Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 22, 2016)
June 22, 2016 The Skanner Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 ing the announcement, which was immediately picked up by local media. KATU news reported that board chair Koehler had asked Smith to stay on through the end of the next school year. “It is not true that the school board asked Car- ole Smith to stay,” An- thony told The Skanner It is all about coverups and public relations and promot- ing the careers of adminis- trators in PPS News. “To the best of my knowledge the school board has not been con- sulted on it at all, except that I got a brief text mes- sage from Tom Koehler, the board chair, ive min- utes before OPB made the announcement.” “The board has asked me to stay through the end of my contract in June, 2017 to allow them to move forward to con- duct a superintendent search at the appropri- ate time and set the dis- trict up for a successful and smooth transition of leadership, as well as continue our work on health and safety,” Smith wrote. Local activists held a demonstration – an- nounced weeks in ad- vance of the board’s inal meeting for this school year — calling for Smith to be ired. A crowd of nearly 75 parents, students and advocates marched and testiied about high lead levels in water at the schools and alleged civil rights violations against Black students. Don’t Shoot Portland organizer Teressa Rai- ford testiied about the short life of her nephew, Andre Dupree Payton, who was shot and killed Pride Her call for Smith to be ired was repeated by the shouts of the protes- tors in the gallery. She also called out the school board, saying they were complicit and unwilling to challenge the adminis- tration. “If you guys don’t re- move Carole before next year, it means that you don’t have the backbone to be the board next year,” Raiford said. The demonstration at the meeting represented a wide swath of parents and advocates. Their concerns expanded be- yond the single issues of radon, leaded water, racism, or civil rights. The crowd called out for accountability, transpar- ency and oversight. Kim Sordyl, parent and PPS critic, said the dis- covery of lead in the wa- ter — and the district’s handling of the issue — afected every student, teacher and staf mem- ber and has brought the community together to demand change from an administration resistant to admitting fault. “There is no leader- ship at PPS. It is all about coverups and public rela- tions and promoting the careers of administra- tors in PPS,” Sordyl said. Vancouver Avenue Baptist Church After 72 years, the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church is being recognized by the Oregon State Landmarks Preservation Commission for its cultural signiicance, its contribution to the Civil Rights Movement, and the historical site of the church in being considered as a designated as an African American landmark in the city of Portland and the state of Oregon. The Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church has stood as an outstanding pairing of faith and community service in the Eliot neighborhood of the city of Portland. The Church is one of the oldest postwar African American congregations established in the city and launched in 1944 in the housing projects of Burton Homes in Vancouver, Wash. On Sunday, Sept. 4, at 2 p.m., the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, 3138 North Vancouver Avenue, will commemorate its 72nd Anniversary and beneit fundraiser for the Annual Drum Major Scholarship Fund. For more information, please contact the church at (503) 282-9495 Golf cont’d from pg 1 public courses and other facili- ties,” Nakashima told The Skanner. There are now 33 member groups and 1,000 active mem- bers, most identifying as African Americans or another racial mi- nority, in the WSGA. Members are located in Oregon, Washing- ton, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada and California. The location for WSGA’s annual tournament rotates throughout the west, but when a city becomes the host it actually hosts for two years in a row, and this is Port- land’s second. Since there are few member groups in the Paciic Northwest – just one in Oregon and one in Washington – tourna- ments are much more commonly held in other states, Nakashima said. The 2017 and 2018 tournaments are scheduled to take place in southern California. “The majority of the member- ship is far away. When the deci- sion is made to come to Oregon, the majority of members come from far away,” Nakashima said. She wasn’t sure when Oregon last hosted a tournament but said she believed previous tour- naments had been held in other parts of the state, such as Sun Riv- er. “ by a tax on hotel and car rentals passed in 2012). Nakashima noted that Leisure Hour also host junior golf pro- grams for youth between the ages of eight and 18, and have pro- grams encouraging women to get more interested in golf, including The game of golf — we know from the de- mographics and the changes in the demo- graphics that it will be women and people of color who will keep golf prospering This year participants will play on three diferent Portland-ar- ea golf courses: Heron Lakes in North Portland, the Resort at the Mountain in Welches and East- moreland in southeast Portland. Nakashima said organizers chose Portland due to a grant from the Oregon Sports Authori- ty and Travel Portland, which was made possible by the city’s visitor development fund (made possible opportunities for free instruc- tion from volunteers. The WSGA also hosts a Women in Golf Sum- mit as part of the annual tourna- ment. “The game of golf — we know from the demographics and the changes in the demographics that it will be women and people of color who will keep golf prosper- ing in the future,” Nakashima told The Skanner. cont’d from pg 1 er conversation about violence against queer people of color. “Folks that are LGBTQ people of col- or face tremendous violence and are not always safe or celebrated in their communities,” Edwards said, adding that transgender women of color face “alarming rates” of violence. In November of 2015, the Human Rights Campaign in partnership with Trans People of Color Coalition re- leased a report documenting violence against transgender people. In 2015 there were more transgender homi- cide victims that year than in any year on record; 21 people were murdered — nearly all of them were transgender women of color. The 2014 Federal Bureau of Investiga- tion hate crime statistics list racial prej- udice as the top single reason victims were targeted for a hate crime, with the majority of racial bias —62.7 percent — against African American people. Sex- ual orientation was the second largest reason for victims to be targeted. Edwards said that Black pride events will be celebratory and will create safe places to celebrate black and queer “ were what helped him feel comfortable in own skin and gave him the courage to come out to his family. Tyree Tabb-El- liott, another organizer behind Black It is important for us as the LGBT community to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters down in Orlando identities. There will be an “Ol’ Skool” Spades and Bones tournament, a dance party fundraiser at the Dig A Pony Bar, a twerking dance competition and more. A full events list can be found on the Portland Black Pride Celebration Facebook page. PFLAG Portland Black Pride is spon- sored by the Pride Foundation, Mult- nomah County Health Department, the Equity Foundation, the Oregon Health Authority Oice of Equity and Inclu- sion, Basic Rights Oregon and Cascade AIDS Project. Ngcobo said these Black Pride events pride said the events gave him a venue to share his life with his family. Tabb-Elliott said his family members oten come to many of the events, but the Families of Color Day Out picnic was especially important to bring ev- eryone together. He said his friends went out and made t-shirts in support of his relationship with his husband and that his mom looks forward to the barbeque every year. It was this community and familial support that made Tabb-Elliott feel like he could be fully himself, open to his family and happily married to his hus- PHOTO BY OLIVIA OLIVIA “ on the corner of NW 2nd and Couch at 2 a.m., Sep- tember 26, 2010. She said Payton went to schools that talked about equity and culturally competent education, but his death showed the failure of that system. Raiford asked for over- sight and accountability for equity funding. PHOTO COURTESY OF VANCOUVER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH Smith Cameron Whitten was among hundreds gathered for the Portland Pride parade during the 2015 Pride Northwest Festival. band of ive years. “Black Portland pride is a part of me and I am going to always support it and always be a part of it,” Tabb-Elliott said. “Even if I am a million miles away, I am still going to have something to do with Portland Black Pride.”