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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2018)
February 7, 2018 The Skanner Portland Page 3 News cont’d from pg 1 honoring Black Excel- lence, which is the pillar of her high school’s Black History celebration. Every day during the month of February, Jef- ferson will recognize an African American student for their merits – from good grades to goodwill. “We have staff mem- The festival will expand upon the production’s mes- sage of truth, unity and hope bers that we’ll be honor- ing too, because they do a lot for us and don’t al- ways get recognized,” Dy- amond told The Skanner. Jefferson joins oth- ers like Roosevelt High School in hosting Black History Month assem- bles throughout the month. Alongside the library exhibits – on display for the duration of February – the Black History Fes- tival NW will span from Troutdale to Beaverton, combining arts, educa- tion and advocacy at its heart through a number of culturally-specific events. According to its di- rector Shalanda Sims, the festival grew out of World Stage Theatre’s production of “Who I Am Celebrating Me,” a long-running stage play that celebrates Black cul- ture. Sims, who is also the founder and artistic di- rector of World Stage Theatre, said the festival will expand upon the production’s message of truth, unity and hope, which “transcends per- petual negative images portrayed by mass media and the criminal justice system.” “More and more through social media, African Americans and people of color in gener- al are seeking safe spac- es to attach themselves to, as well as organizing Lawsuit of World War I’s closure to the current War on Terrorism. In addition to the 12th annual performance of “Who I Am Celebrating Me” (Feb. 11 – 12), festi- val highlights include a month-long Black Histo- ry Scavenger Hunt, gos- pel service, book fair, and a screening of the highly anticipated Marvel mov- ie “Black Panther.” On Feb. 24, the Black History Festival NW will wrap a month of celebra- tion with the Unity Gala at Self Enhancement Inc. With keynote speaker Jemele Hill – journalist and co-host of ESPN’s Sports Center 6 – the gala will exhibit works and products of local Black artists and vendors. The festival, whose sponsors include Ore- gon Metro and the Re- gional Arts and Culture Council, is also aiming to bridge economic, social and generational gaps through its program- ming. For Ricky Pettifort, ad- visor at Jefferson’s Black Student Union, the last part is crucial. “What Portland, in my mind, has done is de- stroyed the Black com- munity,” said Pettifort. “And by doing that, what once connected us – the elders and the youth – that doesn’t exist any- more.” Read the rest of this story at TheSkanner.com Church Seeks Children for Easter Choir The historic Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church in North Portland is once again gathering children who love to sing, from the ages of four years to 14 from the community for the Easter Celebration taking place April 1. Four scheduled choir rehearsals will take place March 10, 17, 24 and 31 at 3 p.m. at the church location of 3138 North Vancouver Avenue. Following each rehearsal session, lunch will be provided for the children prepared by a host of local adult chaperones. Free Transportation services are also available upon request for each rehearsal. For more information and or to sign your child up, please contact Raymond Burell at (503) 593- 5285/or at raymondburell@hotmail.com, or contact the church office directly at (503) 282-9496. Measure cont’d from pg 1 about four-and-a half years in two juvenile justice facilities in Ore- gon — but White still has a felony charge on his record. Though he received job training and several certifications while incarcerated — including a forklift license and a food handler’s license — White told The Skanner that after he was released, he struggled to find work and housing. He also feels he was more fortu- nate than many in having family and mentors to offer him shelter and support while he re-entered society. Now White works at POIC + Rosemary Anderson High School mentoring youth in the school’s community healing initiative. He also works with the Anne E. Casey Foundation to advocate for youth and for criminal justice reform. “If I had the power to eradicate [Measure 11], I would. It’s too many young individuals, it’s too many African Americans, it’s too many Latinos — it’s too many peo- ple of color that are being pun- ished for crimes that are products of circumstance,” said White, who is African American. Earlier this month, the Oregon Council on Civil Rights published a report in partnership with the Oregon Justice Resource Center — “Youth and Measure 11: Impacts of Mandatory Minimums” – that includes some damning statistics on racial disparities in Oregon’s “ I was very, very, very illiterate when it came to law or my rights juvenile justice system. It found: • Black youth make up 15.5 per- cent of Measure 11 indictments, but only 1.8 percent of the gen- eral population in Oregon; • Black youth were nearly three times as likely as White youth to face a Measure 11 charge, and nearly five times as likely to be indicted; • Black youth face conviction at rates 12.5 times greater than White youth for Measure 11 offenses, only slightly less than their overall rate of referral; • Latino and Native American youth were also significantly overrepresented relative to White peers. The report notes that while Black youth indictments are more likely, they are less likely to lead to a Measure 11 conviction. But an indictment can still re- shape the course of a young life, and the report connects the dots between disproportionate rates of incarceration and other prob- lems hampering Oregon’s Black communities, namely economic mobility. In Oregon, nearly 30 percent of Black families live in poverty, and the median income of a Black family as of 2010 was $15,000 low- er than White families. “The economic disparity among Oregonians of color is compound- ed by the fact that the children in these communities are all statisti- cally more likely to have a parent in prison,” the report said. “For me I think the most sur- prising thing is how much science and research that has been done over the past couple of decades and how our criminal justice pol- icies aren’t really connected to that,” Bobbin Singh, the founding executive director of the Oregon Justice Resource Center, told The Skanner. Read more at TheSkanner.com cont’d from pg 1 Hayes, fatally shot Merle Mikal Hatch in 2013. In March, a Multnomah Coun- ty grand jury declined to indict Hearst in connection with Hayes’ death. The tort claim letter, attached to the press release, also notes the Hayes fam- ily has not been successful in their at- tempts to get more information about what happened the morning Hayes died. “Our knowledge of the circumstanc- es of the incident is somewhat limited, largely due to the fact that the only non- law enforcement officer to witness the shooting, Quanice, is dead,” the letter reads. “While the Grand Jury proceed- ings in this case were recorded and made public, the process was inher- ently one-sided: the District Attorney’s office presented evidence to the grand jurors that the shooting officer could not possibly have known, and present- ed evidence designed to vilify Quanice while painting the shooting officer in a highly positive light, making it seem as “ The only non-law enforcement offi- cer to witness the shooting, Quanice, is dead if the officer had no choice but to shoot Quanice. We disagree. Moreover, the city has refused to provide us records in its possession, despite repeated re- quests. Therefore, we again request you provide us all documentation in the city’s possession that describes or documents this incident in any way. This request includes any 911 recordings, police re- ports, scene photographs, CAD recordings, MOAT text messages, data from employee phones, dispatch recordings, notes, internal affairs investigations or other similar investigations from within the city or out- side agency, documents in your possession produced by others including but not limited to autopsy photographs -- rele- vant to the incident, communications with insurance providers, and any oth- er documentation of any description FACEBOOK PHOTO “ small events to gather and celebrate,” Sims told The Skanner. The festival’s theme ‘Standing at the Fore- front of Change’ is an extension of this year’s national Black History theme ‘African Ameri- cans in Times of War’ – a framework for Black sto- ries from the centennial PHOTO COURTESY OF VANCOUVER AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH Festival Quanice Hayes related to this incident.” A crowdfunding website to help with the Hayes’ family’s legal fees, www. crowdjustice.com/case/quanice, will go live on Thursday at noon.