M artin L uther K ing J r .
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Dynamic Leader
for Justice Emerges
Braving arrest
and threats to
advance cause
by Z achary S enn
T he P orTland o bServer
Portland acitivist Gregory
McKelvey is no stranger to con-
frontations with law enforcement.
A 23-year-old grappling with
questions of police reform, social
justice and inequitable political
structures, he has been at the fore-
font of a community following the
path of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
to advance a more just America.
Thanks to his diverse back-
ground in law studies, campaign
management, and public speak-
ing, McKelvey is one of the most
dynamic and versatile figures
on Portland’s activist scene. His
recent arrest during a Nov. 21
protest march, in which he was
charged for disorderly conduct,
could mark a new era of non- vi-
olent civil disobedience in the
Northwest and in the nation as a
whole.
In the wake of the presiden-
tial election of Donald Trump,
McKelvey founded a new activist
group called Portland’s Resistance
to give direction and leadership to
local residents and members of
minority groups and other orga-
nizations opposed to the policies
of the pending Trump administra-
tion.
McKelvey first became inter-
ested in enacting political change
at a young age. He was in high
school and “super inspired” when
Barack Obama first ran for presi-
dent in 2008, and then the shoot-
ing death of Florida teenager
Trayvon Martin by neighborhood
watchman George Zimmerman in
2012 galvanized his activism.
Following high-school, he de-
cided to pursue a degree in Polit-
ical Science at Oregon State Uni-
versity. Since his 2014 graduation,
McKelvey has worked on a host
of local and state-level political
campaigns, most recently by serv-
ing as the campaign manager for
James Ofsink’s bid for state Sen-
ate.
Speaking of his campaign work,
McKelvey states, “My style of
running political campaigns was
always to get people involved in
the issues that everybody’s talking
c onTinued on P age 22
2017 special edition
Z achary S enn /
T he P orTland o bServer
PhoTo by
Gregory McKelvey is
the leader of Portland’s
Resistance, a group
dedicated to fighting policies
in the incoming Trump
administration that are
detrimental to minorities,
immigrants and other
disadvantaged populations.
January 11, 2017