Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 6, 2020)
Page 10 May 6, 2020 Campus Love, Support c ontinued froM P age 7 Good Day Reader -- GOOD NEWS HERE The Multi-Trillion dollar Travel Industry is looking to get YOU the “greatest savings” on your Travel, Hotel/ Condos accommodations. Travel that will SAVE & MAKE you/your Family cash to travel on/pay-off Bills/ etc. You can access this travel biz membership for $1, $20 or $100. You decide. PLUS you can WIN/EARN a $3000 5-star vacation, get airfare and travel spending cash too. For more info ph coach John at 503-358-9655. Note: We have a special for Non-Profits fundraisers. C LASSIFIED might be forgiven for thinking that everyone is experiencing the impact of the pandemic equally -- but that’s not the case. In real- ity, COVID-19 has exposed for all to see the fundamental cracks in our society, and exacerbated the divides that have been part of our culture from the very beginning. Let’s start with the most glaring, and tragic, iniquity that the virus has revealed. If you are an Amer- ican of African descent, you are nearly three times as likely to die from COVID-19 than the popula- tion at large. Why? Because pri- mary co-morbidities of COVID-19 -- diabetes, hypertension, and car- diovascular disease -- those pre-ex- isting conditions which raise mor- tality rates in conjunction with the virus, are present at higher rates in the African American population. While the virus is hitting black folks harder than any other demo- graphic group, African Americans are not alone: Latinx Americans and Native Americans are also suc- cumbing to COVID-19 at higher rates than Americans of European descent. The reasons for the dispro- portionate mortality rates among people of color have their roots in the systemic inequality and in- stitutional racism that define life for marginalized communities. Intergenerational poverty means decreased access to healthy foods. People of color are more likely to live in densely populated areas, and in multi-generational house- holds, which makes practicing social distancing more difficult. People of color are more likely to work in low-paying jobs that don’t offer health coverage. If you’re poor, it’s more like- ly that you need public transit to get to work. If you’re poor, you’re less likely to have a job that can be done from home, and less likely to possess the technology to do it. If you’re poor, you’re more likely to have a job that requires repeated contact with other people in public places, and doesn’t offer paid sick leave. We have before us, all of us to- gether, both an opportunity and a decision. We have the opportuni- ty to not let things return to nor- mal, because “normal” isn’t good enough. We have the opportunity to address the systemic inequal- ity and institutional racism that mean -- among a great many other things -- that right now, in 2020, in the midst of widespread suffering, some people are more likely to die than others because of the color of their skin. We have the oppor- tunity, at long last, to demand full humanity for every single person. We have the opportunity to loosen our grip on the past and look to- ward the future we want to build. As for the decision? Well, I’m ready to make it. Are you? Dr. Karin Edwards is president of the Cascade Campus of Port- land Community College. Don’t Shoot Founder Runs for Mayor c ontinued froM P age 6 hauled. “In foster care, we were all abused,” she said. “It was system- ic marginalization and it’s going to take systemic dismantling that in order for it to change.” By the time her grandmother got custody of her when she was 13, she and her siblings had al- ready been through a lot, Raiford said. “By the time she got us back I had been raped and had a baby, my brother had been molested and was hanging out with gangs, and my sister had her second child by then,” she said. “It’s very devas- tating because you are normalized to be sexualized, to be abused, and I don’t want that to be anybody else’s experience.” Raiford’s activism for Black Lives Matter and her own group’s protests over the killings of young black men by police got her arrest- ed in 2015, when police claimed she was trying to start a riot. They lied, Raiford said, and she was eventually acquitted. Now she wants to see attitudes change. “We’re criminalizing poverty, we’re criminalizing brown peo- ple, we’re criminalizing mentally ill and disable people and not do- e ngAge in the C hAnge Call for Art and Community Art Show - asks YOU to make art to reflect the neighborhoods and city where we live. Cash Prizes: • Best 18 and Under: $100 • People’s Choice: $100 • Best of Show: $200 Deadline to make ART is August 15, 2020. A Community Art Show will be planned after August 15th, location and date TBD. Guidelines: • Submit anytime between NOW and deadline • Post submissions on this FB page or send to jazzyjor@gmail.com w/ Engage Art in subject line • Can include visual art; written poetry, spoken word, video, or song • To be considered for prize for “Best 18 and Under,” note in your post if you are 18 and under. • Please feel free to post photographs of works in progress or updates To be Considered for Community Art Show: • Choose one piece of art to share with public • For visual art, size limits: flat pieces can be no larger than 16 - 20 inches; and for 3-dimensional pieces can be no larger than 12”x12”x12” (if larger, take photograph) • For visual art, flat pieces must be ready to hang (need D-ring or wire hardware attached); and can be framed or not • Entries will be dropped off at a date and location TBD and need to include information attached on a piece of paper to the back of the submission: Name, Email Address, Physical Address, Title, Medium • This art show does not guard works of art against loss, destruction, damage or theft This project was funded in part by the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) and is connected to the Concordia Conversations event that happened January 12, 2020. ing anything about it,” she said. Raiford said her life experi- ences give her the empathy and understanding that Wheeler does not have. “Ted’s never been homeless or worried about where his next meal is coming from, or seeing his friends being killed and won- dering if he’s going to die, getting kicked out of a home, the things that the majority of us deal with every day,” she said. Raiford never found out who murdered her nephew. But said the reason she founded Don’t Shoot Portland was to hold the city accountable. “We called it a community action plan against violence, all kinds of violence — hunger, rac- ism, political violence — we’re anti all of that,” she said. According to her website, ter- essaraifordformayor.com, by working with labor movements, nonprofits and other groups, Rai- ford’s focus will be on providing humane and effective solutions to the houseless crisis, fighting for living wages, doing the most for renters’ rights and creating true ra- cial justice in our city. The other mayoral candidates for the May 19 Primary vote-by- mail election as listed by Mult- nomah County Elections,are Ran- dy Rapaport, Bruce Broussard, Michael Burleson, Jarred Bep- ristis, Willie Banks, Daniel Hoff- man, Lew Humble, Beryl Sylvia McNair, Sharon Joy, Michael Patrick Jenkins, Mark White, Michael O’Callaghan, Ozzie González, Floyd Heinrich La Bar, Piper Crowell, Cash Blanco Car- ter and Sarah Iannarone.
