January 17, 2018 The Skanner Page 3
News
cont’d from pg 1
the nonprofit worked
to address financial
discrimination
facing
Black-owned businesses
in the Albina neighbor-
hood of North and North-
east Portland.
The company’s support
grew to include minority
and women-owned busi-
ness and those in low-in-
come
communities
throughout the Portland
“
lessons learned — both
the positives and the pit-
falls – while navigating
the financial terrain of
small business.
“Entrepreneurs don’t
understand the lending
and borrowing process.
It’s much different than
getting a credit card,”
said Wang.
When young business-
es are applying for loans
Entrepreneurs don’t under-
stand the lending and bor-
rowing process
Metro area.
Today, Ascent Funding
offers various loans and
lines of credit to busi-
nesses that have been
turned down by banks.
“Sometimes we’re able
to help them if they have
a low credit score or not
enough collateral,” Robin
Wang, executive direc-
tor of Ascent Funding,
told The Skanner. “But we
were thinking, what if we
could prevent that in the
first place?”
It seems the plan has
hatched.
On Feb. 2, Ascent Fund-
ing is sharing its knowl-
edge and expertise with
novice business owners
in a public event it’s call-
ing “Breaking the Barri-
ers to Capital.”
Taking place at the Cu-
rious Comedy Theater
in Northeast Portland,
“Breaking the Barri-
ers” will bring together
business leaders, lend-
ers and experts to offer
advice on how minority
business owners can get
their ducks in row when
it comes to securing cap-
ital.
Guest speakers include
entrepreneurs
Jamaal
Lane, owner of Champi-
ons Barbershop and Bar-
bering Institute, Paige
Hendrix Buckner of Cli-
entJoy, and Chris Guinn
III of Dwell Realty, all of
whom will share their
Breakfast
over $20,000, Wang said
they need to be prepared
to talk about their per-
sonal finances, which
can be intimidating or
uncomfortable for some
and even a deterrent for
others.
“People who might be
disenfranchised
with
banks and the American
financial system, they
could say, ‘I don’t want to
deal with it,’” he contin-
ued.
“Breaking the Barri-
ers” is aiming to change
that by aligning bankers
with the business com-
munity to get young en-
trepreneurs comfortable
with asking questions
and sharing their stories.
A common mistake of
first-time business own-
ers is getting into unin-
tended hot water with
the IRS. Entrepreneurs
often misstep by dipping
into their payroll taxes
to cover cash expenses.
Before they know it, they
owe much more to the
IRS in back taxes.
“Once the IRS has a
lien on your business,
no one is going to lend to
you, even five years af-
ter you’ve paid back the
IRS… So our panelists are
going to be preaching,
‘Don’t mess with the IRS,”
Wang said laughingly.
Read the rest of this story at
TheSkanner.com
PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER
Business
Racing to Change
“Racing to Change: Oregon’s Civil Rights Years” opened Jan. 15 at the Oregon Historical Society. Pictured here on opening day are Kerry
Tymchuk (left), executive director Oregon Historical Society; Kimberly Moreland, member of Oregon Black Pioneers and co-director of
the exhibit; Oregon Supreme Court Justice Adrienne Nelson; Willie Richardson, President Oregon Black Pioneers; Gov. Kate Brown; Gwen
Carr, member of Oregon Black Pioneers and co-director of the exhibit. The exhibit will remain open until June 24. For more information,
visit http://www.ohs.org/museum/exhibits/racing-to-change-oregons-civil-rights-years.cfm.
Nelson
cont’d from pg 1
Growing up Nelson considered
careers in medicine and law; her
interest in the latter was cement-
ed by a startling experience of in-
justice.
Nelson grew up in Arkansas
and was set, upon her 1985 grad-
uation, to be the valedictorian of
her class. The school had never
had a Black valedictorian before,
and administrators decided to
give the honor to the student with
the next-highest GPA – a student
who was White. That prompted
Nelson’s mother to sue.
“It was devastating, because all
of a sudden I was seen as some-
one other than who I was,” Nelson
said. “It was difficult for me as a
young person because I was in
the middle of a controversy that I
didn’t make.”
The suit ultimately did not go
to trial, as the school rescinded
its decision and Nelson became
valedictorian. The law firm her
family hired invited her to work
for them, which she did after
graduating and for two summers
in college.
Asked for her advice for young
people of color who might be in-
terested in pursuing a career in
law, Nelson said simply, “Go for
it.”
