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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 2017)
October 25, 2017 The Skanner Page 3 News ees. Oct. 28 marks the offi- cial revival of the Black Women’s Gathering — the largest congregation of African American women in over two de- cades. The open mic will also return. Under the theme, “Together We Rise in Strength, Unity & Com- munity,” hundreds are expected to turn out at Portland Community College’s Cascade Cam- pus for a commitment to social justice and a cele- bration of Black female strength and power. “There’s so much go- ing on right now related to women, particularly African American wom- en,” said Joyce Harris, a first-time organizer and original supporter of the Black Women’s Gather- “ cont’d from pg 1 ering met for the first time at the Matt Dishman Community Center, after an African American woman in the communi- ty lost her life to domes- tic violence. The gathering became an annual tradition — held each year on the Saturday before Moth- er’s Day — for women to “share food, create alli- ances, develop mentors and reflect on commu- nity issues,” wrote the organizers in a press re- lease. But eventually, over time, the volunteer-led gathering ran its course. By the mid-1990s, the women had got involved with other initiatives; some moved away, and others even passed away. Yet this year’s event — with a small planning Black women want their daughters to experience what we experienced ing. “We needed a venue for people to come to- gether.” Word has spread, with inaugural participants returning to the Rose City this week, including women from as far as At- lanta and New Orleans. And the timing couldn’t be better, said Harris. “If you think about what’s happened in the last 20 years, we’ve seen an increase in incarcera- tion of African American women,” continued Har- ris, who is the manager of community outreach at Northwest Education. “We’ve seen growing disparities in educa- tion. There’s also the big movement, ‘Say Her Name,’ for Black women who have been victims of police brutality.” Harris moved to Port- land in 1969 to attend Reed College, and in 1980 she co-founded the Black Educational Center, which ran for 27 years. As an educator and ac- tive community member, Harris said the decision to bring back the gath- ering was finalized after just one conversation among a handful of her peers. Closing the generation- al gap was also a driving factor in the gathering’s revival, explained Har- ris. “Black women want their daughters to expe- rience what we experi- enced.” Yet what really brought it home for Harris was the recent homicide on a 26-year-old African American woman, Lila F. Streeter, at the hands of her partner on Oct. 2 in Southeast Portland. Initiated in the 1980s, the Black Women’s Gath- committee along with immense support and anticipation — will no doubt pick up where it left off over 20 years ago. The gathering will open at 10 a.m. with what the organizers are calling a “healthy body warm-up,” followed by a ritual libation to call on the female ancestors who “laid the groundwork,” said Harris. Those who have passed on will also be recog- nized for their dedica- tion to civil rights, in- cluding Judge Mercedes Deiz, the first Black wom- an judge in Oregon, and activist Bobbi Gary, who fought against racial dis- crimination. The day’s program will include shared meals, workshops, and a chance to honor the achieve- ments of the city’s Black women leaders and busi- ness moguls. Female doctors, in- cluding Oregon History Makers recipient Nath- alie Johnson of Legacy Health, will be present to speak on health-re- lated issues and trauma that affect Black women; and entertainment will be provided by Julianne Johnson-Weiss, to sing the Black National An- them, and poet and spo- ken word artist Tasha Williams. Judy Boyer, communi- ty activist and member of the early Black Wom- en’s Gathering planning team, has also returned this year as an organiz- er. “I look forward to a day of celebration as our theme of many years ago proclaimed: We come to- gether as a celebration of our being, our spirits and our survival.” PHOTO COURTESY OF PORTLAND PARKS & RECREATION Gathering Volunteers Sought for No Ivy Day Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R)’s No Ivy League welcomes volunteers across the region to take part in the 14th annual No Ivy Day. Volunteers will focus on removing this invasive species from Portland’s treasured parks and natural areas from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Oct. 28. Volunteers will work at sites across the metro Portland area including: Baltimore Woods Natural Area, Forest Park, Hoyt Arboretum, Gateway Green, Johnson Lake, Marquam Nature Park, Mt. Tabor Park, Terwilliger Parkway, River View Natural Area, Springwater Corridor Trail, Woods Memorial Park and many