Street roots., June 26, 2015, Page 5, Image 5

Street Roots • June 26-July 3, 2015
News
Page 5
New president brings local perspective to Urban League
BY ANN-DERRICK CAILLOT
s ta ff w r it e r
kenge Harmon Johnson’s legal and political
career has taken her from her Pacific
Northwest home across the United States and
back again.
A graduate of the Trinity University School of
Business and the Howard University School of Law,
Harmon Johnson has served as a deputy assistant
trade representative under Barack Obama and has
worked in communications for several politicians,
most recently serving as the communications director
and press secretary for former Gov. John Kitzhaber. A
few months ago, Harmon Johnson accepted a new job
as president and CEO of the Urban League of
Portland, the civil rights organization whose
headquarters are a few blocks from the North
Portland middle school where she first learned about
■
REPORT, fro m page 4
reason that a woman in Umatilla County
may not seek prenatal care early enough in
her pregnancy. Transportation is standing in
her way. Same issues, very different places.
So, for me, the similarities between black
Oregon and rural Oregon were most
surprising.
K.S.: One of the things that really stuck
out at me, and I wasn’t a believer in until
this report was done, was how powerful all
of the Social and economic and health
benefits fare) thatcome from community,
from a solid community that has everything
it needs to thrive. And on the flipside, what
displacement and gentrification have done.
Before, it was just a housing issue, and now
I think we really are starting to understand
that there are so many social and economic
things that are affected when communities
are broken up. I think all of those things
when we kind of added them all up, you kind
of realize it just takes a few policies that
aren’t well-coordinated to break up
something that was built up over
generations. And then we spend all our time
trying to come up with these kind of
American civics.
Succeeding Michael Alexander,
who served as the Urban League’s
president since 2012, Harmon
Johnson takes the reins of the
organization amid the excitement
surrounding the release of its
much-anticipated State of Black
Nkenge
Oregon 2015 report During our
Harmon
conversation about this critical
Johnson
new report, Harmon Johnson
spoke to her own perspective on
her new role in the state she loves and serves.
West Coast and it’s right here in our little Portland.
Most people wouldn’t expect that So my job is to
make sure the Urban League as an organization is
around for another 70 years and that the work this ;
organization has done in thé community, not just in
Portland but across the state, can continue and
expand.
A.G.: So you grew up in Portland in the ’80s and
’90s.
N.HJ.: Portland and Salem.
A.G.: How do you think that experience informs your
job?
Ann-Derrick Gaillot: When people ask you what
your job is, what do you tell them?
Nkenge H arm on Johnson: The Urban League is
70 years old this year. That makes us one of the
oldest civil justice and civil rights organizations on the
unnatural solutions to something that was
so natural before. That’s why it’s so
important to preserve the communities that
we have still, and the new ones that are
being formed; make sure that everything
that we need is there.
A.G.: One thing that I read in the report is
black voter turnout is much less than white
voter turnout. It seems like a Catch-22 with
trying to increase black voter turnout since
people’s faith in the system can’t really be
re-earned-until something in policy changes,
but that can’t happen without votes. How can
you interrupt that loop?
K.S.: Your interactions with the police are
going to affect whether you want to vote or
not because they affect the trust that you
have in the people that are supposed to be
either representing you or protecting you.
So I think for us, it’s really important that,
for example, we work on policing and the
relationship between the police department
and communities, whether it’s an adversarial
one or one in partnership. That’s one area
where you can actually affect civic
engagement. When people feel a sense of
safety and they feel good about the people
12 HOURS
N.HJ.: I am the first president of the Urban
League who is from Oregon. I’m the 14th president of
the Urban League. I’m the fourth woman, and I’m the
who are protecting them, it’s gonna increase
civic engagement and voter turnout.
A.G.: There’s been a lot of violence in the
city this past month, and in response to that,
Mayor Charlie Hales just said something that
kind of speaks to what you’re talking about.
He said, “Right now, this summer, tonight, we
need to make sure they’re being watched
carefully and that it’s OK for police officers to
stop and, question people in the street, and
everyone needs to understand that that’s part
of them doing their job. It’s not about
profiling? it’s about doing our job. ’’■What do
you think about that and how it affects what
you’re trying to do to improve this
relationship?
N.H J .: I 'ye had conversations with Mayor
Hales in the past, and I know that he’s
thoughtful on some of the issues we care
about. In fact, he was at the launch of the
State of Black Oregon. Part of me as the
president of the Urban League .and part of
me as an attorney is concerned with what I
just heard in that quote, so let’s take the
comment at face value. The types of
activities that can be spawned by comments
such as that are those that will lead to
See PRESIDENT, page 7
further diminution of the relationship
between African-Americans, between
Latinos, between Asians, between whoever
the “they” in the quote is and the police,
because even when there’s a spike in
violence in a particular area, most of the
people who live in that area are not in fact
violent. And to be treated as though they
are, it’s a problem. It’s also been shown
again and again — New York and “Stop and
Frisk,” for example — it doesn’t work. So my
guess is that the mayor is aware of that; my
guess is that our police chief is aware of
that and that that is not what he was
referring to in his comments.
K.S.: And I would just add that even the
best-intentioned people still profile and
there are reasons behind it. That’s why
we’re trying to work with the police
department, work with the city, to start to
get at what are some of the other factors
playing into why that happens and how can
we stop it. It’s not as easy as, “Stop
profiling.” And then everyone’s gonna stop
doing it. We have to understand why it
happens, how it happens and what’s the
history behind it.
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