Portland, Oregon, 1988: the brutal murder of Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw by racist skinheads shocked the city. In response disparate groups quickly came together to organize against white nationalist violence and right-wing organizing throughout the Rose City and the Pacific Northwest.

It Did Happen Here compiles interviews with dozens of people who worked together during the waning decades of the twentieth century to reveal an inspiring collaboration between groups of immigrants, civil rights activists, militant youth, and queer organizers. This oral history focuses on participants in three core groups: the Portland chapters of Anti-Racist Action and Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, and the Coalition for Human Dignity.

Using a diversity of tactics—from out-and-out brawls on the streets and at punk shows, to behind-the-scenes intelligence gathering—brave antiracists unified on their home ground over and over, directly attacking right-wing fascists and exposing white nationalist organizations and neo-Nazi skinheads. Embattled by police and unsupported by the city, these citizen activists eventually drove the boneheads out of the music scene and off the streets of Portland. This book shares their stories about what worked, what didn’t, and ideas on how to continue the fight.

Praise

“By the time I moved my queer little family to Portland at the turn of the millennium, the city had a reputation as a homo-friendly bastion of progressive politics, so we were somewhat taken aback when my daughter’s racially diverse sports team was met with a burning cross at a suburban game. So much progress had been made yet, at times, it felt like the past hadn’t gone anywhere. If only we’d had It Did Happen Here. This documentary project tells the forgotten history of Portland’s roots as a haven for white supremacists and recounts the ways anti-racists formed coalitions across subcultures to protect the vulnerable and fight the good fight against Nazi boneheads and the bigoted right. Through the voices of lived experience, It Did Happen Here illuminates community dynamics and lays out ideas and inspiration for long-term and nonpolice solutions to poverty and hatred.”
—Ariel Gore, author of We Were Witches

“I literally couldn’t stop myself from raving about the It Did Happen Here podcast to anyone who would listen, so they in turn would listen to it. Now, with unabashed enthusiasm, I recommend the book too! It’s not merely that an inspirational moment in antiracist/antifascist history comes alive through the brave, self-reflective voices of the people who made it. Or that the lessons gleaned—such as the imperative to concurrently battle anti-Blackness, antisemitism, xenophobia, and homophobia—can aid in us not letting history repeat itself today, including us not making the same mistakes. Crucially, It Did Happen Here offers a detailed playbook of success premised on inventive strategies and tactics, and most compellingly, social relations of solidarity that cut beautifully across identities, making accomplices of punks, community organizers, queers, people of color, Jews, immigrants, working-class folks, and indeed anyone down for community self-defense.”
—Cindy Milstein, author of Anarchism and Its Aspirations

“It Did Happen Here is a necessary read for this moment. The need for effective antifascist organizing is as urgent as it has been in decades, yet far too many of us don’t know the history of groups who successfully pushed back against neo- Nazis in cities like Portland in the ’90s, even though a number of those organizers are still active today. Utilizing extensive interviews, IDHH connects the dots by providing context for this current wave of white supremacist organizing, highlighting the rich history of Portland antiracist organizations in the ’90s and exploring how they navigated many of the same struggles, both external and internal, that we’re dealing with in real time today.”
—Bruce Poinsette, writer, organizer, educator, and host of The Blacktastic Adventure