Some People Eat Fish
An excerpt from 'Diary of a Misfit' by Casey Parks
Sacred Instructions
Derek DeForest profiles Leanna, a Two-Spirit Klamath tribal member who has learned to connect with her voices and visions.
The Wisdom That Finds Us
Stacey Rice recalls her journey of struggle and survival as a transgender elder.
Long Live the Kings
Heather Wiedenhoft on the political significance of drag king culture in the Pacific Northwest
Girlish
Diana Abu-Jaber reflects on her experience as an ambivalent beauty queen.
A Monstrosity Beyond Reason
Danielle LaSusa writes about postpartum psychosis.
The Caregiver Strain Index
Erica Goss reflects on the experience of caring for her son within a dysfunctional mental health system.
Amplify Women
Have you noticed that we don’t hear enough women on the radio in Portland (or nearly anywhere)? For the last 5 years, XRAY has sought to shine a spotlight on these disparities and inequities in the voices we listen to and the perspectives whose media we consume. Since radio is an industry that continues to exclude women and those with intersecting experiences of marginalization, we hold an all-day radio teach-in each year on International Women’s Day.
They Belong to Themself
We do not possess the intellect, identity, or sexuality of our children, Chelsea King writes in this essay. We are only witnesses to their journeys.
Solace
Stacey Rice writes about finding peace in the mountains of North Carolina.
Consider This: Women in Business
Jackson County Library Services presents an hourlong panel discussion with local women business owners on how they have navigated challenges in order to find or create opportunity for success, followed by a thirty-minute Q&A. This event is sponsored by Oregon Humanities.
Foremothers of Photography
Raechel Herron Root on how the creative lineage of Southern Oregon’s separatist lesbian lands can help us reimagine the future.
Full Membership
My thoughts, ambitions, and dreams did not have a gender. Why did my pay?
Posts
Readers write about “Union.”
Beyond Invitation: How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Consider the Wedding—2004
Jamie Passaro considers why women who know better still buy into the Big Bucks White Wedding industry in the 2004 “Marriage” issue.
Making Men—2016
Bobbie Willis Soeby writes about raising her sons to not rape in the 2016 “Edge” issue.
Good Hair—2017
Kimberly Melton writes about the meaning of hair and going natural despite family and society expectations in the 2017 “Carry” issue.
Our Most-read Stories of 2019
Our readers' favorite articles and videos from the past year explore housing and exclusion, hidden histories, race, gender, and poverty.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion. This event will take place at the Multnomah Arts Center in room 30.
This Place Is Beautiful, This Place Is Gross
Sarah Cook writes about learning to see beauty and perseverance while living in The Dalles.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: Why DIY?
Are we as self-sufficient as we can be? As we should be? What are the pleasures and pitfalls of doing it yourself? This conversation investigates why we strive to be makers and doers in a world that provides more conveniences than ever before. How might the “new industrial revolution” of tinkerers and crafters affect American schools and workplaces? How do maker spaces or skills courses foster greater engagement and involvement? What could be left behind when we increase self-sufficiency in a community? All kinds of DIY interests are welcome: we can focus on foraging, permaculture, prepping, woodworking, or hovercraft making—or perhaps all of these at once! Through our shared stories, we will seek to understand more deeply how DIY functions in American life.
Conversation Project: What Does it Mean to Be Good?
Most of us believe we are good people. But if we are all good people, with little room for fallibility, who are the people responsible for supporting structural oppression like racism, sexism, and heterosexism? If we hope to be “good,” what are our moral responsibilities in a society of privilege, power, and oppression? Join facilitator Brittany Wake in a discussion that explores the values associated with how we come to establish ourselves as good people and what that means for our potential complicity in perpetuating marginalization.
Stand
A student reckons with an inappropriate teacher’s power and her own powerlessness. An excerpt from Reema Zaman's memoir, I Am Yours.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion. This event will take place in Columbia Room 102.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: What Does it Mean to Be Good?
