Baldwin Mural

Margie and I met for our usual Thursday morning coffee and revelled in our good fortune: nothing noteworthy happened this week in our individual lives. Only the Great Sadness for the planet and for people we don’t know who are suffering. So far the weather is tolerable, though over the next three days we are expecting record-breaking heat. Several cooling centers will be open, as well as a few public libraries, and the buses will allow people to ride without paying if they need the respite of air conditioning and don't have bus fare. We wonder if the electric grid will hold up. We worry for the thousands who are living in tents. 

On the way back to Margie’s apartment we passed Portland Center Stage, shuttered for the pandemic, and we enjoyed in this mural created by Daren Todd, dappled by sunlight. There’s a seven-minute video that includes a time-lapse sequence of Todd creating the mural. The most interesting part, for me, is the creation of the portrait of Baldwin, which starts at the five minute mark.

“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced”—James Baldwin.

“As a Queer Black Trans Artist in this version of reality, I look to those that have come before me for inspiration and strength, and Baldwin is definitely that for me”—Daren Todd.