¡Portiani» (Dhsewer
August 28, 2013
Page 9
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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
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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
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