2022 Event De-Tails!
The Portlandia Mermaid Parade & Festival resumes this year on Saturday July 30th 2022 @ Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Stay tuned for more details!
Save the Mermaids! Donate Today!
It is becoming increasingly difficult to host grassroot events in Portland, particularly downtown. All costs for this event are paid out of pocket by volunteers in an effort to keep events like this free and accessible to all. Please consider making a contribution to this year's event fund:
gofund.me/ca706239
gofund.me/ca706239
2021 Mermazing Citizen Award
Honoring Kim Roberts
Chair and Founder of the International Mermaid Museum
Every year the Portlandia Mermaid Parade honors one mermazing individual who has contributed greatly to their community in the Pacific NW. This year we are honoring Kim Roberts, the board chair and founder of the International Mermaid Museum! Kim Roberts will be in attendance at the Part of Your World Walking Tour on Saturday July 31st. You will find her seated on throne of honor as mermaid queen of the day! Please be sure to come and visit her to say shello, and learn more about this amazing project!
Based in Aberdeen Washington, the International Mermaid Museum is dedicated to teaching ocean ecology from seashore to sea floor immersed in mermaid mythology. The museum, a first of its kind in the United States, explores mermaid lore thus providing a thread of connectivity and commonality between and through both community and culture. The museum states, “Mermaids in storytelling encourage people to see the undersea environment, not just through the lens of marine life, but through the view of humans in the underwater world, thus helping them better understand the importance of clean oceans, the sea as a living environment, and the reality of ocean exploration as one of the last great adventures on earth.”
Kim says her inspiration to develop the museum came after a cancer diagnosis, when she discovered a desire to leave behind a legacy that could leave lasting positive impact for her community. Kim Roberts also co-owns TRG Investments, Vineyards By-the-Sea, Ocean's Daughter Distillery, Westport Winery, and Westport Winery Seaside Retreat, with her husband and daughter. She has been a freelance writer authoring three mysteries set on Maui where she and her husband Blain formerly owned Lahaina Divers, the largest scuba charter business in the state. She has also written for numerous magazines and newspapers. She is a graduate of Washington State University with two degrees in architecture. She was also an Alpha Rho Chi medalist at the Washington State University School of Architecture.
Of special note, Kim Roberts was one of the first female boat captains ever on the West Coast and held a 100-tons any ocean license for 25 years! She was also a certified PADI divemaster and underwater investigator. She has been a member of the Washington Wine Commission, the Grays Harbor Planning Commission, the State of Hawaii Ocean Spills At Sea panel, a Maui Community College Marine Options Program advisor, The Ocean Recreation Council of Hawaii Maui representative, the Maui Commercial Boater and Ocean Affiliated Transportation Association president, a Washington State Governor’s Fishery Advisory Board appointee, a Washington State Charter boat Association board member, and a Westport Charter boat Association Board member. Kim Roberts was just recently been appointed to serve as a member of the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB)
To learn more about the International Mermaid Museum, please visit:
www.mermaidmuseum.org/
Based in Aberdeen Washington, the International Mermaid Museum is dedicated to teaching ocean ecology from seashore to sea floor immersed in mermaid mythology. The museum, a first of its kind in the United States, explores mermaid lore thus providing a thread of connectivity and commonality between and through both community and culture. The museum states, “Mermaids in storytelling encourage people to see the undersea environment, not just through the lens of marine life, but through the view of humans in the underwater world, thus helping them better understand the importance of clean oceans, the sea as a living environment, and the reality of ocean exploration as one of the last great adventures on earth.”
Kim says her inspiration to develop the museum came after a cancer diagnosis, when she discovered a desire to leave behind a legacy that could leave lasting positive impact for her community. Kim Roberts also co-owns TRG Investments, Vineyards By-the-Sea, Ocean's Daughter Distillery, Westport Winery, and Westport Winery Seaside Retreat, with her husband and daughter. She has been a freelance writer authoring three mysteries set on Maui where she and her husband Blain formerly owned Lahaina Divers, the largest scuba charter business in the state. She has also written for numerous magazines and newspapers. She is a graduate of Washington State University with two degrees in architecture. She was also an Alpha Rho Chi medalist at the Washington State University School of Architecture.
