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