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December 30, 2009
Y earin Review
The Portland Observer looks back at some o f the top stories o f 2009
First black President
marks eventful year
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continued ¿ ^ J r o m Front
□
ing for an overhaul of the nation’s
healthcare system. The nation still
faces high unemployment; is em­
broiled in wars in Iraq and Af­
ghanistan; and its budget deficit
is mounting.
In the state that helped push
him over the edge to victory in the
D em ocratic Party prim aries,
Obama’s young presidency has
changed the way some Orego­
nians think about their country.
For others, it has confirmed what
they knew all along.
“I think that there is a shift in
perspective,” says Melissa Kerry,
a conservation coordinator for
Portland Public Schools.
Kerry said having Obama in
charge has allowed more innova­
tive ideas to spring up. She thinks
that cities have better opportuni­
ties to take initiatives with re­
source conservation and more en­
vironm entally-oriented design,
knowing that they have a partner
in Washington.
— Matthew Cheramy
‘Country
has made
incredible
strides ’
— Geoff Kelly
Sitting at a bus stop on North­
east Martin Luther King Jr. Boule­
vard, Dennis Hudson says that he
feels nothing has changed. Hold­
ing a plastic bag with a hand set in
a cast, he explained that he feels
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that not enough is being done for
people in the U.S., and too much
for immigrants and people over­
seas.
“There’s a lot o f people here
that need help,” Hudson says.
“You can’t get housing if you
have a record.”
Walking up the same street
while carrying bags of food. Huey
Martin and Rita Pierce are still
clearly in Obama’s corner.
“He is making change,” says
Martin. “ But it’s a long process,”
adds Pierce.
We love you Barack Obama,”
exclaims Martin before scurrying
along.
A few blocks over on North­
east A lberta Street, M atthew
Cheramy explains that, for him,
Obama’s election didn’t change
the way he sees his country. In­
stead, he sees the election of the
first African American president
as a fulfillment of the rapid change
the U.S. has undergone in recent
decades.
“ I don’t really think race mat­
ters,” he says.
Geoff Kelly says that having
Obama as president signaled to
him that the country, or at least
parts of it, had made incredible
strides on racial progress.