This Monday December 12th, thousands of women across America — and the people who support them — will join in a general strike and boycott. The protest is based in New York City and it’s intended to be a show of solidarity against the, “normalization of sexual assault, racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, unconstitutional behavior, and hate promoted by our incoming administration.”
To help support the effort and amplify its message here on the left coast, four women who work in Portland’s bike industry are coordinating a local event and day of action.
Gladys Bikes owner Leah Benson, Sugar Wheel Works owner Jude Gerace, Kenton Cycle Works shop manager Ashley Mitchell and Community Cycling Center assistant camp manager Kelley Goodwin have organized Strike Out by Bike! Beyond the boycott and strike on Monday, their event will go one step further: it will support Bradley Angle House, a Portland-based nonprofit that helps victims of domestic violence.
There are two ways to take part in the event. You can donate items on Bradley Angle’s wish list and drop them off at Gladys Bikes (2905 NE Alberta) or Kenton Cycle Repair (2020 N McClellan St) by closing time this Sunday night (5:00 pm and 6:00 pm respectively). Items in need include new pillows, comforters, towels, kitchen tools, and so on. Then on Monday (12/12) all the donated items will be loaded into panniers, racks, trailers, and cargo bike boxes and delivered to Bradley Angle. The ride meets at 10:00 am at Gladys Bikes (there will be coffee!). After the ride there’s a separate rally and protest at noon (links to Facebook) in Chapman Square in downtown Portland.
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The instigator of Strike Out by Bike! was Benson. She told us today that the event is an opportunity to put feelings of anger and fear that have swelled up after the election last month into action. “I think it’s a time to not be quiet,” she said. “It seemed like a great opportunity to mobilize within our local community of women who bike to take our shared love of bikes and use it to support other women.”
Gerace said her involvement isn’t just about expressing opposition to the president-elect; it’s also about giving back to the community that has supported her and her business. “I am grateful for the help and opportunities I’ve had and I will do everything I can to help other women,” she said. “The relationships I’ve had with other women in this industry have been a source of strength and joy.”
And for Mitchell, the event is about women and their allies joining forces to show “how strong our economic force is when we strike out together against hatred.”
“It’s a small thing,” Benson added, “but all these little actions will hopefully add up to help folks feel safer and more supported during trying times.”
For more information, see the event’s Facebook page or listing on our calendar.
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org
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I’m all for a general strike early and often, but general means general.
Can you clarify this? I don’t understand what you mean.
It means our senior military leadership (except those in the navy) should walk out and refuse to do any further work until the strike has met its goals.
Why not give him a chance? He’s built many towers in urban areas, not zillions of dead-end streets in the boondocks.
rick, I think land use is the least of the concerns Trump and his supporters and cabinet selections have raised.
What does building towers have to do with anything?
He is a ***inappropriate insults deleted by moderator***
white nationalist and a clown are words that are now banned?
WTF?
Yeah, white nationalist seems pretty fair.
Yup, if you don’t think about it at all, it makes sense.
no. Those words are not banned. As I always say, it’s not just about the words, it’s about the context they appear in.
I don’t want this thread to be a bunch of name-calling back and forth. I know people are emotional about Trump. I’m just trying to play it extra careful. Sorry. I hope you understand.
And yet you let Dead Salmon directly call Adam a bike Nazi? Uh…
i have deleted that comment and regret that it made it through
Speaking of name calling, there’s another type that’s worth noting. The labelling that’s regularly used in the dissemination of propaganda. As in this article, “..racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia… and hate…”
Exactly right Pete. That labeling of people over and over and over has turned off many people and contributed to the win by DJT. If someone wants to discuss issues, fine, most are fine with that, but when the first thing out of every Ds mouth is to call you a name, it gets old fast.
Original Gangsta here… he’s a re-Pete. From what I saw the labeling that contributed to Trump’s win came from Trump himself. What follows is that we now see a spate of letters and graffiti that have hit Muslim and Mexican community centers with hateful intent pointing to specific Trump speeches about “deportation forces” coming to give our country back to the “whites”. Most public speakers are careful not to confuse Muslims with ‘Islamists’ or terrorists, but Trump actually presented a plan to help prevent domestic terrorism by banning people of the Muslim faith from entering the country. You don’t recognize that as labeling?
