A pril 4. 2 0 0 7
PageA S
Majority Flips on MLK Corridor
continued
photos by R aymond R endleman /T he P ortland O bserver
Rod Graves ponders the effects o f gentrification in the parking
lot behind New Born Tribe, an Afro-Caribbean-themed venue and
store on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
fro m Front
lies that have moved tow ard the
suburbs. Jefferson currently draw s
20 percent o f its students from out­
side the neighborhood.
"W orking with the population
th a t's here." academ y principal
M acarre T raynham wants her new
A cadem y o f Science and T echnol­
ogy at Jefferson to “help encour­
age m inorities to major in math and
s c ie n c e s
because
w e 'r e
underrepresented in those areas."
At the sam e tim e, T raynham has
established educational pathways
that recognize the neighborhood's
shifting dem ographic makeup, hop­
ing to lure more neighborhtxxl fami­
lies back to the school. "H aving an
environmental program will encour­
age Jefferson to be more diverse,”
she says.
The developm ents that serve the
black com m unity have some people
changing their mind about the nega­
tive effects o f gentrification. "A sk
me 15 years ago when 1 w as in my
Public Enem y phase, and I would
have been like som e o f these guys
w ho com plain about all the white
people in this neighborhood,” said
R o d G ra v e s b e h in d
M LK
B oulevard's New Bom Tribe. "But
Blazers ' Boys and Girls Club members rally to try to attract more members. The club remains
predominantly black even though the neighborhoods along Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard
are no longer majority African American.
now I think it’s all about im prove­
ment and unification.”
Graves argues "this is Oregon, a
white state, so we shouldn’t be sur­
prised." Even the Portland School
District, with by far the highest pro­
portion o f African Americans in O r­
egon, is only six percent black.
The A frican-A m erican popula­
tion is spreading out, but still com es
together in the neighborhood for
services, events like G ood in the
Hood or sim ply to spend tim e with
friends and family.
M oriah says, “ N orth/northeast
Portland will alw ays be home for
the black com m unity, even if w e’re
living out in G resham ."
T h e 4 9 th A n n u a l
Portland Police Chief: ‘We can do better’
continued
fro m Front
ten stem s from officers' lack o f his­
tory. W hile she defended the city ’s
decision not to m andate where o f­
ficers live, she said it is important to
ground officers in the past, making
her point by referencing the “pos­
sum incident.”
For the uninitiated, the possum
incident happened in 1982 when of­
ficers Craig Ward and Jim Galloway
tossed four dead opossums in front
of the Burger Bam. a black-owned
restaurant in northeast Portland.
Viewed as racial intimidation that
was reminiscent o f the pre-Civil
Rights era, the act caused a deep rift
"O fficers relate to me that they
see younger and younger kids with
guns,” she added.
Sizer said that the gang enforce­
ment team isn 't as robustly staffed
as in the late 1990s. Trends change
as a new generation becom es in­
volved in gangs, she said, citing
the exam ple o f young people in­
volved in gangs that aren’t as overt
about proclaiming their affiliations.
Figures also show that Portland
has had to contend with a much
sm aller force overal I.
According to police bureau sta­
tistical reports, the number o f sworn
officers per 1 ,(XX) residents dropped
from more than two throughout the
1990s to 1.79 in 2005. Meanwhile,
Portland’s population has increased
by 44,(XX) in the past eight years.
As Portland has grown and cops
becom e scarcer, com m unity dis­ betw een the police and African
trust continues to exist. Sizer said it Americans that resonated long after
is difficult to put officers out on it was forgotten by most of the media
more com m unity friendly walking and the public.
“Ifa24-year-old police officereven
and biking beats because staffing
knows
anything about it they may
is stretched so thinly. H ow ever,
not
have
that perspective," Sizersaid.
she noted her request for additional
“So
what
can those individuals do to
positions in this year’s budget.
“ It looks prom ising,” she said. get beyond history?”
Her answer is to develop better
“We could do better with m ore."
Meanwhile, the bureau is restruc­ training around racial issues by plac­
turing by converting adm inistra­ ing com munity mentors with young
tive posts to street positions and is officers and scheduling more "pro­
decentralizing school police offic­ gram tim e" with officers. That means
ers, w ho now work out o f precincts more ti me spent with youth and other
ratherthan Portland Public Schools residents in non-patrol settings.
