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Violence
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ner assaults are perpetrated against men.
And a 2006 study of health risks for the
Centers for Disease Control found that
along with 2 million women 600,000 men
are injured by an intimate partner each year.
Bigger and stronger than his wife, L Pro
knew he could easily have hurt her. But all
his instincts were focused on protecting her
— not himself.
“My father, my coaches all were strong
males with strong sense of responsibility”
he said. “I’ve never been around men who
have abused women in any shape or form.
They valued women and I learned that as a
man you have to exercise restraint.” “So I
would never, ever put my hands on a
woman. I would not do that.
“I knew I was bigger than her and I could
harm her, but I had made a conscious deci-
sion not to hurt her. Many men out there
make that same decision. And sometimes it
is the women who are harming them. It’s
unfortunate but it is true.”
Looking back, he says, he should have
seen the signs. From early in the marriage,
his partner displayed controlling and out of
control behavior.
“After our honeymoon there was an inci-
dent when she got into a physical fight with
a family member. That was a sign, but I just
dismissed it.”
His partner would erupt into anger with-
out warning. And the anger would escalate
if her demands were not met. Most of the
time, L Pro says he did whatever she said
she needed, because he believed that was
how a good husband and father should act.
In fact, he saw his wife as emotionally frail.
‘As a guy you never feel that person is
capable of hurting you.”
And as is the case with many women vic-
tims, L Pro wanted to put his family back
together. He was strongly attached to his
partner’s child, a child he had been raising
as his own.
But after the attack, a counselor told him,
“If you go back to this situation, she could
seriously hurt you or even kill you.”
Finally L Pro realized he was done.
“A light bulb went off in my head,” he
says. “I woke up one day and said, ‘This is
crazy – I’m not going back.’”
money out.”
She also notes that areas like Chicago
have additional movements like Occupy the
Hood, which address more specific issues
facing low income communities and people
of color. This can be replicat-
ed in other areas where com-
munities don’t feel their
immediate needs are being
addressed by the broader
Occupy Movement.
Another issue that support-
ers feel is deterring more par-
ticipation is lack of organiza-
tion.
During Saturday’s general
assembly, speakers made numerous refer-
ences to the importance of cleaning up the
camp. The first speaker made a point to
address the infighting that is hurting the
movement’s message and fueling negative
reports.
This was highlighted last month when
Jason Parker, a black man, was arrested at
Occupy Portland for allegedly displaying a
gun, despite having a concealed weapons
permit. According to the police report, some
occupiers called him a racial slur in the heat
of the argument.
“There are some racist people down
there,” says Adel. “You can bet these people
want to overthrow the government too.”
Rich Ronch, thinks it would help to have
more leadership in the form of representa-
tives of color. He says simply getting more
people involved would help address this.
“This is our community, whether we want
some people there or not,” he says. “It’s a
must we get out there.”
While supporters acknowledge that
Occupy Portland isn’t perfect, they empha-
size that the positives outweigh the nega-
tives.
Millholen, who wasn’t old enough to par-
ticipate in the anti-Vietnam protests, says
this is the first time she has participated in
this kind of grassroots campaign.
“Democracy is messy,” she says. “The
homeless and people with mental health
problems are a part of our society. How do
we take care of that?”
Adel, a single mother, empathizes with
these people and sees finding a way to make
an impact in the heart of the community as
the biggest necessity.
She says people aren’t aware of things
going on under their noses or how much
power they have to change their conditions.
“Occupy is such a simple solution,” says
Adel. “In Iceland they overturned their gov-
ernment and changed the constitution. Not a
lot of people know that.”
Joanne Verger of Coos Bay.
As members of the County Commission
heard testimony on the BPA ban,
Commissioner Loretta Smith asked Health
Department staff how moms can avoid
using contaminated bottles and cups in the
meantime.
Lila Wickham, director of environmental
health, suggests looking for baby items
clearly labeled “BPA-Free.” In 2008, many
major retailers, including Wal-Mart,
announced they would pull contaminated
disease and diabetes.
“Almost all canned foods sold in the
United States have a BPA-based epoxy liner
that leaches BPA into the food,” the group
said in a 2008 report. “EWG tested 97
canned foods and found detectable levels of
BPA in more than half of the foods.”
