I'm outside the Oregon Convention Center in Northeast Portland covering today's march honoring the 57th anniversary of the March on Washington. 

About ~100 people are currently gathered in the square behind the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on NE MLK Jr. Blvd.

Today's event was organized by Portland's NAACP and Fridays 4 Freedom, a local Black youth-led activist group that has been organizing weekly marches and events throughout the city following the death of George Floyd.

Here’s an interview with Malcolm Ricks, 49, a “lifelong member of the NAACP:”

“I’m here to help. I’m here to support. I’m here to bear witness in celebration of the feats that Martin Luther King did years ago...” (1/2)

“... and to add onto a new generation that is bringing light to an issue that has been here for 400-some odd years in the history of America. This is American history. Not Black history, but American history.” (2/2)

Here are some signs among the crowd:

“HERE TO AMPLIFY BLACK VOICES”

“IF NOT US, THEN WHO? IF NOT NOW, THEN WHEN?”

“BLUE IS NOT A SKIN COLOR”

“TRANS QUEER YOUNG OLD / BLACK LIVES MATTER”

An organizer asks the crowd to join in saying “Black lives matter!”

Here’s an interview with Mark A. Herrera, 24, interim chair for the political action committee representing Portland’s NAACP:

“In the context of 2020, the “I Have a Dream” speech still resonates with the work that still needs to be done.” (1/2)

“This country is going to have to take a long, hard look within itself and it’s history and not just brush it off, because many of society’s ailments is from our history. Regardless of whatever you believe in, civil rights are human rights, first and foremost.” (2/2)

Portland NAACP President E. D. Mondainé addresses the crowd:

“We’re not here to support any political platform. We’re not here to support the mayor of our city. We’re not here to support the commissioners of our city.” (1/2)

“But we want to give respect to them today and say ‘thank you for doing whatever you do to try to make things better,’ isn’t that right? So make some noise for their willingness to try. C’mon, make some noise!” (2/2)

The crowd has gathered on NE MLK Jr. Blvd. and Holladay St. and is preparing to march. A group at the front holds a black banner reading “PORTLAND NAACP + FRIDAYS 4 FREEDOM / 08-28-2020 / MARCH ON PORTLAND”

The crowd chants “Black Lives Matter!” An ASL interpreter from Fingers Crossed Interpreting stands at the front of the marchers interpreting for the crowd.

“I said ‘Brrr! It’s cold in here!’ There must be some racists in the atmosphere!”

The crowd is marching east down NE Holladay St. chanting “Whose life matters? Black lives matter!”

“Hey hey! Ho ho! These racist cops have got to go!”

People wave from their open apartment windows overhead, one pressing a “BLACK LIVES MATTER” sign against their window.

As the crowd crosses NE Ninth Ave., they pass a Department of Homeland Security vehicle parked on the street.

One of the two officers inside is wearing a thin blue line bandana tied around their face. While marching past, some shout “Fuck ICE!” toward the car’s open windows.

Inside the Homeland Security/Federal Protective Service police vehicle, one officer wears a thin blue line mask. The other officer isn’t wearing a mask.

Marchers are crossing the overpass onto NE Irving St. A Fridays 4 Freedom speaker addresses the crowd:

“Please do not interact with the police. If you interact with them, you are putting Black lives in danger. We are here for Black liberation. Please don’t interact with them.”

The march stops on the overpass as demonstrators chant “Fuck Ted Wheeler!”

“I’m calling you out. He’s not even here! ... He just cares about publicity. About being re-elected.”

An organizer called out non-marchers standing on the sidewalk and filming the crowd, urging them to join the march or stop recording.

In response, the crowd marches past Benson High School chanting “March with us!”

“Everybody wanna be Black until the cops come!”

“Are y’all tired? Y’all sound tired as hell, like you don’t want to be here! White people, you haven’t been tired in your entire life. Try being Black in America.”

“On the count of three, say ‘Black lives matter.’ One, two, three!”