I think the election of Trump was a total disaster, but I haven’t seen much evidence that he, himself, is a white nationalist.
How about the fact that he named a literal nazi and propagandist as his chief advisor?
I don’t believe in guilt by association.
If there is one thing you can say about Trump it’s that he can’t keep his mouth shut. If he was a white nationalist, surely he would have talked about it. And I’m not saying he isn’t, only that I haven’t seen any evidence he is, and his background would suggest it’s unlikely.
And if Bannon is a “literal Nazi” please show me a credible source linking him to the Nazi Party.
I’m not defending either of these men, but if you’re going to label them so strongly, please cite some evidence.
Says the ***inappropriate insult delete*** in chief.
I’ve notice over time that Bike Portland is extremely politically correct.
Yeah, took me about 1/2 hour to figure that out.
How about no.
Who wants another auto bailout? Hillary voted to support it last time.
If you thought the auto bailout was bad, wait until you see what our president-elect has in store!
The auto bailout saved about 1 million jobs. What is your problem with that?
Anyone with any sense voted to support keeping the global economy from tanking.
The only thing we missed was imprisoning the people who caused it.
The tanking was only postponed, but will be much worse due to the huge debt.
Just how much of our national debt do you think the auto bailout is responsible for?
I’m talking about the entire bailout mess starting in 2008. The 20 Trillion is a problem. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. Maybe there will be enough growth to get us out of it alive, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
The bailout started in 2007 under a previous paragon of fiscal responsibility. Along with, of course, the fiscal collapse.
But no matter. Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his wise financial stewardship, which I expect to continue during his tenure in the White House. I also fully expect defenders to try to distract attention from said stewardship by pointing fingers at previous presidents and non-presidents alike, revealing a very simplistic view of economics and fiscal policy.
Not you, of course, but others.
Wait, you voted for a President that you think will reduce the deficit? You’ve listened to his plans, yes? Where do you believe all of the revenue to fund infrastructure spending, increased health care costs, and tax refunds will come from?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repatriation_tax_holiday
Pete,
Neither candidate proposed anything substantial that might reduce the deficit. Sadly. We’re supposed to have a congress that will pass reasonable budgets to help reign in an out of control executive branch, but that has not happened lately.
It’s not just the executive branch. Congress has done plenty to ‘take advantage of the lowest borrowing costs in history for the government’ (Larry Somers’ argument), and prolonged military support for Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria isn’t cheap.
I hope you’re not thinking that the current deficit level is radically elevated because of the 2008 bailouts. More than half the capital has been repaid, and the government has profited an estimated $72B. The Supreme Court even decided in AIG’s favor that the government overly profited by the nearly 80% stake in the company attached to that company’s infusion.
It’s not the first time, nor unconventional, for the government to step in to support failing industries. Do you put money in a 401k? If so then you are a shareholder who will be financially hit hard if, for example, AAPL stock were to tank in a tech spiral. Since the gov’t is tapping social security funds for other purposes, they have a vested interest in preventing mass bankruptcies in American businesses.
So now that QE is waning and the US economy is stable, we can stop worrying about deflation and start worrying about inflation again. I know that our President-elect plans to take a page from the corporate tax repatriation playbook, but I hope he has some ideas to pry capital from the cash-flushed corporations and discourage them from more stock buybacks (or even better, encouraging dividends).
https://projects.propublica.org/bailout
I’m not overly concerned about the “bailout” money. If you say 50% has been repaid, that sounds OK. The concern is the overall debt – no matter where it came from. Do not mistake a high stock market for a stable economy. What do you think our economy would look like if the government were not spending 550 billion in 2016 that it does not have? I don’t think we’d like it much. Problem is, I doubt we can continue that level of deficit spending forever. And if interest rates go up then the interest payments alone could cause huge problems. It’s not a healthy situation in my opinion, but I am not an expert.
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Also, the real unemployment rate is quite high – it’s just that many people gave up looking and are no longer looking for a job; or else they are working 1, 2, or 3 jobs that pay much lower than their old job.
