Wall-to-wall soul: A Portland neighborhood’s bittersweet Black music history explored

Walk down North Williams Avenue near the intersection with Northeast Tillamook Street and you’ll find a leafy stretch of sidewalk lined with new apartments. The road swells during rush hour, as cars and commuters on bicycles stream by interrupting the ever-present hum of Interstate 5. Other than that, it’s mostly devoid of excitement except for the occasional ambulance heading to nearby Emanuel Medical Center.

You’d never guess that this block was once the beating heart of Portland soul music.

“The biggest difference is you walk into a place that you used to go and there were Black people in there,” says Paul Knauls of this corner of the historically Black Albina neighborhood. “Now they’re white people that own the place and you feel like a total stranger.”

For decades, Knauls was a business owner in Albina. His presence there was so ubiquitous that he’s still widely referred to as “The Mayor Of Northeast Portland.” But today, even he feels like an outsider here.

“And so all on Williams Avenue, all those spots that we used to go. You don’t feel welcome. So you basically don’t go,” he says.

The cultural shift is striking.