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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 2011)
local news Occupy continued from page 1 humored crowd carried signs signaling the issues causing most anger. Corporate tax avoidance, the Wall Street bailout and wealth inequality were the most common grievances – many expressed with humor. “If we can’t tax the rich, can we eat them?” said one sign. The Skanner News Video: Short video of protest A press release from organizers said: “This is in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, where thousands have been staying near the Wall Street stock exchange to protest the corruption of Washington politi- cians, misdeeds of big banks, and the can- cerous reign of corpo- rate lobbyists.” Also in evidence at the march were masks, such a mask that looks somewhat like surrealist artist Salvador Dali, and has been adopted by the hackers group Anonymous. After meeting at the Waterfront, Occupy Portland protesters marched through the city center, stopped off at Pioneer Square, then came to rest at Chapman Square. About 600 committed Occupy Portland pro- testers spent the night in two parks near City Hall: Chapman Square and Lownsdale Square. This morning, Friday Oct. 7, both squares were scheduled to host organizers for the Portland Marathon. Protesters decided to leave Lownsdale square, but attempted to remain in Chapman Square. Police, protesters and marathon organiz- ers agreed that protesters could remain in Chapman Square and would not disrupt the race, scheduled for Sunday. Two young men were arrested, Friday and charged with spray painting slogans on walks and a police vehicle. The protesters are organizing as a grass- roots movement with no chosen leaders. Everyone’s voice is equal, an organizer told KBOO radio. Decisions are made by concensus, mean- ing everyone has to come to an agreement. Without loudspeak- ers, the crowd repeats every statement made so that everyone no matter how far from the speaker can hear. The next general meeting is scheduled for Friday at 7pm. If police allow the protesters to remain at Chapman Square the meeting will be held there. If not, it will proceed at Waterfront Park under the Burnside Bridge. Organizers stressed that the protest is designed to be peaceful. If police ask pro- testers to leave Chapman Square, they say Protests against wealth inequality spread from New York to cities across the country Portland protesters occupy Pioneer Square. they will not leave, but will allow police to remove them. Similar non-violent tactics were pioneered first by Ghandi and the independence movement in India seeking freedom from British colonial rule. Later the U.S. civil rights movement used nonvi- olence tactics successfully.. Several protest- ers carried signs quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Van Jones, the former Obama advisor now working to create a left alternative to the Tea Party through the American Dream movement, says the Occupy Wall Street protests are the American Autumn, similar to the Arab Spring. Van Jones told Alternet: “… as the economic crisis gets worse — it ain’t gonna get better — the formal econo- my is going to continue to contract. That means you’re going to have a lot of people suffering due to the economy. That’s going to create a need for a response. What are we going to do? How can we address the ways in which people are hurting — immediate needs? That’s going to be a driver of inno- vation, the economic crisis. People have to eat. People have to live indoors. People aren’t going to just lay down and die because Wall Street wants to hold up the economic recovery.” Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com Ashbrook continued from page 1 become weatherization technicians, 5 women this year became roofers, and 4 women this year became electrical apprentices – it really runs the gamut. These jobs are the pathway into the middle class for women who are not going to college. Jonetta Abraham, journey-level cement mason TSn: What is your secret? ashbrook: I have an amaz- ing team of folks at work to support the women that come in our door. TSn: How can women sign up for training? The stimulus dollars have meant the job train- ing support services, career counseling and experiences, connections for women so that they’re successful in their application process and the job once they got in the job. They knew what was expect- ed of them, they could show their stuff, they knew the tools, they were strong, they could get the job done. “They are excellent representatives of the women that graduate of our class and of the role models and examples to come.” --Connie Ashbrook ashbrook: Oct. 12 we are graduating our last class for this year, but we will have five more classes next year. This is the last one that is funded through stimulus dollars. Thu Nov. 3 information session at PCC Metropolitan Workforce Training Center, 2-4 p.m., call to register 503-335-8200 x21 If they want to sign up for the classes next year. For more information go to www.tradeswomen.net . Jeanette Brown, laborer apprentice Teaching continued from page 1 “I wanted to create something to give teachers tools,” says Crews, who describes himself as an “activist for education.” “I have a passion and desire to make a dif- ference,” he says. Crews has been a teacher for nine years but he has been working with kids since the fifth grade. He got a scholarship opportuni- ty through the Portland Teachers Program and attended PSU. Crews served as Educational Chair of the NAACP college chapter at PSU at the time of the first Teaching With Purpose Conference. Ten years after the first event, he sees the achievement gap as a persisting problem. According to the Portland Tribune, says that Black and Native American students are lagging 20 to 40 percentage points behind their white counterparts in terms of meeting state benchmarks. The same article also notes that at the 10th grade level, 79.7 percent of white students meet standards as opposed to 42.3 percent of black students. Crews says there are a number of reasons for the achievement gap, but one of his pri- mary concerns is the lack of culturally rele- it helps encourage students vant curriculum, especially to do well. for African American stu- Journey to Freedom has dents. He believes providing an interactive website that students with curriculum allows community mem- they can better relate to will bers to become coaches. help engage them with “It’s first and foremost to learning. encourage,” says Crews. With the success of pro- The site allows students grams like in Arizona, to post book reports, essays where many students in the and other academic work specialized Mexican studies while community members program performed better in can share positive com- testing situations than their Augusta mann ments and encourage the counterparts in the tradition- students to go further in al system, there is evidence their education. to back up Crews’ assertion. Keeping with the theme of culturally rele- He founded the non-profit , which he will be presenting during the workshops, to vant curriculum, the event will feature pre- address this issue. Crews says the program senter Augusta Mann, who is known for her provides culturally relevant education with culturally centered workshops and pro- an emphasis on history. It also offers teach- grams for African American and other urban students. ers reading materials. Mann has worked in education since the During the workshop, Crews wants to present Journey to Freedom as an example 1960s. She has been a classroom and read- of how community members can get ing teacher as well as a staff developer in involved. He thinks this is essential because California, Illinois and New York. Mann has also worked as a professional consultant for the National Urban Alliance. Lastly, the conference will hold a screen- ing of “GhettoPhysics”. The film addresses the similarities between how pimps and the world’s power brokers manipulate society. According to the film’s website, “From the corner offices of Wall Street to the inner sanctums of world governments, from the red light districts in the ghettos to the living rooms behind the white-picket fences on Main Street, game is happening. And if you don’t know it, the game is going to roll right over you.” Crews sees this film as another tool to engage participants in the conference, espe- cially community members who may be overwhelmed by specifics directed at edu- cators. He hopes educators and community mem- bers take what they learn at the conference and apply it in the classroom. “These are tools,” says Crews. “It takes a master carpenter. All we’re providing are the tools.” october 12, 2011 The Portland Skanner Page 3