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If one stock goes down in price, it should make very little impact to a 401K – if the whole sector goes down, then, yes, that can take a bite out of your money. Most 401Ks do offer stable value funds or money markets that don’t pay as well, but rarely go down, but most folks don’t want the low returns in those funds.
And yet we just elected a man who is expected to add massively to the debt with tax cuts……
And remember that thing Bob Dole did a decade ago that’s not relevant to anything we’re talking about?
No, which thing was it?
Please pick one:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dole#U.S._Senate
Says he and Kemp were the first presidential campaign to have a website; and that he was the last WW2 vet nominated for president by a major political party.
You know, that thing that is totally irrelevant to anything at all, that I bring up to get people stirred up. I only mention it because talking about bikes gets so boring sometimes.
If you are genuinely confused, look at the post I was responding to.
Not sure what you are talking about. Did Dole support an auto bailout 10 years ago? No, he left politics in 1996 – 20 years ago.
Here’s the irony… auto makers were only a small part of a massive bailout caused by a lack of oversight of the practices that banks were engaged in. The incoming president has not only vowed to eliminate the oversight that was since put in place to try and prevent that from happening again, he’s tasked a former banking executive with doing exactly that.
Pretty ironic that the same country typically complaining of corporate involvement in government chose a building developer to run it.
The much bigger complaint is government involved in every aspect of every business and every individual in the nation. That is a major part of why we chose him. We want government to shrink to a fraction of the current size – it is suffocating businesses and individuals.
Hasn’t the Carrier situation made you wonder if Trump really will be hands-off when it comes to business? I think we’ll find he’s hands-on in a way this country has never seen before.
Which is exactly the reason I registered and voted against Donald Trump. I believe he is the candidate most likely to manipulate policies affecting personal wealth, health and economic and employment stability, and the individual rights of women, gays, minorities, and immigrants. I outlined many related points to your concern here in a “top ten” list earlier in this thread.
On your unemployment point, there is a huge labor shortage right now. The problem isn’t necessarily a lack of jobs, it’s a lack of 1) skilled labor for technical and managerial jobs, and 2) compensation for where the jobs are to support their local cost of living. The work force has aged and shrunk, and the education level of incoming participants has lowered due to restrictions in subsidies… thus we are forced to import more and more people with Master’s and PhD’s from overseas.
What I’ve heard from the incoming administration seems to ignore the sweeping affects of technological optimization and automation which have done away with many of the jobs and much of the energy sources they aim to bolster. The coal mining jobs that Trump and Ryan claim were lost to EPA policies were really lost by 60% efficient combined-cycle plants with much lower costs of operation. (Some background: my company is involved in oil & gas, mining, transportation, and power – our biggest revenue is due to the ongoing replacement of coal-fired power generation with NG-fired plants; lithium mining is going strong, and we’re investing in wind and hydro energy production significantly, regardless of threats by the incoming administration to reduce subsidies there).
On your point about investing, yes, you can go safe with bond-based funds but you won’t keep pace with inflation. If you don’t believe that the value of the tens of billions of shares outstanding of GE, Microsoft, Pfizer, Cisco, Google, Apple, etc. aren’t affected by government policy (or vice versa) and directly affect the future health of our aging demographics, then there’s not much more about economics I can try to teach you. As I mentioned previously, these companies are flush with cash right now, but they remain overly conservation on spending it (restricted cash flow affects us too).
I’m still comforted by the fact that the establishment seems as upset about Trump as the people are. Trump is a Frankenstein’s Monster, he was created by divisive rhetoric the powers that be have used to keep focus off of their shady backroom dealings.
You really haven’t been paying attention. Trump’s entire platform and the people he is putting in his cabinet are all about income redistribution establishment style: from the bottom up.
An education secretary who is all about union-busting and privatizing schools (to disastrous effects) whose family fortune comes from privatizing slaughter in Iraq and elsewhere and from defrauding people. A leader of the EPA who decries any sort of regulation and seems to love air pollution. I’m sure the Kochs, who just happen to bankroll the very establishment GOP, are not displeased. A HHS head who is on record as wanting to wipe out access to health care and coverage for tens of millions of Americans. I could go on, but I think you see the point.
