January 27, 2016 The Skanner Page 3
News
Islamophobia
“
and
anti-immigration
rhetoric in the national
media, with the intended
outcome of increasing
patriotism and loyalty
through inciting fear and
hatred,” the document
reads, before calling
recent demands to ban
Muslims from entering
the country ‘unsociable.’
Recently, Dallas, Ore.,
city councilor Micky
When people say, ‘I’m your
neighbor, I am your friend,
I welcome you to my city,’ if
you say that, they will feel
and remember that
seeking refuge in United
States as their country
finds itself embroiled in
a bloody civil war.
“You can find Iraqi and
Syrian
professionals
all over America,” Buti
said, before claiming
that since 2012 America
has received less than 1
percent of refugees from
Syria.
Mayor Charlie Hales,
was also in attendance
and offered an anecdote
about students at Sun-
nyside Environmental
School requesting to wel-
come Syrian families at
the airport.
“They said, ‘I want to
go to the airport, and
greet those new families
as they come to our city.’
That’s who we are,” Hales
said. “When people say,
‘I’m your neighbor, I am
your friend, I welcome
you to my city,’ if you say
that, they will feel and
remember that and they
will know who you are.”
According to a res-
olution passed by the
Portland City Council in
December “affirming its
commitment to the Mus-
lim community,” there
are an estimated 20,000
practicing Muslims in
the metro area right now.
“There has been an
increase in anti-Muslim
Lodge
Garus came under fire
after for comments he
made on social media
about three Muslim men
who’d been elected to
public office in Detroit.
The post, which has
not been deleted, drew
scores of comments in
support of his remarks,
with comments.
Once a resident of Iraqi
refugee camps, area res-
ident, Hussein Al-Baiaty
came to the United States
back in the early 1990s
as a child, not knowing a
word of English.
Today, Al-Baiaty is an
entrepreneur, managing
both a successful screen-
printing business and
his own clothing line,
Almaic. With “Almaic”
— a portmanteau of the
words Aramaic, the lan-
guage that gave birth to
Arabic, and his last name
-- he fuses his religion
and his love of hip-hop.
Al-Baiaty’s thoughts on
Islamophobia? It’s irra-
tional.
“It is convenient for
people to fear what is
misunderstood,”
Al-
Baiaty said. “Sadly, the
mainstream media is ad-
dicted to wars and pro-
tecting ‘our interests.’”
Read the full story at
TheSkanner.com
Peace
Projects
The 6th Annual Mt. Tabor Middle
School Peace Projects were created
by 6th, 7th, & 8th grade students in
Mrs. Molly Renauer’s 1st and 2nd
quarter Art and Ceramics classes.
All students researched, presented
on, voted on, wrote scripts,
created the projects while filming
and editing the videos. This year
students chose to honor the Paiute
Native American Tribe, Bob Marley,
Barack Obama, and Marriage
Equality. The project also included
an original anti-bullying song by
student Cece O’Connor, performed
at the school’s 13th Annual Peace
Prize Assembly.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MOLLY RENAUER
tercultural Organizing
called “Stand for Love,
Interrupt Hate,” drew
hundreds to City Hall to
memorialize victims of
Islamophobia, homopho-
bia, racism and other
forms of bigotry.
Several speakers, one
being Baher Buti, found-
er of the Iraq Society of
Oregon addressed de-
bates around Syrians
cont’d from pg 1
Equity
cont’d from pg 1
sion.
“Our communities had an un-
precedented level of presence
and engagement in the 2015 ses-
sion,” Miller said.
The report was issued by the
Racial Equity Report Working
Group, a coalition of 32 commu-
nity-based organizations.
The group includes the Urban
League of Portland, the Coalition
of Communities of Color, the Part-
nership for Safety and Justice, the
Asian Pacific American Network
of Oregon and the Center for In-
tercultural Organizing among
others.
