Cascadia today: Portland mayor caves on DEI + food banks in crisis + Joe Kent's extremist ties
Portland mayor caves on DEI, Seattle to sue
The Portland Mercury reports that mayor Keith Wilson has ordered the city to adjust or remove policies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion for minorities and women – in order to meet demands by the Trump administration under threat of cuts to federal grants. It's estimated that some $30 million in grants might be protected – for now– with the proposed changes. Meanwhile, Seattle's centrist mayor and Republican city attorney are taking a different approach: yesterday the city announced it's suing the Trump administration over its threat to revoke grants if the city does not eliminate DEI policies.
“There are limits to presidential authority and no one, not even Mr. Trump, can ignore the constraints of the rule of law,” – city attorney Ann Davison.
That the cities of Cascadia are being forced to choose between promoting diversity in city employment or receiving already budgeted funds paid for by our federal tax dollars illustrates that there needs to be an alternate path forward: peaceful efforts toward independence from the United States.
WA food banks in crisis after federal cuts
Washington State Standard reports that food banks across Washington – especially those in rural areas – are stretched thin after Republicans slashed funding for SNAP food benefits in federal budget. In Toppenish, represented by US Rep, Dan Newhouse, who voted for the cuts, some 18 percent of residents are on SNAP, the highest rate in the state. In related news, a new study found that environmental and energy-based federal projects that benefit rural communities in Oregon doubled between 2010 and 2024. Those projects now face steep cuts.
Portland protester nabbed using surveillance
The Portland Mercury reports on the creepy use of surveillance technology to find and arrest 24-year-old Jacob Hoopes for allegedly throwing a rock at ICE officers and damaging an ICE facility during a June protest. Hoopes, who went to Reed College and comes from a pacifist, Quaker family, received a huge outpouring of support during a recent hearing. In related news, Reed College is under fire after campus security officers shared information about Hoopes with federal agents.
Extremist Joe Kent gets fed post
Joe Kent, a right wing candidate and former Army Green Beret who twice ran for and lost elections seeking to represent the third Congressional District in southwest Washington, was confirmed by the Senate this week as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Turns out Kent knows a thing or two personally about right-wing terror. According to the AP, Kent hired Proud Boy member Graham Jorgensen during his 2022 campaign and has worked closely with Joey Gibson, founder of Patriot Prayer. A recent article by David Corn at Mother Jones found that Kent helped boost and support a right-wing paramilitary group, 1st Amendment Praetorian, that spreads conspiracy theories about "Antifa" and provides armed guards at right-wing events. Kent also has connections to Chandler Pappas, a member of Patriot Prayer who was sentenced to 13 months for throwing a pipe bomb at anti-fascists in Portland in 2020, and Garrick Fernbaugh, a former Navy SEAL who also allegedly threw a pipe bomb at protesters.
The art of batik in Seattle
Over at Real Change, Guy Oron has a great interview with Jieyi Ludden Zhou a Chinese American artist who co-curated the show "East/West Batik and Beyond," an exhibit of Chinese batik printing of textiles at Center on Contemporary Art in Seattle. It's a great conversation about women's traditional art forms and the culture of the Miao minority mountain tribe in China:
I really like their philosophy because they tend to think about just living well for today. They tend to have a pretty loose association with time, with yesterday, today and tomorrow. – Jieyi Ludden Zhou
--Andrew Engelson
