It Did Happen Here
It Did Happen Here is an independently produced podcast that documents the fight against racist white skinheads in the 1980’s and 90’s. The 11 episodes feature interviews with many people who worked together in those days and reveal the unlikely collaboration between groups of immigrants, civil rights activists, militant youth and queer organizers who came together to successfully confront neo-nazi violence and right wing organizing in the Rose City.
The podcast talks to three core groups: the Portland chapter of Anti Racist Action; SHARP- Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice; and the Coalition for Human Dignity. In out-and-out brawls on the streets and at punk shows, and in behind the scenes intelligence gathering to expose right wing and white nationalist organizing, the three groups united on their home ground over and over to attack fascists—and they won it back.

In Episode 6, members of the Coalition for Human Dignity (CHD) describe defense strategies. Working together with ARA, SHARP, individuals and families under threat from racist skinhead violence they co-developed the support strategy they called House Defense; they also trained themselves in security and offered basic support to local groups. The mutual aid that was established created a community-wide bond many still feel today.
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