Scrapbook
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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