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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2016)
March 30, 2016 The Skanner Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 emerging writers se- lected by a committee of writers, academics and editors. Jackson spoke with The Skanner News about the award, the meaning behind the novel and his plans for the future. Here are excerpts of the interview, edited for space and clarity. The Skanner News: What was most important to me is to be in a family of writ- ers who I respect and want to be like Congratulations on the receiving the Whiting award. Mitchell Jackson: Yeah, Thank you. TSN: What does it mean to you to [receive an award] for an autobi- ographical novel? MJ: I didn’t necessarily think of it in terms of be- ing awarded for an auto- biographical novel. I just thought of it as being awarded for the work, just the novel it- self. What was most im- portant to me is to be in a family of writers who I respect and want to be like. If you look at who has won it before, it is such a grand list of writ- ers — just to be connect- ed to them in any way is an honor. TSN: What does your novel, “The Residue Years,” mean to say about the relationships be- tween Black mothers and their sons? MJ: That they are es- sential -- especially in the era I grew up, when a lot of fathers were either absentee or less present than they should have been. The mothers tended to be the backbone. And not just mothers, but grand- mothers and aunts kind Sanders In my particular case, I was much older than my youngest brother -- I was 10 years older than him. I really felt the re- sponsibility to keep him away from the problems that we were having, and make sure that he could do well in school and didn’t fall into the same kind of traps I saw myself falling into. I would take him school shopping and pick him up from school. If he got in trouble in school, I would go sit in his class with him — some of the things that a dad would do, or what I would imagine that a dad would do, some of the things that I do now for my son. TSN: The novel is set in the ‘90s in North Port- land. What it is like for you to see the changes to that neighborhood now? MJ: It is both heart- ening and it makes me a little sad and nostal- gic. I remember having lunch with Sam Adams, the ex-mayor. We were talking about Alberta Street and Northeast Portland and Killing- sworth and he told me that he lived in that area. Read the full iinterview at TheSkanner.com Easter Choir About 60 children from the community participated in Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church’s Easter children’s choir March 27. With the assistance of adults and chaperones from the community, children were fitted for robes in February and rehearsed throughout the month of March for the Easter performance. Dock cont’d from pg 1 All agree it’s never been used for its intended purpose. City officials thought yacht owners would tie up vessels there to go to games at Memorial Coliseum or perhaps fish off the side. That’s never happened, because there’s never been security, fish- ing is prohibited there and also because experts agree the wave action can damage yachts. Meanwhile, Daimler Corp., with its U.S. headquarters in Port- land and new $150 million manu- facturing plant at Swan Island, is moving to create a nice outdoor amenity to make its employees happy after paying out record fines for racial and other discrim- ination claims. But as more and more people are enjoying swimming in the river, the issue of towing the dock to Swan Island and giving it over to the multi-national truck manu- facturer is causing ripples. In part that’s because there are so few docks or river access points near the downtown core, and the one place where swim- mers have been able to hang out — the Holman Dock south of the Hawthorne Bridge — is going to be towed away for the rest of the “ ple use it but that it will be closer to an emerging green space and hiking trail in North Portland. Part of the problem is that the dock is owned and operated by the Portland Bureau of Transpor- Daimler’s management is encouraging employees to testify at the Oregon State Marine Board hearing in support of moving the dock for their use summer while the sediment un- derneath is capped against pollu- tion. Public testimony taken by the Oregon State Marine Board in February showed that yacht owners and other river fans sup- port keeping at least part of the dock where it is, in anticipation of future use for swimmers and non-motorized boaters. Daimler supporters argue that towing the dock to Swan Island won’t necessarily mean more peo- tation — which is upfront about not wanting to manage a river amenity. PBOT wants Portland Parks & Recreation to run the dock in- stead. At a public hearing in February on the proposal by Daimler to take over the dock, Daimler em- ployees talked about what a nice addition the million-dollar struc- ture would be to their corporate campus. Read more at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 son, Bernie seems like the candidate that is speaking most to my experiences and is talking the most about bettering my life as a Black young person,” com- munity organizer Llondyn Elliott told The Skanner while waiting outside for Sanders’ address. “And he is on, I guess, the gay radar also. And so he speaks to multiple levels of myself, whereas oth- er candidates might only speak to one of them or probably not any of them.” Specifically, Elliott mentioned Sand- ers’ proposed policies on higher edu- cation — including tuition-free educa- tion. “For me, I didn’t go to college because I figured it would be too expensive. I figured that I didn’t have enough mon- ey to go where I wanted to go and go to the school I wanted to attend,” Elliott said. Last August Sanders drew a record crowd at Moda Center. The 19,000-ca- pacity venue was packed then as it was Friday, and it was estimated that thousands more were turned away or stayed outside to watch his speech. A Seattle event the day before drew national attention and controversy af- ter two protesters associated with the Black Lives Matter movement took the stage and asked for a moment of silence for Michael Brown on the first anniver- “ paign racist. He also promised to demilitarize po- lice, hold cops accountable when they break the law and make sure police de- partments reflect the diversity of their communities — and said the United States must “rethink the so-called War on Drugs.” Friday’s event was also the site of one of the most mem- orable and widely cov- ered moments in Sanders’ campaign so far. A bird swooped into the auditorium near the stage, catching his attention and then, briefly, perched on the name tag on his podium. “I think there’s some symbolism here,” Sanders said. “It doesn’t look like it, but that is a dove asking us for world peace.” Bernie seems like the candidate that is speaking most to my experiences and is talking the most about better- ing my life as a Black young person sary of his death. Sanders spoke on racial justice at several points during his address in Portland, saying American people are “too smart” to support a candidate – namely Republican frontrunner Don- ald Trump — who has insulted Latinos, Muslims, women, veterans and African Americans throughout his campaign. Sanders called Trump’s birther cam- PHOTO BY ARASHI YOUNG “ of made up for our loss of male figures. I hope it says they are essential and that even when the relationship is damaged, you have to find a way to repair it. TSN: It sounds like your novel also speaks about the responsibil- ities of sons who raise their brothers. MJ: Absolutely, yeah. PHOTO BY KEN BERRY Jackson Supporters packed Moda Center Friday to see Sen. Bernie Sanders talk, part of a string of Northwest dates in advance of the Washington caucuses.
