April 5, 2017
Page 3
INSIDE
The
Week in Review
O PINION
This page
Sponsored by:
page 2
pages 6-7
Portland Development Commission Project Manager Kim Moreland and Alex Colas of Colas Construc-
tion oversee the construction of Alberta Commons, the future site for a Natural Grocers store and a
strip of small, minority-owned businesses at Northeast Alberta and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
pages 8
S PORTS
Lease Alberta Commons
Small, minority-owned busi-
nesses still have the opportunity to
participate in the retail mix at Al-
berta Commons, now under con-
struction at the corner of Northeast
Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard
and Alberta Street.
The Portland Development
Commission PDC sent out word
Friday that it still has leasing op-
portunities for commercial retail
space at Alberta Commons and
M ETRO
page 11
pages 8-13
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
C LASSIFIEDS
C ALENDAR
pages 14
page 15
priority will be given to exist-
ing local businesses, particularly
those owned by people of color.
Alberta Commons is the second
half of a long term plan for retail
development geared toward the
heart of Portland’s historic black
community. It follows the con-
struction of Vanport Square more
than a decade ago, the retail com-
plex immediately to the north.
PDC officials say they are com-
mitted to the success of Alber-
ta Commons to provide needed
goods and services to the neigh-
borhood and create lasting, bene-
ficial relationships with the com-
munity. The project will contain
a Natural Grocers as the anchor
tenant.
For more information about
the lease opportunities for Alberta
Commons, contact Tory Campbell
at the PDC.
Assembly for Black Affairs Turns 40
The official state advocacy
group for Oregon’s black popula-
tion turns 40 years old this week.
The Oregon Assembly for Black
Affairs will celebrate with a cere-
mony in the Legislative Chambers
at the State Capitol in Salem on
Friday, April 7 at 10 a.m.
Calvin O.L. Henry, the OABA
president, invites friends and sup-
porters of the organization to join
them.
The Oregon Assembly for
Black Affairs was established by
the Oregon Legislature in 1977 to
improve conditions for blacks in
Oregon. At the time, the political
and economical voices for people
of color were nearly non-existent
in Salem.
“In many ways, we were afraid
to speak up for each other or do
Calvin O. L. Henry
business with each other,” Hen-
ry said. “Our community often
left young black children to fend
for themselves in school settings.
The percentage of blacks in the
Oregon prison population was and
still is greater than the percentage
of blacks in the Oregon popula-
tion, and businesses in Oregon’s
black community had decreased.”
Since its establishment, the
OABA has been working to less-
en these strong disconnects while
encouraging more people of color
to run for partisan and nonpartisan
offices and to get involved with
Oregon political parties.
“The OABA knows that black
Oregonians must become in-
formed and committed voters who
will use their citizenship power
to improve conditions in Oregon,
Henry said. “Thus, the mission of
the Oregon Assembly for Black
Affairs is to improve the political,
educational, social, legal, and eco-
nomic status of blacks in Oregon.”