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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 26, 2014)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM N OVEMBER 26, 2014 P ORTLAND AND S EATTLE V OLUME XXXVII, N O . 8 For The Skanner website scan this QR code CENTS Pacific NW The Skanner News presents our new regional edition, featuring more news and local information. C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW Jackson Visits Seattle 25 ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’ Community welcome to free Mt. Zion event Sunday Of The Skanner News T He brings to Seattle his message of hope, renewal and revival the rights of all Americans. He brings to Seattle his message of hope, renewal and revival with special emphasis on increasing the number of jobs and income equality for women and minorities in high technology sectors. “Rev. Jackson has said the struggle for job and income equity in the high tech sec- tor is the civil rights issue of this decade,” said Nate Miles, chair of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle board of directors. “Seattle is at the forefront of training and education for high-tech sector jobs. His visit will bolster the Urban League’s mission to ensure more women and minorities get the training and jobs they deserve.” Earlier this year, Rev. Jackson highlighted the longstanding pattern of exclusion of women and minorities in high-tech – from corporate boards and executives to rank- and-file employees. Only 1.6 percent of board members at major high-tech compa- nies are black and only .5 percent are Hispanic. By way of comparison, Blacks PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED he Reverend Jesse L. Jackson will visit Seattle for a series of meetings with community, business and reli- gious leaders Nov. 30 – Dec. 2. A free community event will kick off his multi-day visit at Mt. Zion Baptist Church 1634 19th Ave, Seattle, on Sunday Nov. 30. A reception for Rev. Jackson will be held starting at 5 p.m. and the event will begin promptly at 6 p.m. For more than 50 years, Rev. Jackson has been a fierce champion for social justice and Hundreds of protesters marched in Seattle on Monday night after the Ferguson, Mo., Grand Jury finding that exonerated former Officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Even more hit the streets on Tuesday night, where an estimated 2,000 marched – including more than 1,000 Garfield High School students who walked out of school with hundreds of students from other high schools. In Portland, an estimated 1,500 protesters rallied and marched Tuesday night, shutting down I-5 – just as the Seattle protesters did. Driving While Black: The App Local shooting inspires attorneys to create tool against profiling By Arashi Young Of The Skanner News O a smartphone app to educate African American drivers about their civil rights during traffic stops. The app is called “Driving While Black;” it will provide drivers with information about their rights, tips for parents to teach their children about driv- ing and simulations that run through police traffic stop sce- narios. People may feel frightened, vulnerable, or singled out by the police while being pulled over. The Driving while Black team hopes that being armed with knowledge can save lives. “The cardinal rule in a traffic stop: just remain calm,” Oden- Orr said. The inspiration for the Driv- ing While Black App has come from multiple moments in histo- ry. Hyland remembers being deeply affected by the beating of Rodney King in 1991 in Los Angeles. She had just begun her legal career and was working at a predominantly white law firm. She knew then that she wanted to effect change within the crim- inal justice system. After the Kendra James tragedy, Oden-Orr hosted a community forum called “Police Traffic Stops and You,” where police, lawyers and com- munity members discussed how traffic stops should go. Hyland attended this forum and left with a newfound mission. “I vowed that I was going to do something to educate youth about how to be safe, how to save their life during a law See JACKSON on page 3 n May 5, 2003, a blue Chevrolet Cavalier was pulled over on North Skidmore Street, carrying 21- year-old Kendra James. What began as a routine traffic stop turned tragic as James was shot and killed by Officer Scott McCollister when she tried to drive away. Lawyers Melvin Oden-Orr and Mariann Hyland have taken James’ story to heart and created INDEX More in Daimler Discrimination Claim News ..............1,3,8-10 Opinion .....................2 Calendars ..............4,5 A & E ......................6,7 Bids/Classifieds ........11 See APP on page 3 Labor commissioner files complaint personally for 10 workers By Donovan M. Smith Special to The Skanner News T he number of workers claim ing civil rights violations against Daimler Trucks North America—joining a complaint against the company filed by the state labor commissioner himself — has grown from four to 10. The Bureau of Labor and Industries spokesperson Charlie Burr says it’s rare for Comissioner Avakian to take such action, with this only being his sixth complaint since taking office in 2008. Avakinan’s complaint filed in September, and the additional four that’ve been filed since then, add to an ongoing investigation looking into possible racial discrimination and employee abuse at Daimler in just over a decade. Daimler (formerly Freightliner LLC) has received over 20 BOLI complaints dating back to 2002; most cases were either deferred to court or dismissed due to lack of evidence. Avakian says this is the first year that there’s been substantial evidence of a pervasive hostile work environment at the trucking giant. See DAIMLER on page 3
