MAY 24, 2017
Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 34
25
CENTS
News .............................. 3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7
Opinion ...................................2 Starting Over .................10
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
HONORING BLACK HISTORY
ON WILLIAMS AVENUE
From left to right: James Buckley, venerable chair
in Historic Preservation (UO); Willie Richardson,
president of the Oregon Black Pioneers; and Chris
Bell, instructor of Historic Preservation (UO).
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
O
n May 17, the  Oregon Black Pio-
neers  were awarded the annu-
al  George McMath Historic Pres-
ervation Award. The distinction
is presented by the University of Ore-
gon’s Historic Preservation Program,
an interdisciplinary curriculum with-
in the School of Architecture and Allied
Arts.
The award celebrates leaders who
promote excellence in preservation
practice and have made significant con-
tributions to historic preservation in
AP PHOTO/EVAN VUCCI, POOL
See PIONEERS on page 3
U.S. President Donald Trump, left, meets Pope
Francis, May 24 at the Vatican.
World News
Briefs page 8
Kam Previews New
Movies Opening
page 6
This Week
Artists Cleo Davis and Kayin Talton Davis pose with daughter Olowafemi in front of a few of the signs they created to honor Black history on Williams
Avenue at a community preview May 20 at Billy Webb Elks Lodge in North Portland.
New Public Art Project Pays Tribute to Black Community in Albina
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
C
leo Davis and Kayin
Talton Davis grew
up in Northeast Port-
land.
Both
visual
artists
and designers, together
they run two business-
es — Soapbox Theory and
Screw Loose Studios — that
promote positive images of
Black community and also
provide design and print-
ing services for events like
funerals, receptions and
weddings.
So when they heard there
was an opportunity to hon-
or the history of Portland’s
African American com-
munity through art, Davis
knew they had to take it on.
“When I first heard about
it, I said, ‘I’d do it for free,’”
Davis told a crowd of about
100 people at Billy Webb
Elks Lodge Saturday after-
noon.
The lodge is situated at
the corner of North Tilla-
mook and Williams, in the
heart of what was once a
thriving Black business
district, and most in the
crowd were longtime or
former residents of the
neighborhood, there by in-
vitation from the Portland
Bureau of Transportation
to preview Davis and Tal-
ton Davis’ art project be-
fore the work is installed
along Williams Avenue.
The couple responded
to a request for proposals
from the Regional Arts and
Culture Commission for
a public art project hon-
oring the history of Black
Portland. Davis initially
envisioned sidewalk tiles
—like the stars on the Hol-
lywood Walk of Fame in
Los Angeles. Talton Davis,
his wife, suggested signs in
the style of event posters.
The end project incorpo-
rates both ideas: it will con-
sist of murals embedded
into the sidewalk as well
as signs with art and text
describing events, promi-
nent citizens and institu-
tions central to the lives
of Black Portlanders in the
Albina neighborhood, par-
ticularly North Williams
Avenue between Broadway
and Killingsworth. PBOT
organized
Saturday’s
event, inviting commu-
nity members to preview
the art — and stakehold-
ers to discuss the history
of the neighborhood and
the project — before it is
See WILLIAMS on page 3
SIFF Screens Police Documentaries
Both ‘The Force’ and ‘Whose Streets?’ examine
community mistrust in law enforcement
By Melanie Sevcenko
Of The Skanner News
E
ach year — among celebrity-rid-
dled mainstream cinema and
quirky indie selections — the Se-
attle International Film Festival
(May 18-June 11) brings a wide-rang-
ing showcase of documentary films
from across the globe.
This edition, two docs from Afri-
can American directors tackle the
topical and complex issues of police
accountability and the Black Lives
Matter movement during the period
between 2014 and 2016.
“The
Force,”
from
Emmy
Award-winning  filmmaker Peter
Nicks, provides an in-depth, verite
look into the Oakland Police Depart-
ment, as it grapples to reform and
redeem itself after a decade-plus
rap sheet in misconduct; while first-
time director Sabaah Folayan hashes
out racial tensions between the cops
and community activists in “Whose
PHOTO COURTESY OF SIFF
Oregon Black Pioneers
first to receive McMath
Preservation Award
PHOTO BY CHRISTEN MCCURDY
Black
Pioneers
Receive
Award
‘Whose Streets?’ director Sabaah Folayan
Streets?”
“This year, in particular, every doc-
umentary has seemed more relevant
See SIFF on page 3