December 23, 2020
The
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INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
Week in Review
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Coach gets Disney Treatment
Keanon Lowe stopped a
potential school shooting
The
Year in Review
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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 &
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ENTERTAINMENT
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O PINION
C LASSIFIED /B IDS
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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
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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
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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.