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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (May 27, 2011)
Street roots 14 May 27, 2011 Sharing the road to basic rights for all Oregonians Measure 36 wasn’t discriminatory because a Rights through an internal organizational woman of color was speaking on behalf of it. transition and now the organization was ready to get their members on the same hen Jeana Frazzini was growing up The pro-equality campaign scrambled to page. Within the year, they hosted a series in in central Washington, her family engage leaders in communities of color and of workshops on immigrant rights and racial owned the local pizza parlor. It was LGBTQ people of color because those justice that informed the type of hang-out where anyone who relationships had not been in place prior to their members about ___________________ came through was the campaign. But it didn’t feel right. “We Save the date why it is important for always treated with hadn’t done the work in advance to build an LGBTQ organization dignity and strong relationships in communities of Basic Rights Oregon wants to march to ally with other respect color,” said Jeana. together with you! Join them in the “Folks who felt groups who are being When the votes came in, Measure 36 march or visit their booth. UNITING like they didn’t attacked by the same passed. Basic Rights had to reevaluate how far right organizations. they were doing their work and with whom. communities belong anywhere Portland Pride The Center supported were always And this included being thoughtful when When: Noon-6 p.m., June 17th - 19th, Am y L am is the welcomed at my Basic Rights in asking themselves “How do we, as an Development & 2011 (March on the 19th) deepening their dad’s pizza place,” said Jeana. She started Communications organization, engage people of color?” Where: Tom McCall Waterfront Park Associate a t the relationship with working around the restaurant when she “It was humbling,” Jeana recalled. “We Western States organizations like was eight years old and was raised in an received feedback that our LBGTQ Center, which aim s to CAUSA, Oregon’s environment that laid the foundation for the members of color were saying that ‘I don’t build a progressive When: Noon-9:30 p.m., July 17 immigrant rights work she would do. “I’ve just always been a see a place for myself in this organization. movement by ' Where: Eastbank Esplanade supporting grassroots coalition. person who fights for the underdog.” You don’t prioritize the needs of my organizations. The “Our opposition is After graduating from college, Jeana community.’ It was difficult to hear these Portland Black PFLAG is co-hosting Center’s Uniting often the same — the moved to Portland to pursue organizing and things because I’ve always fought to include a family-friendly picnic with CAUSA Communities project social justice work. After a number of years everyone in the struggle for justice and here person who promoted a works with local anti-inunigrant working on a variety of causes, in 2005, organizations based we were leaving people behind. We were and Indigenous Ways of Knowing. Join in communities o f ballot measure in 2008 Jeana joined the staff of Basic Rights missing a whole lot of the community.” color to, advance them for an afternoon of good food, Oregon (BRO), a statewide organization that was the same person The Basic Rights Oregon team realized LG BTQ equality. good fun, and live entertainment. formed to fight against anti-LGBTQ who had been involved that it wasn’t so much about how to get in earlier anti-gay ballot (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer) people of color to the table to discuss these Families of Color Day Out Picnic measures. The far right had been pushing measures,” said Jeana. issues, but how to create a table that is (at Portland Pride) for anti-LGBTQ ballot measures since “Most importantly, welcoming and inclusive. In 2006, they When: 4-9 p.m., June 19 1988—and Basic Rights Oregon was an these anti immigrant launched a partnership with Western States ballot measures impact Where: Kenton Park underdog pushing back against their Center to integrate racial justice in its attempts at anti-equality policies such as organization, starting with basic dismantling- LGBTQ immigrants—so I 1 | ■ I ■ ■ Measure 36. this is a direct issue for racism training. The Center provided a As a board member, Jeana and the Basic our members.” roadmap as to what the work would look r Rights staff worked steadfastly to mobilize Since 2009, racial justice work has like for an organization like Basic Rights. become a core part of Basic Rights Oregon’s voters to vote “no” on Measure 36, a 2004 “Without the help of the Center, it would work in every aspect of their programs and state ballot that would amend the Oregon have been much more of a struggle to they have prioritized the engagement and Constitution to define marriage as a union transform our organization and begin to do leadership of LGBTQ people of color. between a man and a woman. Their work that engages LGBTQ people of color,” “Nowadays, rather than saying, ‘Isn’t it opponents had hired an African-American said Jeana. “Together, we were able to interesting that we are doing this type of woman as the spokesperson for an create cultural change for our organization ta c tic th a t - work.’ Nuwtjm'Tiiei'nbei'S'expett' us 'to dtr h e lp e d to m a k e v o te rs fe e l as th o u g h this work.” _ By 2007, the Center supported Basic BY AM Y LAM C O N TR IB U TIN G C O LU M N IS T W * - "J S L ftftA l Extend the TriMet transfers and gain riders, sustainability Chrystal W abnum is the organizer with • QPAL Environm ental Justice Oregon, a 501c3 intercultural grassroots nonprofit empowering working class communities an d people o f color to promote environmental and social justice. . Environm ental justice is the equal protection and opportunity fo r m eaningful involvement fo r all people, without regard to race, ethnicity or income, in communities where we live, work, play an d pray. To connect with QPAL to see how you can support the Campaign fo r a Fair Transfer, call 503- 277-9058. BY CHRYSTAL WABNUM, BUS RIDERS UNITE LEADERSHIP TEAM C O N TR IB U TIN G C O L U M N IS T A s cohabitants of this city, we all share Z~A a basic human right to safe, affordable X X and accessible transportation. And yet here in the Portland metro region, champion of “livability”, those who depend on public transportation are disproportionately bearing the burden of TriMet’s decisions to cut service and increase fares. The value of a TriMet fare has never been lower, wait times between buses have never been longer, and riders are getting squeezed with missed connections and overcrowded buses and pass-bys. OPAL’s Bus Riders Unite! leadership has launched a Campaign for a Fair Transfer to restore value to the system by increasing transfer times to 3 hours and extending rides through the end of service for evening boardings. TriMet has cut 170,000 hours of bus service the past two years, resulting in longer wait times between buses and more critical transfers. And even though TriMet continues to raise the cost of the fare, the time given to transfer has stayed the same: 2 hours from purchase on the MAX or streetcar, but only one hour past the time it will take to reach the “destination point” such as the downtown transit mall when heading into the city on the bus. When service was good, transit riders could actually use the system to take care of basic needs and reasonable round-trips on one fare: go to the grocery store and back, take their kids to school or daycare or go to the doctor and back — a reasonable trip at a reasonable cost, one fare. But with the service cuts, especially in evenings and on weekends, the limited transfer time has made this impossible. And as fares continue to rise — 70 percent over the past 10 years and counting low- income transit riders are hurt most. With unemployment and rising costs (an all-zone monthly pass will be $92 come Sept 1), many of those who need to use public transit every day cannot afford a monthly pass, relying more and more on precious single-fare tickets. And if you are a bus rider traveling across town, your transfer might not even last through the end of your trip. Yes, you’ll hear all the usual arguments. TriMet points to rising diesel and health care costs, indicating fare increases -and service cuts well into the future. “You can have low fares but less service, or more service but higher fares,” they say. Or, “Capital improvement projects like light rail or streetcar attract large sums of federal money and create jobs, which we will lose if we pass up these projects.” But these are false choices, and we see it differently. Instead of driving a wedge between transit riders and transit workers, and between those that depend on transit and “choice” riders or the public at large, TriMet should make transit equity its number one priority. Everyone will benefit from having safe, accessible and affordable public transportation with extensive service. We can take care our transit workers and have enough money to maintain frequent service hours. Numerous reports studying the recent stimulus money show that investing in transit service actually creates three times as many jobs as investing in capital projects — jobs that are permanent, offer a living wage, and are “green.” And we know that the federal money for capital projects is not truly free money: both the Portland-to- Milwaukie Light Rail project and the Lake Oswego Streetcar project will cost TriMet and the City hundreds of millions of dollars in local money, money that we won’t have in the future to meet current levels of service operations, even as we continue to add service obligations with these new projects.. For a region that has long prided itself on ■ smart growth and sustainable development, this is most unsustainable. So what’s the solution? Longterm, we need stronger criteria around transit equity for our region. But shortterm, we must give back some value to those who depend most on transit and yet are the least able to afford escalating costs. Intentionally or not, TriMet is currently taking advantage of our most vulnerable riders: those who ride transit everyday and have to use multiple single tickets for basic needs, yet cannot afford a monthly pass. By extending the transfer time to three hours for both the bus and the MAX, and extending rides through the end of service for evening boardings, TriMet can provide a no-cost benefit to offset the heavy burden of recent service cuts and fare increases, while also generating revenue from new “choice” riders. It gives TriMet a golden opportunity to meet its commitments to transit equity and to restoring service. And why Bus Riders Unite!? Bus riders make up two-thirds of all daily boardings, and the bus is the backbone of our wonderful transit system. Our members often use a mix of modes: we ride the bus and MAX, we bike, we walk, and we carpool. But the bus is what we use most often to get around, to make critical connections, and is often the first and last trip of the day. Our region’s transportation system will only be as good as our bus service, and that means frequency, accessibility and affordability. Support OPAL’s Campaign for a Fair Transfer to extend the current transfer time and support transit justice.
