‘Black Friday’ event celebrates stories of Portland’s Black community and the theme of ‘home’

The second annual “Black Friday” event, coming up Friday, Nov. 8, at the Hollywood Theatre, will explore aspects of Black community history in Portland. But the evening isn’t intended to be “a tired nod to the past,” as producer Donovan Scribes says.

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Instead, Scribes says he and his fellow “Black Friday” organizers have put together a program that explores elements of Black Portland history, and also celebrates what creators and activists are doing now, as they continue telling stories of Black achievement.

This “Black Friday” has the theme of “home,” and will be anchored, Scribes says, by two new films, including “Dear Young Black Portland,” the second in a series of “Elder Anthologies.” “Dear Young Black Portland” is written by Scribes (who was formerly known as Donovan M. Smith) and directed by Devin Boss.

Though Scribes wrote it, the film is shaped as a letter from Sharon Gary-Smith, former president of the Portland branch of the NAACP. Scribes served with Gary-Smith as vice president of the organization, and he considers her a mentor.

The other new film is the second episode of a short film series, “Where We Goin’,” titled “The Power of Place.” Boss, who directs the film, also appears on camera, speaking with Intisar Abioto, the artist who curated the 2023 “Black Artists of Oregon” exhibition at the Portland Art Museum. Abioto also talks about her unsuccessful efforts to purchase the Portland home that belonged to Beatrice Morrow Cannady, the civil rights activist whose many accomplishments included co-founding the Portland chapter of the NAACP.

In the “Where We Goin’” episode, Boss and Abioto also talk with leaders of the Albina Vision Trust, a nonprofit that is working to restore and rebuild the area of Portland that was for years the thriving center of the city’s Black community, until racist housing policies forced Black families out of their homes, and destroyed neighborhoods and businesses.

The “Black Friday” evening also includes a panel discussion on housing and economics, photographs, and an award presentation to Richard Brown, longtime photographer for The Portland Observer.

“I think for all of us, we want this to be a multi-generational Black convocation,” says Boss. “I’ve just been calling it a film-centered community event. It really is about our stories, what are the stories that we tell ourselves, and how do we celebrate the stories of people who have done tremendous things throughout their lifetimes.”

Thinking about the idea of “home,” Boss says, he also wants the event to “be like a backyard barbecue. I want the Northeast vibe that I remember back in that building. It’s fitting that we hold it in the Hollywood Theatre, bringing people who might have been displaced from Northeast Portland back to Northeast Portland, to celebrate each other.”

In terms of what attendees can expect, Scribes says, “You’re going to be entertained, and you’re going to be moved.”

“Black Friday” begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, at the Hollywood Theatre, 4122 N.E. Sandy Blvd. Tickets are $25.