If you’re not reading the series of pieces on Portland that Mike Thelin has been publishing, I highly encourage you to do so. Not only because there’s a great dose of Portland love and pride in them. But because they’re doing something incredibly important that I think is often overlooked in our aggressively humble hometown.
I tried to capture my thinking in comment. Going to capture it here for posterity…
What I love about this series of pieces is that they are actively stepping up and striving to own our own narrative. You might not state it explicitly, Mike, but it’s such a joy to see that implicitly baked into these missives.
Historically, Portland’s aggressive humility has consistently abdicated its storytelling to others — giving the mic to everyone from the NYT to Portlandia. That works well when the news is good and things are bright and shiny. But when those abdicated storylines turn negative… they’re increasingly difficult to derail.
Thanks again for embarking on this journey and capturing these thoughts. They’re needed. And valued 🧡
Feel free to pile on over on LinkedIn or the original piece.
More news
