I bought a house in Portland Oregon, and it brought up a lot of questions – about privilege, about gentrification, about inherited wealth, about race, about pruning, about dreams, and about what I want to pass on to my children. I got a chance to work again with the amazing editors at Creative Nonfiction to develop this ABC style essay on home buying. Thanks also to my fabulous Portland based writing group for their editing prowess.
You can read my essay online here, or better yet buy the issue so you have all the great essays in there!
I highly recommend learning more about Portland’s history of discriminatory lending practices, as well as the Vanport flood. These events directly impact the way this city is changing today. Also, if you haven’t read “The Case for Reparations,” do yourself a favor and set aside a few hours to digest the piece, found online here.