Page 10
May 6, 2020
Campus Love, Support
c ontinued froM P age 7
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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.