way, her comment started him on the path he is still pursuing. Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, in 1977, Cruz grew up in the midst of Guatemala’s 36-year civil war.
Finding His Footing on the Pitch
Wilondja Mashimango spent his childhood on the soccer field. One day on the pitch, he heard someone greet him and turned around to reply. However, what he found was a dog staring back at him. Terrified, he took off running. Mashimango describes this encounter as something supernatural – a run-in with a witch doctor who decided to greet him in the form of a dog. It’s one type of otherworldly meeting he says was common in the place where he grew up.
All Hands In: West grads go guerrilla on litter to beautify their city
In the words of author George Eliot, “It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses, we must plant more roses.” That’s exactly what All Hands In founders Michael Garcia and longtime friend, Zach Ziemba, are doing, one bag of trash at a time.
