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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 29, 2010)
’City of Roses’ gJJartlattù bseruer w ww .portlandobserver.com Volume XXXX, Number 51 Wednesday • December 29. 2010 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Respecting Differences Activists stand up to bullying by M elissa C havez “ I w as a tom boy in school, and they called m e T om m y. T hen, in high school, it w as Q u eer.” T hough she d id n ’t know w hat it m eant at the tim e — w hich w as m ore than 4 0 years ago — she knew she d id n ’t like it. T he rem iniscing cam e as a ro o m ful o f lesbian activists, all o v er the age o f 55, shared their stories o f dealing w ith bullying as part o f a recent "A nti-B ullying in Schools" talk held at the Q C en ter in north Portland. G u est speaker Joy W allace, O r egon Safe S chools and C o m m u n i ties C oalition board chair, told o f her g ro u p ’s efforts to end bullying and harassm ent o f students. T he coalition has been w orking since 2001 to m ake O regon schools a safer place for gay, lesbian, and transsexual youth. W orking closely w ith national g a y r ig h ts o r g a n iz a ti o n s , th e n o n profit’s w ork also supports co m m unity efforts to reduce yo u th su i cide and oth er risk behaviors in the le s b i a n , g a y , b is e x u a l, a n d tran sg en d er youth population. “ W e help schools start a gay- straight alliance, do a safe schools training once a y ear and hold a youth sum m it each year too,” said W allace. W hen representatives from The Dalles High School came toa workshop to start an alliance, the coalition helped the student organizers and faculty ad viser field parent objections. They gave advice on how to best present their case to the school board. With the group’s help, Wallace said, the school board meeting’s audience was filled with sup portive members o f the community. W allace said that the c o alitio n ’s current m ain focus is to m ake sure O regon schools are com plying w ith the O regon Safe Schools A ct. T he law, w hich w ent into effect in photo by M ark W ashington TT he P ortland O bserver Joy Wallace, chair of the Oregon Safe Schools and Communities Coalition, leads a statewide effort to stop bullying in schools. The panels behind her at the Q Center in north Portland chronicle the decades-long struggle for civil rights by African Americans, women and gays. 2009, requires school boards to a p p ro v e an ti-b u lly in g p o licies; put som eone in charge o f im plem enting the regulations; m ake sure the an ti bullying policies are updated on sch o o l w eb sites and in stu d en t, parent and em ployee handbooks; require that principals assign so m e one to receive reports o f bullying and that the reporting role is know n to all students, parents and o th er school em ployees. T he act is in effect for K -12 public continued on page 15 Local Rappers New York-Bound Get It Squad brothers dream big Portland rap artists Reggie Da Boss (left) and K.O. Yessir, also known as Reggie and Robert Watkins, are New-York bound to compete in BET’s ‘106th and Park ' music completion show. Bom and bred Portland rap artists of Get It Squad (G.I.S.), Reggie and Robert Watkins, also known as “Reggie Da Boss” or “RJ Beats” and “K.O. Yessir,” have come a long way from watching BET music videos afterschool and sitting with two pens, tapping out beats on the kitchen table. The 19 and 20 year-old brothers, sporting tuxes and retro hip-hip haircuts, were selected earlier this year in the West Coast Blaze the Stage Portland audition as winners of a trip to New York to perform on BET’s 106th & Park Show, after busting out strains from their official mix tape, Evolution of Expression. Aside from attending Mt. Hood Community College, the rap duo is fundraising to meet their travel expense goal of $5,000 before their BET performance date on Jan. 26. You can help these young rap dreamers represent Portland on the New York stage; by voting by texting the letter c to 79922; donating to their travel expenses in care of Bank o f A m erica sav in g s account 485007482107; or tuning in to BET’s 106th and Park show for continued support through out the competition.