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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 2019)
‘City of Roses’ Setting Up Shop Racism and the Environment Alberta Commons, new home for three black businesses Film reviews from eight new documentaries worth watching See Metro, page 9 See Opinionated Judge, page 4 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • April 24, 2019 Volume XLVIII • Number 15 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity College Group Hosts Civil Rights Icon Rev. Lawson to help form civil resistance chapter Rev. James Lawson, one of the key architects of the modern Civil Rights Movement, is coming to Portland to assemble an Institute on Nonviolent Civil Resistance at Portland State University, starting a five day visit with a public talk on Wednesday, April 24, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the University Place Hotel and hosted by PSU’s Stu- dents United for Nonviolence. A close colleague and friend of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Lu- ther King Jr., Dr. Lawson led some of the most capable civ- il rights campaigns of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Most notably, he organized sit-ins at ra- cially segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn., which ultimate- ly led to desegregation of those facilities and other public accommo- Rev. James Lawson dations. “Few grasp that nonviolent direct action requires plan- ning, preparation, strategizing, recruiting, outreach, mes- saging and all the mechanisms needed for a campaign, including fierce discipline,” said Lawson in announcing the plans for the Portland civil resistance chapter, its sixth assembly to date. “This doesn’t happen spontaneously. It must be done systematically.” Participants in civil resistance start by focusing on the history of nonviolent action that has been found wherever scholars have searched for evidence of social movements. They learn both the theory and practice of nonviolent struggle from case studies, planning tools, exercises, skits, and research, taught by a faculty of experienced scholar practitioners and facilitators. Lawson’s Institute on Nonviolent Civil Resistance will be hosted by Portland State University’s Conflict Reso- lution program and will take place over five days, con- cluding on Sunday, April 28. For more information, visit jameslawsoninstitute.org/2019portland. Photo by d anny P eterson /t he P ortland o bserver Tiffani Penson, a longtime city worker who promotes equity in city contracting, and who has promoted educational programs serving the black community, is putting in her bid for election to the Portland Community College Board, Zone 2, the district that encompasses the parts of north and northeast Portland where she grew up. The upcoming election is on May 21. Running for PCC Board Tiffani Penson connects to community d anny P eterson t he P ortland o bserver Tiffani Penson, a longtime Portland city worker, edu- cation advocate, and community volunteer, is vying for the Portland Community College Board of Directors for Zone 2, the district that encompasses the parts of north and northeast Portland that she grew up in, for the May 21 election. by “I understand community and the importance of it. I un- derstand you have to invest in the people in your commu- nity because if you don’t, then you won’t have a thriving community,” Penson told the Portland Observer. Penson began working on education issues working for former Mayor Sam Adams back in 2009, where she helped C ontinued on P age 5