August 17, 2016 The Skanner Page 3
News
cont’d from pg 1
wards said.
The Black Chapter was
founded in 2009 as a pro-
gram under the PFLAG
Portland
non-proit,
sharing a board of di-
rectors and a Tax ID
number. Since that time
both organizations have
grown: PFLAG added
chapters in East County
and Washington County
‘A real point of departure be-
tween the Black Chapter and
PFLAG Portland was when
they decided that paid staf
was the way that they needed
to move their work forward’
and the Black Chapter
grew in membership and
expanded services.
In addition to their sig-
nature LGBTQ celebra-
tion event, Black Pride,
the Black Chapter has
been working on Black
Lives Matter activism,
book drives for incarcer-
ated youth and prison di-
vestment initiatives.
Edwards said the struc-
ture of the organiza-
tion worked well when
PFLAG Portland and the
Black Chapter agreed on
how to run the non-prof-
it. But when the two or-
ganizations
diverged,
PFLAG Portland had the
inal say.
Dawn Holt, the Presi-
dent of PFLAG Portland
said the biggest disagree-
ment between PFLAG
Portland and the Black
Chapter was the choice
to have paid staf instead
of being a volunteer-run
organization.
“A real point of depar-
ture between the Black
Chapter and PFLAG Port-
land was when they de-
cided that paid staf was
the way that they needed
to move their work for-
ward,” Holt said.
Most of the PFLAG or-
ganization throughout
Comic
ally administer efective-
ly,” Holt said.
For Edwards, the deci-
sion to lay of staf and
go to a volunteer model
would have fundamen-
tally changed the work
the organization could
do. In his experience,
work in the Black LGBTQ
community
requires
more than volunteers,
it needs investment in
those organizers.
“An all-volunteer mod-
el … does not work for
our work and our com-
munities,” Edwards said.
“To really do work efec-
tively, it requires paid
staf to carry out that
work in a real way.”
The transition from
PFLAG Portland to an
independent organiza-
tion has been tumultu-
ous. The group needed
to rebrand and establish
a new non-proit identity
to fundraise and begin
paying their staf.
Throughout the up-
heaval, Edwards remains
optimistic about the fu-
ture of the new PFLAG
Black Chapter. “We are
going to get through this
challenging time in our
history and our journey
and come out stronger
than ever,” Edwards said.
Race Talks
Fahima Osman, Samia Brotherson, Leocadia Montro-Hainly and Norma Hernandez speak at a citizens panel on actor Jesse Williams’ BET
Awards speech earlier this summer. Race Talks is part of a series of discussions on race in U.S. culture hosted the second Tuesday of
every month at McMenamins Kennedy School, accompanied by screenings of ilms by or about people of color. The next discussion, on
music and the African disaspora, will take place Sept. 12.
Terminal 1
cont’d from pg 1
tonio’s Haven for Hope homeless
camp.
Only a few years ago Williams
was embroiled in a well-publi-
cized ight to keep the homeless
camp Right 2 Dream Too out of
the Pearl District. On Wednes-
day, he testiied to the council that
helping the homeless was the re-
sponsibility of both city and busi-
ness leaders.
“Our homeless is our problem.
It’s a community problem and I
think that it’s imperative if we are
going to make progress that the
public and private side need to
both get involved,” Williams said.
The 14.5 acre site at Terminal
1 includes a 96,000-square-foot
unheated warehouse. The irst
phase of the plan would turn that
warehouse into a temporary shel-
ter that could house up to 400
people. The second phase is the
construction of a permanent shel-
ter on the site.
Commissioners Steve Novick
and Dan Saltzman approved the
proposal while Nick Fish and
Amanda Fritz voted against it.
Mayor Charlie Hales delivered
the tie-breaking vote to approve
Terminal 1.
Mayor Hales addressed the di-
“
Pearl district were concerned
about having a homeless shel-
ter next door. Numerous others
brought up the idea of using
the empty Wapato Jail as a mass
homeless shelter.
‘Let’s do the right thing, let’s make sure
we do it the right way, but above all, do
something’ —Mayor Charlie Hales
vision in his closing remarks, say-
ing that Terminal 1 is a response
to the homeless state of emergen-
cy, requiring rapid action, delib-
erate experimentation and real
money.
“Let’s keep trying to work to-
gether as a community here, even
if this is a divided vote and even
if this is a divided house today,”
Hales said. “Let’s do the right
thing, let’s make sure we do it the
right way, but above all, do some-
thing.”
About 60 people gave testimo-
ny to the council. Many from the
Members of self-organized
homeless encampments testiied
against the development of the
shelter. Terry Leight of the Ha-
zelnut Grove community said the
management, decision making
power and information is cen-
tralized in the hands of a few city
oicials and developers.
Leight told the council that this
concentration of power will ulti-
mately harm the houseless if de-
cisions are made without input
from the most vulnerable.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
cont’d from pg 1
project is inding talent we didn’t know
we had,” said Joann Hardesty, who has
been meeting with the students regu-
larly at Portland Community College’s
Cascade campus. “We have students
who didn’t think they were artists but
they actually are.”
Anthony Sylvester, a recent graduate
of Roosevelt who will head to Pomona
College in California and is interested
in studying psychology and political
science, not only created the artwork
for the comic book but also created
some computer animation for an on-
line training module.
Hardesty said when Sylvester got in-
volved with the project, he didn’t think
of himself as an artist.
Hardesty said every student has had
a role in every aspect of production,
and all students have been present at
meeting with groups like the Latino
Network or the Asian Paciic Ameri-
can Network of Oregon to discuss their
concerns and stories about interacting
with police.
Students have also brought their
own perspectives on policing into bear
during discussions.
“
into law enforcement.
She hadn’t previously been interested
in law enforcement, but the ride-along
she participated in as part of the proj-
I appreciated seeing things through police’s
eyes and being a voice for the Somalian com-
munity, which aren’t always heard
“I appreciated seeing things through
police’s eyes and being a voice for the
Somalian community, which aren’t
always heard on issues like this,” said
Faiza Jama, a sophomore at Roosevelt,
who plans to attend a historically black
college or university and eventually
return to Somalia to practice medicine.
Some students have even changed
their career goals ater participating in
the project.
Tanya Tiradio, who is in her second
year at Portland Community College,
plans to transfer to Portland State Uni-
versity and join its cadet program to go
ect changed her mind. She started to
see things from oicers’ perspectives
and saw how most approach their jobs.
“Our goal is not to paint all police of-
icers as bad. It’s for young people to
have tools when they interact with po-
lice,” Hardesty told The Skanner.
Nonetheless, said Kate McPherson,
the publications director at Roosevelt
who has been working on the project,
the project came about in part because
so many community members have
anxiety about interacting with police.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
PHOTO BY CHRISTEN MCCURDY
“
the country is run by vol-
unteers and a volunteer
board of directors, ac-
cording to Holt. She said
that pursuing paid staf
meant more work devel-
oping a funding stream
and pursuing larger
grants.
“That was more and
more diicult for an
all-volunteer board to re-
PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER
PFLAG
Tanya Tiradio, Faiza Jama, Angel Yh-palacios and
Brandt Yamamoto are all high school students or
recent graduates participating in the Youth and
the Law publication project sponsored by the
Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization’s
Summerworks program.