On The Idea of A Black Portland ..
"I don’t write out of what I know; I write out of what I wonder. I think most artists create art in order to explore, not to give the answers. Poetry and art are not about answers to me; they are about questions."
This is the first in a series of freewrites I'm publishing here to keep it free-flowing in my brain.
Up to the most recent present, I have been very intentional about not filtering my words or story into The Black Portlanders. I haven't posted my own photo or added my own story to the mix. As a storyteller, I very much have not wanted my own thoughts and opinions to influence this greater story of The Black Portlanders. I've wanted the images and words of those photographed to speak for themselves. I've been cautious, admittedly. Maybe at times, I've been more cautious than was necessary.
In the past few weeks, I've been called to think deeply about this work... why I'm doing it.. and what it has meant and might mean to others. It's been challenging. if not difficult. More appropriately, I been called to articulate it, to put it all into words and categories, segments of meaning. When you asking for funding for a project, there are questions that must be answered.
I'm seeking $15,000 in crowd-sourced funding to continue The Black Portlanders. (Contribute to our campaign HERE) I explain why. This is a marked departure from the beginning of The Black Portlanders.
When I started The Black Portlanders a year ago, I didn't give an explanation. I liked that. I just started publishing. It was meant to be a surprise and people were meant to take away from the work, what they took away. I like art that is given without any explanation. I like art that surprises. I like the breath of the brand spanking unexplained new.
I'm being called to give answers, but to be quite frank.. all I have are questions.
Who are people of African descent in Portland, Oregon?
What are they doing?
Who are people of African descent .. in the world?
How does geography or place influence culture?
Who are you? Who am I? What are we looking for?
How are Black Portlanders connected or disconnected from other communities of African descent around the world?
How are communities of African descent connected or disconnected from each other around the world? .. or the world at large?
Where can we go? ...
And underneath this.. where can we not go? .. supposedly.
Historically speaking, that'd be Oregon. Aha!
Do you get me yet?
What can we create now?
These are questions of geography.
These are questions of travel.
The question of Black Portlanders is a quest/ion of travel, of movement, and Black possibility.. human possibility. It's a microcosm for questions and answers influencing populations of Black people in other geographies..
My approach is possibly unique in that I'm not asking for one answer.
The approach is possibly unique in that I'm seeking the answer to these questions in primarily photo form. Medium matters.
The more answers are given to me, the more questions are presented. After a year of doing this work and the most recent challenge of articulating the meaning/s of this work, I feel like I'm on overload.
The challenge is now one of editing, of sleuthing, of spelunking, of choosing the right question and the right answer.
It's sifting through the various story-lines to get the heart of what's going on.. to find the primary story, the mother or father story.. the story from which all other stories take their divergence.
It's also seeking the story-question the heart actually wants to know. Without this you have a flat-lined story.
This is a heady project and I need to get these thoughts out.
With all the maelstrom most recently around Black identity in Portland, it's been crazy.
First we had the January release of Atlanta-based Young Thug and Bloody Jay's mixtape, "Black Portland". Released without explanation as to its title, the duo had many wondering what it all meant before an interview in the Fader - "What's Black Portland" - revealed that by their definition, Atlanta is Black Portland.
“ 'We’re on fire right now in the streets of Atlanta, and we’re stoners, so you know, we’re the Blazers and Atlanta is Black Portland,” said Jay...“Black Portland is our own world,” .. “and all of us have some Black Portland in us. It’s where ambition, freedom and being young all roll into one.' "
Black Portlanders had a host of responses, some summed up in We Out Here Magazine editor, Mac Smiff's, "10 Things Black Portland Didn't Know About Black Portland"
Since then Young Thug has made an appearance in The New York Times, with "A Singular Artist Stakes His Claim: Young Thug's 'Black Portland' Extends His Reputation"
This month, the Portland African American Leadership Forum's work to ensure a community informed process in the development of a Trader Joe's in a historically black, yet rapidly gentrifying area, was miscast via conservative blogs under the headline of "Black residents in Portland oppose Trader Joe's, claim it would attract too many white people"
The biased headline spread across the social media sphere, eventually landing on Conan O'Brien and recast by VICE magazine as "This Week In Racism: Black People In Portland Say No to Trader Joe's to Keep White People From Moving In"
The Portland Mercury also weighed in.. "Hall Monitor: An Urban Renewal Reckoning"
On the national stage we are seeing the idea of a Black Portland identity written, rewritten, renamed, recast, rebranded, misunderstood, and at times wholly misattributed.
Within Portland, Black Portland identities are also in conversation, flux, and at times in debate. Beyond the national conversation, actual Black Portland cultures are complex, nuanced, evolving, and hard to peg down. People of African descent in Portland don't always agree and why should we? That's a living, breathing culture. The response to the failed Trader Joe's development is just one example.
On 2/20 and 2/27, Black Portlander and KBOO.fm host Sekoynia Wright will be hosting a two-part special, "Ear To The Street: What Do Regular Citizens Want" addressing the evolving and sometimes divergent views, needs, and expressions of Portland's diverse Black Community.
Questions on my mind...
What does it all mean for Black Portlanders?
Still..Who are the Black Portlanders?
What happens next?
Storytelling...
What's real here and what's a "story"?
Who holds the story at any give time and why does it matter?
Who owns the story?
Who owns the story of a people?
Who's believed to own the story?
Who actually is the story?
Who or what platforms are believed to have authenticity?
When does that presumed authenticity influence value?
Who holds that value?
When is it "on trend" or not?
Questions...
Black Portland.
Portland.
Black identities are complex.
An attention to detail in the craft of story is important.
Truth is, I'm not interested in scripting the story of Black Portlanders here. I'm hardly interested in defining or branding us into one calculable whole. We will always crack that mold. That's Black identity as whole, not just in Portland.
I'm interested in celebrating Black existence - documenting Black people how we are, where we are.
It feels important to express that with The Black Portlanders I'm not attempting to come to a conclusion on who Black people in Portland are. I'm here to feel, ask questions, document, and by doing so hopefully inspire others to ask questions from their own means and methods of inquiry.
My goal is to inspire curiosity and adventure, new thought process - to expand the narrative.
Art is good for this.
"The Black Portlanders" is a a journey - but the journey of Black Portland/ers is not up to me. I don't think it's up to any particular one of us. We're making it right now.
What's next?
Intisar Abioto ..
of The Black Portlanders
-
Love The Black Portlanders?
Contribute to our Indiegogo campaign today! and keep The Black Portlanders going strong at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-black-portlanders/
