September 6, 2017 The Skanner Page 3
News
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tice when someone is be-
ing silenced because we
are thinking about our
own discomfort and our
own experience,” contin-
ued Stark.
“It’s really good to feel
uncomfortable and to be
able to sit with that feel-
ing. It’s an integral part
of the process of growth
and change.”
The model is also
It’s really good to feel un-
comfortable and to be able to
sit with that feeling
unique. While The Old
Church provides the ven-
ue, local organizations
can design their own
program for “We Can
Listen” that specifical-
ly addresses topics and
causes which concern
them.
On Sept. 12, the series
presents a screening of
“Black Girl in Suburbia,”
a documentary directed
by Portland-native Me-
lissa Lowery.
As its title suggests, the
55-minute film looks into
the experiences of Black
girls as they grow up in
predominately
White
communities, and face
the conflicts of navigat-
ing and relating to their
homogeneous
home-
towns.
Lowery was inspired
to make the film through
her childhood experi-
ence of moving with her
mother and siblings to
West Linn, a White and
wealthy suburb of Port-
land.
Through conversations
with teachers, scholars
and the Lowery’s own
daughters, “Black Girl
in Suburbia” works as a
conversation starter for
race relations, identity
and perspective — all key
topics to the series.
The notion for “We Can
Listen” came about short-
ly before the presidential
Pruiett
issue in the election,”
Stark said. “The election
was the shock that really
shook more people out of
their comfort zone.”
Its inaugural event
last April was “The
Power of Being Heard,”
programmed by Gram-
my-nominated record-
ing artist Julianne John-
son. The roundtable
included staffer Lincoln,
who is also a musician,
and Rwandan genocide
survivor Solange Im-
panoyimana. All three
women offered narra-
tives drawn from their
own lives and engaged in
a discussion around the
importance of listening.
“We Can Listen” is
free to everyone. Check
theoldchurch.org
for
future programs in this
series that cover topics
deemed crucial to Port-
landers, including rac-
ism, homelessness, en-
vironmental concerns,
gender equality and
more.
“Black Girl in Subur-
bia” has been presented
at the St. Louis Inter-
national Film Festival,
the International Black
Women Film Festival
and Portland Oregon’s
Women Film Festival,
among others.
A discussion featuring
the director will follow
the screening.
Susheela Jayapal
Announces Run for
Multnomah County
Commission
Community activist Susheela Jayapal announced Tuesday her candidacy
for the District 2 position of the Multnomah County Commission. The
District 2 seat, representing North and Northeast Portland, has been
occupied since 2010 by Commissioner Loretta Smith, who is unable to
run for the seat again due to term limits outlined in the county charter.
Jayapal is a former corporate attorney for Adidas and Ater Wynne
Hewitt Dodson & Skerritt. Her LinkedIn Page lists advocacy work with
a long list of progressive organizations: Planned Parenthood Columbia
Willamette, Portland Schools Foundation, All Hands Raised, Literary Arts,
Metropolitan Family Service, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council. She
has also evaluated grants for Oregon Community Foundation and has
served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in foster care.
According to the press release, Jayapal was born in India, and grew up in
Singapore and Indonesia, emigrating to the United States at 16 to attend
college. At the age of 16, her parents sent her to the United States to attend
college. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Swarthmore
College and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. She lives
in Northeast Portland and has two grown children; her younger sister,
Pramila, represents Washington state in the House of Representatives.
Jayapal is the first to declare candidacy for the District 2 seat.
Immigrants
cont’d from pg 1
“show me your papers” law, and
Initiative Petition 22 — an Oregon
petition to overturn the state’s
30-year-old sanctuary law.
But dos Santos opened his re-
marks noting the immigrants’
rights community was also
waiting to hear what would hap-
pen to the Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals program,
or DACA. President Trump had,
earlier in the week, hinted he
would be ending the program,
which shields immigrants who
were brought to the United States
from deportation and offers them
work permits and the opportu-
nity to attend school. The Trump
administration made good on
last week’s threats Tuesday, with
an announcement that DACA’s
protections would be phased out
within six months. The president
has also called on Congress to re-
place the act.
“It just feels like a very heavy
day in the immigrant rights com-
munity,” dos Santos said.