Aside from abandoning dog whistles, Trump is the most establishment candidate in GOP history. Your comfort is not based on any realistic assessment of his stated positions.
Right, that’s why they tried desperately to stop him right up until he actually won the election. Because the establishment fights tooth and nails against the things it wants..
Okay..
And keep your assumptions about the level of attention people are paying to the O-Live comments where they belong. It’s a shitty rhetorical trick and it is (probably) beneath you.
Why don’t they wait until the new administration actually does something that may be considered ““normalization of sexual assault, racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, unconstitutional behavior, and hate” and then protect that. This just seems like more general dissatisfaction on the outcome of the election with out tangible actions to act upon.
hi Redhippie,
I think Trump and his new administration have already done a lot to normalize all those things. The things Trump has said and done and the things his advisers and cabinet selections have said and done — combined with the way those things have been completely mishandled by the media — have created an environment where positions and beliefs that used to be considered extremist and on-the-fringe are now part of the national dialogue. Words are actions when it comes to being a presidential candidate or a presidential elect or a member of his inner circle.
I guess him bragging about sexual assault is not enough for you?
I’ll be damned if I’ll sit around and wait for a fascist to commit horrible acts before I do anything.
You go guy! Go shop at the local bike shops mentioned above on the day of the strike to show your support. Wait…..scratch that……they’ll be on strike. Genius move.
All of these shops will be open regular hours. One member of the staff from each shop is stepping away for the Strike Out to show solidarity.
“One member of the staff from each shop is stepping away for the Strike Out to show solidarity.”
I guess your definition of a “national strike” is different from my definition…
The new President spent 5 years lying about where our current president was born out of pure and simple racism. That must be ok for you and whoever is liking your post….
That was started by H. Oh yes, it was.
He pursued it for 5 years but whatever, you know what he is, you are fine with it….
***This comment has been deleted. You are now on automatic moderation. Your comments will not be published unless you change your tone and treat others with respect. Thank you. – Jonathan ***
Jonathan. This is an example of the comments that I feel don’t add to the conversation. Hurtful, offensive, off topic.
H,
Wrong on several accounts. It is not any more offensive than the comment it is a reply to. Not only is it not offensive, but it is 100% correct. It is not off topic – the topic of this article is about protesting the president-elect so all things political are on topic. It may be hurtful – that’s the way the truth is sometimes.
Sarah Palin in the White House… `nuff said.
Of course he did in your world….
***This comment has been deleted due to how it unnecessarily referenced a person’s skin color. – Jonathan ***
Like by voting for Trump?
PS Jonathan, this comment is a great example of Portland racism. I’d encourage you to delete it.
When you resort to using such over the top, divisive language such as theirs, you know your position is weak.
Leading up through the election, the obnoxious attitude and behavior of trump with regards to people on the basis of their gender, racial identity, religious affiliation, and more, has been closely studied and publicly discussed. As for the people he’s picked for his cabinet, their attitudes and behaviors aren’t known publicly to the extent trumps are, and may be less extreme. They’re all conservatives…right?
It’s fair to hope the collective members of the upcoming administration will have trump move to more moderate views and behavior than have come from him in past. I’m glad though, that some people like these women, realize it’s important to prepare to confront injustices the upcoming administration may happen to enable in one form or another.
Trump is entering into an occupation, in some very important respects, entirely new from anything he’s experienced before. I want to be at least a little optimistic, that he may realize it’s an opportunity to become a better person.
Please cite the specific instances of trump’s bad behavior based on racial and religious affiliation. You can’t because there are none.
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I’ll take a quick guess at the behavior I think you are referring to and you tell me if I am wrong:
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On race I suspect you are referring to his comment about “some” of those coming across the southern border. He did not say all people of any race were problems, only the criminal element.
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On religion I suspect you are referring to his comment about vetting refugees coming to America to make sure they are safe. He did not want to vet them because of their religion, but because a few of the people from that region have a proven track record of causing very significant problems.
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On gender, I suspect you are referring to the locker room talk on the video tape. That’s a non-issue – just locker room talk. Nothing more.
