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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 2014)
Street roots 9 Dec. 5, 2014 s LINDSTROM, from page 8 people were making that effort S.Z.: What drew you to James Chasse’s story? B.L.: What really attracted me to “Alien Boy” was the chance to tell two stories: one is Jim’s personal life and the other is the almost detective story about what exactly happened that day. It was about crossing all of the T’s and dotting all the I’s in terms of the family’s civil suit and following the case through all of it’s permutations. How do you tell the story of a person who is no longer alive? How do you get their point of view and their special personality into the film? And that was a question the producer, Jason Renaud, editor, Andrew Saunderson, director for photography, John Campbell and I always ask ourselves: How are we honoring Jim’s story? How are we helping the audience understand him? S.Z.: What are your thoughts about the death of Michael Brown and the events in Ferguson? B.L.: The tragic, avoidable death of Michael Brown of course reminds me of what happened to James Chasse. In both instances, police took drastic actions that resulted in the deaths of unarmed men and, after much public outcry, grand juries failed to indict the officer or officers involved. There are two responses by police and local government that I think would go a long way in making the public — and in particular people of color and/or people coping with mental illness — feel safer: 1. Require all police officers to wear a camera. 2. In cases of alleged police misconduct, require an outside special prosecutor to present evidence to a grand jury. The first measure would create at least the possibility of an “objective truth” that would protect the officers against false allegations and protect the public against police cover-ups. The second measure would alleviate the untenable situation in which D.A.& now find themselves: presenting cases to grand juries against police officers who are, after all, their colleagues. My hope is that the justified outrage we all feel after what happened to Michael Brown and James Chasse could somehow be focused and concentrated into meaningful civic action. That, I think, is the best way to honor the memories of these two men. I saw on Facebook that three Portland police officers had posted: “I am Darren Wilson.” I’d like to think that somewhere in our police force of over 600 officers, there are at least three who would proclaim: “I am Michael Brown” or “I am James Chasse.” Because I know that many officers join the force and put their lives on the line because of a deep calling to protect the most vulnerable in our community. S.Z.: Mental health and, I would say addiction, seem to be a couple of prevailing themes in your work. What is your interest in this topic? What draws you to your subjects? person. They are more than just their worst, weakest moments or their disease. There’s more to them than th a t S.Z.: Sure. You don’t hate someone because they have diabetes and their blood sugar drops and they pass out. You don’t do that when the disease is diabetes... B.L.: Exactly. S.Z.: So you’re working on a new film? B.L.: I was really lucky that my grandparents, who were divorced, were both B.L.: I am. I’m lucky to have received a big parts of my life. My grandfather, his grant from the Regional Arts & Culture name was Maurice J. Hill, he was a Council to make a film about an incredible wonderful guy. In many ways he was like a program at Coffee Creek Correctional father to me. He was also a binge drinker. Facility, which is the women’s prison in He would go weeks and even months Wilsonville. It’s called the Family without a drink and then he would just d r i n k Preservation Project What they do is they until he was passed out bring the children of the inmate moms into There are large the prisons two stretches of my life Saturdays a month for when I would spend these intense, three- every weekend with hour sessions where them because my the women get to be mom worked nights. I had the chance, X would try with their kids in a would have this community room. to use art form to try to experience were we There is no plexiglass help te ll those stories: the would have plans to between mother and go the Blazer game humanity w ithin that person. child. They get to read on Saturday night for They are more than just their to their kids, play instance. I would games, dance, eat, worst, weakest moments or show up at his nap, cuddle. For those their disease. There's more apartment and he precious three hours, would just be so them than th a t/' they get to be moms stumbling drunk. We and the kids get to be would still go to the kids. game. We would be Another thing the watching the game program does is help and then I would get a tap on the shoulder. the women take an