The night Muslims got tear gassed on the streets of Portland, @JoAnnPDX was the only person from the entire Portland City Council to call me. Her entire staff went above and beyond to make sure all of us were ok.

She kept checking in with me on the days that came after that.

I'm telling you this because that's the character of the person whom you are all slamming today, and if she's upset it's because it's hard to be a black politician in Oregon. The expectations are immense and you are held to standards that your white colleagues will never...

Be held to. Do you have a right to feel upset about her budget vote? Yes! But there are three other council members who deserve just as much scrutiny as the weight of what you are putting on her feet. If she's being emotional in response, that's okay too.

People of color are frequently told that they have to deal with things differently from everyone else. They have to bury. They have to be silent. They have to hold their trauma within themselves. It's grossly unfair and wrong.

Joann led the charge to get Portland out of the JTTF before it was popular. It mattered. It made communities of color feel safer.

This is a deeply trying and hard time for people of color. The trauma and vicarious trauma that we have to face right now coupled with the racism in a state like this is overwhelming.

Keep building the world you want, but also see people for the good they've done.

There are fair criticisms and then there are unfair ones. I'm seeing a lot of unfair ones on the TL.