While DACA’s fate remained
uncertain, forum participants –
addressing about 50 people at an
event announced the previous
afternoon — discussed a ballot
measure campaign to overturn
Oregon’s sanctuary state law.
That law, which restricts the
ability of local law enforcement
to enforce federal immigration
laws, was passed in 1987 with
strong bipartisan support, Wil-
liams said.
“
Oregonians for
Immigration
Reform had
received $3,000
from US, Inc., a
White national-
ist organization
The petition to strike it was cre-
ated by Oregonians for Immigra-
tion Reform.
In August The Oregonian re-
ported Oregonians for Immigra-
tion Reform had received $3,000
from US, Inc., a White nationalist
organization based out of Peto-
sky, Michigan. Oregonians For
Immigration Reform has created
a committee specifically for the
petition campaign — the Repeal
Oregon Sanctuary Law Commit-
tee, which has a separate list-
ing on Orestar, the Secretary of
State’s campaign finance records
website. That page lists a number
of small contributions and sever-
al large transactions from OFIR.
So far the US Inc. contribution
is one of a small number of out-
of-state contributions listed on
Orestar.
The petition committee is run
by Republican State Representa-
tives Greg Barreto of Cove, Mike
Nearman
of
Independence
and Sal Esquivel of Medford.
Williams said the petition is
still under judicial review, but
immigration rights activists ex-
pect it to gather the 88,000 signa-
tures necessary to make it to the
ballot.
IP 22 is similar to Texas’ SB 4,
which bans sanctuary cities and
requires local law enforcement to
enforce immigration law.
Texas’ law was struck down by
a federal court last week, but dos
Santos expects appeals.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
cont’d from pg 1
nonprofits there. I worked with home-
less youth, women who were underem-
ployed and with families. So I’ve always
had this social justice leaning in my
heart.
I left Spokane to continue to grow
my career, and I came back to Portland
which is where my family lived. My
mom modeled to us what a dedicated
public servant looked like. I wasn’t
sure I wanted to be a police officer, so
I started looking for jobs. True story,
my mom said, “Erika, you need to look
for a good government job. You’ve done
your time in private nonprofits.”
So I started looking through the
county and city websites, then I saw the
Multnomah County probation and pa-
role officer job description. It was the
perfect blend of the social justice pas-
sion that I had – and it also included an
opportunity to learn a new skill, which
was public safety and law enforcement.
To further that, it really was a great
way to honor my mom.
TSN: As a parole and probation of-
ficer, tell us about your experience
working with gang members in North-
east Portland.
“
How do we effec-
tively engage in
our communities,
especially at a time
when there’s so
much distrust in
law enforcement?
EP: Often times people are concerned
about living in the same community
where they are working with their cli-
ents. You bump into them at the store or
the gas station, or in the normal course
of walking through your community.
I lived and grew up in Northeast Port-
land, just off of MLK Jr. Blvd. We expe-
rienced a lot in our community grow-
ing up and this was before it began to
be gentrified. I was really honored to
work in Northeast Portland, and the
majority of the people on my caseload
lived in Northeast Portland.
So working with the gang members
was really something that was reward-
ing to me, because I was able to give
back and work with people who were
looking to change their lives and to help
facilitate that change. Ultimately we’re
all responsible for our own change, but
to be a part of providing resources was
something that was really important to
me. I wanted to be a part of the solution
in our community.
Regarding gang activity, we’ve seen
it ebb and flow. But what I believe that
has happened for the last few years it
that community and criminal justice
partners have done a great job of com-
ing up with programming, resources,
support and mentoring for young gang
members. I’m really proud to be a part
MULTNOMAH COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY JUSTICE
“
election last November,
said Stark, when the non-
profit’s newest employee
— Moe Lincoln, a young
African American wom-
an — shared her story of
being pulled over by a
Portland police officer.
“Fast forward to the
post-election fallout and
it quickly became ap-
parent that racism was
a rampant and a core
PHOTO COURTESY OF SUSHEELA FOR MULTNOMAH COUNTY
Suburbia
Erika Preuitt is the new president of the American
Probation and Parole Association
of initiating some of those collabora-
tions, like the Gang Impacted Family
Team (GIFT).
Read more at TheSkanner.com
