’City of
Roses’
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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.