Rhythm Nation

Oregon's Kurt Schrader has taken the most money from the fossil fuel and pharmaceutical industries as almost any Democrat in congress. Jamie McLeod-Skinner is challenging him in the primary in Oregon's 5th District on May 16th. From repairing schools in war torn countries to developing climate protection policies in Silicon Valley to wildfire recovery in Oregon, Jamie has a record of producing solutions and models for people-centered leadership. We’re going to talk about her plans for the 5th district and also about the music stories that lead her there.

The Oregon People’s Rebate is an initiative petition qualifying for the November 2022 election that will rebate about $750 to every Oregonian, every year. This would mean putting about $3,000 in the pockets of a family of four and is projected to significantly address childhood poverty if it passes. The revenue to fund the rebate comes from increasing the minimum tax rate for big Wall Street corporations after $25 million of Oregon revenue to 3%. Currently, their minimum tax rate is less than 1%, which is among the lowest rates in the country. The effort is being led by my guest and fellow Rhythm Nation member, Antonio Gisbert.

Rene Gonzalez is a Portland based lawyer, small business owner, and youth soccer organizer who’s deep roots in Oregon have motivated him to stand up for change at this critical juncture. He’s running against our last guest, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, for her seat on the Portland City Council. Our hope with this interview is to better inform voters about their options for city governance and hear different perspectives on the most important issues facing our city. For more information on Rene and his campaign, visit his website at https://reneforportland.com/

Portland, Oregon will never be the same after the events of the past two years. To City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty, that’s a good thing in some ways. In our wide-ranging conversation that touched on music venues, police budgets and homelessness, Commissioner Hardesty outlined a vision for a more equitable Portland that she hopes will woo voters more than fear based messages when she runs for re-election in May of 2022. On the show, Commissioner Hardesty also told me the story of how music brought her and kept her in Portland and also how Marvin Gaye’s 40-year-old classic “What’s Going On” continues to inspire her to this day.

https://www.rhythmnation.us/podcast/29

Manoj Mathew (@dj_manoj_pdx) is a Portland-based electronic music promoter and DJ who has been throwing raves in Portland since 1991. Manoj and I have been in touch a lot lately as we’re planning a Rhythm Nation event together on November 20th at his venue Epicenter. As we’ve been talking through the event, it became clear that Manoj’s approach to putting on events is deeply personal to the point that it borders on spiritual, so I wanted to get the full story on his views on dance music communities as I think it relates so strongly to the community organizing we do at Rhythm Nation. It happens to include some great stories and tracks of early west coast raves that I think you’ll really enjoy.

Michelle DePass is the current chair of the Portland school board who is currently focused on the unenviable task of re-opening public schools during the onset of the delta variant. It’s an incredibly tough job given that she has to weigh our constantly changing scientific understanding of delta against the varying opinions of thousands of concerned parents. In the episode, we talk through the thoughtful approach she and the board are taking to ensure our students and teachers are healthy. We also touch on lighter topics, such as the artistic path that led her to public office, the roller discos that are getting her through the pandemic, a playlist of her go-to jams and how we can get high school students dancing again.

Megan Andricos, also known as DJ Sappho, is a queer event producer and musical artist based out of Portland, Oregon. She’s a founding member of Rhythm Nation and has been a huge inspiration for me. She’s inspired me musically through our studio collaborations and from her blowing my mind many times listening to her DJ. But deeper than that, Megan has shown me through leading by example how to throw inclusive and welcoming events and how to do community engagement through music. We discussed this leading by example theme during this member spotlight episode of Rhythm Nation. We also discussed representation in electronic music, Megan’s journey growing up as a queer woman in South Texas, her new record label Koritsi Komma Records and how our own missteps in the past inspire us to give back to the community.

For a playlist and more information, check out https://www.rhythmnation.us/podcast/26

Deena Barnwell is a DJ and stalwart purveyor of great music in the ever-changing Portland music scene. She worked at local community radio station KBOO 90.7 as the station’s Urban Music Director from 1998-2018. On the show, we talk about what brought her to hip hop, what's she's learned as a woman working in the music industry and the collective moments through music that have the power to transform. At the end of the show, we go through a playlist of top-shelf hip hop jams that inspired her.

Find Deena's work at:

https://soundcloud.com/thesoundbox

https://www.mixcloud.com/deenab1/

https://www.instagram.com/soundboxpdx/

Playlist and more info at https://www.rhythmnation.us/podcast/25

Eric Ward (@BulldogShadow) is the Executive Director of the Western States Center, a social change organization that works to strengthen inclusive democracy. He’s also a former member of the band Sublime and has firsthand experience with racism and violence in the 1980’s LA punk scene. On the show, we talk about how songwriting is a form of “courageous conversation”, which Eric firmly believes is how we move forward as a society. We end by going through a playlist of Eric’s favorite “courageous conversation” songs that got him through the pandemic. For a playlist of Eric's music and links to his work, visit https://petermarks.us/podcast/24

Sara Kenigsberg was the supervising producer on both the Biden-Harris campaign and the Bernie Sanders campaign for president. Before that she helped start up a video team at MoveOn in June 2016 and was an early producer at both NowThis and HuffPost. She continues to work as a producer and digital strategist for a number of media and advocacy groups. On the show, we talk about the craft of political storytelling and the healing power of stories and self-care.

For a playlist of Sara's music, visit https://petermarks.us/podcast/23