“W e have a lot o f community and
headquarters.
Much like last spring’s racial relationship building, but w e're not
profiling forum s, the police chief effective when dealing with minori­
doesn’t skirt around police short­ ties," she said.
Facing the question o f a diverse
com ings when it com es to dealing
force. Sizer frankly admitted the bu­
with minorities.
She acknow ledged that the poor reau is lacking in women and minori­
relationship between police and the ties, especially since several minor­
north/northeast constituency of­ ity officers recently retired right be-
fore a pension change. She ap­
proached the Portland Observer in­
terview and her City Club speech
with a new idea to improve hiring
standards - easing college require­
ments that overlook qualified appli­
cants by focusing on academics in­
stead of relevant police and com m u­
nity skills.
Officers must have at least two
years of college but Sizer is consid­
ering switching the requirement to a
high school diplom a or General Edu­
cational Development certificate.
She also w ants to stream line the
hiring process that som etim es takes
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2006/2007
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\ We have a lot o f community and
relationship building, but w e’re not
effective when dealing with minorities.
-Police Chief Rosie Sizer
a year to com plete.
Regarding the high-profile issue
o f Taser use. Sizer defended the of­
ficers who used the stun gun on a
diabetic woman last month, but be­
cause of pending I itigation, she could
not com m ent on the case o f Sir Mill-
age, a 15-year-old African American
autistic boy who was beaten and
Tasered 15 times last December after
officers viewed him as a threat.
Bureau policy does not fully pro­
hibit T aser use against individuals
under 12 or old er than 60, pregnant
w om en or people know n to be
“ medically fragile," if the person in
question is arm ed with a w eapon,
suicidal or c a n 't be control led with
other force options.
“T asering is discouraged but
allowed w ith special consideration"
in these situations. Sizer said.
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Beating Housing Odds
continued
I
Î
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Geneva's Sheer Perfection
1007
fro m A 8
and find out. You never know until
"Phyliss said you can start shop­ you find out."
W hen asked how b u y in g a
ping now ” she explained. W ith the
hom
e has ch an g ed her life, she
help o f her Realtor Kria Lacher, she
states,
“ It m akes m e feel good
began searching for hom es in her
about
m
yself. R eally g o o d !" H er
affordable price range.
new
found
pride though is really
F inally, afte r a few w eeks o f
not
ju
s
t
about
o w n in g a hom e. T o
se arch in g she found a tw o-bed-
her
it's
really
about being a good
room o n e-b ath house in the L ents
gran
d
m
o
th
er.
are a for $ 1 4 6 ,0 0 0 . T h e hom e
“ I have a nice place for my grand
needed som e w ork before it w ould
kids.
A big yard," she said.
be ready to o ccupy. F o rtu n ately
W
hile
she isquick to g iv eev ery -
her PD C loan included the funds
one
else
credit,
the key ingredient
she w ould need to fix up the hom e.
to
her
success
though
was Knox
P D C 's C o n s tru c tio n A d v is o r
herself.
She
is
the
one
who
made
h elp ed her obtain co m p lete bids
the
first
call,
learned
everything
from co m p etitiv e c o n tra cto rs. In
ad d itio n , she q u alified for a grant she co u ld , b ecam e "m o rtg a g e
from the C ity o f P ortland to re ­ ready” , took action at each step o f
d u ce lead h azard s in the hom e the w ay, and finally “N ever" said
and m ake it safe for her new -born “never."
Resources: Portland Develop­
g ran d d a u g h ter w ho w ill live with
ment
Commission, www.pdc.us/
h er alo n g w ith her d au g h ter. H er
housing.
503-823-3400; Oregon
hom e is m idw ay through being
Bond
Loan.
b w . (Iregon Bond. us.
reh ab b ed and in June she plans
I.877-ST8-BOND;
Portland Hous­
on m oving in.
ing
C
enter,
w
w w .P o rtla n d
In reflecting about what advice
H
o
u
sin
g
C
e
n
te
r.o
rg
, 503-282-
to she would give others, she sug­
7744.
gests, “G o for it! G o to the classes
t
11:15
iy tifatisi
ut tv
7600 NE Glisan
Portland, Oregon 97213
For more information:
www highlandministries.org
Church office (503) 287-9567
I
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V