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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 10, 2015)
WWW . THESKANNER . COM J UNE 10, 2015 P ORTLAND AND S EATTLE V OLUME XXXVII, N O . 36 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 Study Seeks Photos 25 NEW QUEEN OHSU memory study to use old photos, walking tours By Arashi Young Of The Skanner News See OHSU on page 3 INDEX News ................1,3,9,12 Opinion .......................2 Calendars ................4,5 A & E ........................7,8 Bids/Classifieds ..........11 PHOTO COURTESY OF BILL BARRY I mages of backyard barbecues, neigh- borhood parades and baptisms can all be part of a new community memory and healthy aging project from the Oregon Health & Science University. Raina Croff, PhD, is looking for pictures of Black Portland in or around the historical- ly Black neighborhoods of North and North- east Portland. The photos will become part of a collection that promotes brain health through sharing memories. Croff is developing the Sharing Histo- ry through Active Reminiscence and Pho- to-Imagery program through the Layton Ag- ing & Alzheimer’s Disease Center at OHSU. The SHARP study is a walking program that incorporates historical photos to prompt in- dividual and group memories of living in North and Northeast Portland. The study is also a much-needed brain health intervention for the African-Amer- ican community. Many qualitative studies have shown that African-Americans are less aware of their risk for Alzheimer’s disease and less likely to seek early care – even though African-Americans have higher rates of Alzheimer’s disease than their white counterparts. As a native of Portland’s African-Amer- ican community, Croff has seen first-hand the effects of gentrification -- and the need to preserve memory as the familiar land- marks disappear. “We have so much rich memory and rich culture within the African-American com- munity in Portland and I really believe that our community memory can be used towards promoting individual memory health,” she said. Most of the photos that the SHARP pro- gram has are from the Oregon Historical Society and the Verdell Burdine and Otto G. Rutherford Family Collection at Portland State University. The two resources cover a Kahedja Burley was crowned Queen of Rosaria Saturday at Memorial Coliseum. Burley, a 17-year-old Jefferson High School student and the daughter of Mashavu Hicks and Rondale Burley, is focusing on bio-technology at Jefferson and plans to attend a four-year university outside of Oregon to study marketing. Saadat Joins COCL Team Longtime LGBT, civil rights activist joins police oversight effort By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News Kathleen Saadat has come out of retirement again – this time to oversee police reform. Now she’ll be serving on the Compliance Officer/Commu- nity Liaison team overseeing reforms required by The Unit- ed States vs. City of Portland settlement. The 2012 agreemen was the result of a Department of Justice investigation that found Portland Police Bureau had engaged in a pattern of ex- cessive use of force against peo- ple with mental illness. The DOJ recommended a host of reforms, including improved training as well as increased funding for mental health services, and in late 2014 the city of Portland hired Chicago-based research- ers Dennis Rosenbaum and Amy Watson to oversee reform efforts. The Rosenbaum group in turn hired retired Paul De Muniz, a retired chief justice for the Oregon Supreme Court, to serve as a local point of contact. De Muniz resigned his position in April, citing health issues. Ini- tially mum about next steps, in May the Rosenbaum group an- nounced Saadat had been hired to serve on COCL. Saadat, a longtime racial jus- tice advocate and an advocate for gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender rights, most recent- ly worked as affirmative action coordinator for the city of Port- land. She has worked for Cas- cade AIDS Project, Multnomah County and the state of Oregon consulting on affirmative ac- tion and diverse hiring prac- tices. She’s also a well-known grass roots activist and organiz- er, helping defeat the anti-gay rights Ballot Measure 9 in 1991 and organizing Portland’s first gay pride marches in the 1970s. Saadat spoke with The Skan- ner News about her vision for the new role and what she hopes to accomplish. She noted that Portland – one of more than a dozen cities to have been inves- tigated by the DOJ for patterns police misconduct – is the only See SAADAT on page 3 The Black Baccalaureate is Back Program highlights success stories among Black youth By Arashi Young Of The Skanner News S tories of success among Black youth too often go untold. A large collaboration of Black student success and leadership organizations have come together to bring back the Black Bac- calaureate program to honor African-Amer- ican high school graduates from schools around the Portland area. The event was organized by members from the Portland African American Lead- ership Forum, Self Enhancement, Inc., Black Male Achievement, Black Education Achievement Movement and other commu- nity-based organizations. A graduate reception will be held at 3 p.m. at Portland Bible College in Northeast Port- land and the baccalaureate ceremony begins at 4 p.m. Interested graduates should contact BlackBaccOregon@gmail.com. Antoinette Edwards, director of the Office of Youth Violence Prevention and event or- ganizer, said honoring youth is an important way to strengthen the community. “It is that reclaiming the village and bring- See BACCALAUREATE on page 3
