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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2015)
www . theskanner . com o ctober 21, 2015 P ortland and s eattle V olume XXXVIII, n o . 3 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 Housing Pilot Project 25 CLIMATE Urban League, city partner to stabilize Black households By Donovan M. Smith Of The Skanner News See HOUSING on page 3 INDEX PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED A new partnership between the Urban League and the Portland Housing Bureau promises to help stabilize 50 Black households by July of next year. City Council appropriated $391,000 from the general fund to pilot the project, which sees the Housing Bureau partnering with a culturally specific organization for the first time to benefit their target population. The deal comes right on the heels the city’s recent declaration of a housing state of emergency, when Mayor Charlie Hales promised $30 million dollars to help the city’s growing houseless population. Bisi Carter, head of the Urban League’s healthy familes program, said African Americans have been in a housing crisis for a long time, but called the partnership with the City a “step in the right direction.” “African American homelessness contin- ues to kind of rise, so we’re seeing the cri- sis of homelessness every day,” Carter said. “We’re pleased with the commitment from the city to address the racial disparities, and consider this investment a small but strong step in the right direction.” The League will spread the across their many services, using them for both eviction prevention and getting homeless people into stable housing. There’s been an increase of almost 50 percent in African American homelessness since 2013 alone, according to Multnomah County statistics released that year. That, coupled with a growing joblessness rate, has had a crippling effect of Blacks as a boom- ing Portland is even beginning to price some of its more affluent residents out. Jerome Brooks, program coordinator for the housing bureau says the numbers are probably higher once factoring in people not traditionally factored in homeless counts, like those “couch surfing.” “You’re not always going see somebody On Oct. 14 Seattle joined 170 communities around the country in the People’s Climate March. About 1,000 people marched from City Hall to Occidental Park in Pioneer Square to protest the TPP, and try and impact the United Na- tions Climate Change Conference in Paris in November. On Black Male Achievement National conference sends attendees home with mood of urgency By Donovan M. Smith Of The Skanner News A fter a three-day con- ference of organizers working nationally to better the outcomes for Black men and boys, the general mood was one of urgency as organiz- ers prepared to return to their respective cities. Thirty-five representatives from six cities convened in Port- land from Oct. 14-16 to discuss the Black Male Achievement and different strategies to better effect, the program’s four core areas of concern: education, em- ployment, family stability and ending the disproportionate rep- resentation of Black males in the criminal justice system. As the conference came to a close, on the top floor of the Marriott hotel downtown, many participants commended the Portland conference for what they viewed as progressive work on the front of restorative justice. Local Black Male Achieve- ment organizer, C.J. Robbins cautioned that there is still much to be done in the city. “There are [schools] that are struggling with implementing restorative justice with any kind of fidelity. There are organiza- tions that just pay lip service. And as you go further out [in East County], you’ll see more of the hurting. It’s just like any oth- er gentrified area, where people are being pushed out to an area where they are not welcomed,” Robbins said. “I just want to be honest about what Portland is facing.” Mayor Charlie Hales, who interacted with the conference intermittently during the three days, agreed with Robbins add- ing that the City has underin- vested in African Americans for decades. Activist and author Eric Grimes, of the New York chap- ter of Black Male Achievement, said there must be innovation in how Black lives can be bettered on the levels of policy as well as perception. See CONVENTION on page 3 Crews Reflects on Teaching Conference News ................1,3,9-10 Event drew more than 500 people to highlight work of educators Opinion .......................2 By Arashi S. Young Of The Skanner News Calendars ................4,5 A & E ........................6-8 Bids/Classifieds ..........11 E ducator Karanja Crews has a calling to change the way teachers reach their students. Through his 12 years of pro- fessional teaching experience, he has made his teaching culturally relevant and empow- ering to students of color. For the last five years, he has helmed the Teaching With Purpose conference, which shares these insights with other local educa- tors. The event has grown from attracting 10 attendees to bringing in more than 500 and highlights the work of nationally renowned educators. Crews spoke with The Skanner News about the recent conference, the current state of equity in local education and his plans to continue this work. Here are excerpts of that interview, edited for space and clarity. The Skanner News: First and foremost, how did the conference go? Karanja Crews: It was an awesome weekend, awesome high energy. I think peo- ple really left empowered and charged up, which is the goal. See CREWS on page 3
