We Choose Love

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We Choose Love
Hollywood District, Portland, Oregon (2021) - 05.jpg
The mural in 2021
We Choose Love
Artist Sarah Farahat
Location Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Coordinates 45°31′59.3″N122°37′13.6″W / 45.533139°N 122.620444°W / 45.533139; -122.620444

We Choose Love was a memorial to the 2017 Portland train attack, located at the Hollywood/Northeast 42nd Avenue Transit Center in Northeast Portland, Oregon. TriMet commissioned the memorial in the aftermath of the May 2017 attack, selecting a design by Sarah Farahat in a contest. We Choose Love was completed in May 2018, and was in place until January 2024. [1]

Contents

History

Vigil commemorating victims of the 2017 Portland train attack, showing chalk messages on the gray concrete ramp in the background Portland Tri Met MAX stabbing vigil 1.jpg
Vigil commemorating victims of the 2017 Portland train attack, showing chalk messages on the gray concrete ramp in the background

On November 9, 2017, TriMet asked artists to propose "text-based" designs for a mural commemorating Ricky Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, who were killed in the 2017 Portland train attack. The mural was painted along the ramp walls of the Hollywood/Northeast 42nd Avenue Transit Center. [2] Submissions were due by November 29, and artists were determined by December 5. Concepts were due in January 2018, and final design plans are to be confirmed in late February or early March. Work on the "Tribute Wall" began on April 20, [3] [4] [5] and was scheduled to be completed by May 12, 2018. [2]

Text about the mural on display Hollywood District, Portland, Oregon (2021) - 06.jpg
Text about the mural on display

Sarah Farahat's design was selected by TriMet's tribute advisory committee from four finalists, [6] all of whom drew inspiration from chalk messages left by people following the attack. Farahat's design includes sunflowers and an excerpt from Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish's poem, "Mural". [7] TriMet has confirmed plans to unveil a plaque on May 26, the anniversary of the attack. Farahat's design, We Choose Love, was completed in summer 2018. [8] John Laursen was commissioned to create the plaque, which will be made of porcelain enamel and steel, and feature both images and text. [7] In addition to Best and Namkai-Meche, the plaque will commemorate three other victims from the attack. [6]

According to TriMet, the memorial honors Best and Namkai-Meche, "as well as recognize the courage of those who were targeted by and stood up to hatred and violence". [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAX Light Rail</span> Light rail system serving Portland, Oregon

The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five lines connecting the six sections of Portland; the communities of Beaverton, Clackamas, Gresham, Hillsboro, Milwaukie, and Oak Grove; and Portland International Airport to Portland City Center. Trains run seven days a week with headways of between 30 minutes off-peak and three minutes during rush hours. In 2019, MAX had an average daily ridership of 120,900, or 38.8 million annually. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted public transit use globally, annual ridership plummeted, with only 14.8 million riders recorded in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TriMet</span> Oregon government-owned corporation responsible for public transit in the Portland area

The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon legislature, the district replaced five private bus companies that operated in the three counties: Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas. TriMet began operating a light rail system, MAX, in 1986, which has since been expanded to five lines that now cover 59.7 miles (96.1 km). It also operates the WES Commuter Rail line since 2009. It also provides the operators and maintenance personnel for the city of Portland-owned Portland Streetcar system. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 62,055,600, or about 196,000 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAX Blue Line</span> Light rail line in Portland, Oregon

The MAX Blue Line is a light rail line serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system, it connects Hillsboro, Beaverton, Portland, and Gresham. The Blue Line is the longest in the network; it travels approximately 33 miles (53 km) and serves 48 stations from Hatfield Government Center to Cleveland Avenue. It is the busiest of the five MAX lines, having carried an average 55,370 riders each day on weekdays in September 2018. Service runs for 2212 hours per day from Monday to Thursday, with headways of between 30 minutes off-peak and five minutes during rush hour. It runs later in the evening on Fridays and Saturdays and ends earlier on Sundays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MAX Red Line</span> Light rail line in Portland, Oregon

The MAX Red Line is a light rail line serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system, it is an airport rail link connecting Beaverton, Portland City Center, and Northeast Portland to Portland International Airport. The Red Line serves 27 stations; it interlines with the Blue Line and partially with the Green Line from Beaverton Transit Center to Gateway/Northeast 99th Avenue Transit Center and then branches off to Portland Airport station. Service runs for 22 hours per day with headways of up to 15 minutes. The Red Line carried an average 10,310 passengers per weekday in September 2021, the second-busiest after the Blue Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood/Northeast 42nd Avenue Transit Center</span>

Hollywood/Northeast 42nd Avenue Transit Center, also known as Hollywood Transit Center, is a light rail station in the MAX Light Rail system, located in the Hollywood District of Portland, Oregon. Hollywood/NE 42nd Ave is the 11th stop eastbound on the eastside MAX main line, and is served by the Blue, Green and Red Lines. The station is designated as a transit center by TriMet, serving 3 connecting bus routes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Park station (TriMet)</span> Light rail station in Portland, Oregon, US

