SOPHIE BARLOW / NEXTGENRADIO
MOMENTS
OF
TRUTH
Emma Claire Ambroziak speaks with Charles Hyatt, a Jamaican man who connects serendipitously with the city of Portland through his work as a rideshare driver. Through his conversations with the people around him, he realized a need to amplify the voices of different cultures in Portland. After seeing a view of Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helens while driving on the Marquam bridge, he had an epiphany. He could be part of cultivating that change through creating The Portland Image — a media house that concentrates on the positive imagery of Portland by celebrating communities through storytelling.
Envisioning a new cultural narrative for Portland
Listen to the Story
Click here for audio transcript
Charles Hyatt:
You just have to open yourself up to the realities that the universe is trying to give you exactly what you need in your life. Once you do that, serendipity will dance a jig right in front of you. [laughs] You know what I mean?
[Car door closes, seat belt clicks]
Alright, ready?
My name is Charles Hyatt. I’m a Jamaican man. I am a U.S. citizen that has lived in the United States for almost 40 years in total. I’m a dad, I’m a husband — let me say I’m a happy dad and a happy husband. And I’m a new Portlander and I’m very happy to be here.
[GPS: In a quarter mile, traffic light camera ahead]
One of the benefits of being a rideshare driver is the fact that you get to know the city.
We get to see the good, the bad, and the indifferent.
And when I came to Portland, and I saw the amount of restaurants here, right? And the fact that these restaurants represent a global village. But I also noticed the reality that the cultures are not celebrated publicly. There is a need here of cultural education and storytelling.
Being a rideshare driver led me to understand why I’m here in Portland.
[Seat belt safety chime]
The epiphany is closer to here because you can get on from Macadam — you can get onto the freeway.
I mean of all places, I’m driving — and I’m coming across, I’m going onto exit 300, and Mount Hood and Mount St. Helen just appeared out of nowhere, and they’ve always been there, but they now were in my tight focus, like, this is that moment, pay attention. And I did.
It came to me — I need to celebrate this beauty. Those peaks represent a culmination of cultures. So that is the reason why I created The Portland Image.
The Portland Image is a media house that concentrates on the positive information and imagery of the greater Portland area.
But in this wonderful eclectic city, everybody’s silent. Everybody’s in a silo. That’s not how we build community. That’s not true community.
I want us to be able to pick up the Portland Image, read about something that makes our heart smile and say, “How can I be a part of this?”
We got to shake it up a little bit, we got to shake the bottle, let the colors get together, let the cultures get together and create — let’s really create a rainbow and let’s stand in the brilliance of all the colors coming together to create a masterpiece. That’s what The Portland Image is here for. That’s what I’m here for.
[“Everything I Own” by Ken Boothe plays in Hyatt’s car]
Two pieces of advice inform Charles Hyatt’s approach to the world. His mother, Dr. Vera Hyatt, taught him to talk to someone, and to listen to someone, each time he went out into the world. In living his life by her two rules, dwelling in gratitude, and remaining open to the power of serendipity, Hyatt has continually surrounded himself with connection and community.
“If you can do that every day, you’ll see how your life has changed,” Hyatt says. “And so that is why I am the way I am.”
Hyatt, a Jamaican-born U.S. citizen, has been living in Portland since the fall of 2022. His work as a rideshare driver introduces him to all walks of life on a daily basis — picking people up, dropping them off and having conversation after conversation about the city. Portland has one of the best food scenes in the world. But according to Hyatt, the city could do a better job of celebrating its diversity beyond the doors of its restaurants.
Charles Hyatt takes a look toward the backseat of his car. Every day, he chats with people from all walks of life as he takes them to their next destination.
EMMA CLAIRE AMBROZIAK / NEXTGENRADIO
As Hyatt talked to more and more people, it became clear to him that Portland needed to celebrate its many cultures in public spaces.
“In the conversations that I had in the car with people from all kinds of different cultures, everyone was saying the same thing: ‘As long as we can feed people, we’re okay, but nobody really wants to see us,’” he says. “And I thought, ‘That’s not cool. That’s not cool at all.’ This entire city has been built on a plethora of cultural experiences … Why is it that we’re saying that you have to be quiet with it? It doesn’t make sense.”
