M artin L uther K ing J r .
January 11, 2017
2017 special edition
INSIDE
The
Page 3
Week in Review
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L OCAL N EWS
M ARTIN L UTHER K ING J R .
C ALENDAR
O BITUARY
O PINION
page 23
page 28-29
pages 30-31
M ETRO
This page
Sponsored by:
page 33
Alarmed by Trump
Professor sees
parallels to era of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Z achary S enn
T he P orTland o bServer
As the nation transitions from its first black
president to an incoming president-elect who ran
his campaign on divisive and racially-charged lan-
guage, an expert in race relations at Portland State
University sees parallels between our current time
and the era of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Shirley Jackson is a professor and chair of
the Black Studies Department at PSU. Since as-
suming her position in January of last year, she has
continued the department’s nearly 50-year legacy
of educating students and the community at large
about the issues facing communities of color in the
Portland area.
Jackson says one of the defining characteristics
of MLK’s civil rights era was political activism by
students, the response to injustices that she believes
has once again reached a fever-pitch on today’s
campuses.
“We do see students on college campuses again
taking the lead, as they did in the 1960s… Pushing
for answers,” she says. However, one big difference
by
Shirley Jackson
Jackson cites between then and now, are fears for
the future of free speech, with activists and students
of color “feeling as though their voices are going to
be stifled with the new administration coming in.”
Jackson says that modern-day activists should
also prepare to face the same repercussions that
c onTinued on P age 20
Drum Major Ecumenical Service
Panel
discussion to
highlight MLK
celebration
c hriSTa M c i nTyre
T he P orTland o bServer
One of the oldest African
American congregations in the
state, the Vancouver Avenue First
Baptist Church, will host people
of faith from across the state this
weekend to honor of the late civil
rights leader Dr. Rev. Martin Lu-
ther King Jr.
The two-day commemoration
of Dr. King’s work for justice,
peace and righteousness will be-
gin Saturday, Jan. 14 with a noon
luncheon in the church fellowship
hall to honor students and com-
munity members who live their
lives in the drum major spirit of
King; and conclude with the an-
nual Drum Major Awards and Ec-
umenical Service on Sunday, Jan.
15, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the
by
pages
32-38
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
page 38
Rev. Matt Hennessee
church’s main sanctuary, 3138 N.
Vancouver Ave.
Pastor J.W. Matt Hennessee
will lead the service. Pastor E.D.
Mondainé will sing the African
American National Anthem, and
Gov. Kate Brown and new Mayor
Ted Wheeler will share a few brief
words. A special focus will be a
panel discussion, “Where do we
go from here,” led by moderator
Bill Deiz.
It has a been a tradition at the
Drum Major celebration for a key-
note speaker to address the con-
gregation, but when Pastor Hen-
nessee saw the fears, anger and
sadness which have risen in the
community since the recent pres-
idential election, he decided to ad-
dress them with a panel of speak-
ers to cover a diverse cross section
of community and city leaders.
Members of the panel are Rab-
bi Michael Cahana from Congre-
gation Beth Israel, Attorney and
Portland Urban League President
Nkenge Harmon Johnson, U.S.
District Attorney of Oregon Billy
J. Williams, Portland Police Chief
Mike Marshman, Executive Di-
rector of Ecumenical Ministries
of Oregon Jan Elfers, Director
of the Muslim Education Trust
Wajdi Said, Multnomah Coun-
ty District Attorney Rod Under-
hill, Nathaniel Williams of Unify
c onTinued on P age 24