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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (June 27, 2018)
Page 2 The Skanner June 27, 2018 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Consider Applying for the PCCEP — Portland Needs You Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher P Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2017 MERIT AWARD WINNER The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2018 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS ! • L i ke u s on F ebo m me • nts TheSkannerNews o k • learn • co in y o u r c o m m u n y toda ac it Updated daily. y • Opinion nt • lo c a l n e w s • eve Check out: TheSkannerReport.com Your One-Stop Hub for Community Newspapers Throughout the U.S. ortlanders have strong feelings about the Port- land Police Bureau (PPB). We know this from the emotionally-charged demon- strations that overwhelmed downtown Portland in the last two years. We know this because of the quick dismissal of platitudes and empty reas- surances from the PPB about the progress it is making. There are many people who haven’t been happy for a long time, if ever, with how the police function here. Black and brown communities have especially been negatively impacted by police policies and behaviors. PPB has a dis- mal record in terms of fatal shootings by officers, racial profiling and police stops of citizens of color, particularly African Americans. Police re- sponse varies depending on the color of your skin, where you live, and whether you are perceived to have a mental ill- ness. The U.S. Department of Jus- tice (DOJ) findings don’t ap- pear to have had any impact on community outcomes thus far. The term “community policing” is used often — and with the hiring of Chief Dan- ielle Outlaw, I recognize that PPB has a renewed focus on what this means for the orga- nization and Portlanders — but I’m not yet convinced that there is any policy or philoso- Dr. Cynthia Fowler PCCEP Selection Advisory Committee phy that could fundamentally address the schism between law enforcement and mar- ginalized communities in our city. I imagine that there could be many ways to change PPB’s behavior, but I’m convinced that community members need to have a lot more input “ Impacted communi- ties deserve the space to speak their own truths into how policing happens in this city for things to improve. The PCCEP (Portland Com- mittee on Community-En- gaged Policing) creates an in- dependent citizen board that would exist beyond the life of the Settlement Agreement. Notably, the PCCEP has been given the authority to de- mand review of critical PPB policies, in addition to con- tributing to the development of the community engage- ment plan. Why should you apply for PCCEP? We know that someone will sit on this committee--why not you? The very communi- ties that are most impacted by bad policing are usually not in the room when policies are developed. This is your chance to not just be in the room—but to get a seat at the table. The PCCEP needs those who are typically left out of discussions and not heard– the poor, people of color, the mentally ill, and youth–to ap- ply for and sit on this commit- tee. Impacted communities deserve the space to speak their own truths because they are the most qualified to do so. Whatever impact the PCCEP can have on policy develop- ment will be felt most strong- ly in these same communities. Think about how your work could even save the life of someone you care about. This is a chance for your ideas about what community policing should look like to be reflected in actual policies. We want to attract passion- ate people who care about what is happening in our city. People with lived experience through their interactions with PPB and those who are unhappy with policing in Portland are encouraged to apply. This committee needs to function as a real voice that will speak the truth about po- licing and how issues of bias, racism, power, the systemat- ic devaluation of non-white lives, and a lack of empathy affect how police interact with communities. Now, I’m aware enough to know that the problems with law en- forcement are a reflection of the larger systemic issues within American institutions — policing is an extension of what has insidiously woven itself into the fabric of this country over generations. We have to attack systemic injustice at as many points as possible and in as many ways as we can. The PCCEP is one of the ways that an informed, motivated, and diverse group of Portlanders can try to set PPB on a better path. PCCEP members must be at least 16 years old and live, work, worship, and/or go to school in Portland. The time commitment is a minimum of 8 hours per month. Meetings will be in the evening and will be catered. Members will receive a stipend for their participation. PCCEP applica- tions are due Monday, July 2. You can fill out an online ver- sion of the application, print an application from the May- or’s website, pick up a hard copy at the Mayor’s Office, or call Mandi Hood at 503-319- 7736 to request a paper copy by mail. NAACP on the Front Lines: Trump’s War Against Civil Rights BALTIMORE — Recently, the NAACP, alongside members of the Congressional Black Caucus, gathered on the steps of Capitol Hill to demand a halt of the Trump adminis- tration’s continued attempts to force Thomas Farr—a known racist with ties to the late segregationist Senator Jesse Helms—into the federal judgeship of North Carolina. Located in eastern North Carolina, this federal district under this judgeship has one of the highest densities of Af- rican American voters than any other part of the state, making Farr one of the worst possible candidates that could be considered. Sadly, instead of representing an anoma- ly, Farr instead represents the archetype for federal judge nominees put forth by the Trump Administration. Whether it’s nominees that refuse to publicly support the Brown v. Board decision that desegregated our public schools or individuals with ties to known racist organiza- tions, what we are seeing are people whose attitudes reflect norms more associated with the era of Jim Crow than our time. It cannot be ignored that Trump’s White House is en- gaged in none other than a war against civil rights. Though this is a battle we had Derrick Johnson NNPA President & CEO hoped to have ended by now, it is not a fight we are afraid of nor is it one we will lose. We have waged war against the foes of civil rights for over 109 years. We fought hard against the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions to the office of Attorney General and we will continue to fight against Trump’s nearly all- white and mostly male federal judge nominees. Mr. Sessions’ redirection of the Depart- ment of Justice (DOJ) away from its civil rights commit- ment under the Obama Ad- ministration to an agency that condones police brutali- ty and other racially based in- justices is hardly surprising. We knew he would push the DOJ to withdraw its support for our legal cases against voter suppression and he did. The simple point is that these moves against civil rights cannot be divorced from his boss—President Trump. Over the past few months, the NAACP has sued the Trump administration on its failure to properly prepare for Census2020. This failure to prepare for the Census means that communities of color, including wealthy com- munities like Prince Georges County, Maryland, our part- ner in the lawsuit, will likely be once again undercounted. When this happens, our com- munities lose out on political representation, federal dol- “ It is not a fight we are afraid of nor is it one we will lose lars, and resources that are rightfully ours. We’ve also taken the fight to this admin- istration on the decision by Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education to basically throw civil rights under the bus and arbitrarily determine that the department no longer has to investigate complaints of discrimination in our schools. We are also commit- ted to ensuring that DeVos plans for privatization, plans that would destroy our pub- lic-school system, never come to completion. There is a direct correlation between the racism emanat- ing from the White House and the expansion of attacks on the humanity of persons of color. This is clear not only from Trump’s poisonous rhetoric that disparages peo- ple, cultures, and nations, but also in the policies that ema- nate from his office. The infection of blatant rac- ist speech and behavior be- gan the day after Trump was elected and it has continued to spread, giving inspiration to closet bigots and encourag- ing implicit and explicit racial biases that pervade from the golf course to the coffee shop and every space in between. During our 109th Annual Convention July 14-18 in San Antonio, Texas, the NAACP will bring together some of our nation’s most brilliant minds, activists, and legis- lators, as well as powerful voices from the hip-hop com- munity to map out the agen- da for moving forward. Our goal is to unite our voices into a powerful symphony that resonates with communities of color and inspires them to join us in standing against government-sponsored hate. This year’s theme is sim- ply “Defeat Hate — Vote.” Trump’s refusal to address the nation’s premier civil rights organization and its hundreds of thousands of ad- vocates is, by default, a refus- al to speak to the entirety of the Black Community.
