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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 2013)
parttani» (Obstruer September 4, 2013 IN S ID E The W eekîn Review This page Sponsored by: Page 3 Fred Meyer Whafs on your list today?. Page 2 •sv?*» O pinion pages 6-7 1 photo by D onovan M. S mith /T he P ortland O bserver Pastor E.D. Mondaine (second from left) joins a patron outside his soul food eatery Po’ Shines in north Portland to symbolically ring the bells of freedom on the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s infamous “I Have A Dream” speech and the March on Washington for Jobs and Justice. Let Portland Ring ! Bells toll for justice and freedom by D onovan M. S mith T he P ortland O bserver B ells lite ra lly ra n g a c ro ss th e c o u n t r y l a s t W e d n e s d a y as p e o p le sy m b o lic a lly ra n g b e lls in c o m m e m o ra tio n o f th e 5 0 y ears to th e e x a c t tim e w h en slain civ il rig h ts le ad e r M artin L u th er K in g ’s d e liv e re d h is in fa m o u s “ I H av e A D re a m ” d u rin g th e M a rc h on W ash in g to n fo r Jo b s an d Ju stic e on A u g . 28, 1963. In Portland, the o w n er o f the soul food eatery ‘P o ’S h in e s’ and the fo u n d er o f C elebration T abernacle, p asto r E.D . M ondaine, took it upon h im self to m em orialize the m om ent w ith his staff and patrons. O n the c o m e r o f N orth K ilpatrick and D en v er in the K enton N eighborhood, M ondaine p roclaim ed “W e ’re ring ing the bell fo rju stice, w e ’re ringing the bell for freed o m ” “T h ey w ere rin g in g the bells across the nation and I said you know w hat, w e need to be a p art o f th at,” he said. In the half-century old address, King fam ously dem anded that “free dom rin g ” throughout A m erica. M ondaine recalls seeing K in g ’s speech on T V as a boy, and being “m esm erized by the figure on the screen. M oving forw ard he hopes that A frican-A m ericans in O regon will increase their concern fo r one an other. “W e are as distant as night and d ay ,” he said, referring to issues th a t im p act the tw o p e rc e n t o f O reg o n ’s population w ho are A fri can A m erican. “ W e have forgotten that injus tice anyw here is injustice every w h e re .” he said , q u o tin g K ing. continued on page 8 Hefty Fine for ‘P Club’ Discrimination Enforcement a first under 2007 civil rights law C lassifieds C alendar on sexual orientation. The law pro vides an exem ption for religious or ganizations and schools, but does not allow private business ow ners to discrim inate based on sexual orienta tion, ju st as they cannot legally deny Last year, investigators with the service based on race, sex, age, dis Bureau o f Labor and Industries found ability or religion. substantial evidence o f unlawful dis The Bureau issued a final order crim ination, including phone m es last week that directs Penner to com sages from P C lub bar ow ner Chris pensate the patrons, 11 m em bers o f a Penner asking a group o f transgender group called th e ‘T G irls,’ $20,000 to patrons to stop visiting his establish $50,000 per aggrieved person for m ent because he d id n ’t want the em otional, mental and physical an venue to becom e know n as a “tranny guish as a result o f their treatment. bar” o r “gay bar.” The bar on North Lom bard Street is U nder the O regon Equity Act o f now know n as the Twilight Room 2007, O regonians legally cannot be Annex denied full and equal service based “O regonians deserve to be treated fairly under the law ,” said O regon Labor C om m issioner Brad Avakian. “For businesses seeking to under stand the law, we can help them navi gate the O regon Equality Act and other existing state and federal pro tections. O ur technical assistance for business program can field their ques tions and help them avoid potential violations in the first place.” Since 2007,11 com plaints o f un lawful discrimination in public places have been filed under the 2007 law. A fte f investigations, BOLI found no substantial evidence in five o f the com plaints; parties negotiated settlem ents in three cases, w ith one case at northeast Portland bakery ‘Sw eet C ak e s’ still being review ed.