Hurray! Thanks to Leah, Jude, Ashley, and Kelley for organizing this! These excellent women are exactly the kind of leaders we need to get through the next four years. Thanks, all!
One shop to possibly avoid.
Jude’s shop has built several pairs of wheels for me, and they’ve all performed exceptionally well. I don’t think I’ll ever buy another factory-made wheel now. They have a track record of giving back to your community in addition to being a fantastic value for the top quality and personal attention to detail you get.
(Dan, those carbon clinchers you built for me a few years back are still perfectly true and smooth after ~2.5K miles – keep up the awesome work!).
The only thing I’d avoid is the decision to hold off on getting custom wheels.
Maybe True Temper will return for the bike industry.
http://www.post-gazette.com/business/pittsburgh-company-news/2016/12/08/U-S-Steel-clarifies-jobs-numbers-tied-to-President-elect-Donald-Trump/stories/201612080174
Safety pins and window posters have grown stale as virtue signals eh?
The level of snark and rudeness aimed at the efforts these women are undertaking is sad and sickening.
Until you have something positive or constructive to say about the work these women are undertaking, I would suggest that you keep it to yourself.
That is unless you’re just unhappy people who feel better about making other people feel unhappy. And if that’s the case I’m really sorry for you.
Kelley, Leah, Jude, and Ashley I (and many others) have your back and will support you in any way we can.
hey velograph,
Which comments do you feel are snarky and rude? I think it’s OK for people to comment even if they don’t support what these women are doing – but I won’t allow them to be overly rude about it.
Happy to consider moderating some of the comments if necessary.. I’m just not seeing the “sickening” ones.
I agree it seems to be a bit of a pile-on given that this is essentially a charity ride to help victims of domestic violence. Rick’s multiple comments aren’t contributing anything constructive, and JeffS was clearly snarking.
These women are leaders in the local bike industry, which is quite sexist. I see this casual disdain for these women as part of the problem in the industry as a whole.
You mean the guy who said “Why not give him a chance?”
How is that at all offensive? If you can’t stand the sight of dissent, Facebook probably has some tools to help weed out opposing ideas on that platform.
I don’t assume the snark/etc. is because they are women, but because of the political stance they’re taking. I would expect if they were men leading a “pro-Trump” bike ride, they would also be plenty of snark/etc., probably from a different group.
How about a Day Without Snark?
How about a day where the left doesn’t resort to name calling (-xxxist, -xxxphobe, -xxxism, etc) and instead, actually attempts to present a cogent thought about some of the topics they claim to care about. I’ve yet to see it. Why? Because there are no cogent thoughts supporting their side. I invite you all to prove me wrong.
That’s rich.
Make your case that the local cycling industry is sexist. I don’t know one thing about it, but this sounds like some juicy gossip. Lay it out for all to see.
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The ride may be a charity ride to help victims of domestic violence, but the pile-on would likely be due to the title of the article saying this is about a strike against the Trump administration. So, if it’s a domestic violence ride, change the title of the article, drop the childish name calling (-ist, -ism, -phobe), and it may go mainstream. Right now it looks like a silly Alt-left knee jerk spasm.
If it is a charity ride, why is the title of this article about the president-elect?
Jonathan, this is what I think part of the problem is. We’ve let the slight things go for so long that they don’t even feel slight anymore. I for one thing commenting when you don’t agree is ok. It’s the comments that do nothing to elevate a conversation that get me bummed.
And sure, maybe this is 100% a political thing that has nothing to do with genders. It’s just a sad fact that as soon as I read this article I knew there would be people who feel better about getting a jab in while they can.
The comments about general striking and safety pins might not on the surface be much to be worried about, but when the entire internet is full of people taking slight jabs at those who are trying to figure out their way in it, it adds up.
Then again I knew better for reading the comments. I oftentimes find the comments on this site to be thoughtful, informative, and passionate. It’s the lack of compassion that some of these display that reinforce my support for those who are doing the hard work to publicly speak out for what they feel is right.
Thanks for the work you do Jonathan.
The first paragraph in this BP article is mostly just a bunch of baseless name calling. There is no truth to it. So your argument failed before anyone made a comment. The premise of the strike is false. It will only serve to think even more that the left is a bunch of nuts.