in-depth look at their It would be security saying “will you come lives and the choices they’ve made and with me.” And they would say, “Your really help them to understand that they are grandpa passed o u t You’ve got to take him people that made bad choices rather than home.” bad people. That is a huge distinction as we all know. It’s hard to do anything from a S.Z.: Wow. How old were you? perspective of “I’m a bad person.” It’s much 'more empowering to do something from the B.L.: I was like 9 or 10. So I had all of idea of, “I’m a person who made a bad these experiences where I would be in choice perhaps around addiction and if can public with that person: the whole deal with my addiction issues, then my restaurant or the whole crowd (wherever choices continue to get better and better.” you are) the whole crowd is looking at us, The program does a lot of wonderful “Whoa. That person is drunk.” things including something called a I think I had an early affinity to kind of genogram, which is where each woman understand what it feels like to be the one diagrams her family history. They draw it, that doesn’t fit in or is different kind of like a personalized map. They decide Through luck or God’s grace or whatever, the main themes that have shaped their lives. It could be mental illness or addiction I dodged that biological bullet of being an or abuse or trauma, a medical catastrophe - addict, but I never forgot the humanity of whatever it is. They make a family tree and the person who is suffering. show how all these different people have I always thought that if I had the chance, been impacted by i t It’s a really powerful I would try to use my art form to try to help tool that helps the women realize that there tell those stories: the humanity within that my Projects believes nó 0(16 should have to be Transition^ Projects 1 S I 650 NW Irving S t Portland, OR 97209 I 501280.470© ■ www.tprojects.org S.Z.: And it’s generational. Sometimes grandma, mom, sister or child find themselves in the same facility. B.L.: Exactly, so these families are scrambling to absorb the kid whose mom is now in prison. And they aren’t all in Portland (Coffee Creek is the only female prison facility in the state of Oregon), so some of the families (of the incarcerated) are in Salem or Eugene or wherever, and suddenly this already strapped family has to absorb this child and then figure out how to get the resources together to go to Coffee Creek so the kid can have visitation with mom. The great thing about the Family Preservation Project is that it provide gas cards, which may not sound like a big deal, b u t../ S.Z.: It’s huge. B.L.: It’s the difference between a child getting to see their mother or n o t The program also-provides a small respite for the child’s family caregiver. And this is huge — it also provides early childhood education. 'Illese are families that if the schooling isn’t paid for, it’s questionable if they could get together the money to pay for preschool. All of this (programming) is on the chopping block. The department of corrections has cut the program and it will end on Jan. 3 .1 can’t understand how we, as a society could possibly decide that this is a good program to shut down. I’ve done this enough (cinéma vèrtè filmmaking) that I feel like I’ve got a pretty good barometer when something is really working and change is meaningful and happening in front of me. I always feel like that in this program. sue@streetroots, org PAID TRAINING CENTRAL CITY Transition are forces outside themselves that contributed to where they are and it doesn’t in any way excuse their choices, but what it does is it gives those choices a new perspective. I’ve been there as they present the genogram to the class. You can almost see a certain weight lifting as each woman shares her genogram with the class. I’ve been so impressed with the program. It’s all about accountability and positive change. Not once have I heard any of the women say, “Oh I shouldn’t be in here” or “I didn’t do the crime.” No. It’s like: “I have these issues and this is what I’m doing to work on them. These families are hard hit by addiction or poverty. FOR PEOPLE WITH liZ Ending homelessness and achieving self-sufficiency. Now roasting & distributing craft coffee. Available fo r purchase at: Chuck's Produce Food Front Cooperative Grocery Green Zebra Grocery New Seasons Market Whole Foods Market Soon avcrilalbe for on-line purchase! For office coffee service, call our friends at Percosso Coffee, 503-460-3861 CENTRAL CITY COFFEE www.centralcitycx3ncern.0rg, ; iacel3ook.com/CentralCityCoffee Beyond Limitations'“ REQUIREMENTS: 5312 NE 148th Ave. Portland, OR 97230 z Pass a drug test Z Must be at least 18 Z Must be able to provide documentation of a disability Z Fluency in English Z Clean background check QUESTIONS? Please call (503)261-1266 or (800)874-7917 email: dcherry@phcnw.com