“I’ve never regretted my deci-
sion to become a lawyer,” Nelson
said. There’s not a specific path of
“
All of a sudden
I was seen as
someone other
than who I was
study aspiring lawyers need to
follow in college, she added. They
just need to keep their grades up
and stay focused on their educa-
tion.
Nelson is active in the Amer-
ican Bar Association and has
served on various committees
including the Commission on Dis-
ability Rights and the Committee
on Public Education. She is board
chair of Self Enhancement, Inc.
and sits on the Oregon Commu-
nity Foundation Metropolitan
Portland Leadership Council, the
Reed College Board of Trustees
and the Girl Scouts Beyond Bars
Advisory Board. She has served
as president of Queen’s Bench
(the Portland chapter of Ore-
gon Women Lawyers) and as an
adjunct professor at Lewis and
Clark Law School. Nelson said she
intends to continue her volunteer
commitments for the foreseeable
future, but may reevaluate her
schedule down the road, since the
new job is based in Salem.
Nelson was appointed to Mult-
nomah County’s Circuit Court in
2006 by then-Gov. Ted Kulongos-
ki; at the time she was the second
Black female judge in the state’s
history. She has spoken highly
of Kulongoski’s commitment to
diversifying the judiciary, and
praised Gov. Brown’s efforts as
well.
“I think the governor has done a
tremendous job of increasing the
diversity of the judiciary,” Nelson
said.
Committing to diversity begins
with the governor, Nelson said,
but voters can and should contin-
ue to vote to keep judges in their
positions once they’ve been ap-
pointed. Voters should also not
assume minority judges got to
where they are due to preference
policies, and should look at their
qualifications.
Read more at TheSkanner.com
cont’d from pg 1
story about a woman at a wedding in
her family who was 80 years old and,
on seeing a multiracial group gather
for photos at a family wedding between
an African American woman and an
Asian American man, “freaked out.”
According to Grace, Aunt Ruth start-
ed running people off the stage, saying,
“This is family only, get off the stage” --
until the bride approached her and told
her, “Aunt Ruth, it’s OK. It’s OK. They’re
all family.”
Grace said it’s not just her family
that’s getting more multicultural: 10
percent of African American women
are married to someone of a different
race, 10 percent of Hispanic women are
married to someone of a different race
and 26 percent of Asian woman are
in interracial marriages as well. For-
ty-two percent of people between the
ages of 18 and 34 identify as multicul-
tural, and 51 percent of children under
the age of 11 are multicultural, Grace
said.
“The changing demographics of my
family scared the bejeesus out of Aunt
Ruth, but Aunt Ruth isn’t the only one
“
The changing de-
mographics of
my family scared
the bejeesus out
of Aunt Ruth, but
Aunt Ruth isn’t
the only one who’s
scared
who’s scared. These numbers are scary
to millions of people. They are discon-
certed. Some may feel it’s un-Ameri-
can,” Grace said.
The actual Aunt Ruth has little pow-
er. But the Aunt Ruths of the world are
pushing back against the change they
see, she said.
“What if the Aunt Ruths of the world
are set loose on America’s main stage?
What if the Aunt Ruths of the world
have money and power? What if the
Aunt Ruths of the world get to deter-
mine who gets into the ‘family’ – i.e. the
United States – and what if Aunt Ruth
gets to determine who doesn’t?” Grace
said. “Suddenly, that cute little story
ain’t so cute anymore.”
Grace said until recently, she would
read about or watch stories of bigot-
ry in the world and assume somebody
would speak up and push back. With-
out mentioning President Trump by
name, she referred to his recent com-
ment referring to predominantly Black
countries as, in her words, “bleephole
countries,” and asked why no one
pushed back against him in that room
that day.
“There are 46 million Black people in
the United States. 46 million. And yet,
if you were like me, we only thought of
ourselves as individuals. If you were
like me, you stared at that television
set, frustrated and numb, and you won-
dered, ‘Who’s going to come help clean
up this situation?’” Grace said. “I’m
here to tell you there are 46 million of
you all who can step up and help clear
this up.”
Grace urged the audience to move
past fear and leverage their power as
consumers and business leaders, to
use social media, networking organiza-
tions and churches to start organizing.
“Rosa has left us. Malcolm has left us.
Martin has left us. The only us left now
is us: 46 million of us. Use your power,”
Grace said.
The video of Grace’s speech was
broadcast live on The Skanner’s Face-
book page; you can watch it here. A
broadcast of the entire breakfast will
also air on Open Signal Portland Com-
munity Media later this month.