more sites. To learn more, visit https://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/article/634648. During last year’s No Ivy Day, more than 350 volunteers removed more than three acres of ground ivy and cleared the harmful vine from a whopping 130 trees. Forest cont’d from pg 1 unique challenge for the Forest Service itself, is how do we sup- port these missions that are out in these locations?” Jones said. Jones has worked for the Forest Service for two years, after spend- ing most of his adult career in the military, based out of Ft. Lewis Army Base in Tacoma, Wash. He holds a bachelor’s degree in infor- mation system security from ITT Technical Institute – which was the natural culmination of a life- long interest in technology and a tendency to tinker. “My father bought us a Zenith TV, which had a picture-in-pic- ture (a feature that displayed two images, from different chan- nels, at the same time). As a kid, I thought it was two TVs in there,” said Jones, who grew up in Missis- sippi. “The babysitters must have been doing something, and I got a screwdriver and took the whole thing apart.” He got in trouble, though he did Grant put the TV back together. But as time went on, he became the per- son family members would ask for help when a piece of electron- ic equipment was broken or mal- “ There’s no Verizon, there’s no AT&T out in these locations functioning. “Some may think when you say U.S. Forest Service we’re thinking natural resources, we’re thinking recreational -- planting trees and fighting fires,” said Forest Service spokesperson Shandra Terry. “But it really shows the business function side of who we are as well.” The Forest Service is one of the sponsors of The Skanner Foun- dation’s scholarships, for which applications are due Oct. 31. Ter- ry is hopeful young people who are interested in technology will consider careers working for the Forest Service. Terry and Jones said those look- ing to pursue a career path like Jones’ should consider majors like geographic information systems, computer science or degrees with IT or security concentrations like Jones’. Jones also noted applying for jobs with the U.S. government can be daunting, and he applied for several positions before he got the job he has. He urged potential applicants to seek feedback on re- jections if it’s available and to be persistent. “I moved up the ladder rather quick, also, for someone my age and where I’m at in my career, just because the IT field is so di- verse and it’s amazing. So that’s one thing I can say, looking back on my life, that one decision that I know I did right is the career field that I chose,” Jones said. cont’d from pg 1 for women.” Local jails, according to the SJC’s website, are meant to hold people serving short sentences, while detaining those awaiting court proceedings who pose a threat to public safety. However, many jails have be- come warehouses for people with mental health and substance abuse issues. Facilities are bloat- ed with individuals held on non- violent traffic, property, drug or public order offenses, and incar- ceration is levied disproportion- ately against people of color. In 2015 Multnomah County was among the preliminary cohort of 20 jurisdictions selected for inclusion in SJC’s collaborative network. The selection process drew applications from nearly 200 ju- risdictions in 45 states and ter- ritories, and an initial award of $150,000 helped the county fund the Racial and Ethnic Disparities Report, a bleak account of inequi- ty released to the public in Febru- ary of 2016. Produced by independent re- searchers assigned to the coun- ty, the report found that people of color are negatively impacted in greater numbers than White “ Many jails have become ware- houses for peo- ple with mental health and sub- stance abuse issues counterparts at every stage of the criminal justice system — from initial contact through arrest, detainment, prosecution, sen- tencing and parole or probation violations — and that disparity is greatest for Black individuals. Jurisdictions participating in the SJC were asked to develop plans for targeting resources and implementing more effective risk assessment to determine if con- finement is really necessary. In response, Multnomah Coun- ty and its Local Public Safety Co- ordinating Council (LPSCC) draft- ed a list of 12 strategies aimed at addressing system inefficiencies and initiating alternatives to jail. Proposed changes include shortening the time it takes to process probation violations through the court system, de- creasing jail stays for misde- meanor defendants undergoing mental health evaluations, and expanding the use of citations in lieu of jail for certain misde- meanor charges. Additionally, individuals who use the transpor- tation system without paying will no longer face jail sanctions. Read more at TheSkanner.com
