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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 24, 2016)
February 24, 2016 The Skanner Page 3 News Neighborhood approaches to advance racial and social justice causes. The Portland Playhouse, Alberta Main Street and New Seasons Market also partnered on the project. Drawing on the inspira- tion of the theater-venue, facilitators Keela John- son and Theresa Logan used drama techniques reach out the neighbor- hood itself. During the dialogue, he acknowl- edged the role of the arts as a gentrifying force in neighborhoods. The playhouse, which sits at the corner of Northeast 6th Avenue and Prescott Street, was once the home to Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, a Black church The ReBuilding Center and the Native American Youth and Family Center will present two performances of the play “York,” featuring David Casteal, about the life of an enslaved man who participated in the Lewis and Clark Expedition, on March 12 and 13 at Jefferson High School in Portland. The Black neighbors ex- pressed a loss in community that felt more personal than the loss of place or business to guide the gathering through racially charged topics. They covered dis- missive attitudes, color- blindness and microag- gressions. Microaggressions are commonplace interac- tions that either inten- tionally or unintention- ally target a person or group. These include actions like touching a Black person’s hair or asking a foreign-looking person where they came from. Jones told The Skanner News the community dia- logue was meant to bring about self and group ac- countability as well as foster a sense of commu- nity. “We are passing each other, all the time, on the street, we are each others’ neighbors,” Jones said. “We interact as business people togeth- er, but we’re not having an opportunity to really sit down and break down those barriers.” The Stories of Our Neighborhood idea came out of a conversation between Jones and Port- land Playhouse Director, Brian Weaver. The Play- house mission is to cre- ate a place where people of all backgrounds could come together. Beyond producing di- verse plays with diverse casts, Weaver wanted to Profiling in the heart of the King neighborhood. The most profound moments came when the audience members cre- ated a living timeline of the important events for their neighborhood. It began with the most re- cent events where White parents talked about sending their kids to for- merly Black schools. As the neighbors talk- ed, the memories went back in time. They rem- inisced about hanging out at Geneva’s Cotton Club and having thriv- ing businesses lining the streets of Killingsworth, Williams and Martin Lu- ther King, Jr. Blvd. when it was known as Union Ave. The Black neighbors expressed a loss in com- munity that felt more personal than the loss of place or business. Many of the older neighbors said everyone knew ev- eryone else and people would look out for each other. One woman in the group said that people don’t even say “hello” to each other anymore. “I walk down Missis- sippi now, I don’t know who those people are,” she said “I miss my neigh- borhood.” Read the rest of this story at TheSkanner.com Officers cont’d from pg 1 family.” The bill passed 55-3 with strong bipartisan support. Two representatives – Brent Barton (D-Gladstone) and Peter Buckley (D-Ashland) abstained from vot- ing. The only three dissenting votes came from Republicans: Julie Parrish (West Linn), Gail Whitsett (Klamath Falls) and Carl Wilson (Grants Pass). The bill’s chief sponsors are Rep. Carla C. Piluso (D-Gresham) and Rep. Paul Evans (D-Monmouth). Other sponsors listed are Sen. Laurie Monnes Anderson (D-Gresham), Rep. Susan McLain (D-Hillsboro) and Rep. Jeff Reardon (D-Happy Valley). Sponsors introduced the bill Jan. 27, the day after Robert “La- Voy” Finicum was shot and killed by Oregon State Police along a U.S. Highway outside Burns. Fin- icum was part of a group of heav- ily armed and loosely organized individuals to seize control of the Malheur National Wildlife Ref- uge in a standoff that ultimately lasted 41 days. Finicum was the only member of the militant group to lose his life, and the standoff had been go- ing on for 25 days when he died. While the Federal Bureau of In- vestigation released a video of the shooting, OSP has not released the name of the officer involved. “ dent. According to Portland Cop- watch founder Dan Handleman, the process outlined by the bill – receiving a threat, then filing a petition – could empower police departments to create an embar- Rep. Jeff Barker said he fast-tracked the bill after Oregon State Police told him the agency has received death threats in reaction to Finicum’s death Rep. Jeff Barker (D-Aloha) said he fast-tracked the bill after Ore- gon State Police told him the agen- cy has received death threats in reaction to Finicum’s death. Barker told The Oregonian he expected the provision “would not be used very often,” as the bill authorizes judges rather than police departments to determine whether threats used against an officer are credible. Police accountability advocates are concerned the effects of the bill may be far reaching. In Portland, the names of offi- cers involved in shootings are released 24 hours after the inci- go on the release of information. That could create a window of days or weeks – or even longer, as judges are able to extend the protective order in 90-day incre- ments -- before the public knows the names of cops involved in shootings. It also requires that the decision to grant or deny a protective order be issued within five days of a petition being filed, and that all proceedings related to a petition be held on camera. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon gave input on the bill, but has taken a neutral position. cont’d from pg 1 and Data Review Committee to collect complaints that can be analyzed later to study racial profiling statewide on the statistical level. The data review committee is cur- rently chaired by Attorney General El- len Rosenblum and is made up law en- forcement officers, lawyers, advocates and community members. The Center “ York PHOTO BY NORTHERN-EXPOSURES.COM “ cont’d from pg 1 it has intermittently released statistics since 2005. Each report is online on the Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute page at Portland State University’s website. The committee has reported on stop data as well as public perception sur- veys about law enforcement in Oregon. In its initial report in 2005, the LECC That year 73 percent of African American mo- torists surveyed said they had been stopped for reasons other than what the cop told them for Intercultural Organizing’s execu- tive director, Kayse Jama, also sits on the committee. The panel was originally created in 2001 by the state legislature to study profiling statistics and issue reports; said 21 percent of African American respondents reported being stopped by police two or more times within the previous year, compared to only 6 percent of other respondents from the same geographical area. That year 73 percent of Af- rican Ameri- can motorists surveyed said they had been stopped for reasons other than what the cop told them. Kayse Jama, executive That year’s director, The Center for report indi- Intercultural Organizing cated African American drivers believed police were becoming less fair over time. Still working its way through the state legislature right now is HB 4003, which extends the Law Enforcement Policy Profiling Work Group to July of 2017. It would require the group to pre- pare a report to the legislature by the end of the year. They began meeting in September of 2015, specifically charged with creating recommendations for the legislature on identifying and stopping patterns and practices of profiling by law en- forcement. “This bill would extend that time up until July of 2016 this year and we would be able to get a report at the end of the year of the data we are collect- ing,” Martinez said. “So it’s really great we have community voices at the table with the attorney general, with the dis- trict attorney and law enforcement. We hope this will help build some trust at an important time in history.” For more information on the Cen- ter for Intercultural Organizing visit www.interculturalorganizing.org.
