Community
in Shock
Knife wielding
man killed in
confrontation
‘City
of
Roses’
Volume XLVII • Number 15
See Local News, page 3
Voices from
the Riots
Portland actress
fronts ground-
breaking play
See Metro, page 9
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • April 11, 2018
Established in 1970
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Photo by d anny P eterson /t he P ortland o bserver
Celebrants and community members join Portland NAACP President and Pastor E.D. Modainé for the grand opening of a new office and headquarters in Lloyd Center.
Located on the second floor near Marshall’s, it’s the first physical location for that the local civil rights organization in 30 years.
Civil rights group
opens first office
in 30 years
by d anny P eterson
t he P ortland o bserver
The Portland NAACP is celebrating the
opening of an office in Lloyd Center mark-
ing a milestone for increasing public out-
reach and building on the local civil rights
group’s 104-year-old history.
At 1,836 square feet, the new headquar-
ters will help continue the legacy of the
Portland chapter of the National Associa-
tion of Colored People advocating on is-
sues like fair housing, mass incarceration,
poverty and education.
NAACP
Strong
“Having an actual location that people
can come to is going to give people a hands
on, right now, ability to talk to somebody
face to face about what’s going on with
them,” said Portland NAACP President
and Pastor E.D. Modainé, at last Wednes-
day’s ribbon cutting ceremony. “We have a
space that we can do training, seminars and
all types of different community engage-
ments that benefit our community.”
A large group of dignitaries, elected of-
ficials and members of the black commu-
nity joined together to mark the opening
which occurred on the same day as Port-
land and the world remembered civil rights
leader Martin Luther King Jr. on the 50th
anniversary of his death.
Charlotte Rutherford, the daughter of
former Portland NAACP leaders Verdell
and Otto Rutherford were among those in
attendance. The Rutherfords were integral
to passing the Public Accommodations Act
in Oregon, a civil rights bill that became
law in 1953. The Rutherford family home
in north Portland once served as a NAACP
office more than 30 years ago.
C ontinued on P age 4