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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 8, 2017)
FEBRUARY 8, 2017 25 CENTS Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 19 News .............................. 3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7 Opinion ...................................2 Emmitt Till .......................9 Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW PHOTO BY MELANIE SEVCENKO LADY A’S LUNCHEON Relocation Assistance rally, organized by Portland Tenants United, outside Portland City Hall, Feb. 2, 2017. By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News O n behalf of Multifamily NW, an association of property owners and managers, attorney John DiLorenzo sued the city days after it passed an ordinance requiring land- lords to provide relocation assistance to tenants evicted without cause. DiLorenzo did not respond to The Skanner’s request for comment, but the suit claims the new ordinance conflicts with the state prohibition on rent con- trol. The suit, filed Monday, follows direct- AP PHOTO/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE See LANDLORDS on page 3 Holding a transcript of her speech in the Senate Chamber, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts reacts to being rebuked by the Senate leadership and accused of impugning a fellow senator, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. World News Briefs Travel ban, Warren barred and more page 10 Unequal Justice page 8 Lyric Nasir Rochelle Simpson, 8, claps for the inspirational words of Mother Margaret Hardin 104 during Lady A’s Ladies Luncheon Feb. 4 at the NW African American Museum. Lady A brought together 200 women for an afternoon of inspiration that included music, comedy and personal stories. Program Helps Black Students Outpace Oregon’s Average Graduation Rates Graduation rates among Black students were up 3.6 percent in 2016 By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News B ack in 2010, the four- year high school graduation rate for Portland Public Schools was under 55 per- cent. For African Amer- ican students, it sat at 44 percent. But in recent years, one program in particular has been making strides to improve the academic per- formance of the city’s most vulnerable students. As a nonprofit organi- zation, Self Enhancement Inc. has been supporting at-risk urban youth in the greater Portland area for more than 30 years. It of- fers both academic and nonacademic services, as well as college and career preparation, parenting re- sources and counseling. When Jefferson High School in North Portland – Oregon’s only remaining majority-Black public high school – took a look at SEI’s graduation rates, it got in- spired. For two decades, 97 percent of SEI’s predomi- nantly low-income African American core program students have been gradu- ating from high school on time, and 85 percent were going on to post-secondary education. SEI’s success lies in its in- tegrated approach, accord- ing to president and CEO Tony Hopson Sr. “SEI services the stu- dents, the families, the schools and the commu- nity,” Hopson said. “It also maintains its relationship with students from ele- mentary school through college or a family wage job, basically until stu- dents become adults.” Threatened with closure due to declining enroll- ment and poor perfor- mance – with only around half of the senior class graduating – Jefferson de- cided to use the its nega- tive statistics as a catalyst for change. In 2011, the high school partnered with Portland Public Schools and Self En- hancement Inc. to create the SEI Whole School Mod- el for underserved youth – and the results have con- tinued to improve year by year. The program works by making available SEI’s mentoring, tutoring, and See GRADUATION on page 3 Reacting to the Travel Ban Community groups offer legal resources, advice on engagement in wake of rapid changes in immigration By The Skanner News Staff T uesday afternoon the Ninth Cir- cuit Court heard arguments on whether it will restore Presi- dent Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 ex- ecutive order banning travel to and from seven predominantly-Muslim nations. That hearing was the result of the states of Washington and Minne- sota’s legal brief arguing against the Trump administration’s appeal (which was later joined by attorneys general from multiple states, includ- ing Oregon). The executive order has been the subject of numerous other legal complaints, including a lawsuit brought last week by immigrants’ rights groups in Oregon. The 9th Circuit Court has said it will issue a decision on the execu- tive order as soon as possible. It’s not clear whether the court will over- PHOTO BY CHRISTEN MCCURDY A property managers’ association has filed suit against the city over relocation assistance PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED Making Landlords Pay Mat dos Santos, legal director for ACLU of Oregon, speaks at a Feb. 1 press conference with Manije Mehrnoosh, Unite Oregon board co- chair and Muwafaq Alkattan, Unite Oregon staff member and Iraqi refugee. turn the ban entirely, or merely over- turn parts of it. See BAN on page 3