March 1, 2017
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INSIDE
The
Week in Review
O PINION
This page
Sponsored by:
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pages 6-7
Photo courtesy a ndie P etkus P hotograPhy
Charles McGee, president and chief executive officer of Portland’s Black Parents Initiative, address-
es the non-profit group’s “Circle of Growth” benefit on Feb. 22 at the Sentinel Hotel, downtown. The
luncheon drew hundreds of supporters and raised more than $146,000 for programs to help parents
make healthy choices in a child’s life and help educate and mobilize families to achieve success.
Moving Forward
S PORTS
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Black Parents
Initiative builds
program support
Z achary s enn
t he P ortland o bserver
One of the hallmarks of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil
rights legacy was its focus on the
importance of education. “The
function of education, therefore,
is to teach one to think intensively
and to think critically,” Dr. King
wrote in a 1947 essay for the
Moorehouse College student pa-
per, “The Maroon Tiger.”
Charles McGee, a Liberi-
an-born Portlander, has dedicated
his life’s work to continuing to
carry out Dr. King’s legacy in re-
gards to education. McGee, along
by
M ETRO
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with friend Johnell Bell, found-
ed The Black Parent Initiative in
2006 in order to assist black fam-
ilies and their children attain edu-
cational success but also financial
and spiritual success.
The non-profit group believes
that children are more likely to
succeed when supported by sta-
ble, engaged adults. It’s a mission
that drew hundreds of supporters
last week when the organization
raised $146,000 for programs to
help parents make healthy choices
in a child’s first 1,000 days of life.
McGee was born to a father
who worked for Liberia’s intel-
ligence services. When political
tides, shifted, however, his fami-
ly fled to the U.S., and eventually
settled in northeast Portland.
“What made me who I am to-
day is the family that I grew up in,
and the community that my fami-
ly was able to orchestrate around
me,” McGee told the Portland
Observer. “They let me know very
clearly that not only was failure
never an option, but also that I
was predestined to do something
great.”
As the president and chief ex-
ecutive officer of the Black Par-
ents Initiative, McGee seeks to in-
still members of Portland’s black
community with a healthy sense
of self, turning back the negative
narratives regarding poor commu-
nities and communities of color
that can have adverse affects on
children’s achievements.
“Doses of healthy cultural
identity are not only pivotal, but
they’re instrumental to the forma-
tion of human development,” he
says. “We focus a lot on kind of
redefining what people’s cultural
c ontinued on P age 4
School District Bond Referral
Levy for more
school upgrades
and rebuilds
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Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
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The Portland School Board
plans to refer a capital construc-
tion bond to Portland voters in
May, the second in a series of
property tax measures to fully
modernize school sites across
the district over the next few de-
cades.
As outlined in referral docu-
ments the board was scheduled to
approve Tuesday night, the $790
million bond would fund renova-
tions and additions at Benson and
Madison High Schools, and full
rebuilds of Lincoln High School
and Kellogg Middle School. If
approved by voters, the bond
would also fund planning for up-
grades of Cleveland, Jefferson,
and Wilson High Schools as part
of the next series of school mod-
ernizations.
Additionally, at least $150
million would fund district-wide
health and safety projects, in-
cluding replacing old pipes and
fixtures to reduce lead, improve
water quality, and reduce the need
to use bottled water; Removing
or encapsulating exposed lead
paint and asbestos; Upgrading fire
alarm and/or sprinkler systems;
Repairing or replacing leaking or
deteriorating school roofs; Im-
proving accessibility for people
with disabilities; Improving build-
ing foundations and ventilation
to decrease radon exposure; and
strengthening school safety and
security.
The average levy rate for this
bond issue is estimated to be
$0.68 per $1,000 of assessed
property value over 30 years. The
levy rate is estimated to be $1.40
per $1,000 for the first four years,
declining thereafter. For a house
assessed at $200,000 the initial
annual cost would be about $280
with the overall average cost $136
annually.