This Is Not For You: An Activist's Journey of Resistance and Resilience
This Is Not For You tells the story of activist and photographer Richard Brown, a Black Portlander who has spent decades working to bridge the divide between police and the Black community. His memoir brings readers with him into the streets with fellow activists, into squad cars with the rank-and-file, and to regular meetings with mayors and police chiefs. There are very few people doing the kind of work Richard Brown has done. And that, as he sees it, is a big problem.

The book finds Brown approaching his eightieth birthday and reflecting on his life. As he recalls his childhood in 1940s Harlem, his radicalization in the newly desegregated Air Force, and his decades of activism in one of America’s whitest cities, he questions how much longer he’ll do this work, and he wonders who, if anyone, will take his place.

This is a book about how and why to become an engaged, activist citizen, and how activists can stay grounded, no matter how deeply they immerse themselves in the work. It also offers an intimate, firsthand look at policing: what policing is and could be, how civilians can have a say, and how police can and should be responsive to and inclusive of civilian voices. This Is Not For You speaks on every page about being Black in America: about Black pride; Black history, art, and culture; and the experience of resisting white supremacy. It also stands as a much-needed counternarrative to Portlandia, telling a different story about the city and who has shaped it.

Over fifty percent of royalties earned on this book will be donated to organizations working on behalf of Black Portlanders.
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This Is Not For You: An Activist's Journey of Resistance and Resilience
This Is Not For You tells the story of activist and photographer Richard Brown, a Black Portlander who has spent decades working to bridge the divide between police and the Black community. His memoir brings readers with him into the streets with fellow activists, into squad cars with the rank-and-file, and to regular meetings with mayors and police chiefs. There are very few people doing the kind of work Richard Brown has done. And that, as he sees it, is a big problem.

The book finds Brown approaching his eightieth birthday and reflecting on his life. As he recalls his childhood in 1940s Harlem, his radicalization in the newly desegregated Air Force, and his decades of activism in one of America’s whitest cities, he questions how much longer he’ll do this work, and he wonders who, if anyone, will take his place.

This is a book about how and why to become an engaged, activist citizen, and how activists can stay grounded, no matter how deeply they immerse themselves in the work. It also offers an intimate, firsthand look at policing: what policing is and could be, how civilians can have a say, and how police can and should be responsive to and inclusive of civilian voices. This Is Not For You speaks on every page about being Black in America: about Black pride; Black history, art, and culture; and the experience of resisting white supremacy. It also stands as a much-needed counternarrative to Portlandia, telling a different story about the city and who has shaped it.

Over fifty percent of royalties earned on this book will be donated to organizations working on behalf of Black Portlanders.
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This Is Not For You: An Activist's Journey of Resistance and Resilience

This Is Not For You: An Activist's Journey of Resistance and Resilience

This Is Not For You: An Activist's Journey of Resistance and Resilience

This Is Not For You: An Activist's Journey of Resistance and Resilience

Overview

This Is Not For You tells the story of activist and photographer Richard Brown, a Black Portlander who has spent decades working to bridge the divide between police and the Black community. His memoir brings readers with him into the streets with fellow activists, into squad cars with the rank-and-file, and to regular meetings with mayors and police chiefs. There are very few people doing the kind of work Richard Brown has done. And that, as he sees it, is a big problem.

The book finds Brown approaching his eightieth birthday and reflecting on his life. As he recalls his childhood in 1940s Harlem, his radicalization in the newly desegregated Air Force, and his decades of activism in one of America’s whitest cities, he questions how much longer he’ll do this work, and he wonders who, if anyone, will take his place.

This is a book about how and why to become an engaged, activist citizen, and how activists can stay grounded, no matter how deeply they immerse themselves in the work. It also offers an intimate, firsthand look at policing: what policing is and could be, how civilians can have a say, and how police can and should be responsive to and inclusive of civilian voices. This Is Not For You speaks on every page about being Black in America: about Black pride; Black history, art, and culture; and the experience of resisting white supremacy. It also stands as a much-needed counternarrative to Portlandia, telling a different story about the city and who has shaped it.

Over fifty percent of royalties earned on this book will be donated to organizations working on behalf of Black Portlanders.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780870713026
Publisher: Oregon State University Press
Publication date: 02/28/2021
Edition description: 1
Pages: 264
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Richard J. Brown is a community activist and photographer. Originally from Harlem, he served in the Air Force for twenty years before landing in Portland, Oregon, where he works tirelessly to empower Black people and to bridge the gap between the police and the Black community. This is his first book.
richardjbrown.me

Brian Benson is the author of Going Somewhere. Originally from Wisconsin, Brian now lives in Portland, Oregon, where he teaches at the Attic Institute.
brianbensonwrites.com

Table of Contents

Foreword 9

The Presentation 13

Part I Excuse Yourself

Chapter 1 A Boy in a Room 23

Chapter 2 What I Saw When I Looked 30

Chapter 3 So Far from Home 37

The Academy 43

Part II The Sort of Place You'd Pull Last if You Could

Chapter 4 Another Planet 61

Chapter 5 Survival Skills 66

Chapter 6 The Ghost of a Stripe 71

Chapter 7 Paper Cup 75

Chapter 8 A Real Person 83

Chapter 9 Outcomes 86

The Club 93

Part III No Destination but the Drive

Chapter 10 Light Casualties 103

Chapter 11 Black Skin and Wire-Rimmed Glasses 112

Chapter 12 Speed and Other Limits 116

Chapter 13 Twenty Years 123

The Street 127

Part IV Picture Takin' Man

Chapter 14 Like a Little Bird 143

Chapter 15 Human Interest 151

Chapter 16 Sidebar 159

The Precinct 165

Part V Black Man in a White Room

Chapter 17 Etiquette 179

Chapter 18 The Center of Every Story 185

Chapter 19 Just About Everything 193

The Basement 201

Part VI Eighteen Inches

Chapter 20 Into the Blue Cocoon 215

Chapter 21 Hope and Hard Work 223

Chapter 22 Block After Block 231

Chapter 23 Tug of War 239

Chapter 24 One Last Thursday 247

The Presentation 253

Afterword 257

Galleries of photographs by the author appear before Parts II, IV, V, and VI

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