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pioneer Square South and Pioneer Square North stations</span> Pair of light rail stations in Portland, Oregon

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hatfield Government Center station</span> Light rail station in Hillsboro, US

Hatfield Government Center is a light rail station on the in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States, owned and operated by TriMet. The station is the western terminus of the MAX Blue Line. Opened in 1998, it is located in the same block as the Hillsboro Post Office and adjacent to the Washington County Courthouse and the Hillsboro Civic Center. The block is bounded by First and Adams streets on the east and west and Washington and Main streets on the south and north. The station is named in honor of Mark O. Hatfield, a former United States Senator from Oregon and light rail proponent. It is the furthest west light rail station in the Continental United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillsboro Central/Southeast 3rd Avenue Transit Center</span> Light rail station in Hillsboro, US

Hillsboro Central/Southeast 3rd Avenue Transit Center, also known as Hillsboro Transit Center, is a light rail station and transit center on the MAX Blue Line in Hillsboro, Oregon. Opened in 1998, the red-brick station is the 19th stop westbound on the Westside MAX, one stop from the western terminus of the line. Physically the largest station on the line, it is located at a former stop of the Oregon Electric Railway and includes artwork honoring the history of the community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willow Creek/Southwest 185th Avenue Transit Center</span> Light rail station and transit center on the MAX Blue Line in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States

Willow Creek/Southwest 185th Avenue Transit Center is a multimodal transport hub in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Owned and operated by TriMet, it is served by bus and light rail. The transit center is the ninth station eastbound on the Blue Line and a hub for bus routes mostly serving Washington County in the Portland metropolitan area. It is located by the intersection of Southwest Baseline Road and 185th Avenue near the city's boundary with Beaverton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parkrose/Sumner Transit Center</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Airport station</span> Light rail station in Portland, Oregon, United States

Portland Airport is a light rail station in Portland, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. Situated at Portland International Airport, it is the eastern terminus of the Red Line, which connects the airport, downtown Portland, and Beaverton. The station is located at the ground floor of the airport's main passenger terminal near the southern end of the arrivals hall and baggage claim area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portland Vintage Trolley</span> Heritage streetcar

The Portland Vintage Trolley was a heritage streetcar service in Portland, Oregon, United States, that operated from 1991 to 2014. It operated on a portion of the MAX light rail system, and for a brief time also operated on the Portland Streetcar system, in downtown and nearby areas. Service was provided with replicas of a type of Brill streetcar, nicknamed the "Council Crest" cars, which last served Portland in 1950. The service was managed by Vintage Trolley Inc., a non-profit corporation, and the cars were owned and operated by TriMet, Portland's transit agency. For 18 of its 23 years, the service followed a 2.3-mile (3.7 km) section of what is now the MAX Blue Line, between Lloyd Center and the west end of downtown. In September 2009, the route was changed to a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) section of the MAX system, along the transit mall in downtown Portland, from Union Station to Portland State University (PSU).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Portland train attack</span> Racially-motivated harassment and stabbing on a train in Portland, Oregon

On May 26, 2017, Jeremy Joseph Christian fatally stabbed two men and injured a third after he was confronted for shouting racist and anti-Muslim slurs at two black teenagers, Destinee Mangum and Walia Mohamed, on a MAX Light Rail train in Portland, Oregon. Two of the victims, Ricky John Best of Happy Valley and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche of Portland, were killed; the third victim, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, survived with serious wounds.

Sarah Farahat سارة فرحات is an transdisciplinary Egyptian-American artist and educator based in Portland, Oregon. She created the We Choose Love mural at the TriMet transit centre that was the site of the 2017 Portland train attack.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 pandemic in Portland, Oregon</span> Ongoing COVID-19 viral pandemic in Portland, Oregon

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References

  1. Ramakrishnan, Jayati (2024-01-10). "Memorial to 2017 MAX stabbings dismantled as construction begins on affordable housing, transit center revamp". The Oregonian. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  2. 1 2 "'Tribute Wall' Will Honor Victims of Deadly Portland Train Attack". Oregon Public Broadcasting . November 11, 2017. Archived from the original on April 22, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  3. "Artist begins work on Hollywood Transit Center mural". Portland Tribune. April 20, 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-08-18. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  4. Tilkin, Dan (2018-04-20). "Artists start work on Hollywood MAX attack tribute". KOIN. Archived from the original on 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  5. "Transformation of Hollywood Transit Center walls gets under way". TriMet News. 2018-04-20. Archived from the original on 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
  6. 1 2 3 Barr, Max (February 1, 2018). "TriMet selects design for tribute wall honoring MAX attack victims". KGW . Archived from the original on February 3, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Njus, Elliot (February 1, 2018). "Artist selected to create MAX attack memorial at Hollywood Transit Center". The Oregonian . Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  8. "One year later, memorial dedicated to victims of MAX attack". KGW. Archived from the original on 2018-11-25. Retrieved 2018-11-24.