Portland. 1988.

Portland. 1988.

Mulugeta Seraw was murdered by white supremacists on our streets.

For some people that’s history. For others, it’s memory.

It still matters.

While other communities no longer acknowledge it today. Anti-Black hate crimes remain the largest category of hate crimes in this country with spikes occurring during the Trump era. The context is now national but pattern is the same. Black hate crimes ignored, de-emphasized and made invisible.

I and other voices were interviewed for Oregon Public Broadcasting’s (OPB) Oregon Experience film Remember Mulugeta: Confronting Hate in Portland. I’m one of several local and regional voices reflecting on what that period meant and what it still means.

Back then people argued about whether the violence was homegrown or imported.

Today the harder question is what happens when white nationalist ideas move closer to power and start sounding normal.

Grateful to the OPB team for telling this story with care.

Premiere is February 17 at 7 pm at the Hollywood Theatre, Portland, Oregon. Q and A after. First come first served tickets at opb.org/hollywood.

It will air on OPB/PBS soon. I hope you’ll tune in.