Of special note, Kim Roberts was one of the first female boat captains ever on the West Coast and held a 100-tons any ocean license for 25 years! She was also a certified PADI divemaster and underwater investigator. She has been a member of the Washington Wine Commission, the Grays Harbor Planning Commission, the State of Hawaii Ocean Spills At Sea panel, a Maui Community College Marine Options Program advisor, The Ocean Recreation Council of Hawaii Maui representative, the Maui Commercial Boater and Ocean Affiliated Transportation Association president, a Washington State Governor’s Fishery Advisory Board appointee, a Washington State Charter boat Association board member, and a Westport Charter boat Association Board member. Kim Roberts was just recently been appointed to serve as a member of the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB)
To learn more about the International Mermaid Museum, please visit:
www.mermaidmuseum.org/
Merfolk & Social Justice
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Representation Matters!
Merfolk from left to right (starting on the top row):
Axelle Mermaid
www.facebook.com/pages/category/Performance-Art/Axelle-Mermaid-2262382047405663/
Mermaid Chemonique
mermaidchemonique.com/
Keeva Mercorn
www.facebook.com/pg/Keevaqueenmercorn
Merman Maui
www.facebook.com/mermanmaui/
Merman Glitterito
www.facebook.com/alberto.hurtado.35175
Day The Mermaid
www.facebook.com/beautifulblackmermaid
Axelle Mermaid
www.facebook.com/pages/category/Performance-Art/Axelle-Mermaid-2262382047405663/
Mermaid Chemonique
mermaidchemonique.com/
Keeva Mercorn
www.facebook.com/pg/Keevaqueenmercorn
Merman Maui
www.facebook.com/mermanmaui/
Merman Glitterito
www.facebook.com/alberto.hurtado.35175
Day The Mermaid
www.facebook.com/beautifulblackmermaid
A letter to our portland community...
The Portlandia Mermaid Parade openly supports the pursuits of racial equity and justice. We support a reimagining of public safety; a vision that includes restorative justice, and an END to institutional violence, and white supremacy, and an END to the killing and murders of black citizens. Black Lives Matter, period. The wisdom of the merfolk stems from depths of consciousness, and egalitarian values which support truth and justice. For too long white culture has perpetuated perceptions of our world as being made up of entirely of white, thin, cis gendered females. Our world is far more diverse and colorful than the imagination of colonial history would tell you!
Here on land there is much work to be done to dismantle racism. The mermaid industry is no exception. Often these sub-communities (despite their intentions) simply become microcosms of the greater social ills of human society. People often view racism as some large social issue happening somewhere “out there” rather than an issue happening ‘right here’. Many Americans narrowly define racism as only overt violence or egregious behaviors towards people of color. Folks that don’t participate in those behaviors often think that they are not complicit or participating in a system of racism, so they exempt themselves from critical self-reflection. They will vehemently deny any responsibility or complacency. Racism is far more complex and often includes less overt behaviors, words, and thoughts that occur in our daily lives-- be it at home, in the work place, hobby circles, or in places of racial comfort. To dismantle racism, we must go inward and unpack our own implicit bias. We must be willing to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to discomfort so we can become consciously aware of the myriad of ways our racist culture has shaped and conditioned our thinking. Even the greatest allies among us have serious work to do.
The Portlandia Mermaid Parade is committed to hearing and doing the difficult work of vulnerability. White silence is violence. The fear of the loss of white support, money, and social capital often prevents groups, organizations and businesses from speaking out in matters of injustice. We are not afraid to speak the truth that needs to be said. Those who would no longer support the parade after hearing this truth, are not those we would wish to align ourselves with. We shall stand on the right side of history. This is not a matter of politics, but a matter of human rights, and the values of democracy. We stand and rise with you. Black mermaids matter! Black and brown lives matter! There can be no justice, until there is justice for all.
Here on land there is much work to be done to dismantle racism. The mermaid industry is no exception. Often these sub-communities (despite their intentions) simply become microcosms of the greater social ills of human society. People often view racism as some large social issue happening somewhere “out there” rather than an issue happening ‘right here’. Many Americans narrowly define racism as only overt violence or egregious behaviors towards people of color. Folks that don’t participate in those behaviors often think that they are not complicit or participating in a system of racism, so they exempt themselves from critical self-reflection. They will vehemently deny any responsibility or complacency. Racism is far more complex and often includes less overt behaviors, words, and thoughts that occur in our daily lives-- be it at home, in the work place, hobby circles, or in places of racial comfort. To dismantle racism, we must go inward and unpack our own implicit bias. We must be willing to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to discomfort so we can become consciously aware of the myriad of ways our racist culture has shaped and conditioned our thinking. Even the greatest allies among us have serious work to do.
