News
OHSU
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The SHARP study would like to
expand the collection of photos
to include as many family
histories as possible
1970s to 2010, because people aren’t giving those yet,”
Croff said.
The SHARP study would like to expand the collection of
photos to include as many family histories as possible. The
collection is open to a wide range of image types from po-
litical rallies to street views, community events to birthday
parties. Event fliers, old business advertisements, theater
programs are welcome as well.
Donating images does not mean giving up family keep-
sakes, Croff said. She had previously visited a donor’s
house and scanned the im-
ages right there. She would
like to make sure that any
donated pictures are re-
turned as soon as possible.
Selected photos may be-
come part of a communi-
ty website for the SHARP
program which will be an
archive for the black expe-
rience in Portland as well as
a community resource for
brain health.
The SHARP study will
be looking for participants
in July. The study will last
six months long and re-
quire three and a half hours A street view of Williams Avenue in 1970
a week. Participants will
go on moderate 45 minute
If you would like to contribute your family images to the
walks three times a week and have one weekly health edu- SHARP program, contact Raina Croff at croff@ohsu.edu or
cation session via the internet in their homes.
503-494-2367.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
deep history of Black Portland, but there are fewer collec-
tions of modern images.
“Those are our two main sources, however with the Ore-
gon Historical Society, we don’t have very much from the
Saadat
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one so far to have a Com munity Oversight
Advisory Board made up of citizens, and
encouraged members of the public to get
involved.
COCL is soliciting public feedback on its
first quarterly report, downloadable at CO-
CL-COAB.org. The Community Oversight
Advisory Board meets from 5:30 to 8:30
p.m. Thursday at Montavilla United Meth-
odist Church (232 SE 80th Ave). Members
of the public may also submit written com-
ments are by 5 p.m. Saturday, which can be
emailed to rosenbaumandwatsonllp@gmail.
com.
The Skanner News: Start by talking
about your role and your vision for what you
hope to accomplish with COCL.
Kathleen Saadat: The effort to include
the community in the development of policy
and institutional change, for our local police
department, is brand new. It’s an opportu-
nity for the citizens of Portland to come
and learn how things work, including the
local police, and to express their respons-
es to the implementation of the settlement
agreement. That’s huge. That’s big. That’s
not small. And we are being watched to see
how that goes. There’s been some mistakes
made at the beginning but right now a lot
of effort is going into resolving complicated
issues. A lot of effort is going into develop-
ing a clear focus on what the tasks are. My
vision is that we, Portland, the people who
tection. This is not a new struggle — that
is, the one between the community and the
police. But it is a new step in trying to get
a better understanding. My whole thing is
to get everybody to come out to our pub-
lic meetings to listen and learn and express
This is not a new struggle — that is, the one
between the community and the police. But it is a
new step in trying to get a better understanding
live here and care about what happens, have
a chance to make a real difference in the
world. It is what comes about when one is
relentless in the pursuit of justice. One be-
gins to shape the culture. Part of this is to
shape the culture of the police department
and our response to the police. Because if
they change, we can too. If they get better at
how they treat us, we can get better at how
we treat them.
I’ve spent much of my life advocating for
justice for marginalized people and this is
a part of that struggle, that we should have
justice, we should have fairness. We should
be regarded as worthy of respect and pro-
their opinion. We’re not going to resolve in-
dividual cases, but we have taken the stories
of the many who have given them to us and
tried to shape them into recommendations
for policy changes in the police department.
Right now we’re looking at the first report,
quarterly report of the implementation of
the particulars of the settlement agreement
and we’ve taken public testimony. We want
to hear from people about what their recom-
mendations are for change.
TSN: You have a lot of background in
advocating on LGBT issues and for com-
munities of color. Have done criminal jus-
tice-specific work?
