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 neo-nazi skinhead 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 immigrants, civil rights activists, militant youth and queer organizers in the late 80s and early 90s in Portland, Oregon who successfully fought neo-nazi violence and right wing organizing.