Local News
Trayvon
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Zimmerman was Hispanic.
Hill and Pastor Friday were two of many
speakers who called for community unity.
Pastor Friday said he will play Community
Unity concerts this summer in Peninsula
Park. Others called for men to attend a
meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday March 27 at Self
Enhancement Inc. 3920 North Kerby Ave.,
to build support for young men in Portland.
Rep. Lew Frederick and Midge Purcell of
Portland’s Urban League urged the crowd to
make their voices heard in Salem when laws
and policies are made that hurt minority
communities. They joined Hill in asking the
crowd to lobby the Oregon Legislature by
visiting Salem in person, and to make their
votes count at the ballot box.
Other speakers talked about the problem
of youth violence in the Black and Hispan-
ic communities. Speakers urged those in the
audience to mentor and support youth, and
to work for better education and employ-
ment opportunities. Forty percent of young
people in Portland are unemployed, noted
Pastor Friday.
“Every man, whether you have a son or
not, should be mentoring some young
man,” he said.
Several speakers also remembered Yasha-
nee Vaughn, who disappeared one year ago,
March 19, 2010. Her body was found Speakers connected the shooting to similar events in U.S. history – the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till during the Civil
months later on Rocky Butte. She was just Rights era – as well as to more recent shootings in Portland. The deaths of Kendra James, Keaton Otis, James Chassie and
14 and a student at Helensview High Aaron Campbell were among those remembered.
School. Parrish Bennette, 16 at the time, is
accused of murdering her and currently is in handing out flyers. They believe that Ben- across the country to hold demonstrations citing 911 tapes and cell phone records as
nette must have had help to hide his crime demanding justice for Trayvon Martin. well as Zimmerman’s past conduct. The
custody awaiting trial.
Vaughn’s mother, Shaquita Louis and and transport her body, which was discov- Police in the small Florida town of Sanford Department of Justice is investigating.
made no arrest. Lawyers for the family con-
family supporters were present in the park, ered in a wild area of Rocky Butte.
Portland is one of many communities test Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense
Marriage
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watershed accomplishment achieved
through identifying Black and Latino com-
munity leaders, grooming them as
spokespeople against gay marriage, “fan-
ning the hostility,” then waiting for the gay
community to attack the communities of
color – literally dividing and conquering
communities to win their political goal.
The section about how to organize within
the Black community, entitled “Not a Civil
Rights Project,” says in part: “Consider
pushing a marriage amendment in Washing-
ton, D.C.; find attractive young Black
Democrats to challenge white gay marriage
advocates electorally.”
Further in this section, the document says,
“We also need to accomplish a sophisticat-
ed cultural objective: Interrupt the attempt
to equate gay with Black, and sexual orien-
tation with race.”
The Skanner News spoke about the new
development with Khalil Edwards, co-
founder of the first Black chapter of Parents
and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and a
staff member of Basic Rights Oregon.
The Skanner News: What has happened
with this leaked document?
Khalil Edwards: The Human Rights
Campaign just publicized a
document that came from
NOM, the National Organi-
zation for Marriage. It’s
basically their national strat-
egy for winning the
marriage battle – it’s an
internal document created in
late 2009 outlining their
total strategy for defeating marriage equali-
ty around the country and their overall
anti-LGBT movement strategy.
wedges within different communities
around the country. And in their plan it was
exposed that they detailed ways in which
they want to turn Blacks and Latinos against
gays, against lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and
transgendered (LGBT) folks in order to win
the traditional marriage fight and to defeat
marriage equality. Specifically they said,
the strategic goal of this project is to drive a
wedge between gays and Blacks, “two key
Democratic constituencies.” It says, “Find,
equip, energize and connect African Ameri-
can spokespeople for marriage; develop a
media campaign around their objections to
marriage as a civil right; provoke the gay
marriage base into responding by denounc-
ing these spokesmen and women as bigots.”
TSN: Do you think that there was a strat-
egy like this around the California marriage
law that became a famous standoff – I mean
the media portrayed it as African American
people against gay marriage in California.
Do you think something like this happened
there too?
KE: Yes this is definitely what happened
with Proposition 8, it’s happened here in
Oregon before and this is a wedge issue – a
key strategy that is used time and time
The section about the Black
community is entitled ‘Not a
Civil Rights Project’
TSN: What did the document say? Why is
it important?
KE: So the document really outlined in
detail the way that they planned to drive
again, and actually is used to some success,
as we’ve seen in different ways, by the
National Organization for Marriage. It real-
ly makes the assumption that you can’t be
Black and gay, that there are no queer peo-
ple of color in our communities. And this
wedge issue – that’s exactly what it is, and
exactly what they know it’s being used to
do, is to divide people on these key issues.
saying is where my heart and head should
be, or do I listen to what the LGBT folks are
saying in support of this issue that’s impor-
tant to me?
TSN: Why is this wrong and what is the
most important thing for people to know
about it?
KE: It’s wrong on a few different levels.
It makes the assumption, as I said, that there
TSN: So within your community of
activists and advocates are doing, how can
are no queer people of color, so they’re
dividing communities, dividing Blacks and
Latinos against gay people – well how can
you divide Blacks and Latinos against gay
people when Blacks and Latinos ARE gay
people? It’s as if there are no queer people
of color in our communities and we know
that’s not true. It invisible-izes folks that
share that identity that are part of those
communities -- that are queer people of
color that are Black and LGBT, that are
Latino and LGBT, that are Asian and Pacif-
ic Islander and LBGT, and all the other
queer people of color that we have in our
community.
And also it forces people to sometimes
choose between their identities – so when
they create these wedges, do I support what
I hear this scapegoated Black spokesperson
people support your work?
KE: You can contact Basic Rights Oregon
at www.basicrights.org, you can call us at
503-222-6151 and get involved. We have
been working on education about the free-
dom to marry within communities
throughout Oregon, offering that support
and changing hearts and minds every day
about these issues. Also we’re working in
communities of color with queer people of
color -- and also straight people of color --
to really highlight the stories and experi-
ences and trials and triumphs of queer
people of color in our communities. Within
our Racial Justice program we really work
hard to raise up those folks and raise up
those stories and experiences and build
awareness amongst straight people that we
all are part of all our communities.
March 28, 2012
The Portland Skanner Page 3