Donovan Scribes

My latest column 👀

First Black woman to be on the council! Charles JorDan was the first Black commissioner 🙏🏾

The Portland Police, like police forces in cities all across this country, will never stop asserting they need more money and more cops no matter how much funding they get. It’s a massive scam that plays on people’s fears about cities, and we have to stop playing into it.

THE BLACK BYLINE: Portland Police Union Insults Our Intelligence An attempt by Portland Police to recolor the thin blue line to green was gently swatted down this week by a Multnomah County judge. The Coalition of Communities of Color mounted a legal challenge agai...

@donovanscribes.bsky.social is spot on and leads with:

"An attempt by Portland Police to recolor the thin blue line to green was gently swatted down this week by a Multnomah County judge."

THE BLACK BYLINE: Portland Police Union Insults Our Intelligence

www.portlandmercury.com/opinion/2026...

THE BLACK BYLINE: Portland Police Union Insults Our Intelligence An attempt by Portland Police to recolor the thin blue line to green was gently swatted down this week by a Multnomah County judge. The Coalition of Communities of Color mounted a legal challenge agai...

In my latest essay, I ask the question: why are the cops trying to take money from the environment? Latest installment of The Black Byline below:

www.portlandmercury.com/opinion/2026...

For the month of February, the Mercury is celebrating Black History Month with a feature package dedicated to Black innovation in Portland—edited by author extraordinaire Donovan Scribes.

Ten Black Portland Innovators and Changemakers You Should Know [What follows is one of the many articles in the Mercury's Black Innovators & Changemakers issue. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you're feeling generous...

Black History Month isn’t just about honoring the past—it’s about celebrating the future being made right now. History is happening in Portland every day.

From arts to activism, Black Portlanders are reshaping the Rose City. Meet 10 Black innovators and changemakers making history in Portland.

Black Innovation 2026 - Portland Mercury, News. Entertainment. Trouble. Articles about Black Innovation 2026, Portland Mercury, News. Entertainment. Trouble.

WE BACK — very proud to partner w the @portlandmercury.com again to put out its first every Black History Month issue EVER‼️

The theme is Innovators & Changemakers and I’m amazed at all the incredible work ppl have put in in this city — go read for yourself.

www.portlandmercury.com/collections/...

One of Oregon’s few Black-owned publications shutters as newsrooms across the state shrink The Skanner has covered politics, policy and other community issues in Oregon and Washington for five decades.

I will ALWAYS have respect for The Skanner. They were instrumental in my young career.
www.opb.org/article/2026...

In the truest sense can say I don’t know where I’d be without Black media.

A thin blue line between POL/ICE

Great to talk about the great start 2026 is already off to 😂

🫡

Thanks for reading 🫡. More ahead in 2026

Here’s my Top 10 Moments from 2025 in Portland — a wild ass year in the city — Read that ⬇️

Appreciate you reading. This was my longest one yet. but I wanted to make sure I connected these dots as clearly as I could. My column is called the Black Byline — you can see some of the past pieces on the Merc’s site but def more to come!

READ

THE BLACK BYLINE: Netflix’s Perfect Neighbor Proves That Not All Hate Wears Hoods “Some things you can't escape Death, taxes, and a racist society that make Every nigga feel like a candidate For a Trayvon kinda fate Even when your crib sit on a lake Even when your plaques hang on a...

@netflix.com ’s The Perfect Neighbor is a perfect window into why police reforms like body cameras don’t keep us safe as promised as we watch a real life horror film unfold through body cams.

I talk about it in my latest The Black Byline:
www.portlandmercury.com/opinion/2025...

Seeing my words in print — unmatched feeling

The Black Byline is in the Winter Edition of @portlandmercury.com — go read that

Thank you to Hana Francis and Julie Moore of The Commons having me on @xrayfm.bsky.social this morning to discuss my latest installment of The Black Byline in @portlandmercury.com “A 10 Year (forgotten) Emergency”.

xray.fm/broadcasts/6...

The #1 people arent paying their rent is because they can’t. too many people who are working full time can’t pay their rent. Too many people working overtime can’t pay their rent. The rent goes up, and the wages don’t. Your statement is true. the issue is beyond that truth tho.

The Black Byline: A 10-Year-Old (Forgotten) Emergency REMEMBER: DIKES ARE SAFE AT PRESENT. YOU WILL BE WARNED IF NECESSARY. YOU WILL HAVE TIME TO LEAVE. DON'T GET EXCITED. —Housing Authority of Portland (present day Home Forward), May 30, 1948 notice to ...

Oregon has the highest eviction rates in history.

🚨 READ: www.portlandmercury.com/opinion/2025...

The Black Byline: A 10-Year-Old (Forgotten) Emergency REMEMBER: DIKES ARE SAFE AT PRESENT. YOU WILL BE WARNED IF NECESSARY. YOU WILL HAVE TIME TO LEAVE. DON'T GET EXCITED. —Housing Authority of Portland (present day Home Forward), May 30, 1948 notice to ...

Did you know Oregon has the highest eviction levels in the state’s history now? 10 years after the a Renters’ State of Emergency was declared.

I explore why in my latest installment of The Black Byline ⬇️

www.portlandmercury.com/opinion/2025...

Don’t Miss BlackOut: The Gallery Show BlackOut: A Five-Year Retrospective on Portland’s Racial Justice Movement is a joint production from Donovan Scribes and the Portland Mercury, written exclusively by Black Portlanders, to remember and...

This Thursday, and through the entire month of June, you can see "BlackOut: The Exhibition" at the BLACK Gallery—featuring the art, photography, and words of BlackOut, the magazine produced by @donovanscribes.bsky.social and the Portland Mercury.

Black Out Portland Mercury special edition

Some porch reading by @portlandmercury.com 💕

Thank you for reading @candaceavalos.bsky.social

Appreciate you spending time with the words!

S/O @portlandmercury.com for BLACKING OUT the city with this one!