He’s penned nearly 200 articles that have appeared iHeart Radio, Travel Portland, the Oregonian and more in addition to serving as a staff writer for The Skanner and Portland Observer. He has interviewed countless policy makers, change agents, entrepreneurs, and artists including the world’s most successful independent hip-hop artist, Tech N9ne.
He served as a co-writer and host on the 10-part iHeart Radio series “Uprising: A Guide from Portland” podcast, which reached the iTunes Top 100 and received more than 2.5 million downloads.
In 2021, he was elected and installed as the 2nd Vice President of the Portland branch of the NAACP.
Drawing inspiration from Ta-Nehisi Coates’ seminal piece ‘The Case for Reparations’, he facilitated a 3-week course “The Oregon Case for Reparations” exploring Coates’ article, Dr. Karen Gibson’s Bleeding Albina and lyrics from Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp a Butterfly’ album for Literary Arts.
His “Gentrification is WEIRD!” project, emerged organically from his clothing line Ignorant/Reflections which uses provocative images to push critical thought. Additionally, the Gentrification is WEIRD! project has evolved through the years from a t-shirt statement, into a premier multimedia platform pushing important conversations about Black culture, policies and place in Oregon.
For his work alongside rapper/advocate Mat Randol to transform George Park in the St. Johns neighborhood, he was named a Parks Champion by Portland Parks Foundation.
As an assistant-producer on the award-winning documentary “Priced Out: 15 years of Gentrification in Portland”, he helped elevate important conversations around future development in the city. His co-produced 2016 short documentary on development in East County with Sika Stanton, “The Numbers” is often used throughout across the country by community groups, non-profits, government, schools, NGOs and others to converse about strategies to mitigate cycles of gentrification and was screened at the Portland Airport and Hollywood Theatre.
His insights have made the pages of USA Today, leading hip hop magazine The FADER and many more.
An oft-requested speaker, he’s shared the stage with nationally-acclaimed writers like Dave Zirin, and presented at universities throughout the region including University of Oregon, Portland State University, Reed College, University of Portland, Warner Pacific and more.
He has co-facilitated a conversation informing Portland African American Leadership’s civic document for a “Black Utopia” in Portland the People’s Plan around the arts.
As part of his artistic practice, he also enjoys rapping and was featured on the return show of the premier NW Hip Hop showcase, The Thesis in 2021.
A fourth-generation Portlander, Donovan’s work is deeply informed by his personal and familial legacy. He is an alumni of the prestigiou
