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Minority & Small Business Week
October 7, 2020
photo by d onovan s Mith /p ortland o bserver
A wide variety of high quality products and services are available at Cason’s Fine Meats, now one year in at a new location at Alberta Commons in the heart of Northeast
Portland and the city’s historic African American community.
‘We Know We Have a Future Here’
C ontinued froM f ront
10-year leases with Prosper Portland, the
city’s development agency as part of their
effort they say s to keep more Black busi-
nesses in the area which has been upended
by decades of racist policies, many being
their own. In 2014, the long-vacant lot, be-
came a focal point in the war against gen-
trification after advocates from Portland
African American Leadership Forum cried
foul when Prosper Portland (then Portland
Development Commission) sold the land
for well-under market value to an out of
state developer set to bring Trader Joe’s to
the area.
After the pushback made national head-
lines, Trader Joe’s backed out of the deal,
mayor Charlie Hales earmarked new mon-
ies for affordable housing in the area, and
new plans were drafted for the site.
A half-decade and many conversations
later, stands Cason — and he’s ready to
feed you.
His locally-sourced meats which in-
clude hard-to-find Southern staples such
as oxtails and neck bones, along with more
traditional meats such as country style ribs
and sausage links are all anti-biotic and
chemical free — a source of pride for the
journeyman butcher.
A near four-decade vet of the meat-in-
dustry, he says he understands the budget-
ary constraints on some of the community
that forces them to larger retail chains for
what he calls cheaper, and “lesser cuts”.
“People that want a good product, they
understand that, ‘I want something good
and healthy for me’,” he says. While he
recognizes that his price points may be out
of reach for some, especially for some in
the Black community, he says he hopes
they recognize the value they are receiving
in exchange.
And he has sights set beyond MLK and
Alberta. Cason dreams of expanding out
into “the Numbers” out in East County
or even hopping the river over into Van-
couver. “We’re spread all around now, and
some of the things that we [traditionally]
eat are not in some of those other places,”
he states.
Celebrating a year in his new space,
while in a year marred by a global pandem-
ic, historic wildfires up and down the West
Coast, and unprecedented Black uprisings
is not lost on him.
Between the protests on the streets in
particular, and a brand new sign outside
the storefront, he says there’s been an
uptick in hungry customers of all back-
grounds funneling through his doors.
And while a late May demonstration saw
Cason’s front window tagged with some
graffiti, he urges people to “keep march-
ing” nonviolently.
And as he rounds out a year at his new
location, one marred by uncertainty, Ca-
son’s vision for the future remains as clear-
eyed as ever — for him, this is about leg-
acy.
“I’ve got grandbabies, sons, nephews,
and I’ve got family that’s coming up be-
hind me and to be able to ride up and down
[MLK and Alberta] and see their name, it
means a lot.”