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December 21, 2022 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 7 Bids & Classified To place your ad, email advertising@theskanner.com or go to www.TheSkanner.com and click on the “Ads” menu. Mermaid cont’d from pg 5 by white men. 2. Monique Roffey’s “The Mermaid of Black Conch” (2020) This gorgeous and complex work of Carib- bean literature dips into magical realism but is deeply grounded in the reality of today – specif- ically, the effects of colo- nialism and exploitative tourism. Like “The Deep,” “The Mermaid of Black Conch” explores lost ancestries and imagines alterna- tive futures. The novel highlights the continued impact of white settle- ment on a fictional Carib- bean island called Black Conch. One day, a mermaid named Aycayia is caught in the net of a fisherman. She is ancient and Indig- enous – “red-skinned, not black, not African” – and carries the weight of history. David, the fisherman who finds her and falls in love with her, recalls his first sight- ing of her: “She looking like a woman from long ago, like old-time Taino people I saw in a history book at school.” Similar to Solomon’s historian in “The Deep,” this mermaid is depicted as an embodied archive; her hair is a home for sea creatures, and her face is a history book. However, Roffey’s mermaid is an anomaly, singular and isolated, not a member of a tribe. The ocean keeps this an- cient beast safe, hiding her from the destructive forces of Western capi- talism, embodied in the father-son duo of Amer- ican tourists who seek to capture and capitalize on what they see as an aquatic trophy. 3. Nnedi Okorafor’s “Lagoon” (2014) “A star falls from the sky. A woman rises from the sea. The world will never be the same.” The publisher’s summary de- scribes a science fiction novel that combines the alien-encounter genre with African mythology to create a vast narrative network of characters, human and nonhuman, that stretches across Ni- geria. The arrival of aliens off the coast of Lagos transforms the area and the people, miraculous- ly remedying centuries of oceanic destruction caused by industrial and colonial exploitation. It also turns Adaora, a fe- male marine biologist caught in a bad marriage, into a mermaid. “Lagoon” is far more than an allegory of eco- logical repair. But I want to point out how litera- ture explores the glob- al ecological crisis and, specifically, how ecocrit- icism plays a key role in the emergent genre of Black mermaid litera- ture. As ecocritic and Carib- bean literature scholar Elizabeth DeLoughrey writes, rising sea levels caused by global warm- ing are spurring a plane- tary future that is “more oceanic.” Many contemporary mermaid tales share an acute sense of environ- mental concern. Mermaids serve as sig- nals, in both senses of the word – as an emergency alert and as a medium for transmitting a message about humanity’s in- creasingly oceanic plan- etary future. In “Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals” (2020), Black feminist theorist Alexis Pauline Gumbs points to “sever- al practices of marine mammals that resonate with Black freedom movement strategies and tendencies.” Racial jus- tice and environmental activism are aligned – and, as many Black mer- maid novels teach read- ers, inseparable. There are many more works I could have in- cluded in this roundup – Natasha Bowen’s “Skin of the Sea” (2021), which grounds its narrative in the West African myths of Mami Wata and the goddess Yemoja, or Beth- any C. Morrow’s “A Song Below Water” (2020), a young adult novel that tells the coming-of-age story of a Black girl who becomes a mermaid. None of these texts are outliers because they feature Black mermaids. Instead, they are part of a broader cultural move- ment – a contemporary mermaid craze deserv- ing of critical attention and appreciation. Affordable efficient security just for you! Install / Maintenance For Alarm Systems Monitoring Service Residential & Commercial Install Surveillance System (CCTV) New Construction Prewire for Alarm Service, Whole House Audio, CCTV 13343 SE Stark St., #100 Portland, OR 97233 503.288.7716 AlarmTracksPdx.com Newspapers (D-Texas), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Rep. Sta- cey Plaskett (D-V.I.), and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), also did not re- turn messages. “Instead of supporting local broadcasters and improving our access to the news, the JCPA favors big broadcasters and threatens our ability to find factual information online,” ACLU officials said. Officials at the nonprof- it Public Knowledge ar- gued that the legislation would do nothing to help preserve