Most of us believe we are good people. But if we are all good people, with little room for fallibility, who are the people responsible for supporting structural oppression like racism, sexism, and heterosexism? If we hope to be “good,” what are our moral responsibilities in a society of privilege, power, and oppression? Join facilitator Brittany Wake in a discussion that explores the values associated with how we come to establish ourselves as good people and what that means for our potential complicity in perpetuating marginalization.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion. RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctPXs1pMbZlDuVK5qCaZfYOX1cb2GG9oqXQ3Oe_WWi7wGxhA/viewform
The Quiet and In-between Moments
Joni Renee Whitworth writes about finding closeness and queerness through touch.
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: What Does it Mean to Be Good?
Most of us believe we are good people. But if we are all good people, with little room for fallibility, who are the people responsible for supporting structural oppression like racism, sexism, and heterosexism? If we hope to be “good,” what are our moral responsibilities in a society of privilege, power, and oppression? Join facilitator Brittany Wake in a discussion that explores the values associated with how we come to establish ourselves as good people and what that means for our potential complicity in perpetuating marginalization.
Our Most-read Stories of 2018
Our readers' favorite articles and videos from the past year explore stories of identity, place, and belonging.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Black. Muslim. Woman.
Tiara Darnell talks to Fatmah Worfeley, a nineteen-year-old Portland activist and student, about racism within the Muslim community, her parents’ interracial marriage, reconciling her Palestinian and Libyan heritage, and coming to terms with her Blackness.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
"It's Just a Beer"
Kira Smith on the unspoken contracts between men and women
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: What Does it Mean to be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: What Does it Mean to be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Editor's Note: Chipping Away
Kathleen Holt on eroding the system of patriarchal oppression as a parent.
Field Work: People in Motion
The University of Oregon’s Wayne Morse Center explores borders, migration, and belonging.
Cuts and Blows
Tashia Harris on living without expectation of safety
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: What Does it Mean to Be Good?
Exploring Morality in the Midst of Structural Oppression
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
My Brother's Keeper: "Kicked Out"
This fall, Four Rivers Cultural Center in Ontario will present "My Brother's Keeper," a series of eight documentary film screenings exploring the lives of marginalized peoples and issues such as mental health, addiction, and mass incarceration. Each screening will be followed by a presentation and Q&A session by a local nonprofit or government agency.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes Our Lives
Split
Lessons about men’s and women’s work divide a boy from his community. An essay by Ryan Stroud
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes Our Lives
Good Hair
Going natural despite family and societal expectations. An essay by Kimberly Melton
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Conversation Project: Mind the Gaps
How Gender Shapes our Lives
Sometimes Break Apart
Oregon Humanities magazine editor Kathleen Holt on sexism, power, and exclusion on her son's co-ed soccer team
Also Fire
Writer Brook Shelley on everyday life as an act of rebellion.
Sunday, Laundry Day
Every quarter counts in subsidized senior housing. An essay by Josephine Cooper
Making Men
Writer Bobbie Willis Soeby on raising her sons to not rape
Bum Count
An excerpt about searching for lost sheep in the wilderness of Hells Canyon from Joseph author Pamela Royes’ book, Temperance Creek
Mothers to Daughters
Mothers give advice to their daughters about living bravely in an unsafe world in this film produced by Sika Stanton for Oregon Humanities.
Getting Out
Loretta Stinson on deciding to leave an abusive marriage for good
Safely and Bravely
Editor Kathleen Holt on keeping her daughter safe in a place filled with threats of violence, disappointment, and despair
The Rim of the Wound
Writer Wendy Willis's open letter to the students of Columbia University Multicultural Affairs Advisory Board, with a special note to her daughters.
Magazine Podcast: Quandary
Talking about Ferguson, feminism, and filling out forms with Oregon Humanities magazine contributors
Feel-Good Feminism
Bitch Media cofounder Andi Zeisler wonders if feminism's pop-culture cachet has doomed the movement.
Home Economics
Using the house to bridge the public/private divide.
How Courtenay Got Her Funny Back
Sexy has no place in the kill-or-die world of comedy. An essay by Courtenay Hameister
Irreconcilable Dissonance
The threat of divorce as the glue of marriage. An essay by Brian Doyle