They found the highest concentrations in
canned meats, pasta and soups.
“Pregnant women and children should
limit their consumption of canned foods to
avoid BPA,” the group says. “Rinsing
canned fruit or vegetables may
reduce the amount of BPA you
ingest.”
Shafia Monroe, of the International
Center for Traditional Childbearing,
works to educate the local communi-
ty about the benefits of avoiding baby
formula – and bottles – wherever pos-
sible.
“We are concerned about the statis-
tics on overall health of the African
American community in Oregon, our work
is absolutely culturally specific to bring
information to Black communities around
the benefits of breastfeeding,” she says.
“At ICTC we look at the evidence-based
information that tells us that breast milk is
the ideal food, we look at information from
the American College of Pediatrics and
many other organizations that have done a
lot of research on the benefits of breastfeed-
ing.”
Monroe says breastfeeding is not only the
best choice for moms nutritionally, and eco-
nomically – it’s free, after all — but it’s also
the best way to build emotionally strong
children.
“We want the families to realize that
whether it’s a baby bottle or a pacifier or a
sippy cup, we would hope that they would
use – to be honest – a human breast as a way
to not only give their baby the best nutri-
tion, but also to give them overall emotion-
al contentment,” she says.
“And that’s a subject we don’t often talk
about — we say breastfeeding is good nutri-
tionally, but breastfeeding also provides
emotional and good bonding for babies,
which is why we use the pacifier to give our
baby a sense of calmness. And so breast-
feeding also does that.”
Monroe says the real test of how well the
county’s new BPA ban works will be in how
it’s enforced and who is educated about it.
“I think all chemicals are dangerous for
people, in particular babies who are still
developing,” she said.
Janine Tebeau-Jemerson of the Oregon
Nurses Association echoed Monroe’s point
at the commission meeting Thursday.
“Multnomah County should act to make
sure no one mistakenly buys BPA-contami-
nated products,” she said.
“It ensures parents have one less thing to
worry about.”
Portland rapper L Pro
Occupy
continued from page 1
trip to New York, thinks activities like these
that directly impact people in all communi-
ties will help skeptics see the relevance of
the movement.
“Large commercial banks have not been a
‘Low income people and
communities of color have
been screaming this for years’
friend to people of color or lower socioeco-
nomic class,” she says. “They have set up
all types of schemes, including reckless
speculation and mortgage fraud. I don’t see
why anyone would be reluctant to take their
BPA
continued from page 1
tles.”
Multnomah County’s ban also prohibits
the sale of reusable plastic drink containers
made with BPA. It takes effect Oct. 27.
The vote makes Multnomah County the
first jurisdiction in the state to take the con-
troversial move, which officials say is large-
ly because of the racial and economic equi-
ty issue involved: Many of the households
impacted by the BPA-contamination are the
least likely to be aware of it.
“I want to reiterate the equity issue here –
low income communities and com-
munities of color are impacted the
most,” said Dr. Gary Oxman, public
health officer for Clackamas,
Multnomah
and
Washington
Counties.
“These concerns, when taken
together, make it reasonable for the
County Board of Health to take
immediate action.
“When you wait for absolute sci-
entific proof, a lot of lives are ruined in the
meantime,” he said.
A similar ban proposed in the Oregon leg-
islature was torpedoed in the Senate last
year, when lobbyists for Associated Oregon
Industries fought back a simple ban only
covering infant bottles and sippy cups.
After a long fight, a compromise measure
that many expected to pass was voted down
by all Republican senators plus three
Democrats: Sens. Betsy Johnson of
Scappoose, Martha Schrader of Canby and
Many of the households
impacted by the BPA-
contamination are the least
likely to be aware of it
items off their shelves, making it easier to
find safer products.
Wickham also suggested turning your
baby products over and checking for a recy-
cling symbol at the bottom; any marked
with the number 7 may contain toxics used
to harden the plastic.
The Environmental Working Group goes
farther, addressing the still-unregulated
issue of BPA in plastic linings of canned
food, which researchers say may be trigger-
ing a host of health problems such as heart
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