After moving to Jamaica, his wife got a job offer in Portland and their family ended up moving back.
“I never thought I’d be living in the States again. I moved home to Jamaica to stay, but serendipitously, Portland was put into my life, and I found in Portland my life’s purpose,” Hyatt says. “If that’s not serendipity, I don’t know what is.”
On the day Hyatt hatched the idea to create The Portland Image, he was driving over the Marquam Bridge. As the city’s horizon came into sight, Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helens rose over the crest of the bridge. He experienced a moment of clarity — as he describes it, “An assignment.”
“Truth happens when truth is supposed to happen, and what I have learned to do is respect it,” Hyatt says. “So when I respect it, I give it room to grow. I give it permission to do its work. So, I mean, of all places I’m driving and I’m coming across, I’m going onto exit 300 and Mount Hood and Mount St. Helen just appeared out of nowhere, and they’ve always been there, but they now were in my tight focus, like, this is that moment, pay attention. And I did.”
Charles Hyatt stands at a protected pullover spot off of Exit 301 in Portland on Monday, Feb. 24, 2024, looking out over the Willamette River and cityscape. Hyatt describes this spot as tranquil despite the chaos of traffic.
EMMA CLAIRE AMBROZIAK / NEXTGENRADIO
Charles Hyatt rests at his “personal paradise” under the Marquam Bridge on the South Waterfront in Portland on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025. There, he stops to listen to the hum of the traffic and recharge after a long day of driving.
EMMA CLAIRE AMBROZIAK / NEXTGENRADIO
Charles Hyatt unlocks his iPhone with a portrait of his wife on his lockscreen. In fall of 2022, Hyatt moved to Portland after his wife got a new job in the city. Hyatt describes himself as a happy dad and a happy husband.
EMMA CLAIRE AMBROZIAK / NEXTGENRADIO
In that moment, Hyatt envisioned his medium for creating the change he saw needed to happen by challenging the negative perceptions of Portland.
“When I saw this beauty, it came to me,” Hyatt says. “I need to celebrate this beauty. I need to celebrate what it means to be between two distinct and well-known peaks … And I wanted to celebrate it because, really, those peaks represent a culmination of cultures.”
In this wonderful eclectic city, everybody’s silent. Everybody’s in a silo. That’s not how we build community. That’s not true community. This is the most liberal, conservative place I’ve ever seen in my life because it is ‘kumbaya, just not in my neighborhood’
The Portland Image — an independent media house centered around sharing positive stories and fostering cross-cultural discourse — aims to do just that. Hyatt, as the founder and chief visionary of the publishing house, intends to celebrate Portland’s communities and challenge its negative stereotypes through storytelling.
In describing the work of The Portland Image, Hyatt alluded to Portland’s negative reputations, especially after the 2020 racial justice protests.
“The company is there to allow Portlanders to tell our story and to create the image of Portland,” explains Hyatt. “People that live here … the majority of people have gotten the phone calls, ‘Are you all right?’ ‘I hear Portland’s on fire.’ ‘I hear the protests are violent.’ And it’s just not our reality … The entire city is not on fire. So we have to change the narrative. And that is why our tagline is ‘let’s change the narrative.’”
Going forward, Hyatt’s vision is a collective effort to engage in cultural celebrations and take part in telling the city’s many stories.
“In this wonderful eclectic city, everybody’s silent. Everybody’s in a silo. That’s not how we build community. That’s not true community. This is the most liberal, conservative place I’ve ever seen in my life because it is ‘kumbaya, just not in my neighborhood,’” he says.
Hyatt believes that storytelling shapes our reality — it teaches children and adults alike about the cultures around us and shapes how we interact with the world.
“We’ve got to shake the bottle, let the colors get together, let the cultures get together and create,” he says. “Let’s really create a rainbow and let’s stand in the brilliance of all the colors coming together to create a masterpiece. That’s what The Portland Image is here for. That’s what I’m here for.”
Charles Hyatt takes a break underneath the Marquam Bridge along Portland’s South Waterfront, where he frequently stops to take naps between long drives.
EMMA CLAIRE AMBROZIAK / NEXTGENRADIO
You sheltered me from harm
Kept me warm
Kept me warm
You gave my life to me
Set me free
Set me free
The finest years I ever knew
Is all the years I had with you