It Did Happen Here

Kate Boyd and Cristien Storm of the Seattle-based collaborative group If You Don’t They Will discuss “no. NOT EVER”, an interactive, immersive presentation of cultural resistance to white nationalism practiced by Western rural and suburban groups throughout the 80s and 90s.

In this episode we hear from antiracist street fighters: Iran, Jackson, Pan and Tom. The four veterans recount their experiences fighting Portland neo Nazis, how it affected them and where we should direct our energy to continue the fight.

The Multnomah County Library sponsored this event, hosted by Enrique Rivera , with the IDHH podcast producers Celina Flores, Mic Crenshaw and Erin Yanke.They play clips of the podcast, talk about their favorite moments in the process of making the podcast, storytelling, book recommendations, and much more.

In this bonus episode, we hear from Coalition for Human Dignity veteran Devin Burghart, now Executive Director of left wing think tank Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights. Burghart talks about the role of YouTube personalitiesin the effective radicalization of white nationalists, especially younger viewers.

Scot Nakagawa and Eric Ward talk together at "It Did Happen Here: Nothing is Final", recorded March 4, 2021 at an event sponsored by the Multnomah County Library.

It Did Happen Here returns to the Midwest for deeper conversations with veterans of the Minneapolis Baldies and Skinheads of Chicago (SHOC) about what it means to be a Black, Brown or Indigenous person in a predominantly white movement, a woman in a male-dominated movement, how we direct our anti-racism as middle-aged activists, with deep discussion on how experiences with a violent youth have shaped political and personal philosophies.

In our final episode....In our final episode of the podcast we hear about the end of Portland Anti Racist Action, the consequences of being a SHARP, and other reflections by the punks; we also hear words of wisdom offered in hindsight, with love from the now-middle aged activists.

In this episode we look at the Coalition For Human Dignity’s move to Seattle, the merger with the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment and financial collapse. We hear reflections on the good, the bad and the ugly, with advice on moving forward today.

In this episode, we hear from the young anti-racist skinheads who physically confronted local racist boneheads, who took direct action to kick nazi scum out of the Rose City.

In this episode, we offer another example of the Coalition for Human Dignity's dedication to using a diversity of tactics in the fight to drive white nationalists out of Portland. We learn the secrets of the surveillance wing of the Coalition for Human Dignity in a behind the scenes visit to the Shop, where activists carefully compiled and painstakingly processed information on local and regional white nationalist groups.

With the police unwilling to help people under threat of fascist attack, Portland activists mobilized their own self-defense projects. This episode focuses on the household defenses that were organized by the Coalition for Human Dignity as they sought to reclaim the city from neo nazis.

Overwhelmed by the increasing violence of racist skinheads, punks teamed up for community defense. In 1989 they formed Portland’s chapter of Anti Racist Action, and started to fight back.

This episode brings us to mid 80s Minneapolis to tell the story a small group of friends–including our host and producer Mic Crenshaw–founded first the anti-fascist skinhead crew Minneapolis Baldies and went on to help launch Anti Racist Action. ARA was a national organization that engaged in violence and direct confrontation against Neo-Nazi elements within scenes and cities and planted the seeds of today’s Antifa movement.

At the end of 1988 racist skinheads flexed power on the streets and in the show spaces of Portland. This episode is about Portlanders who came together in response to neo-nazi violence after the 1988 murder of Mulugeta Seraw and formed the Coalition for Human Dignity.

Late one night in November 1988 racist skinheads attacked a group of Ethiopian immigrants in the working class Kerns neighborhood of Southeast Portland. 28-year-old Mulugeta Seraw died from wounds inflicted by his three assailants. His attackers were all young men, ages 19, 23 and 24: a punk rocker, a homecoming king with substance use issues and a street kid; and all members of East Side White Pride, a racist neo-nazi crew.

In the late 1980s, Portland was a known haven for racist skinheads. They roamed the core of Portland unhindered. In this episode we hear from the punks in the late 1980s Portland punk scene, a place fraught with violence and conflict. We also hear about the recruiting and radicalization of Portland's skinheads by right wing and white nationalist organizers.

It Did Happen Here is a history of the unlikely collaboration between groups of immigrants, civil rights activists, militant youth and queer organizers in the late 80s and early 90s in in Portland, Oregon who successfully fought neo nazi violence and right wing organizing.