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
