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.