JUNE 13, 2018
25
CENTS
Portland and Seattle Volume XL No. 37
News .............................. 3,8-10 A & E .....................................6-7
Opinion ...................................2 Dr. Jasmine ......................9
Calendars ........................... 4-5 Bids/Classifieds ....................11
CHALLENGING PEOPLE TO SHAPE A BETTER FUTURE NOW
PHOTO COURTESY OF METRO
SOLIDARITY AT SEATAC
Last week Metro Council voted unanimously to
refer a bond to voters that could provide at least
1,000 units of affordable housing.
Metro Refers
Housing Bond
to Ballot
his fall voters in the greater Port-
land area will decide on a housing
bond that would provide $652.8
million of funding for affordable
housing in the area.
The Metro Council, which oversees
land use and planning in Multnomah,
Clackamas and Washington counties,
voted unanimously last week to refer
its housing bond to the ballot.
Voters will also decide on a measure
which would amend the Oregon Con-
stitution to allow the state to pair bond
money with federal housing dollars,
and Metro has released estimates for
how many units would be built de-
T
AP PHOTO/JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER)
See HOUSING on page 3
Uber driver Joshua Oh drives in Honolulu on June
6. A new government report says the number of
independent workers hasn’t budged that much
over the last decade – but experts say it contains
notable limitations.
How Big
is the Gig
Economy? page 9
Black Women Make
History Nationwide
page 8
Hundreds of people including Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, State Attorney General Bob Ferguson and U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle)
showed up outside the Federal Detention Center in Seatac on Saturday June 9 to show their disapproval of the Trump Administration’s practice of
arresting people seeking asylum and separating the children from their parents. Congresswoman Jayapal spoke to some of the 174 women being
detained. Many of the women said that they weren’t given the opportunity to say goodbye to their children when they were taken from them.
Greg Baker on Heading Blanchet House
The Kansas City native has helped expanded social services organization
The Skanner News
hen Greg Baker
took the position
as executive di-
rector of Port-
land’s Blanchet House back
in 2014, he was the only
employee. In four years
under his leadership, the
social services nonprofit
has grown to 10 full-time
staff members and initiat-
ed a number of programs
that help vulnerable com-
munity members get back
on their feet.
Today Baker — who is
W
also an Emmy Award-win-
ning musician — is one of
the few, if only, African
American men heading
a large nonprofit in Port-
land.
As a native of Kansas City,
Mo. — where he found-
ed the Minority Supplier
Council and the president
of the Negro Leagues Base-
ball Museum — Baker first
came to Oregon to serve as
the city manager for Da-
mascus, before locating to
Portland to expand the ac-
tivities of Blanchet House.
Founded in 1952, the
organization
operates
through donations and
funding from the Catholic
Church. It does not, howev-
er, require any of its guests
to be religiously affiliated.
Through its efforts, Blan-
chet House has become
Oregon’s largest feeder of
the poor, with up to 1,000
meals served per day
through the help of over
5,000 volunteers.
In addition, Blanchet also
operates two transitional
shelter programs for men
struggling with addictions,
unemployment and men-
Portlanders Celebrate Juneteenth
Upcoming events include parades and readings
By Christen McCurdy
Of The Skanner News
une 19 marks the day — more than
two years after the Emancipation
Proclamation became effective —
that Union soldiers read a gener-
al order announcing the end of slav-
ery in Texas.
In Galveston, formerly enslaved
people rejoiced and began celebrat-
ing in the streets after hearing Union
General Gordon Granger read aloud
from General Order No. 3. One year
later, freed Texans celebrated again
and a new holiday – Juneteenth – was
born.
J
During the Great Migration, writes
Isabel Wilkerson in The Warmth of
Other Suns, “The people from Texas
took Juneteenth Day to Los Angeles,
Oakland, Seattle, and other places
they went.”
Clara Peoples moved from Musk-
ogee, Okla., to Portland in 1945 to
work in the ship yards, and started
asking around to find out if there was
a local Juneteenth celebration — only
to discover some of her coworkers
had never heard of it. She decided to
take on the job of starting a Portland
celebration — one that continues to
this day, though Peoples passed away
See JUNETEENTH on page 3
tal health, as well as a 62-
acre farm program in Car-
leton, Ore., where men in
recovery learn woodwork-
ing skills. To date, Blanchet
House has helped some
10,000 men transition back
into society.
The Skanner News sat
down with Baker to discuss
his social service work and
why he feels Portland has a
long road to hoe in finding
solutions to its homeless
crisis. (This interview has
been edited for space and
See BAKER on page 3
PHOTO BY JERRY FOSTER / THE SKANNER ARCHIVES
The Skanner News Staff
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
Voters will decide on
measure that would
provide $652.8 million
worth of funding for
affordable housing
This year’s Juneteenth celebration takes place
this Saturday at Legacy Emmanuel Field, and
a variety of community groups have events
planned throughout the area. Pictured here at
the 2015 Portland celebration are Clara Peoples
(center), Ora Green (second from left), Tameka
Walker as Sojourner Truth, Skeeter Green as
Beatrice Morrow Cannady, David Lichtenstein
as Abraham Lincoln and Shalanda Sims as
Harriet Tubman.
