September 19, 2018
Page 5
Providing Insurance and Financial Services
Home Office, Bloomington, Illinois 61710
Ernest J. Hill, Jr. Agent
311 NE Killingsworth St,
Portland, OR 97211
503 286 1103
Fax 503 286 1146
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The African American women’s support group “Sisterhood” is building new connections in the community.
Stay Clean Summer Celebration
A support group for African
American women is inviting the
public to their first annual “Stay
Clean” celebration marking the
end of summer.
Called Strength in Sisters
to Empower Recover Health
Openness Opportunity Dedica-
tion (SISTERHOOD), the group
is holding the open-to-the-pub-
lic event on Saturday, Sept. 29,
from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at their
headquarters at 2601 S.E.160th
Ave., near Division Street.
The group focuses on creat-
ing a safe and welcoming en-
vironment for sisters to talk or
seek solace, building support-
ive relationships, community
involvement and leadership.
Activities like social gatherings
and events are held every Tues-
day and Thursday from 7 p.m.
to 8 p.m. at the organization’s
southeast Portland headquar-
ters.
Food, fun, music, and min-
gling are on the agenda for the
Saturday’s free event, which is
designed to establish commu-
nity connections with members
of the public who want to know
more about the organization.
For your light bulbs
& parts to repair
or make fixtures
Web:
www.sunlanlighting.com
E-mail:
kay@lightlady.com
3901 N. Mississippi Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
503.281.0453
Fax 503.281.3408
United Against Hate
C ontinueD from p age 3
been a “groundswell” of protest
groups locally, who often end up
inciting violence at their demon-
strations.
The sheriff said he’s received
some criticism for the statement’s
commitment to fight discrimina-
tion against undocumented immi-
grants, but called the complaints
unwarranted.
“Deputy’s job is not to enforce
immigration laws. The enforce-
ment is at the federal level,” At-
kins said.
While he said enforcing laws
broken on the local level, regard-
less of immigration status, will al-
ways be upheld, to enforce federal
immigration policy, regardless of
its legitimacy or lack thereof, is
simply against the law.
As for the former sheriff depu-
ty who was associated with a hate
group, Erin Willey, Atkins said
her affiliation slipped through the
agency’s background check.
“It was an eye-opener for me
to have somebody from inside my
agency have an affiliation,” Atkins
said.
Willey was spotted on social
media wearing a shirt with the
logo of the Proud Boys, a far-right
group that has propagated sexist,
Islamophobic, and racist rhetoric
and its recognized by the Southern
Poverty Law Center has a designat-
ed hate group that formed in 2016.
When the post was brought to
Atkins’ attention by local media, it
spurred an investigation and even-
tual firing of Willey.
“It lessens the people’s trust
factor in an, agency like mine to
uphold the law, to be associat-
ed...with people that are clearly
trying to push the law to its edge
and break the law out there in the
community and cause hate and
discontent. That goes against the
character of this agency.”
Southwest Washington LU-
LAC and Vancouver NAACP are
both groups that Atkins said he’s
met with in the past and hopes to
continue to stay connected. Their
joint statement expressed appre-
ciation of local law enforcement
improving communications with
its community.
The letter also called for more
thorough enforcement of hate-
crime laws and legislative action
to make such laws stronger.
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