# Red and Black Cafe

The **Red and Black Cafe** was a Wobbly, radical, safer space cafe and worker-managed collective in [Portland, Oregon](https://www.edgepedia.org/portland-oregon), United States.

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Best-known incident | 2010 removal of a uniformed police officer from the cafe, followed by a national controversy and a boycott<sup>[1](https://c4ss.org/content/2817)</sup> |
| Federation membership | Listed in the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives' 2013 annual report<sup>[2](https://usworker.coop/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2013-ANNUAL-REPORT-USFWC-FINAL.pdf)</sup> |

## Structure and offerings

A visitor in the early 2010s described it as completely worker-owned and unionized, and noted that it hosted all sorts of community groups, including meetings of the local branch of the Black Rose federation.<sup>[3](https://sahar.io/there-exists-a-place-called-red-and-black-cafe/)</sup> The name draws on the red and black colors associated with anarchism.<sup>[4](https://roarmag.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Black-Anarchism-A-Reader-2.pdf)</sup>

Beyond coffee, the cafe functioned as a community hub. Its wireless internet stayed on all day and night and was accessible from outside, so unhoused people could use it even when the cafe was closed.<sup>[3](https://sahar.io/there-exists-a-place-called-red-and-black-cafe/)</sup> Food names were playful and political; menu items included what a visitor described as the "Nihilist Cheesesteak."<sup>[3](https://sahar.io/there-exists-a-place-called-red-and-black-cafe/)</sup>

## History and locations

The collective first opened on October 15, 2000, at 2138 SE Division Street in Portland's Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood. Its service on SE 12th was described in the Portland newspaper Street Roots as an anarchist, worker-owned vegan restaurant where people from all walks of life came together over food.<sup>[5](https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2024240270/2013-04-12/ed-1/seq-6.pdf)</sup>

## The 2010 police officer incident

The cafe became nationally known in 2010 after a cafe worker told a uniformed police officer to leave the building.<sup>[1](https://c4ss.org/content/2817)</sup> The officer, Jim Crooker, said in a CNN video that being removed from a cafe "based on the color of the uniform" "sort of harkens to the days of Segregation."<sup>[1](https://c4ss.org/content/2817)</sup> The writer Darian Worden, in a Center for a Stateless Society commentary, argued that the officer wanted deference based on the uniform, the same special treatment the cafe's worker had declined to grant.<sup>[1](https://c4ss.org/content/2817)</sup>

## Community support and influence

The cafe's community role extended to other projects. When Black Coffee, an anarchist cafe collective in Seattle, was getting started, Red and Black gave it a substantial amount of advice.<sup>[6](https://sahar.io/the-hip-anarchist-cafe-in-seattle-is-called-black/)</sup> In December 2011 supporters organized a benefit show on December 9 to help the cafe "remain a strong place for radical thought, community, and action," and donations could be made through PayPal for gift cards.<sup>[7](https://greycoast.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/please-support-the-red-and-black-benefit-for-red-black-fri-dec-9/)</sup>

The cafe was recognized within the wider cooperative movement: the 2013 annual report of the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives listed the Red and Black Café among its members, alongside ventures such as Firestorm Cafe & Books and Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse.<sup>[2](https://usworker.coop/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2013-ANNUAL-REPORT-USFWC-FINAL.pdf)</sup>

## References

1. [What's in a Uniform?, Darian Worden, Center for a Stateless Society (June 7, 2010)](https://c4ss.org/content/2817)
2. [United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives, 2013 Annual Report](https://usworker.coop/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2013-ANNUAL-REPORT-USFWC-FINAL.pdf)
3. [There exists a place called "Red and Black Cafe" in Portland Oregon, Sahar Massachi](https://sahar.io/there-exists-a-place-called-red-and-black-cafe/)
4. [Black Anarchism: A Reader, Roarmag](https://roarmag.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Black-Anarchism-A-Reader-2.pdf)
5. [Street Roots, April 12, 2013](https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/2024240270/2013-04-12/ed-1/seq-6.pdf)
6. [The hip anarchist cafe in Seattle is called "Black Coffee", Sahar Massachi](https://sahar.io/the-hip-anarchist-cafe-in-seattle-is-called-black/)
7. [Please support the Red and Black! Benefit for Red & Black, Grey Coast Anarchist News (December 7, 2011)](https://greycoast.wordpress.com/2011/12/07/please-support-the-red-and-black-benefit-for-red-black-fri-dec-9/)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Political systems and ideas › Political ideologies › Anarchism › Anarchist organizations, publications, and culture › Anarchist bookstores, infoshops, and social centers*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license