M ARTIN L UTHER K ING J R .
Page 12
January 14, 2015
2015 special edition
Behind the Scenes of Don’t Shoot PDX
continued
from page 6
Malcolm Chaddock, a
Portland resident and
member of Veterans of
Peace, attends a meeting
with the Portland activist
group ‘Don’s Shoot PDX,’
as he works to stem the
rising militarism of police
forces.
other phrases associated with
the movement such as “Black
Lives Matter” and “I Can’t
Breathe” in front of City Hall,
the Portland Police Bureau’s
North Precinct, and several other
random yet high profile loca-
tions.
I recently attended another
Don’t Shoot PDX meeting and
the meeting location was appar-
ently changed several times. I
arrived at a Chinatown’s Floyd’s
Coffee, only to find a sign taped
to the ground announcing the
location had been changed to
Powell’s City of Books café.
Powell’s seemingly did not mind
the 30 or so extra people sitting
in a large discussion group for a
couple of hours.
Also at the meeting in support
of the movement were mem-
bers of Veterans for Peace as
well as the Hispanic musical
collective Bajo Salario which
sings at protests in support of
immigrant worker’s rights and
at immigrant advocacy meet-
ings. The collaborations show
how the Don’t Shoot PDX move-
ment is hard to pin down and is
supported by people from vari-
ous different communities.
One of the Veterans for Peace
members, Malcolm Chaddock,
was arrested on the day of the
Ron Wyden visit for blocking
traffic on Southeast 82nd Av-
enue, in civil disobedience to a
requirement to obtain a police
escort by purchasing a permit
from the city of Portland.
“The whole point of support-
ing this as a member of Veter-
ans for Peace is to try and stem
the causes of the rising milita-
rism in the police force,” he said.
Chaddock feels his group ties
in neatly with the Don’t Shoot
PDX movement because ever
increasing militarized police
forces are using surplus arms
and tactics from the battles in
Iraq and Afghanistan against
people of color and poor people.
Keeping up the momentum and
a busy schedule await Don’t Shoot
PDX organizers in the days ahead.
You can keep abreast of their
meetings and direct actions by
going to their Facebook page Don’t
Shoot PDX.
On Twitter?Follow Mike for
interesting tweets regarding
local sports, international af-
fairs and other random timely
topics @IlluminatorMike
Walking in the Path of
Dr. Martin Luther King
continued
from page 11
of pushing the city and society at
large to recognize the downtrod-
den and the forgotten.
“I truly respect King as one of
the biggest prophets,” she says.
In 2005, Rev. López was ar-
rested while protesting the Af-
ghanistan War.
“I remember back in 2001,
right before 9/11, the Interfaith
Council had held a day for Mus-
lim education and further under-
standing between communities.
Right after that, the attacks hit,
and it was so important we had
that connection to support our
local Muslim community.”
López threw herself and her
congregation into anti-war pro-
tests, praying for peace and
marching in hopes of creating
more change than prayer alone.
The Ecumenical Ministries of
Oregon honored López last year
for her outstanding service in
racial and gender equality work
and the peace movement.
She serves on several com-
munity organizations, including
the Albina Ministerial Alliance,
Jobs with Justice, Sweatfree
Portland, People of Faith for
Peace, Jubilee Oregon, and Or-
egon Action’s Citizen Commit-
tee against Police Racial Profil-
ing.
“There’s so much more work
to do,” she says of the year
ahead, “and I can’t say neces-
sary where it will all begin, but I
do know with the inspiration of
Dr.King and his mission in mind,
I will always have a step for-
ward on his path.”