The Portlandia Mermaid Parade is committed to hearing and doing the difficult work of vulnerability. White silence is violence. The fear of the loss of white support, money, and social capital often prevents groups, organizations and businesses from speaking out in matters of injustice. We are not afraid to speak the truth that needs to be said. Those who would no longer support the parade after hearing this truth, are not those we would wish to align ourselves with. We shall stand on the right side of history. This is not a matter of politics, but a matter of human rights, and the values of democracy. We stand and rise with you. Black mermaids matter! Black and brown lives matter! There can be no justice, until there is justice for all.
Black Mermaid Book List
Mermaids Have Always Been Black
A relief sculpture of the goddess Mami Wata on the wall of a voodoo temple in Benin.
NEW YORK TIMES- Opinion July 10th 2019
Mermaids Have Always Been Black
By Tracy Baptiste
As a young child growing up in Trinidad and Tobago within sight and walking distance of the Caribbean Sea, I was gripped by the intrigue of mermaids. I was introduced to one version of a mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, whose tale of a magical girl creature, an impossible location and an outrageous desire was thrilling.
But I already knew mermaids. We spent most weekends on the beach. There were plenty about. Every cousin, aunt and uncle who threw me in the waves and laugh-shouted at me to swim back to shore seemed to know that we were all part of the sea.
My father, in particular, was a surrogate Poseidon. He would strike out into open water, disappearing for minutes at a time behind huge waves, then appear again, hanging off the side of a fishing boat, where he rested, chatted with the fishermen and then swam back to shore. I didn’t need a Danish fairy tale to tell me that he was part fish. By the time I came across Andersen’s tale, I already knew that mermaids were black and brown people: my family. Besides, what happens when you stay out on the sea? You get darker and darker, deepening to shades of black and brown that glow from absorbing the sun.
It was in this state last week that I first heard about Disney’s decision to cast the black teenage actress and singer Halle Bailey (of Chloe x Halle fame) in the title role for “The Little Mermaid,” and the flood of white people’s tears over it. When the announcement was made, I was swimming in the sea off the Bahamas, getting sunburned as fish swam past me. A lifeguard had just warned me that there were baby sharks about. Was I concerned? Honey, please. This was my natural state.
Back in my hotel room, I turned on my phone for a bit, and several notifications came in, people tagging me in social media posts. The Wi-Fi was spotty, so it was another day or so before I figured out what was going on. I laughed. It was so laughable, this idea that a mermaid couldn’t be black. Didn’t they know?
When I wrote Mama D’Leau into my series of middle grade novels, The Jumbies, I didn’t have to stretch my imagination very far from home. Aiming at kids who don’t know Caribbean folklore, and Caribbean parents who maybe had forgotten it, I reimagined supernatural creatures I had known since I was a child.
Mama D’Leau in the oral tradition was huge and hideous, fierce and unstoppable. She ruled the water, both river and sea alike, and reveled in upturning fishing boats by whipping her powerful anaconda tail and watching her victims drown in the blue. As a young feminist, I was delighted by the idea of such a powerful and free woman, the murder notwithstanding. In my story, I made her as beautiful and well coifed as any of my aunts, and just as fearsome as the stories — or again, any of the aunties.
Mama D’Leau always existed in my imagination. I worried when my father swam out so far that I couldn’t see him, and worried again that the creature would capsize the boat he was hanging on to before he could swim back. In the stories, Mama D’Leau never cared whom she killed. It was sport. Though, same as any fisherman, I suppose. I don’t remember when I figured out that this was only a story.
The story likely started during chattel slavery, when people were kidnapped from the west coast of Africa and brought to the Caribbean and the Americas. The mother of the sea came with them because she already existed in West Africa as Mami Wata, a deity who promised fertility and prosperity to her devotees. It was incredibly good luck to encounter her in person. In West Africa, the goddess was beautiful, sometimes appearing fully as a woman, sometimes as a woman with a fish tail, sometimes with two fish tails. Check your Starbucks cup to see how she’s been co-opted.
LINK TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/07/16/the-black-mermaid-booklist/?fbclid=IwAR3JROEJ1O23zjASY0ynSrW0c5qlJ4r0SRgmYmLSVCuihVo7bwUCHja6WRw
For questions, please click the link below.
To submit your virtual parade entry video , please e-mail directly to
portlandiamermaidparade@gmail.com
To submit your virtual parade entry video , please e-mail directly to
portlandiamermaidparade@gmail.com
Questions? Comments? Want to get involved? Find the Portlandia Mermaid Parade on Facebook by clicking the social icon link below, or send a message!
