There was a post a few weeks ago on a Facebook group page. Somebody asked a simple question similar to: “What’s going on this weekend, St. Johns?”
So many people piped up with events, fundraisers, and all sorts of gatherings in the neighborhood. And as you already know, and the Willamette Week just spotlighted, a lot of changes have been happening recently.
Willamette Week reports: A Wave of Commercial Evictions in St. Johns has the Neighborhood on Edge”
There’s no easy answer really, but in times of change it makes sense to value and support what you hold dear.
For a while now, we’ve been pulling together a list of neighborhood happenings in East Portland. Not just events, but opportunities to get involved, opportunities to support. We’re still seeking funding in the neighborhood, and are planning on starting that weekly neighborhood check-in for St. Johns too.
The citywide media does do some flyby reporting occasionally in the neighborhood. Some of it is helpful, but it often is framed to further split divides rather than solve problems. I think there’s a need for more small-scale consistent story telling and reporting, and having a publication and part-time reporter is our long-term goal.
And not every story has to be about a crisis. We covered a clean up on the – last weekend (see story below), and really prefer to focus on what we want to thrive, and encourage more people to get involved. The story reminded me of my time at smaller community newspapers, and that was awesome.
Art and music is crucial too— there’s no better way to bridge the divide and honor beauty and creativity.
In that effort of community building, we’d like to thank the wonderful folks at The Fixin’ To for hosting our benefit this week. We’d also like to thank Creature Party and everyone who showed up to hang out and dance with us. It was a really great time.
The future of media is uncertain, but we see that as an opportunity. Thank you for reading, and we hope that you continue to offer us feedback and story ideas as we grow. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and we’ve learned the same goes for a publication.
We looked for goings on this weekend, and this was the best thing we found. But you tell us: what’s going on this weekend St. Johns?
Peace & love,
Andrew Wilkins
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22ND
Live music:
Von Wildenhaur * RLLRBLL * Umatilla Reverb
The Fixin’ To, 8218 N Lombard St * 9 pm * $5
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Village Portland @ St Johns 