KS: No. What I’ve done, I’ve worked
in bureaucracies enough to have a skill at
understanding how it works, how a lot of
it works, intuitively. I’m not the voice. I’m
the conduit for the voices. I’m a person to
help build the structure so the voices can be
heard. And that’s all the voices – that’s ev-
erybody that’s a stakeholder in this process.
TSN: How much contact have you had
with the Rosenbaum group so far?
KS: They’re my boss. I’m hired by COCL.
So let’s say every other day. A part of my job
is to give them my opinion on how we are
affecting the community, how to get better
input from the community, how to work
with the community to get the input that we
want. Bottom line, what that means is listen-
ing to the people who are talking to us.
TSN: Who have you heard from so far?
KS: We had a public hearing, so there
were lots of people there. I’m not sure I want
to single anybody out. There was a public
hearing not long ago, three weeks ago, at
See SAADAT on page 11
Baccalaureate
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ing us all back together in a very exciting
way and saying we’re here for you, we sup-
port you, we believe in you,” Edwards said.
The Black Baccalaureate welcomes grad-
uating Black students from all schools in the
area, high schools and alternative schools
-- including students who are getting their
GED.
C.J. Robbins of the Black Male Achieve-
ment program said an important part of the
ceremony is the recognition of youth in the
Oregon Youth Authority who will be receiv-
ing a GED or diploma while incarcerated.
There is no limited seating for attendees
either, the event is free of charge and open
to the public.
“As long as you are there to celebrate the
shared value, the young people, you are
more than welcome,” Robbins said.
“That’s your ticket in, there’s no reserved
seats,” Edwards said, laughing.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Alisha Mo-
reland-Capuia, director of the Avel Gordly
Center for Healing at Oregon Health & Sci-
ences University. The ceremony will also
honor an elder of the community, Dr. Harri-
et Adair, assistant Superintendent Office of
School Operations & Support with Portland
Public Schools and an advocate for school
diversity.
The baccalaureate will celebrate of Afri-
can ancestry through traditional Ghanaian
drumming from the Okropong ensemble, as
portunity to rewrite the story of Black youth.
“When you talk about rebuilding a village,
I think that celebrating is often lost. We tend
to focus on the negatives,” Robbins said.
“Celebration of the positive is what pro-
vides that hope that we need.”
‘As long as you are there to celebrate the shared
value, the young people, you are more than
welcome’
well as graduation sashes made from Gha-
naian kente cloth.
Black Education Achievement Movement
Director Noni Causey said the celebration
of ancestry is important because it helps stu-
dents take pride in their history.
“If you don’t see yourself in the big pic-
ture of things, then you don’t believe that
you belong there,” Causey said.
Edwards and Robbins said the event was
important, because the achievements of the
Black community are often overshadowed
by the challenges. The celebration is an op-
According to Causey, the Black Bacca-
laureate had thrived in Portland because of
the work of Kevin Fuller, who founded the
Bridge Builders Black male achievement
non-profit. His work with Bridge Builders
and Prospective Gents kept the event going
for a number of years. Causey said when
Fuller moved on to other work, the event
was lost.
Edwards said that PAALF, SEI, Portland
Public Schools and BMA were all looking
for a way to honor graduating students.
When the organizers spoke with each other,
it became evident that there needed to be a
larger all-inclusive ceremony.
“Collaboration is the only way we get any
progress. When we are siloed off and doing
our own thing, we’re often trying to do the
same thing,” Robbins said. “We often have
way more common ground that we think.”
Organizers hope that the Black Baccalau-
reate will grow in future years and become
a local institution. There are plans to reach
out to students farther away from Portland
who may feel disconnected from the Black
community.
There are also plans to hold the ceremo-
ny in May so that graduates could take their
kente cloth graduation sashes back to their
own high school graduations to represent
their community.
Edwards said the day is ultimately about
honoring the youth and instilling a sense of
pride to those embarking on their journey.
“I think it’s important for our young peo-
ple to have that sense of history, greatness
and that you are special to us. You are spe-
cial to us and we speak your names,” she
said.
June 10, 2015 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 3