MARCHES, SPEECHES,
REPORT HONOR MLK
A slew of events in Lane County will honor Martin
Luther King Jr., the week of Jan. 18, including several
marches, a talk by a leading black journalist and the re-
lease of a report on the Oregon Legislature and racial
equity.
On Jan. 18, the MLK holiday, the Lane County chap-
ter of the NAACP will host a march to honor the life of
the civil rights leader beginning 9 am outside the north
gate of Autzen Stadium, according to the chapter’s presi-
dent, Eric Richardson.
“We hope to have a unified message of peace honor-
ing Dr. King’s vision,” Richardson says.
The march will begin with speeches by student repre-
sentatives from the UO’s Black Student Union, UO Pro-
vost and Senior Vice President Scott Coltrane and Mayor
Kitty Piercy. At 10 am, attendees will begin marching
towards The Shedd Institute where they’ll hear from city
officials as well as clergy from different faiths.
Richardson says, “As descendants of slaves in the
U.S., who went through that and still love this country,
that’s the struggle — to honor all the people who lived
through that and the idea they lived through it but still
held on to the love of those ideals, liberty and freedom.”
There will be a second march held in Springfield,
beginning at 1 pm at the Springfield Police Station, 230
Fourth Street, and ending at Springfield High School.
Richardson says organizers have partnered with EmX
to provide day passes so people can attend both marches.
Most of the passes have been delivered to local schools,
but he says some can be found at the Human Rights Cen-
ter located at the Atrium Building, 99 W. 10th Ave.
White House correspondent and author April Ryan
will visit Eugene for a dinner event to honor King’s life at
7 pm Tuesday, Jan. 19, at the UO’s Columbia Hall, Room
150. The event is free and open to the public.
City Councilor Greg Evans says of Ryan: “We picked
her because she is one of the leading black journalists in
this country.”
Evans, who also works at LCC, which co-sponsors the
event, adds, “She just published a book that’s been nomi-
nated for an NAACP Image Award about her covering
three presidents, literally from the basement of the White
House press corps.”
Ryan has covered the White House since 1997 for the
American Urban Radio Networks. Her news blog The
Fabric of America offers a “unique urban and minority
perspective in news.”
Evans says MLK Day is incredibly important because
not much has changed when it comes to race in America.
“The issues have not changed,” Evans says. “We had
the same issues when he died in 1968, when I was 7 years
old. It’s the same stuff we grapple with now.”
Also calling attention to the issues facing people of
color, a report was released Jan. 14 by the Racial Equity
Report working group highlighting 20 pieces of legisla-
tion in Oregon that have significant impacts on the state’s
communities of color. Seventeen of them were passed
into law, and the three that didn’t pass were recommend-
ed to be prioritized in 2017: the health gap for children
under 18, comprehensive women’s health and affordable
housing.
The report outlines each piece of legislation and its
impact on communities of color from paid sick leave to
the new Motor Voter law, and it details Oregon’s “long,
well-documented history of racism that is reflected in
public policy.”
The working group is a coalition of racial and social
justice organizations ranging from the Asian American
Network of Oregon to the Urban League of Portland.
The full report can be found on FacingRaceOregon.
org. — Mohammed Alkhadher
• Two remarkable women from our philosophically diverse
community will be remembered Saturday, Jan. 16, both starting at 2
pm. Peg Morton will be honored at the First United Methodist Church
and Robin Jaqua at the Jaqua Concert Hall at The Shedd. Better go early;
both auditoriums are likely to be full. Morton fiercely devoted her life to
peace and justice on many levels (see our cover story Jan. 7). When
she reached 85 and was hospitalized, she chose to end her life through
fasting, rather than adversely affect the lives of her family and friends
with her failing body, as she saw it. Jacqua used her wealth to help
children and the arts, and for decades she was the matriarch of Jungian
therapy in this community, providing a Jungian library downtown,
bringing national speakers to Eugene, inspiring and mentoring young
therapists. She fought to live for her last breath, dying at 94.
• Oregon and the Eugene-Springfield area are big in the national
news these days, disproportionate to our population. Here’s a quick
look: The ugly takeover of the Malheur Bird Refuge still fills front pages
and there are many Eugene connections, including the Federal Court.
The business section of the Jan. 10 New York Times featured quite a
story about hospitalists at PeaceHealth in Springfield unionizing along
with the nurses; The Wall Street Journal Jan. 5 ran this headline, “A High-
Rise Plan Kills High for Ken kesey Fans.” We hear a book contract has
been signed telling the story of Nike and the UO. Springfield singer-
songwriter Matthew Edewaard even made it into the American Idol
auditions.
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• The Eugene Celebration died a few years ago for a number of
reasons. The city and then Downtown Events Management Inc. lost
interest in overseeing and funding it during the recession (stuffy
conservatives in town have never liked the quirky event and its
outrageous parade). Kesey Enterprises took it over on contract but
apparently found it to be daunting and not very profitable to run.
Construction and development downtown complicated the event’s
footprint.
Krysta Albert and friends started up the Festival of Eugene as a free,
two-day alternative, but after a hectic two years, Albert tells us she is
“uncertain if I wish to host the event again.” She says 10,000 people
attended the festival last year but “this year no one seems to be coming
forward to help make this weekend event happen.” She asks, “Does the
community want it?” The problem, we suspect, is that the people of
Eugene want their grand Eugene Celebration back, even if they have to
pay to get in. But the city doesn’t want to pick up the costs not covered
by ticket sales, even though our economy is better and downtown is
reviving. Losing the celebration, and even the smaller festival, detracts
from our sense of community. Albert can be contacted at 505-4031 or
festivalofeugene@gmail.com.
• Avid birders in the West (and beyond) are increasingly irked and
vocal about the invasion of their beloved Malheur Wildlife Refuge by
armed Neanderthals who only relate to nature by shooting at it. One
upside of the idiotic occupation by bullet-brains is increased attention
on the refuge and its value for migration routes and resident species.
Coincidentally, the January program of the Lane County Audubon
Society will be a talk and slideshow on the refuge by its director; Tim
Blount will speak at 7:30 pm Tuesday, Jan. 26, at the Eugene Garden
Club, 1645 High Street. Expect a bigger crowd than usual.
SL ANT INCLUDES SHORT OPINION PIECES, OBSERVATIONS AND RUMOR-CHASING NOTES
COMPILED BY THE EW STAFF. HE ARD ANY GOOD RUMORS L ATELY?
CONTAC T TED TAYLOR AT 484-0519, EDITOR@EUGENEWEEKLY.COM
eugeneweekly.com • January 14, 2016
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