The skanner., July 17, 2013, Page 3, Image 3

Local News
Verdict
Project Dayshoot
continued from page 1
were found not guilty. Miami was engulfed in riots.
After my two teenage daughters said they didn’t have
much familiarity with the Rodney King case when I men-
tioned it in connection to McDuffie, we watched an hour of
YouTube footage of the Rodney King beating, the acquittal
of the officers and the unfortunate riots that ensued. My 16-
year old daughter said to me “1980 in Miami was the same
as 1992 in Los Angeles.” Though Zimmerman was just a
wanna-be cop, we can now add 2013 in Sanford, Florida.
My eldest daughter and I have been planning to see the new
movie “Fruitvale Station.” The story is of a young black
man shot and murdered by a transit police officer. Even
with clear video evidence of Oscar Grant being shot and
killed while he lay face down, not moving, on a train plat-
form, white officer Johannes Mehserle was only convicted
of involuntary manslaughter and spent less than a year in
prison.
The timing was ironic and painful. We had just seen the
story of McDuffie and Rodney King. We were headed to
watch the story of Oscar Grant and we were now experi-
encing the story of Trayvon Martin.
Now, like many black parents across the country, I strug-
gle with what to tell my son. A son whose whole life he has
known his father primarily to be a law enforcement official.
A son who has said he is interested in being a police officer.
And like many parents, I have to have “that talk” with my
son. The talk about Emmett Till, Arthur McDuffie, Rodney
PHOTO BY HELEN SILVIS
Now, like many black parents
across the country, I struggle
with what to tell my son
On July 15, 1983, 90 photographers set out to capture a day in the life of Oregon. This week
photographers recreated that event for Project Dayshoot+30. The event will be recorded in an exhibit
for Oregon Historical Society. Pictured here are Beatrice Montague and Ora Lee Green photographed
at the Urban League Senior Center. See more Dayshoot+30 photographs on page eight.
King, Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin, and countless other
black men who have been beaten and killed by white
authorities.
I will tell my son to be encouraged that a black man is the
president of the United States, but also know and under-
stand that the murder of a young black man still can’t get
justice.
David Muhammad is the CEO of Solutions, Inc, former
Chief Probation Officer of Alameda County Probation and
former Deputy Commissioner of New York City Probation
Butler
continued from page 1
SPACE: THE FINAL
FRONTIER
Brown and Imarisha share a love for Star
Trek. The editors became Trekkies at an
early age. Brown says her father was
instrumental in her fascination with the
sci-fi series.
“I can’t remember a time before feeling
interested in space travel, in futurism – I
think in part because I came from an inter-
racial Deep South love story and thinking
about a future in which my family was nor-
mal was both interesting and necessary
for me,” she says.
Imarisha says watching Star Trek was her
earliest memory at the age of two-years-
old. She says she always loved the space
of fantastical worlds and getting lost in
them.
One example of getting lost in the Star
Trek world is a project she and a partner
created called “Don’t Be Riker.” The web-
site discusses the concept of privilege by
poking fun at the character William Riker
through a series of pictures.
“He is the epitome of White, patriarchal,
heterosexist, White normative, capitalist
fetishes, fantasies and ideals shoved into
one douchey, douchey dude,” says Imar-
isha. “Even the way he sits, he just takes
up so much space. He is in no way con-
scious of how his actions affect other
folks.”
Imarisha says that “Don’t Be Riker” is her
meditative practice.
“There’s something very centering and
soothing about looking at hundreds of pic-
tures of Don’t Be Riker and thinking of
ways to mock him,” she says
necessary political work.”
The title is a takeoff from Lillith’s Brood
and pays homage to its author Octavia
Butler. Brown and Imarisha stress that
they are part of the lineage of Butler.
According to Brown, who is an Octavia
Butler scholar, Butler’s work is an explo-
ration of humanity and justice through
speculative and science fiction. She says
her characters are powerful examples of
Black women in the future, in power, in
non-traditional relationships, and in trans-
forming societies and bodies.
Imarisha says speculative and science
fiction is perfect for conveying social jus-
tice concepts because they’re the
only genres that allow people to
dream whatever they please.
“All organizing work is science
fiction,” she says. “What does a
world without poverty look like?
What does a world without pris-
ons look like? What does a world
with everyone having enough
food and clothing look like? We
don’t know. That’s science fiction.
We believe that if we’re able to dream it
and see it in our minds then we are much
better able to move towards creating it.”
Brown and Imarisha reached out to con-
tributors for Octavia’s Brood by targeting
social justice writers who weren’t neces-
sarily into science fiction. Although many
of their targets weren’t initially interested,
they found that these people had immersed
themselves in project ideas when they
checked back in a second time. One writer
even turned a short story about a zombie
apocalypse in an internment camp into a
separate novel.
In addition to using the project to spark
people’s imagination and set the frame-
work for future works, the editors of
Octavia’s Brood hope to create a sustain-
able model for supporting artists within
social justice movements.
“Oftentimes art gets relegated to a
sideshow in the organizing movement,”
says Imarisha. “These artists are helping
the movement envision and create new
worlds and the movement needs to be sup-
porting artists to do that so they aren’t hav-
ing to make choices between doing work
that’s just and paying the light bill.”
The project is being funded by an
Indiegogo campaign which reached its ini-
funds,” she says. “So that creation is from
love, but it is SO important.
“Knowing that art is a crucial way to
bring social justice work and ideas into
larger society is strategic. Investing in
artists who create explicitly to grow and
deepen and reflect and uplift community is
strategic.”
Octavia’s Brood needs to raise $22,000
to compensate writers and advisers. Cur-
rently, the project has raised $9,527 and
has 26 days left.
The editors stress that the project is more
than just a good idea. Readers should
expect vulnerability, sharp analysis, cre-
ative worlds, charac-
ters that look and feel
familiar, and pathways
to justice and freedom
when they pick up
Octavia’s Brood, says
Brown.
The goal was not to
write the “great sci-
ence fiction novel,”
says Imarisha. Instead,
she notes that people leave her and
Brown’s workshops and advisory sessions
more invigorated and with new ideas to
apply to their lives. She hopes the project
will build a foundation for others to create
their own speculative and science fiction
projects, as well as write in general.
“That to me is a fundamental principle of
community organizing,” says Imarisha.
“You don’t want to be the leader. You want
everyone to be empowered with the skills
to be able to push this work forward.”
For more information on Octavia’s
Brood, go to the project’s Indiegogo page.
We believe that if we’re able to dream
it and see it in our minds then we are
much better able to move towards
creating it
tial goal of $8,277 for publishing within a
couple of weeks. Octavia’s Brood has
extended fundraising goals that will allow
the editors to, among other things, com-
pensate contributors (Other goals include a
tour, color art and an e-book, and an
expanded anthology).
Currently, the contributors are doing
their work out of love, says Brown.
“Artists who use their art specifically to
raise the need for social justice, explore it,
offer alternatives and pathways through
their art – often they are in situations of
creating art and work for groups and
movements that are already tight on
July 17, 2012
The Portland Skanner Page 3