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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 2014)
Page 4 A p ril SO, 2014 25 Yearsa Name continued from front returned to majority white. The gentrification, how ever is even deeper in some locales, like Alberta Streetand Mississippi Avnue, a sore spot for a population that faced racism during the years around World War II when shipbuilding jobs brought a major influx of black workers, but whom also faced racist redlining in collaboration with real estate, banking, and insurance com panies. Economic revitalization projects in the North and Northeast corridor over the years, headed by the City and the Portland D evelopm ent Commission, have been blamed for benefiting more affluent whites over blacks. Economic elevation for poor people, especially for black Ameri cans was a key component to Mar tin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. King is quoted as saying, “Many white Americans of good will have never connected bigotry with eco nomic exploitation. They have de plored prejudice but tolerated or ignored economic injustice.” The Portland Observer spoke to King Neighborhood Association Chair Alan Silver about the signifi cance of the Martin Luther King Boulevard naming. As new residents arrive, particu larly business owners, Silver who is white, says there has been some disdain shown toward the boule vard. “I think I have a sense, in some way, in which folks wanna sani tize the boulevard,” he says. “Per haps they don ’ t think o f it as w e’re erasing black history, and the lack presence from MLK Boulevard, but the neighborhood association hears o ccasionally that [som e businesses] struggle to make their business work if they use an MLK address. So perhaps the land has low er value to businesses along this boulevard.” Silver says that events like the celebration at the Boys and Girls Club can help people who may not understand the history of the neigh borhood. While acknowledging the com plex racial realities of north and north east Portland, Silver says it is also a must to acknowledge the necessi ' ’l l f * V 4 W ties and desires of the people who reside there now. “I think every time we have an opportunity to invite folks into the same space who might not see eye- to-eye but who are living together in the same neighborhood, in the same community, and have them talk about what their experiences are, and their sense of what they want for their neighborhood to feel like, and what they want it to be, I think that’s great,” he says. Portland Community Reinvest ment Initiative’s Maxine Fitzpatrick, an African American leader for af fordable housing, says since open ing their doors in 1993, having their Upholstery Cleaning • Sofa/Loveseat • Pet Stains • Flood Restorations headquarters on Martin Luther King Boulevard has been a priority. The main offices for PCRI have moved several times since its incep tion, but every time maintained its presence on the through way. “This is where PCRI should be,” says Fitzpatrick. As eco n o m ic d e v elo p m e n t projects continue to advance in the neighborhoods, Fitzpatrick joins a chorus of other activists calling at tention to the need to insure that black people of varied income brack ets are able to remain in the neigh borhood. Ahjamu Umi, head of the black advocacy group Occupy Northeast and the All African Peoples Revolu tionary Party of Portland, accuses city government of being dominated by corporate interests, and said that creates a certain irony in naming the street after King. “I’m not one to care about the street name,” Umi says. “But I care if people are grasping the concepts that MLK was talking about, and I think the state of the neighborhood is a reflection that we’re not.” He goes on to ask if people of African descent are “interested” in grasping the concepts the civil rights leader was talking about or simply using him as a figurehead to further individual agendas. "Your Budget is our mission" BUDGET INSURANCE E N T E R P R IS E S .L L C AUTO HOME DANNY CHAN DURAN BEASLEY At Budget we w ork with m any insurance com panies to find the best fit for your I Com plete House I I $1fW95 I Up to ■ I IOOOsq feet J_with coupon. With Free Deoderizer needs and to fit your Budget. 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