Joe Opaleski, December 30, 2020
The Department of Justice declared Portland an “anarchist jurisdiction” on Sept. 21, and if you take a walk downtown, rampant graffiti depicting the notorious circle-A symbol appears to confirm the label.
But Portland historians show the movement deserves deeper context, and modern anarchists say the label is just another way to dismiss an ideology they claim, at its core, is mostly about community empowerment.
“It seems to have come from a fundamental lack of understanding of what anarchists are,” said Eli, a member of the Neighborhood Anarchist Collective in Eugene.
