August 22, 2018
Page 5
Clyburn in Line for Speaker
In an exclusive interview with
the Black Press, Rep. Jim Cly-
burn, D-S.C., said he would be up
for the challenge of replacing Rep.
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as the
Democratic leader in the House
of Representatives, even as he has
emerged as a favorite among his
peers to become the first African
American to hold that position and
possibly Speaker of the House if
the Democrats win control of the
chamber. He also voiced his con-
tinued support of Pelosi.
In the same interview, Clyburn,
78, stressed that his priority at Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.
School Drivers Approve Contract
After over a year of negotia-
tion, Special Education school bus
drivers at Portland Public Schools
last week voted 71 to 9 to approve
a new collective bargaining agree-
ment with the district, just hours
before a school board meeting
where they would testify that eve-
ning.
The new starting wages would
be $18.50, an amount landed on
by both parties at mediation two
weeks ago and an increase from
the district’s previous last final of-
fer by 54 cents. The school board
still must vote to approve the new
contract, and if they do, the con-
tract will remain in effect for two
years, according to Almagamated
Transit Union Local 757.
Driver and union represen-
tative Beth Blumklotz told the
Portland Observer they didn’t get
every concession they asked for,
but she thought “this was the best
we could do without going on
strike.”
“We have a lot of success to
be proud of,” Blumklotz said, de-
scribing the movement from an
initial offer of no increase from
their $16.25 starting wage and a
two year wage freeze as “an ac-
complishment.”
Drivers and allies rallied last
week in front of district offices to
celebrate their milestone, which
was the culmination of a tense
back and forth between the school
board and drivers, who held many
demonstrations and testimonials
throughout the year.
Aretha Franklin’s Legacy
C ontinueD from P age 2
social justice from his pulpit.
“Her songs were songs of
the movement,” Andrew Young,
the former King lieutenant and
U.N. ambassador, said Thursday.
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T. ... That’s basi-
cally what we wanted. The move-
ment was about respect.”
The SCLC often struggled fi-
nancially, but Franklin played a
vital role in keeping the move-
ment afloat.
“Almost every time we need-
ed money, there were two people
we could always count on: Are-
tha Franklin and Harry Belafon-
te,” Young said. “They would get
together and have a concert, and
that would put us back on our
feet.”
King and Franklin were like
spiritual siblings, sharing a bond
rooted in their Christian faith,
Young said. King would often
ask Franklin to sing his favor-
ite songs, “Amazing Grace” or
“Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”
When King was assassinated in
1968, Franklin sang “Precious
Lord” at his funeral in Atlanta.
-Associated Press contributed
to this article.
Family Holds PSU Accountable
C ontinueD from P age 3
community’s expression of grief
after the temporary memorial is
removed.
“The family asked for photo-
graphic memory books, and we
are working with their representa-
tives to prepare them,” the state-
ment read.
Student groups and activ-
ists have also been voicing their
continued opposition to keep-
ing armed officers at the school
and the NAACP Portland branch
called the incident “an egregious
violation of civil and civic rights.”
Surveys of the school’s students
and faculty showed the majori-
ty were opposed to the policy to
arm private security guards in
2013. The decision to arm officers
was approved by a vote from the
school’s board of trustees in 2015.
the moment is to work with other
Democrats to ensure wins for them
for the midterm elections on Nov. 6
by zeroing in on 37 districts across
the country the he and Congres-
sional Black Caucus Chair Cedric
Richmond believe can be won this
year, which would wrest control of
the House from Republicans.
Clyburn added that prioritizing
the black vote, not relying on a
solely anti-Trump platform, and
advertising in the Black Press will
be keys for Democrats to clinch
their dominance in the House this
November.
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