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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 2017)
AUGUST 30, 2017 Portland and Seattle Volume XXXIX No. 48 25 CENTS News ...............................3,9,10 A & E .....................................6-7 Opinion ...................................2 48-Hour Rule ...................9 Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11 CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW PHOTO COURTESY OF ACLU OF OREGON WE ARE NOT GOING BACK “Justice is blind” statue, as part of “They Report to You” campaign. By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News T he ACLU of Oregon launched a campaign on Sunday aimed at upping voter participation next spring from Oregonians across the state. The campaign focuses on district at- torneys, the most powerful elected of- ficials in the criminal justice system. And with 36 district attorneys (one per county), the civil rights organization wants to encourage more Oregonians to vote in those races. “They Report to You” has been launched as a multi-year and multi-fac- eted campaign focused on district attor- ney accountability and criminal justice AP PHOTO/MARK HUMPHREY See ACLU on page 3 People stand for the Pledge of Allegiance during a meeting of the standing committee on rules at the Republican National Committee summer meeting, Aug. 24 in Nashville. RNC Votes to Condemn White Supremacy page 9 One of the Oldest HBCUs in the US Could Close page 10 Attorney, political advocate and CNN commentator Angela Rye was one of the keynote speakers at the Commemoration of the 54th Anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Justice “We Are Not Going Back” Aug. 28 at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park on Martin Luther King Jr, Way South in Seattle. Rye spoke about how after more than 50 years, the same goals of jobs and freedom Martin Luther King Jr. had spoken about during the March on Washington in 1963 are still unattained. She emphasized the continued need to organize to fight for justice. Other featured speakers included the Reverend Dr. Samuel B. McKinney, former NBA Head Coach Lenny Wilkens, Mayor Ed Murray, King County Executive Dow Constantine, King County Council member Larry Gossett and Seattle/King County NAACP President Gerald Hankerson and many other local religious and civil rights leaders. Schools to Adopt K-12 Ethnic Studies Program Bill requires advisory committee to convene by next summer By Christen McCurdy Of The Skanner News E arlier this summer, Oregon passed legisla- tion making it the first state in the country to require schools to adopt an ethnic studies curriculum. HB 2845, which was signed into law June 29 and which was backed by a coa- lition of racial justice advo- cacy groups, will require the state to adopt a K-12 eth- nic studies curriculum for students throughout the state — to be implement- ed by 2021. In addition to highlighting the history of racial and ethnic minori- ties, the curriculum would also focus on the histories and contributions of social minorities such as sexual and religious minorities and people with disabili- ties. The bill mandates that the state create an adviso- ry committee — to consist of representatives from the Commission on Black Affairs, the Commission on Indian Services, the Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs, the Oregon Disabilities Commission and the Com- mission for Woman. The advisory committee will also include a represen- tative of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, a K-12 educa- tor and a university pro- fessor on ethnic studies. The committee will also include two current public school students in grade 7 through 12. The bill requires the ad- visory group to identify where current statewide social studies standards fail to recognize the his- tories of ethnic and social minorities, to develop ethnic studies standards for adoption into existing statewide social studies standards — and to select materials, resources, sam- ple curricula and skills training programs for school districts and teach- ers. HB 2845 was sponsored by Rep. Diego Hernandez (D-Portland) and legisla- tive hearings included sev- See STUDIES on page 3 Summer Internship Program for Youth Reaches Milestone SummerWorks is serving the highest number of youths since its 2009 launch By Melanie Sevcenko Of The Skanner News S ummerWorks applauded some 30 interns it helped employ this summer during a special lun- cheon at Tamale Boy in North Portland last week. David Douglas High School stu- dent Guwo Duku participated in an internship at Dress for Success. The organization, which provides donat- ed professional attire for women, is one of the program’s 550 worksites across private sector companies, nonprofits, city bureaus and county departments. Duku told The Skanner that she’s looking to pur- sue a career in the medi- cal field, but has always PHOTO BY MOTOYA NAKAMURA A new campaign of the ALCU of Oregon asks for more voter participation in electing prosecutors PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED What Does a DA Really Do? Commissioner Loretta Smith with SummerWorks interns at See INTERNSHIP on page 3 Tamale Boy luncheon, Aug. 23, 2017.