Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2017)
March 29, 2017 Page 5 Community Activism and the Blues C ontinued From F ront Our old mortgage would have been paid off three years ago. As it is, at age 62, I have 12 years of house payments still ahead of me,” Shoemaker said. LaRhonda Steele, another fa- vorite Portland blues and soul artist, said universal health care to her means freedom. “Without the concerns of enor- mous medical debt, we are allowed to be fully who we are. Also the weight of concern for our brothers and sisters who can’t afford prop- er health care would be lifted and thus lifting all our hearts.” The Inner City Blues Festival grew out of the Rainbow Coali- tion in 1988, a year Americans entertained the thought of our first black president with the campaign of Jesse Jackson. Bob Gross, Ken Cropper and Norman Sylvester, along with a group of other ded- icated local activists, helped plan the first festival to promote Jack- sons’ candidacy. The festival grew to support a variety of community causes over the next 10 years. When the campaign for univer- sal health care took off in Oregon in 2011, the festival was revived as a benefit for the cause and is now in its sixth year, drawing hun- dreds of fans. The 6th Annual Inner City Blues Festival, “Healing the Healthcare Blues,” returns April 22 to the North Portland Eagles Lodge, 7611 N. Exeter., at Lom- bard Street. Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the music runs until mid- night. The lineup of stars performing to support the cause will include the Norman Sylvester Band, Obo No Satisfaction C ontinued From p age 3 deadly and excessive force. “How can you put a bullet through the head of a young teen- ager on his knees, as well as two additional bullets in his body,” a statement from the AMA group said. “We know the PPB is trained to shoot for the center mass, so the shot to the head is inconsistent with training. “This is why we need stron- ger, independent oversight of the Portland Police Officers in the use of deadly and excess force,” the AMA statement said. According to grand jury tran- scripts made public, Officer Hearst testified that he shot Hayes with his AR-15 rifle when the teenager reached for his waistband. Hearst told the jury he thought Hayes was reaching for a gun. Hearst said he never saw the gun but was sure he had one based on previous reports. Just before the deadly con- frontation, Hayes allegedly used a replica gun to rob a man of his state food benefits card outside a Northeast 82nd Avenue motel and was a suspect in a reported car prowl. Police said an exam- ination of a replica firearm found just a few feet from Hayes’ body, showed Hayes’ DNA on the gun. The officer-involved shooting has increased tensions between police and members of the African American community. It contin- ues a pattern in Multnomah Coun- ty where the district attorney and grand juries have never indicted a white police officer for killing or using excessive force against a black person or Latino in the his- tory of the city, the AMA said. Police will conduct an internal review of the shooting death. Good in the Hood presented by Addy Legacy Project “Okro- pong,” Mary Flower, Tevis Hodge Jr., Mic Crenshaw, the Shoehorn, Stangetones & Volcano Vixens, Bloco Alegria, Steve Chesebor- ough, Lloyd “Have Mercy” Jones, Tony Ozier “Doo Doo Funk,” the Mad as Hell Doctors, Nurses & Interns, and celebrity MCs Paul Knauls, Renee Mitchell and Ken Boddie. Tickets are now on sale. Ad- mission is $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets are avail- able at Music Millennium, 3158 E Burnside; Geneva’s Shear Perfection, 5601 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; Peninsula Station, 8316 N. Lombard; and the Musician’s Union Hall, 325 N.E. 20th Ave. Tickets are $25 at the door. Terry Ann Rogers is an Inner City Blues Festival volunteer. The Law Offices of Patrick John Sweeney, P.C. Patrick John Sweeney Attorney at Law 1549 SE Ladd, Portland, Oregon Portland: Hillsboro: Facsimile: Email: (503) 244-2080 (503) 244-2081 (503) 244-2084 Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com