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J ANUARY 21, 2015
P ORTLAND
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V OLUME XXXVII, N O . 16
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C HALLENGING P EOPLE TO S HAPE A B ETTER F UTURE N OW
2015
King
Breakfast
25
KING IN SEATTLE
The Skanner News
event draws 1,000 to
Convention Center
By Lisa Loving
Of The Skanner News
See BREAKFAST on page 3
INDEX
News............1,3,6,7,11
Opinion .....................2
Calendars ..............4,5
A & E ......................8,9
Bids/Classifieds ........10
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
N
early 1,000 people packed the Ore-
gon Convention Center’s Bud Clark
Hall for The Skanner News 29th
Annual Martin Luther King Breakfast event
on Monday, Jan. 19.
The International Business Times put The
Skanner News King Breakfast on its short
list as “Best events to celebrate birthday and
life of Martin Luther King Jr around the
US.”
Keynote speaker, the Rev. Benjamin
Chavis, CEO and President of the national
Newspaper Publishers Association, used the
event to announce an NNPA trade initiative
with Cuba with The Skanner News’ Bernie
Foster at its head.
Also at the breakfast event, The Skanner
News introduced its new online business
directory, online at http://www.theskan-
nerdirectory.com.
The newspaper’s civil rights award, the
Drum Major for Justice, was given to the
Albina Ministerial Alliance Coalition for
Peace and Justice Reform, represented at
the event by Dr. Leroy Haines.
Haines collected the award from the podi-
um, where seated guests included Chavis;
Portland Mayor Charlie Hales; Portland
Police Chief Larry O’Dea; Pacific NW
Regional Council of Carpenters Bob Susee;
University of Oregon, Robin Holmes PhD;
Roland Iparraguire of the Oregon Lottery;
Portland Development Commission Execu-
tive Director Patrick Quinton; Portland
Community College, Cascade Campus
President Karin Edwards; US Sen. Ron
Wyden; Oregon Secretary of State Kate
Brown; The Skanner News Executive Edi-
tor Bobbie Dore Foster; and Pastor Deborah
Brown of St. Phillip the Deacon Episcopal
Church.
“We’re not here to celebrate,” Foster says.
“We’re here to make sure that Dr. King’s
work is carried on.”
Thousands of people participated in the 33rd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Jan. 19 at Garfield High
School. The theme of this year’s event was “Fight for Your Rights in 2015.” Keynote speaker was Ferguson, Mo.,
resident Jelani Brown, who helped organize the protests in St. Louis after the killing of Mike Brown. The march went
from Garfield High School to the Federal Court House.
JoAnn Hardesty Heads NAACP
Longtime activist, former lawmaker speaks on her vision for group
By Donovan M. Smith
Special to The Skanner
News
A
seasoned community
activist, JoAnn Hard-
esty’s latest distinction
sees her at the helm of the
NAACP as the newly appointed
president of the civil rights
organization’s Portland chapter.
Hardesty boasts a long resume
that includes heavily steeped in
social justice. A short list of dis-
tinctions including serving on
the boards of Portland Commu-
nity Media; US Action and
Coalition for a Livable Future
and was also elected to the Ore-
gon legislature serving as a state
representative from 1995 to
2001.
She hosts her own radio show
on KBOO (90.7 FM) ‘Voices
from the Edge’ which covers
political matters ranging from
government, race and environ-
ment every Thursday at 8 a.m.
Hardesty took the time to
answer some questions about
her plans in her latest post as the
historic NAACP Portland chap-
ter celebrates its 101st year in
operation.
The Skanner News: The
Portland branch of the NAACP
owns the distinction as being the
oldest continuously chartered
branch west of the Mississippi,
and has a storied history in the
city. Though recent years have
been a bit quiet, the group’s
work has continued in a number
of civil rights issues in the city.
What is your plan of direction
for the NAACP as the new Port-
land president?
Hardesty: I’m a results-ori-
ented kind of gal. The
NAACP’s mission is to ensure
the political, educational, social
and economic equality of all
persons, and to eliminate racial
hatred and discrimination. My
goal for this, our 101st year, is
to rebuild and revitalize Chapter
1120B so we are prepared to
carry out this mission. My lead-
ership team and I—at the
outset— committed to building
our membership base, becoming
more collaborative, developing
See NAACP on page 3
From Black Power to Black Lives Matter
John Carlos to address youths at Garfield High School this Thursday
By The Skanner News
O
lympic bronze medalist John Carlos,
who famously raised his hand next
to fellow African American and
gold medalist Tommie Smith to form the
“Black power” symbol at the 1968 games in
Mexico, will be on a panel at Garfield High
School discussing the connections of resist-
ance movements past and present. The
event will be held Thurs., Jan. 22, at 7
p.m. in the Quincy Jones Auditorium at
Garfield High School, 400 23rd Avenue,
Seattle.
The moment of protest against institution-
al racism in the athlete’s native United
States of America was captured by the Asso-
ciated Press and went on to become
arguably the most iconic photo in sports his-
tory. Organizers of the event titled ‘From
Black Power to Black Lives Matter’ say the
message of that moment still ring true, espe-
cially in the wake of recent deaths of Black
men that have come by the hand of law
enforcement.
Cases like the police shooting death of 18-
year-old Mike Brown Jr. that launched the
small St. Louis, Mo. suburb of Ferguson
See CARLOS on page 3