July 2021 Cultural Work Roundup

/// July 2021 ///

Welcome to July! Summer is in bloom and I hope you are too. The unprecedented heat alongside the COVID restrictions ending are just two things forcing us to enter into an unknown. How do we take care of ourselves and the people around us on evershifting ground? Below is a list of BIPOC makers, radical thinkers, and doers who can guide and ground us, featuring recommendations by Cultural Work Volunteer Alisa Chen at alisa.chen@apano.org and APANO's Arts & Media Project (AMP) members.

WATCH

• Accountability & Justice Town Hall– This virtual program convened activists, thought leaders and policy makers to discuss the Derek Chauvin verdict and what true justice and reform looks like in our community. Moderated by Ed Gordon, featured guests include: Derrick Johnson, NAACP President and CEO; Karen Bass, United States Representative; Cory Booker, United States Senator; Ben Crump, Attorney; Jelani Cobb, professor; Jen Chenault, Chairman and General Catalyst; Cariol Horne, Former Police Officer.
  
• “Breaking Down the Prison Industrial Complex” video project series– Critical Resistance presents “Breaking Down the Prison Industrial Complex,” a series of videos as part of our Profiles in Abolition initiative. The videos in the series explore the current state of the prison industrial complex (PIC) and how people are fighting back to resist and abolish it. As always, we feature abolition as a strategy to dismantle systems of harm and punishment in favor of systems that increase health, stability, and self-determination.

PRACTICE

• Portland Indigenous Marketplace– Portland Indigenous Marketplace supports indigenous artists and entrepreneurs by providing barrier-free, culturally respectful spaces that encourage cultural resilience and economic sustainability by promoting public education through cultural arts. The next in-person marketplace will be on July 24th from 10-4pm.
• PDX Climbers of Color BIPOC Climb Night @ NE Circuit– Join PDX CoC at The Circuit every third Wednesday of the month! These events are open ot all BIPOC climbers of any skill level. Day passes are discounted to $9 with shoe rentals cost $2. The next climb wll be on Tuesday, July 20th from 7-10pm.
• Yoga at the Farm– Join us at the Side Yard Farm in NE Portland for weekly classes during the warmer months. Gather amongst community and abundant growth and let the sweetness of it all enhance your practice. Taught by Tara Sonali, Cristy, and Zeyah, This low pressure, easy going hatha yoga class emphasizes being present in your body and with the surrounding nature. The classes are held on Tuesdays from 5:45-7pm at The Side Yard Farm– register here.
• CORE PDX Mural– AMP member Connor Choi will be painting a mural at the new Asian-owned food cart pod Collective Oregon Eateries on 82nd near Powell throughout July! The project begins on July 8th and will end on the 22nd and he will mainly be working on weekdays. He invites folks to come by to hangout and chat and check out the new food carts.

LISTEN

• Art Ignites Change Podcast– Art Ignites Change, a podcast by Mural Arts Philadelphia, explores the history and future of public art in Philadelphia, and around the world. In the podcast they look at public art projects and programs from both a current and historical perspective to build a greater understanding of the transformative power of creativity.
• NATAL– Natal is a podcast docuseries about having a baby while Black in the United States. Natal passes the mic to Black parents to tell their stories about bringing new life into the world, in their own words. The docuseries also highlights the birthworkers, medical professionals, researchers, and advocates fighting daily for better care for Black birthing parents. You can listen to NATAL wherever you get your podcasts.
• Our Body Politic– Created and hosted by award-winning journalist Farai Chideya, Our Body Politic is unapologetically centered on reporting on not just how women of color experience the major political events of today, but how they're impacting those very issues. Weekly episodes feature in-depth conversations about the economy, health, politics, education, the environment, and the most prescient issues—because all issues are women's issues. Tune in every Friday everywhere you listen to podcasts, and on public radio stations around the country. Presented by KCRW, KPCC, and KQED.

READ

• Portland’s David F. Walker tells the Black Panther Party’s Revolutionary History in New Graphic Novel– OPB’s Jenn Chávez interviews David F. Walker, the author of The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History. Created alongside illustrator Marcus Kwame Anderson, the book traces “ the historical context for the Black Panther Party’s political philosophy of self-defense, the graphic novel starts with the oppression of enslaved Africans in the United States, follows the enduring racist violence & police brutality of the Jim Crow era, along with the emergence of Black Nationalism and famous events in the nonviolent civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. and taught in many American schools.”
• Crying in H Mart– Michelle Zauner, also known as Japanese Breakfast, wrote this piece in the New Yorker in 2018. In less than three years Zauner has written the New York Times bestseller with the same title. Raised in Oregon, Zauner writes about grief and food as a way to connect to her Korean heritage.