How Did I Get Here?

How did I get here?

Back to Journalism

435 News was never my dream or lifelong ambition. The last time I wrote anything for a news organization was over 40 years ago at a little weekly newspaper in Canby, Oregon where I was sports editor covering the Canby Cougars.

I was “famous” — and it was horrible. High school kids would chase me down in their cars heaving eggs at me as I drove home after covering a sporting event. I couldn’t go into any store without hearing a snarky comment or being accosted by some disgruntled reader. Journalism is not for the faint of heart. So how did I get here? Again?

In a word: Trump.

The America I Remember

Well, that’s only partly true. The problem is I was raised to love America and to think the best of America. I was raised to be proud to be an American, follow the law and respect our leaders. Moreover, I grew up in a world when Robin Hood was hero. He stole from the rich and gave to the poor. Where Prince John was the bad guy, looting the poor and abusing the lowly. Now Trump is doing the same thing.

I grew up the son of a Presbyterian pastor. Jesus I read and heard about was the champion of the poor, the weak, the hungry, the crippled (handicapped), the sick and the underprivileged. Therefore, being a Christian meant doing what Jesus would do. For instance, we went trick-or-treating for UNICEF. We stood with minorities. I had native Americans for classmates. These were our brothers.

How did I get here? How did we get here?

Blame My Dad

Blame my dad. He fought injustice way back in the 1940s Chicago. My father tells the story of taking his most black church youth to the roller rink in Chicago and getting his skates, then witnessing them tell his kids there was no more room. Consequently, he turned around, left the rink, then made calls and eventually invited by the mayor of Chicago to a meeting. The mayor had invited owners of roller rinks in Chicago and they were held accountable!

That”s what it meant to be an American and a Christian. Therefore, standing by and turning a blind eye to injustice and unbridled racism was — and is — unacceptable

So how did I get here, creating 435 News with the vision of sharing and showing the American stories? Stories of protest against Trump and his Prince John approach to governance — with the approval of almost 40% of the country?

Blame my dad.

435 News – YOU are the media

435 News is my response, my “lane”, to fighting back. I want 435 News to be the media of the people where WE share our stories of protest. There were over 1,400 protests a week ago. Fourteen-hundred! Those need to be seen, heard, read.

I’m working on a 435 New Photo Gallery page idea: One protest photo from every congressional district in the country — 435 photos!

No more complaining about how the mainstream media is owned by big corporations. That they are cowering to Trump. If they won’t cover the protests, dang it, than I will. And I invite you to do the same. Anybody can snaps photos at protests and send to us. WE can be the media. Why not?

We can’t just content ourselves voicing opposition on Bluesky. As Michelle Obama said last summer, we need to “do something,”

By the way, it feels good.