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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2016)
January 13, 2016 The Skanner Page 7 Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today’s Activists: Heirs of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement Black Lives Matter is ‘a new Black power call’ using combination of old and new tactics, technologies By Barrington M. Salmon, Special to the NNPA I PHOTO BY CHRISTEN MCCURDY n the months follow- ing Trayvon Martin’s shooting death at the hands of vigilante George Zimmerman in February 2012, a com- mon question demon- strators asked was if the nationwide marches and fiery protests would be a moment or a movement. The 17-year-old’s death in Sanford, Florida, crys- Activists with Don’t Shoot PDX are pictured here at an August tallized in a lot of young demonstration in front of Portland City Hall. The Black Lives Matter people’s minds that black movement started as a hashtag – but went to the streets almost and brown people were immediately. not living in a post-racial vention in a world where black lives paradise and that, while more hidden, are systematically and intentionally institutional racism, structural ineq- targeted for demise. It is an affirmation uity and discrimination hadn’t disap- of Black folks’ contributions to this so- peared but merely assumed a different, ciety, our humanity, and our resilience less overt role. in the face of deadly oppression.” Shortly after Trayvon’s death, Los Cullors, 31, executive director of Dig- Angeles-based artist, organizer and nity and Power Now, a group that fight activist Patrisse Cullors joined with for the rights of people in prison, said fellow activists Alicia Garza and Opal Michael Brown’s death at the hands of Tometi to create Black Lives Matter, former Ferguson, Missouri, Police Of- which moved from a hashtag to a con- ficer Darren Wilson in August pushed cept embraced by activists in the U.S. her and other activists from around the and around the world. nation to answer with direct action. As Garza explained in a recent ar- “We pretty much took it to the street,” ticle, Black Lives Matter was “a call to she said during a recent interview. “We action for Black people after Trayvon took it to Hollywood, shut down the I-10 was posthumously placed on trial for freeway, and marched to Beverly Hills his own murder and the killer, George and Rodeo Drive last year. We’ve used Zimmerman, was not held accountable it ever since.” for the crime he committed. It was a In Ferguson, protesters held vigils response to the anti-Black racism that and marches and engaged in other permeates our society and also, unfor- forms of civil disobedience to express tunately, our movements.” their outrage that eyewitnesses said “Black Lives Matter,” she continued, Brown, 18, and, like Trayvon, unarmed, “is an ideological and political inter- had his hands up when he was shot seven times by Wilson, that his body lay in the street for 4.5 The Skanner News would hours and that a Fergu- like to thank the following son grand jury eventual- sponsors for their support of the 2016 Martin Luther King, Jr. Special Edition City of Portland Energy Trust of Oregon Enterprise Family Care Health Health Share Home Forward Kaiser Permanente Macy’s Metro MLK Celebration Committee Multnomah County Oregon Episcopal School OHSU Office of Diversity Oregon Lottery Pacific NW Regional Council of Carpenters Pacific Power PCRI Portland Community College Providence Health Systems TriMet Turner Construction University of Oregon USDA Forest Service Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church Wells Fargo Bank ly cleared Wilson of any wrongdoing. Cullors said she traveled to Ferguson, and over the course of 104 days of dai- ly protests, marched with residents, worked with leaders, organizers and residents and helped leaders develop tactics for their movement. “We are a call to action to end state-sanctioned violence against blacks. It’s significant because it’s a new Black power call, saying, stating and declaring that we no longer accept the status quo and that this is a broader fight for Black lives. “Everyone is focused, angry and clear about the justice that they seek. There will be victory. Even if Wilson (had been) indicted, it’s a larger problem, a problem of St. Louis and the American government.” The Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church “Proudly Presents” The 10th Annual Drum Major Ecumenical Services “Salute to Greatness Scholarship Benefit Luncheon” Saturday, January 16th 2016, Noon Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church Fellowship Hall 3138 North Vancouver Avenue, Portland, Oregon Luncheon Tickets: $30.00: More information or to reserve space, 503-282-9496 “Empower the Dream Annual Ecumenical Service” Sunday, January 17th 2016, 2:00 PM Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church 3138 North Vancouver Avenue, Portland, Oregon Renowned Keynote Speaker: Dr. Luis Palau Pastor J.W. Matt Hennessee, Senior Servant