Sorry, I may be confused, but wasn’t someone calling others out for name calling?
You make some very good points Velograph and I agree with you. This type of story and thread is very difficult to moderate fairly. I want to make a space where disparate views can be heard. Unfortunately many people don’t yet know how to share different views without becoming mean/snarky or wanting to “win” the argument.
I have gone through and tried to clean up the thread. I have placed “bottom bracket” on automatic moderation and deleted several of her/his comments.
Again, I totally hear you about the disappointment in threads like this. It’s a difficult balancing act to host these conversations and make sure they remain productive. I’m far from perfect at it, but I won’t give up trying.
Thanks for your comments. Hope you continue to read and share your thoughts.
This is a great idea! Thank you to the organizers for working to make a positive difference in our community.
I understand why people are frustrated, but I don’t understand how this makes things better — especially since the businesses most affected will be friendly to the broader objectives of the organizers.
Women in history have worked incredibly hard to pave a way for women to vote, to work, to enter industries previously unattainable, women in the workforce are strong. And there is a ton of work to do. In Portland, I am mostly comfortable working as a mechanic, being a mechanic and a women in a less progressive city sucks. And many many women in non-bicycle trades in Portland face discrimination and harassment on a daily basis. This strike out is about showing how strong the women workforce is, and that we will stand in solidarity against sexism.
Re: my comment about working in other cities – I am speaking to my personal experiences only.
I want to reiterate that these shops are open regular hours. These women and their allies are doing both – showing solidarity and continuing to provide open accessible and friendly businesses. For me (Ash Mitchell) this strike is about women coming together to say – no, these changes you want to make against our bodies, the discrimination, sexism and violence to women in the trades – is not okay. It’s spreading awareness, creating common goals, and action wise, it’s providing necessary items to a Portland business which works ceaselessly to help women in crisis (Bradley Angle). I hope this provides clarity.
I am thankful that I have never worked in a place where women were treated poorly. At least it was not apparent. They were treated just like the men and were respected greatly. Some were my boss, some were not – both men and women had a job to do and everyone who did their job was highly respected and we all worked together to successfully complete projects.
I would be interested to read about some of the bad practices you ladies have encountered in your careers, with specifics. No need to identify people though. In fact, an article covering such incidents on this website might be an eye opener. I would not include remarks about political figures unless that is what you want most of the comments to be about.
Why would someone write about that knowing they’ll just be attacked and belittled?
Thanks Leah and company. I appreciate what you are doing, and I look forward to supporting Gladys Bikes.
They’ll be closed for the strike.
This sounds like less of a “strike” in the labor/picket-line sense and more like a “strike” in the “preemptive” sense—against a perceived looming era of neglectfulness toward those people who would be served by, e.g., Bradley Angle House. There may or may not have been any direct action yet by the Administration-elect, but I kind of agree with Jonathan that the “national mood” that has been set by the election results has emboldened a certain segment to commit everything from bias-motivated acts of meanness to actual “hate crimes”.
Now, maybe we’re on the verge of a libertarian utopia where all have access to Life, Liberty, and the Purfuit of Happiness (as long as you’ve already got the cash to afford it), but for those understandably worried about what might happen to people who have found themselves on the “wrong” end of some of the former candidate’s rhetoric, storytelling, cabinet picks, or what-have-you, this “strike out” seems aimed at sending the message—along with some actions—that there are plenty of our Fellow Americans for whom “Liberty and Justice for all” is a major concern.
Jonathan: I am requesting that you ban Bottom Bracket, not because he is from the other side politically, but because his posts repeatedly fall to the level of what can be charitably called trolling, and because actual comments he has made insulted friends of mine directly. His opinions such as they are add nothing to the debate. I don’t want an echo chamber here, but I don’t want to have to argue settled fact. It’s not useful to read the comments section when it’s polluted by such stuff.
peejay,
thanks for the feedback. i have put bottom bracket on automatic moderation – which means her/his comments will not appear until I’ve had a chance to read them. I have also deleted several of her/his comments. if he/she continues to be needlessly antagonistic than I’ll just delete all the comments.
I’m closing the comments. Thanks everyone for your contributions.