Facing Race analyzes the 2015
session, sorting bills into four ar-
eas: civil rights and criminal jus-
tice, economic justice, education
and health equity.
Notable civil rights and crimi-
nal justice bills include the Motor
Voter bill which registers voters
through the Department of Mo-
tor Vehicles, the law to end police
profiling and the bill to protect
the rights of bystanders to record
law enforcement.
Economic justice laws include
the new paid sick days require-
ment, a bill to protect against
wage theft and the “Ban the Box”
legislation which bars employers
from asking about criminal histo-
ries on job applications.
To read the entire Facing Race
report, you can do so online:
https://facingraceoregondotorg.
wordpress.com/.
“
Previous racial equity reports
in 2011 and 2013 issued report
cards for each legislator.
The 2015 report does not give
grades; instead it focuses on leg-
islation and lawmaker voting re-
cords.
Our communities had an unprecedent-
ed level of presence and engagement in
the 2015 session
Nkenge
Harmon
Johnson,
President and CEO of the Urban
League of Portland, told The Skan-
ner News the “Ban the Box” bill is
one of the most impactful bills for
the Black community.
“A White young man with a
high school diploma has better
chances of getting an interview
and, in fact, a job offer than does
an African American man with
the same level of education,” Har-
mon Johnson said.
“If you throw in the barrier of
having had a past of being con-
victed of a crime, that barrier is
greater.”
Harmon Johnson said the bill
will help people overcome their
past and get people working.
Harmon Johnson said this new
format invites people to take a
closer look at the laws.
“We chose not to give grades
this time around was because we
didn’t want folks to be fixated on
their GPA when it comes to ser-
vice for people of color,” Harmon
Johnson told The Skanner News.
The racial equity bills had a lot
of bipartisan support.
There were bipartisan sponsors
for major legislation to support
English language learners, to
increase access to 12-month sup-
plies of contraception and to “Ban
the Box” on job applications.
Read the full story at
TheSkanner.com
cont’d from pg 1
contact with the city and rallied neigh-
bors and businesses alike to help.
“Really, the overall goal from my per-
spective — and, I think the reason why
people have stepped up with private
monies and I think certainly why the
PDC has as well — is that we want to sta-
bilize one of the last Black-owned prop-
erties and organizations on the street,”
Gomez said.
Once this projection is completed,
Gomez told The Skanner, the neighbor-
hood association and the lodge intend
to meet with the city to have the fines
reduced or waived completely.
Portland Development Commission’s
Tory Campbell was instrumental in
getting his agency’s help.
“This should be a normal rhythm for
us as an agency to want to help,” Camp-
bell said, adding that this project is a
nod to the changes the neighborhood
has undergone in recent decades. “I
think it is incredibly important to ac-
knowledge significance of this project.
Beyond just doing normal good work,
which is this being one of the last re-
maining Black-owned organizations
“
of the Freemason fraternity, it’s also
used as space for kids’ karate classes
and Sunday church services.
In a recent Facebook post, Bryant is
seen handing over the first payment, a
One of the last remaining Black-owned orga-
nizations and properties on that street which
has been impacted quite dramatically by dis-
placement and gentrification
and properties on that street which has
been impacted quite dramatically by
displacement and gentrification — it
has a different weight to it.”
Lodge members aren’t the only ones
who will benefit from the upgrades.
Though the space — which is more
than 3,000 square feet in size — primar-
ily functions as the meeting lodge for a
historically African American faction
check for $10,000, to the lead contractor
outside of the Sons of Haiti building.
“God is good,” Bryant wrote. “Today
after running into many issues during
the course of preparing the work site
for excavation — that included remov-
ing all food carts’ storage sheds — with
God’s help we got the job done excava-
tion will start on schedule…thank you
Jesus.”
The Sons of Haiti Masonic Lodge – threatened with
closure due to building code issues and fines –
will stay open after a community fundraiser and
assistance from the PDC.