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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2017)
October 11, 2017 The Skanner Page 3 News KairosPDX cont’d from pg 1 Academy – a K-8 school for exceptionally gift- ed (and predominately White) children – would move to KairosPDX’s current location, the former building of Hum- boldt Elementary School. In the reshuffling, Kai- rosPDX would be left without a home. Opened with the inten- tion of helping to close KairosPDX as a pipeline through which to feed students into Tubman Middle School, thereby allowing students of col- or to continue their edu- cation in their own com- munity. Hernandez also makes clear his unwavering commitment to racial eq- uity. “We have no toler- ance for decisions made the racial achievement gap, the K-5 charter school serves 126 stu- dents — 75 percent of which are youth of col- or — and incorporates Black history and an Af- ro-centric approach to its curriculum. According to recent data released by the Ore- gon Department of Edu- cation, only 30 percent of Black children in grades three through eight can read at a third-grade lev- el. Citing this statistic in a letter to the PPS board, dated Oct. 2, Rep. Diego Hernandez (D-Portland) urged members to allow KairosPDX to negotiate a longer-term lease at the Humboldt site. “PPS has a tragic and unfortunate history of displacing Black stu- dents and their families, and of excluding Black communities from the decision-making pro- cess,” wrote Hernan- dez, who also sits on the board of the Reynolds School District. “As is known but often for- gotten, the founding of Portland Public Schools was itself based on Black segregation and institu- tional racism.” In his letter — signed by nine other board members of color from neighboring districts — Hernandez portrays Oregon History Makers Awarded ‘for others,’” he wrote. “Our identities as mem- bers of marginalized communities require that we make ourselves accountable to directly impacted communities. We hold you to the same standard.” Mayor Ted Wheeler and House Speak Tina Kotek have also voiced their support of allowing KairosPDX to keep its building. PPS Board Chair Julia Brim-Edwards, too, is ve- hemently opposed to dis- placing the charter. “Since last spring, I shared with district staff that displacing Kairos students from Humboldt as part of the middle school openings plan was not something that I would support, and given Portland Public Schools history in Albi- na would not likely be supported by the com- munity,” she said in an emailed statement to The Skanner. Brim-Edwards noted that the board is to re- ceive a final staff plan later in the week. “If Kairos is still scheduled to be displaced,” she con- tinued, “I will offer or support an amendment to the plan so that Kairos can remain in Humboldt and negotiate a reason- able lease extension with the school district.” The Oregon Historical Society hosted its annual dinner at the historic Montgomery Park building in Portland Oct. 8, during which recipients were presented with the 2017 Oregon History Makers Medal. First awarded in 2009, the History Makers Medal is presented annually by OHS to individuals and organizations that are positively shaping the history, culture, and landscape of Oregon. Proceeds from the History Makers Dinner support every aspect of the Oregon Historical Society’s important work to collect, preserve, and interpret Oregon’s past. Pictured here are OHS board president Carl Christoferson (left); recipients Mark and Pat Reser (owners, Reser’s Fine Foods, family-run manufacturer and distributor of fresh and frozen prepared foods); recipient Bill Schonley (sports broadcaster who was the play-by-play announcer for the Portland Trail Blazers for almost three decades), recipient Nathalie Johnson (practicing surgical oncologist and medical director of the Legacy Cancer Institute and the Legacy Breast Health centers), recipient Nicholas Kristof (columnist for The New York Times since 2001, a two-time Pultizer Prize-winner who writes op-ed columns that appear twice a week), and OHS executive director Kerry Tymchuck. Sticker cont’d from pg 1 land neighborhoods, including Alameda, where Wells lives. Transposed against an Ameri- can flag-like background, they read, “In our America, all people are equal, love wins, Black lives matter, immigrants & refugees are welcome, disabilities are re- spected, women are in charge of their bodies, people & planet are valued over profit, diversity is celebrated.” The sticker used a similar de- sign and read, “In our America, all ‘men’ are created equal, Trump wins, all lives matter, legal immi- grants are welcome to assimilate, individual rights are respect- ed under the law, reproductive choices are a private matter, free market capitalism determines value, Western culture is cele- brated.” Wells told The Skanner she talk- ed to her letter carrier, who en- couraged her to file a complaint, which she has not yet done, and also to her neighbors, none of whom received similar messages. She is African American and her wife is White; most of their imme- diate neighbors are also White, and have lived for 20 years in a neighborhood Wells describes as “pretty homogeneous” and has been the entire time she’s lived there. “ I just wanted to let people know that this is hap- pening and that we must contin- ue to be vigilant in our resis- tance to it Wells thinks her household – which bears signs with political slogans including “Black Lives Matter” and “Love Wins” — was targeted specifically. The sticker has appeared twice more in her mailbox, she said. Last fall, before the election, she said, someone posted pro-Trump flyers to her fence. An early childhood educator, Wells has also written columns about bullying for the Concordia News – and early this year helped draft a statement about inclusion on behalf of the neighborhood as- sociation. “I just wanted to let people know that this is happening and that we must continue to be vig- ilant in our resistance to it,” she told The Skanner. Wells has lived in Portland for 40 years and when asked if she’s encountered anything like this before, she initially said no. Then she said, “Let me back up.” “Years ago, and by years ago I mean the ‘80s, I was walking with a friend near Shemanski Park, near the Schnitzer. Something flew past me and went splat,” she said. It was an egg. She turned around and saw a group of young White men shouting racial slurs. Part of what troubles her about the flyers — and reminds her of the downtown incident from so many years ago, when the young men quickly ran away — is the an- onymity, the refusal to engage. “It’s always in motion or under cover of night or anonymously,” she said. “If you’re going to do it, then good gracious, stop and have a conversation.” Read more at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 owned by women, people of color, and especially African Americans — by helping them promote an equitable lo- cal economy. “The business mix is also important,” Wicks told The Skanner, which means the agency is looking for “an active des- tination business or something that’s going to add a needed service to the area.” The program is in alignment with the North/Northeast Community Devel- opment Initiative Action Plan which, through the guidance of communities of color, uses tax increment funds to create economic opportunities for businesses, property owners and resi- dents in the Interstate Corridor. That’s why Alberta Commons, in the heavily gentrified Northeast neighbor- “ The agency is look- ing for ‘an active destination busi- ness or something that’s going to add a needed service to the area’ hood, is an ideal model for the program, according to Prosper Portland. “It was driven by the community,” said Anne Mangan, senior communica- tions coordinator at Prosper Portland. “They wanted to have this kind of a program in place for Alberta Commons ahead of time, for disadvantaged busi- nesses and business that could get a foothold here that otherwise might not be able to.” In addition to the Alberta develop- ment, the Affordable Commercial Ten- anting Program is also available at two sites in Lents Town Center in southeast Portland. For more information, visit http:// prosperportland.us. Prospective ten- ants can submit an application online. PHOTO BY COURTESY OF PROSPER PORTLAND Alberta PHOTO BY BERNIE FOSTER “ As is known but often forgotten, the founding of Portland Public Schools was itself based on Black segregation and institutional racism Colas Construction, general contractor of Alberta Commons.
