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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2016)
Scrapbook Selections Exhibit reflects on family history and city changes QR code for Portland Observer Online Basketball Leadership League Boys & Girls Clubs host tournament See story and photos, page 5 See Metro, page 9 ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLV Number 48 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • November 30, 2016 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity photo by C ervante p ope /t he p ortland o bserver Lincoln High School Counselor James McGee (far left) with students Julian Calderon, Innocent Kisange and Akili Kelekele (left to right) promote a new Brothers of Color club that supports a sense of community at the southwest Portland school. of Brothers Color Lincoln forms diverse group to build community C ervante p ope t he p ortland o bserver Minority students at Lincoln high School, the most ethnically barren of Portland’s major high school campuses, have banded together to form a club tailored to create and support their own sense of community. It was around Thanksgiving last year when black and other by minority male students at Lin- coln High School started their Brothers of Color organization by reaching out to the less than one percent of African American stu- dents and a little over seven per- cent of Hispanic students enrolled at the downtown, southwest Port- land campus. Lincoln already had a Black Student Union, but the students involved wanted something a bit more specific to their needs. Counselor James McGee heard their words and helped the Broth- ers of Color group to become a reality. “What I appreciate most is that within our black and Latino stu- dents we are able to build com- munity, that’s so important,” says McGee. “They need to have that place where they can be them- selves without anyone judging.” McGee began his career with the Portland School District at north Portland’s predominate- ly black Jefferson High School, so the stark contrast in diversity across town was fairly jarring to him. As the only counselor of col- or at Lincoln, minority students flock to him for guidance, advice and influence. “One of the benefits of the club is that it gives the boys a place to decompress, discuss, and debate when challenging situations oc- cur within our school community, locally, and nationally,” says Mc- Gee. “Though the conversations can get heated at times, the boys C ontinued on p age 4
