Best Run Ever Warriors dominate post season to win title ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLVI • Number 24 See story, page 8 Solutions and Best Practices Forum tackles youth and justice issues See Metro, page 11 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • June 14, 2017 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity Photo by C hrista M C i ntyre /t he P ortland o bserver Good in the Hood festival organizer Shawn Penney is staying strong in the wake of a racist letter that threatened violence at the upcoming June 23-25 multicultural festival and against him personally. With added security by Portland police and a diverse community that refuses to buckle from fear and intimidation, a decision was made that the 25th Hood in the Good evemt will go on as planned. ‘Good in the Hood’ festival will go on C hrista M C i ntyre t he P ortland o bserver The multicultural Good in the Hood festival will go on as scheduled next weekend despite threats of violence as leaders from the diverse communities who participate in the annual celebration look toward increased security for the event, refusing to buckle to fear and intimidation. The FBI, US Attorney’s Office of Oregon and Portland Police have taken steps to boost security at the June 23-25 festival and parade in the wake of a racist letter to Good in the Hood organizers that threatened a “blood bath” at the 25th annual event. Good in the Hood is the largest multicultural art, music and food festival in the Northwest. The community event is run by a non-profit board and is sponsored by the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, by Staying Strong the group which received the threatening letter on June 7. On the outside of the envelope was a picture of robed Ku Klux Klan members, a burning cross and what looked like an image of President Trump. The letter also appeared to have a blood stain on the back with a Band-Aid and the words “rush” written on it. Good in the Hood President Shawn Penney said a NECN worker put on rubber gloves to open the letter. He then heard screams coming from another room as neigh- borhood representatives and festival volunteers began to read what was inside. The letter was typed in all caps with many misspellings, racial slurs, and death threats. It also threatened Penney personally by describing the type of weapon that would be used for the effect of intimidation. “I asked, what is a .30-06?” Penney said. Then, realiz- ing it was a hunting gun, like the one that killed President John F. Kennedy, he shuttered at the thought. “The U.S. District Attorney that’s assigned to the case called me and we talked for about two hours on the phone,” Penney said. “He gave me tips and advice on staying safe and said that an FBI agent was on his way to pick up the letter. We have never received a threat like this before at all. Never.” Good in the Hood organizers actually started planning for better security for this year’s event when southeast Portland’s 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade was abruptly cancelled in April because of possible conflicts between C ontinued on P age 4