The march has paused on E. Burnside chanting “Support Black women!”

Marchers are crossing E. Burnside and onto SE 12th Ave.

“Ain’t no power like the power of the people, ‘cause the power of the people don’t stop!”

Drummers and color guard are out again today, accompanying the crowd as they chant “Come out! Come out! Come out, mother fuckers, come out!”

Marchers are taking a left onto SE Stark St. chanting “Black Lives Matter!” The crowd fills the street and sidewalk for multiple blocks.

Organizers have asked the crowd to raise their fists and remain silent as they march the last few blocks to Revolution Hall.

As the crowd fills the park outside Revolution Hall, they’re met with free pizza, hand sanitizer and a concert stage. Flowers, banners and photos of Black victims of police killings are threaded through the park’s fences.

An Afro-Indigenous speaker gives a land acknowledgement:

“We are on the land of the Clackamas and Cowlitz tribes. And moving forward as Fridays 4 Freedom, we talk about Black liberation — but we can’t have Black liberation without Indigenous liberation, and vice versa.”

The crowd is led in singing the Black national anthem:

When the anthem ends, people in the crowd are asked to raise a fist in the air and turn to a neighbor, saying “Black lives matter.”

A poet addresses the crowd:

“Enough with the anarchist rioting. Their voices have been heard ... Do not break windows. Do not throw things. Quoting the great Kanye West: ‘don’t do that.’”

Portland NAACP President Rev. E.D. Mondainé addresses the crowd, listing the names of Black victims of police killings and asking when their moment will come.

“I’d like to say this is our moment, but it’s not. Because moments like this cannot be owned, only survived.” (1/4)

“So I’ll ask us again: what is this moment? It is the moment we demand payment on a check written 57 years ago. It is the moment we say out loud that how Black Americans came to this continent is a savage crime against humanity.” (2/4)

“It is the moment we demand America reckon with this crime. That’s what moment this is. This might be scary and frightening for some people to hear.” (3/4)

“How do we reckon with a crime that has been echoing through every generation in this country, Black and white, for over 400 years? And make no mistakes, my brothers and my sisters, that’s what this nation is experiencing today.” (4/4)

As Rev. Mondainé finishes his speech, people in the crowd raise their firsts in the air and shout “Black lives matter!”

Another speaker takes the microphone to list several demands:

1. End policing as we know it: “We are living in a unique window of the possible.” (1/3)

2. Transfer power: “We are tired of the oligarchy. They had their turn to take charge and fix this nation. They failed and we paid the price with our lives ... It is time for a government by and for the people.” (2/3)

3. Transfer capitol: “I don’t mean training programs and scholarships. We need reparations. We need free education. We need universal basic incomes. We need real living wages for all forms of work, right now.” (3/3)

Breonna, a Portland spoken word poet, performs a piece on her experience with the identity “African American:”

A collective of faith leaders from between Salem, Oregon and Seattle, Washington list their demands, which include defunding police and investing in communities “instead of rioting cops:”

Miss Black Oregon US Ambassador 2019, Arya Morman, speaks to the crowd:

“Who’s stepping up? I need to see it happen. I need to see these organizations that claim that they believe that Black lives matter to actually step up and support the community.”

A representative of Teressa Raiford’s write-in campaign for Portland mayor speaks:

“[Portland has been taken over by] fascists and nazis and they brutalize our citizens, especially our Black communities, on a daily basis. They are the Portland Police Bureau.” (1/3)

“They have no connection to our city or to our communities, and they exist only to protect the interests of white property owners. They see the world watching and they’ve responded with unchecked brutality.” (2/3)

“There’s only one option for mayoral candidate, and only one mayoral candidate who’s fought for our communities and not just to protect their own class interests, and that candidate is Teressa Raiford.” (3/3)

A Portland singer and spiritual healer from Zimbabwe performs for the crowd still gathered at Revolution Hall:

Signing off for today with this fence of photographs and colorful flowers.