As racial justice protests gripped the nation in 2020, well organized and practiced leftists in Portland catapulted the whitest major city in America to the center of the fight for Black lives. For nearly 150 days, protesters took to the streets and engaged in direct, often violent confrontations with police and federal law enforcement officers.

50 days of protest in Portland. A violent police response. This is how we got here.

(Full story)

The Trump administration describes Portland as “city under siege.” Protesters and journalists who regularly show up at the nightly demonstrations agree a siege is happening. But over 14 days, federal law enforcement has increasingly become the occupying force.

In America’s whitest city, Black activists struggle to separate themselves from anarchists

More than five months into a social justice uprising, activists in the city are divided as to whether they are still fighting in a racial justice movement centered on Black lives, or if an unfocused, anti-establishment fight against capitalism and state power has usurped the initial cause that brought thousands of Portlanders into the streets.