M artin L uther K ing J r .
Page 4
2021 special edition
Mapps Calls on End to Violence
Promotes a
peaceful fight
for racial
progress
b eveRly c oRbell
t he p oRtland o bseRveR
Mingus Mapps, just the third
Black man elected to serve on
the Portland City Council, is
sure of one thing as he starts his
four year term in the same month
we celebrate the birth of Ameri-
ca’s most prominent civil rights
leader, the late Dr. Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr.
Mapps wants the ongoing
fight for racial progress in Port-
land to follow King’s lead by be-
ing non-violent.
“Dr. King has been on my
mind a lot lately on the occasion
of his 92nd birthday, and I know
I wouldn’t be here if not for the
sacrifices Martin Luther King
made to make America a better
country,” Mapps told the Port-
land Observer.
He said when it comes to
civil rights and violence on our
streets, King’s message is more
important than ever.
“Last year Portland was trans-
formed by violence, between the
by
photo by b eveRly c oRbell /t he p oRtland o bseRveR
When it comes to civil rights and violence on our streets, the example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
is more important than ever, says Mingus Mapps, just the third Black man elected to serve on the
Portland City Council. Mapps begins his four year term in office this month as America celebrates the
birth of its most prominent civil rights activist.
police and protesters, and the
murder rate is up,” Mapps said.
“Every weekend, business dis-
tricts are vandalized and we have
a plywood canyon downtown. If
you do anything political online,
you receive death threats, even
at home.”
The new city commission-
er promised that in his first 100
days of office, he will be devoted
to promoting more peace in the
city.
“Violence leads to destruction
and despair and deaths too often,
but fortunately, we also have the
politics of love,” Mapps said.
“One of the things I’ll be doing
is challenging the entire city to
embrace the politics of nonvi-
olence, the politics of peace. If
January 13, 2021
we come together and listen with
open hearts and open minds, we
can make progress on COVID,
civil rights and policing, but un-
til we listen to each other we will
never be able to combat things
like homelessness or violence.”
Mapps won a November elec-
tion in which he faced some
arguments by opponents that
he would be too soft on police
because his candidacy was en-
dorsed by the Portland police
union, an organization which has
also come under sharp criticism
for supporting officers accused
of undue violence.
He defeated City Commis-
sioner Chloe Eudaly, his former
boss at City Hall, who told Or-
egon Public Broadcasting that
Mapps’ win and the re-election
of Mayor Ted Wheeler doesn’t
reflect Portland’s progressive
spirit and was “a step backward
for progress.”
But Mapps disputes that char-
acterization, insisting that 2021
will usher in a new era of politics
with more cooperation.
“I’m not claiming it’s going to
be easy, but I very much believe
we can build a better city if we
work together,” he said. “The
progress that Portland has made
is always doing what Portland-
ers do well — building a table
to work together to build a better
future.”
c ontinued on p age 7