¡Portiani» (Dhsewer
August 28, 2013
Page 9
Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the
Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and
story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com.
Fighting for Justice to Protect our Community
We need better
and safer gtin
regulations
borhood Involvem ent and the P ort
land Police Bureau.
As a com m unity o rg an izer w ho
was a V IST A V olunteer in M acon,
G a„ working with the Southern Chris
tian L eadership C onference, and
m any years after Dr. K ing's assassi
nation in M em phis, T enn., I'm esp e
cially concerned that the tragedy
and travesty o f recent gun violence
are addressed and fixed.
T h e re seem s to be a g re a t deal
o f fru stra tio n an d ev en s k e p ti
c ism th at e ffe c tiv e g un le g isla tio n
c an b e co m e a re a lity in O re g o n o r
n a tio n a lly . H o w ev e r, as sh o w n in
th e
re c e n t
and
e x c e lle n t
d o c u d ra m a n o w sh o w in g in P o rt
la n d , F ru itv a le S ta tio n , a b o u t the
k illin g o f tra n sit rid e r O sc a r G ran t
o n B A R T in O a k la n d , C a lif., the
n e ed is n o t ju s t fo r b e tte r re g u la
tio n s in o u r c o m m u n itie s, b u t fo r
an in te n s ific a tio n o f th e fig h t
a g a in s t ra c ia l p ro filin g an d in a
la rg e r c o n te x t a g a in st p o v e rty it
self.
L ew C hurch
T he recent op-ed in The Portland
O bserver (“W e M ust D o B etter for
O u r C h ild ren ,” A ug. 14 issue) by
M arian W right E delm an was an e x
cellent invitation for com m unities
to organize for action and fight for
ju stice.
As w ith the 1968 anti-poverty
cam paign by Dr. M artin Luther King
Jr., the fight forjustice can and should
include better, safer gun regulations
to p rotect ou r kids and our co m m u
nities.
O n O ct. 1, a coalition o f o rg an iz
ers and groups are holding the O r
egon C onference on Y outh, G uns
an d V io len ce at F irst U n itarian
C hurch in dow ntow n Portland. W e
are inviting national, as well as local,
speakers for daytim e w orkshops and
an evening com m unity forum . W e're
F ro m the tra v e sty o f th e "not
also looking at a gun turn-in event g u ilty " v e rd ic t in th e T ra y v o n
w ith the P ortland O ffice o f N eigh- M a r t i n c a s e a g a i n s t G e o r g e
by
Z im m e r m a n to th e d e a th o f
P o rtla n d 's o w n K eato n O tis at the
h a n d s o f P o rtla n d p o lic e , th ere
n e ed s to be fa r g re a te r v ig ila n c e
o v e r th e use an d m isu se o f fo rce.
F ro m A u ro ra to the C la ck a m a s
M all sh o o tin g la st y e ar, fro m Ft.
H o o d to V irg in ia T e c h , m a ss
sh o o tin g s a lso n eed to be sto p p ed
so o n er, no t later. N o m a tte r w h at
th e N a tio n al R ife A sso c ia tio n or
th e A m e ric a n L e g is la tiv e E x
c h a n g e C o u n c il w ill arg u e.
H isto rically , g un v io len ce tends
to p ro d u c e an o u tc ry fo r re fo rm
th a t d o e s n 't b e a r fru it, p e r se.
H o w ev e r, by in v itin g su rv iv o rs
an d fa m ily m e m b e rs o f gun v io
le n ce , fro m th e C la ck a m a s M all
sh o o tin g to O re g o n ’s T h u rsto n
H ig h S c h o o l, to so m e o f th e
N e w to w n p a re n ts fro m S a n d y
H o o k E le m e n ta ry S c h o o l, o u r O r
e g o n C o n fe re n c e o n Y o u th , G u n s
an d V io le n c e seek s to c re a te a
c o m m u n ity d ia lo g u e fo r p ra c tic a l
so lu tio n s so o n e r, n o t later.
T w o o f the N ew tow n parents, for
exam ple, w ere in O regon last w eek in
c o n n e c tio n w ith a m e m o ria l in
H illsboro for their six year old daugh
ter, a victim o f the N ew to w n m ass
sh o o tin g .
A ccording to C easeF ire O regon,
the parents were able to raise $30,000
in d o n a tio n s to p u rc h a se F re d
M ey er gift certificates as incentives
fo r folks to turn-in guns. W e have
invited gun safety folks to organize
a gun turn-in as w ell as a part o f our
Oct. 1 conference, providing a p rac
tical approach to the gathering, not
ju s t lofty o r em otional speeches.
W e hope to raise b roader issues
as well. W hat about the larger p ic
ture o f jo b s for m any d isen fran
ch ised com m unities w hich struggle
despite President O bam a's m anage
m e n t o f a s lo w ly im p r o v in g
eco n o m y ?
W hat about continued racial p ro
filing in w hat is supposed to be a
'p o st-racial'en v iro n m en t? H ow can
G eroge Z im m erm an go free, ipso
facto? C an w e sustain a targeted
cam paign to fight A L E C and the
N R A and ov ertu rn "Stand Y our
G round" law s? Finally, w hat about
the school-to-prison p ipeline, also
know n as the prison-industrial co m
plex?
L o cally, w ith the P o rtlan d State
U n iv e rs ity P ro g re s s iv e S tu d e n t
U nion, Y oung M inds o f A w areness
at M cC oy A cadem y, and the C en ter
for Intercultural O rganizing, headed
by K ayse Jam a, o u r co alitio n seeks
to address, and fix, som e o f these
issu e s.
