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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2021)
April 7, 2021 The Page 3 INSIDE L O C A L N E W S Week in Review page 4 Vaccines to All by April 19 Governor’s order to get more shots in arms M ETRO page 6 Gov. Kate Brown All Oregon residents age 16 and up will be eligi- ble for the COVID-19 vaccine on April 19. In announcing the news, Gov. Kate Brown said the state will pass the threshold of 2 million vaccines ad- ministered on Tuesday and is focused on vaccinating as many frontline workers and people with underly- ing conditions as possible in the next two weeks. People of color, who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, make up a large percentage of those groups, said Brown, a Democrat. Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians became newly eligible for shots Monday, including frontline workers, their family members and those age 16 and up with underlying conditions. “We are locked in a race between vaccine distri- bution and the rapid spread of COVID-19 variants,” Brown said in a statement. “Today, Oregon will pass the threshold of 2 million vaccine doses administered. And yet, in communities across Oregon, COVID-19 is spreading at concerning rates. We must move as quickly as possible to get more shots in arms.” Brown also said she is working with the White House to make sure Oregon receives a fair share of the federal vaccine supply after the director of the Oregon Health Authority expressed concerns that the state wasn’t receiving as many doses per capita as other states, such as Kansas and Wyoming. Currently, four Portland area healthcare systems, Kaiser Permanente, Legacy Health, OHSU and Prov- idence, are working side by side to operate an All for Oregon COVID-19 vaccination clinic at the Oregon Convention Center in northeast Portland. Visit get- vaccinated.oregon.gov or call 211 for vaccine regis- tration information. Anti-Asian Hate Targets Candidate School leader shares story to raise awareness Arts & ENTERTAINMENT page 7-8 page 9 O PINION C LASSIFIED /B IDS pages 10 Established 1970 USPS 959 680 4747 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 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 PO QR code P ublisher : e ditor : Mark Washington, Sr. Michael Leighton Office Mngr/Clasfds: Lucinda Baldwin Admin.Coord.: Quayuana Washington 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 Amidst a rise in anti-Asian hate crimes nationally, Hoa Nguyen, a candidate for David Douglas School Board, was re- cently the target of a hate crime at her home in East Portland. Nguyen is now sharing the story publicly to raise awareness about the lived realities of Asian Amer- icans in our community and in the public spotlight. The crime happened at 6 a.m. on Friday, March 19th, Nguyen said, when there was a knock on her door and an anonymous racist note was left at her doorstep. The note stated “Kung Flu” handwrit- ten in sharpie on a white piece of paper. “My first reaction upon receiv- ing this note was to brush it off, ignore it and go about my day. That is what we are so often con- ditioned to do in the face of rac- ism. As the day progressed and I shared this incident with those close to me, my thoughts and an- ger started to grow, and I felt the responsibility to take action, not just for my own personal safety but for my community.” She followed up by reporting the incident to local and state au- thorities, including to Portland Police, the Oregon Department of Justice and the Portland United Hoa Nguyen Against Hate coalition. With the increase of report- ed hate incidents against Asian Americans in the Portland area and nationally, Nguyen said the last few months have been an es- pecially trying time for the Asian American community. “I am still processing the re- cent events of the mass shooting of the six Asian American wom- en in Atlanta and finding ways to best show up for my community and myself as an Asian Ameri- can woman and leader,” she said. “The timing of the racist incident, as well as my candidacy for Da- vid Douglas School Board has made me feel vulnerable and that my safety has been compromised. A hostile stranger knew that I am Asian, knew where I call home, and made an effort to leave an of- fensive note.” Nguyen said the incident points to a lifetime of racial trauma for many people of color, including students and youth of color who have to endure bias and micro ag- gressions in and out of school. “How many times have we swept micro aggressions and bias under the rug to make racists and the status quo feel comfortable? I realized how much we have nor- malized this behavior of hate to- wards communities of color. Hate crimes aren’t just about physical safety, but our mental wellbeing and the value we have to our com- munity,” she said. “We are not providing the tools s and safe en- vironment for our young people to address these injustices.” Nguyen is a second genera- tion Vietnamese-American child of refugees. She graduated high school and college in Oregon and has spent her career serving pub- lic schools students and families, most recently as a school atten- dance coach in Portland Public Schools.
