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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 2020)
December 23, 2020 The Page 3 INSIDE L O C A L N E W S Week in Review page 2 Coach gets Disney Treatment Keanon Lowe stopped a potential school shooting The Year in Review page 4-12 Disney is making a movie about Keanon Lowe, the Black football coach and security guard credited with stopping a school shooting at Parkrose High School in May of 2019. Lowe prevented a potential tragedy when he disarmed, and then hugged, a young student who brought a gun to school. According to a brief announce- ment, Disney is making the movie about Lowe and the day he was able to peaceably confront the 18-year-old student who entered a Keanon Lowe classroom with a shotgun. Lowe received national praise for delicately and successfully disarming the student in a pow- erful display of compassion. He was able to take the gun from the student and hand it to another staff member. By the time officers arrived at the scene, Lowe had detained the student in the hall- way and comforted him with a hug. Thanks to his quick action, no shots were fired that day. “When confronted with the test the universe presented me with, I didn’t see any other choice but to act. Thank God, I passed,” Lowe said after the incident. The movie will be the latest recognition for Lowe’s hero sta- tus. Over the past year, he has been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Citizen Honor, was selected as a CNN Hero and was named one of TIME Maga- zine’s Heroes of the Year. Lowe, who grew up in Portland and was a star football player at the University of Oregon, was recently hired by the UCLA football coaching staff as an offensive analyst. Esteemed Pastor T. Allen Bethel Dies Arts & page 8 ENTERTAINMENT page 9 O PINION C LASSIFIED /B IDS pages 10 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 PO QR code P ublisher : e ditor : Voters, Warner Pacific College, the Oregon Trail chapter of the American Red Cross and the North Portland Bible College. “The Rev. Dr. T. Allen Beth- el was a prophetic voice who preached a message of fierce justice. He believed we had an obligation to free people from oppression. So Dr. Bethel cham- pioned police reform, an end to gun violence, and a better Port- land for young people. He was a friend,” the Rev. Dr. Chuck Cur- rie wrote in a social media post. “Dr. T. Allen Bethel was a strong and eloquent voice in Port- Rev. Dr. T. Allen Bethel land who brought grace and wis- civil rights organization. He also dom in his work for justice and a served on the boards of TriMet, stronger community,” wrote U.S. the Oregon League of Minority Sen. Ron Wyden. MLK Tribute to Stream Live Established 1970 The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or per- sonal usage without the written consent of the general man- ager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 2008 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland Observer--Oregon’s Oldest Multicultural Publication--is a member of the National Newspaper Association--Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Representative Amal- gamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association Maranatha Church announced Monday the passing of Rev. Dr. T. Allen Bethel, an esteemed reli- gious and civil rights leader who led the northeast Portland con- gregation as senior pastor for 26 years. “It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of my dad, Rev. Dr. T. Allen Bethel,” Monica Bethel and the Bethel family an- nounced in a post on the church Facebook page. “As his favorite song says, ‘My soul has been an- chored in the Lord,’ and we take comfort in knowing that his soul is now with the Lord.” Funeral arrangements were pending. He was 67. Bethel was president of the Albina Ministerial Alliance’s Mark Washington, Sr. Michael Leighton Office Mngr/Clasfds: Lucinda Baldwin C reative d ireCtor : Paul Neufeldt o ffiCe a sst /s ales : Shawntell Washington CALL 503-288-0033 • FAX 503-288-0015• news@portlandobserver.com ads@portlandobserver.com• subscription@portlandobserver.com Postmaster: Send address changes to Portland Observer, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208 Plans set for 36th annual program “Bridge Over Troubled Wa- ter” will be the theme for this year’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. tribute brought to the Portland metro area by the grassroots orga- nization World Arts Foundation. The 36th annual event will be a virtual event because of the public health restrictions on large gatherings that have resulted from the coronavirus pandemic. It will stream live on the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, Monday, Jan. 18, from noon to 5 p.m. on multiple Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. fronts, including www.worldarts- foundation.org, Open Signal (Comcast), KBOO 90.7, XRAY 107.1 FM, YouTube, Facebook and Twitch, organizers said. The retrospective program draws on a legacy of the World Arts Foundation hosting the com- munity event honoring Dr. King’s work, and connecting local per- forming artists and community leaders to underserved communi- ties of color since 1978. Through a combination of ar- chival footage and contemporary interviews, “Bridge Over Trou- bled Water” will draw inspiration from Dr. King’s mission to ensure peace, social justice, civil rights, and human dignity for all.