local journal- ism. They further claimed that it could compound some of the biggest prob- lems in the information landscape today, includ- ing consolidation and declining quality of in- formation. “While the JCPA has undergone extensive re- writes, it is still an anti- trust exemption, a legal maneuver that has a his- tory of failing to achieve beneficial goals,” said Lisa Macpherson, Senior Policy Analyst at Public Knowledge. “Allowing the largest media conglomerates – like Alden Global Cap- ital, Gannett, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and News Corp – to collude on the terms of access cont’d from pg 6 and value of their con- tent will hurt competi- tion and make our news landscape worse, not bet- ter.” Macpherson contin- ued: “In a bill that is suppos- edly meant to encourage local journalism, there is no accountability for how the money is spent. Facebook and Google will fund more stock buybacks and executive bonuses than journal- ists’ salaries. It also in- troduces a precedent of payment for simply link- ing to information on the internet. “This bill is also a threat to content moderation. The JCPA allows publish- ers to sue Facebook or Google for taking down content that the plat- forms find offensive or Advertising deadlines 12:00 Noon Monday contrary to their commu- nity standards. “And with the most recent amendment, proposed by Sen. Cruz (R-Texas), harmful mis- information, networked disinformation, and hate speech will be even harder to police under this bill — and that is by design. “The JCPA will not save local journalism. In- stead, it will make a few billionaires even wealth- ier at the expense of a healthy and open inter- net and information en- vironment for all of us.” THE OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER- ELECT RENE GONZALEZ Multiple Positions Closing Date/Time: Open Until Filled Salary: Depends on Qualifications Job Type: At Will Location: 1221 SW 4th Ave, OR Bureau: Commissioner #3 Public Affairs For more information or to apply for the job, please visit our website: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/ portlandor/jobs/3822488/the-office-of-the-commission- er-elect-rene-gonzalez-multiple-positions-open-un?key- words=office%20of%20the%20commissioner&page- type=jobOpportunitiesJobs 12-21-22 SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER JOB AD DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND PARTNER GIVING Clark College Founda- tion, in direct support of Clark College and its mission, is currently ac- cepting applications for a full time, exempt Direc- tor of Development and Partner Giving (Director), responsible for raising approximately $1 million per year. For more infor- mation visit https://www. clarkcollegefoundation. org/about/careers. 12-21-22 INVITATION TO BID 2022-74 Invitation to Bid for Fourth Plain and Andresen Fiber Repair Clark County Public Transportation Benefit Area (dba C-TRAN) has issued an Invitation to Bid (ITB) for the 2022-74 Fourth Plain and Andresen Fiber Repair. This ITB may be found at https://www.c-tran.com/about-c- tran/business/procurement/bid-and-proposal-opportuni- ties. Bids will be accepted until 3:00 p.m. on Monday, January 12, 2023. 12-14,21-22 Worksystems is an award-winning nonprofit organization serving Multnomah and Washington Counties and the City of Portland. Join Worksystems and make a differ- ence in your community! One function of this role will be to oversee coordination and management of a WorkSource-based Rapid Re- sponse Team. The Rapid Response Team engages with businesses that are undergoing staff reductions to inform impacted workers of WorkSource services, unemploy- ment insurance information, and additional resources to support their transition into new employment. Familiarity with Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Federal grant management, post-second- ary education programs, program alignment and capac- ity building across multiple organizations, staff training development and delivery are preferred. NOTE: We are currently operating in a hybrid remote/ in-person work environment. Must be available to at- tend in-person meetings regularly in Multnomah and Washington Counties. Employees must live in Oregon or Washington State. To Apply: Please submit a resume, three professional references and a cover letter explaining how your expe- rience qualifies you for this work. Link to Apply: https://worksystems.bamboohr.com/ca- reers/32?source=aWQ9MzA%3D . Position is open until filled. Salary Range: $73k - $109k, DOE – Exempt Status Worksystems is an Equal Opportunity Employer, dedi- cated to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. 12-14,21-22