By inviting speakers w ho have
survived gunshot violence them
selv es, an d in v itin g fa m ily and
friends o f gunshot victim s (from
N ew tow n parents to m em bers o f the
G rant and M artin fam ilies), w e hope
to bring som e perspectives from
oth er states regarding w hat w e be
lieve is preventable gun violence.
In a bro ad er sense, in the w ords
o f A eschylus, w e hope that this
conference w ill be one step tow ards
“m aking gentler the life o f the w orld”
in concrete w ays.
Lew Church is coordinator o f
the P S U P ro g re ssiv e S tu d en t
Union, and an organizer fo r the
Oct. 1 Oregon Conference on Youth,
Guns and Violence. He can be
reached at POB40011 @juno.com
or 503-222-2974.
Celebrating a Judge’s Ruling against ‘Stop and Frisk’
One victory in
the fight against
racial profiling
sion in Floyd v. C ity o f N ew Y ork
last w eek, but this is ju s t one victory
in an ongoing fight against racial
profiling. W ithin hours o f the d eci
sion, N ew Y ork City M ayor M ichael
B lo o m b e rg a n n o u n c e d th a t h e
w o u ld a p p e a l th e
case.
H ow ever, there are
a num ber o f concrete
steps that are being
taken to help fight ra
cial profiling in N ew
Y ork C ity, across the
fed eral g o v ern m en t,
and on the state level.
First, a diverse coalition in N ew
Y ork C ity is supporting the C om m u
nity Safety A ct. T he CS A is a set o f
tw o bills - one w ould effectively ban
racial profiling by the N Y PD , w hile
the o th er w ould appoint an Inspec
to r G eneral to create g reater o v er
sight and allow victim s o f stop-and-
B enjamin T odd J ealous
"N o one should live in fear
o f being stopped w henever
he leaves his hom e to go about
the activities o f daily life."
T hose w ords cam e from
U.S. D istrictC ourt Judge Shira
S cheindlin in h er fiery 195-
page ruling on the N Y PD 's
"stop-and-frisk" program . A fter .a
by
tw o-m onth trial featuring dozens o f
interview s and statistical analysis
o f nearly five m illion police stops,
Judge Scheindlin concluded w hat
so m any already knew : N ew Y ork
C ity's stop-and-frisk is an unconsti
tutional racial profiling program .
M any o f us celebrated her d eci
Jîorllanb (Obstruer
P u b l is h e r :
E d it o r :
Established 1970
Mark Washington
M ic h a e l L e ig h to n
E xecutive D irector :
Rakeem Washington
C reative D irector :
P a u l N e u fe ld t
O ffice M anager /C lassifieds :
A dvertising M anager :
frisk to hold police accountable for
profiling.
The N ew York City Council passed
the CS A last m onth despite m isinfor
m ation and fear tactics by the oppo
sition, but M ayor B loom berg made
good on his prom ise to veto the bill.
It is now up to the C ity Council m em
bers to stand by their principles and
override the veto.
Second, last m onth m em bers o f
C o n g ress re -in tro d u ce d the E nd
Racial Profiling A ct o f 2013. The bill
com prehensively addresses racial
profiling by law enforcem ent on a
num ber o f levels: by defining the
problem , ex p licitly banning racial
profiling, m andating data collection
to b etter understand the problem ,
requiring law en fo rcem en t training
on racial profiling, and holding fed
eral officers accountable. T he bill
has 15 co-sponsors in the Senate
and 39 in the H ouse, and the n a
USPS 959-680
R eporter /P hotographer Donovan M.
Smith
office dem anding an end to Stand
Y our G round and racial profiling.
M any civil rights advocates from all
w alks o f life have jo in e d th eir fight.
T alib K w eli w as the m ost recent
high-profile nam e to jo in them at the
F lorida State Capitol.
T he D ream D efenders have e x
em p lified M argaret M ead's quote:
"N ever doubt that a sm all group o f
thoughtful, concerned citizens can
change the w orld. Indeed it is the
only thing that ev er has."
E v ery ch allen g e to sto p -an d -
frisk, racial profiling, and oth er un
ju st polices has been the result o f a
g r o u n d s w e ll o f g r o u n d - le v e l,
g rassroots activism and support.
W e can and m ust apply the sam e
type o f grassroots thinking to the
larger battle to end racial profiling
across A m erica.
Ben Jealous is president and
chiefexecutive officer o f the NAA CP.
4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied
by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or
personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORT
LAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The
Portland Observer-Oregon's Oldest Multicultural Publication-is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The
National Advertising Representative Amalgamated Publishers. Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association
Lucinda Baldwin
Leonard Latin
tional conversation around racial
profiling has given it significant
momentum.
Finally, a num ber ofN A A C Pchap-
ters and other grassroots groups have
reenergized the fight to end racial
profiling and other discrim inatory
laws on the state and local level.
"Trayvon's Law " is a set o f guide
lines fo r organizers w ho w ant to end
th e fla w e d p o lic ie s th a t led to
T rayvon M artin's death and the in
ability o f the system to hold anyone
accountable. It provides a legisla
tive basis fo r law s to ban racial p ro
filing, repeal stand y o u r ground-
type law s, and create acco u n tab il
ity for law enforcem ent and com m u
nity w atch groups.
A group o f students called the
D re a m D e f e n d e r s h a v e ta k e n
T rayvon's Law to heart. F o r the last
four w eeks, they have cam p ed out
in front o f Florida G ov. R ick Scott's
nçws<^ portlandobscrver.com
CALL 503-288-0033 FAX 503-288-0015
ads @portlandobserver, com
subscription @portlandobserver, com
P ostmaster : Send address changes to Portland Observer, P 0 B o x3 137, Portland, OR9 7 2 0 8