THE BULLETIN • THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2021 A3
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
PORTLAND
Billboards aim to expose racism’s
violent impact on Black people
BY SAVANNAH EADENS
The Oregonian
“Destroy white supremacy, not each
other.”
That’s the message plastered on sev-
eral new billboards across the Portland
area. The message is displayed between
a large gold-colored bullet that includes
a superimposed image of a slave ship.
At a Monday unveiling of one of the
new billboards, the artist behind the im-
age — Portland native Elijah Hasan —
said the bullet, like a slave ship, is a ves-
sel of trauma for Black people.
“It is my intention to remind the
Black minds inside these Black bodies
that they may think that these bullets fly
because someone snitched or even killed
a loved one,” said Hasan. “But I am sug-
gesting that this is not the reason you’re
shooting. But instead, it’s a symptom of
the environment you find yourself in.”
Motivated by Portland’s recent homi-
cide rate increase, community organi-
zations and anti-gun violence advocates
— including the No Hate Zone, the
Portland Rotary Peace Builders Com-
mittee, Love is Stronger, and Books Not
Bars Oregon — came together to create
the billboards. Their goal is to “directly
connect the issue of Black-on-Black gun
violence to the self-hate that is procre-
ated by racism.”
The organizers hope to “reveal the
impact that anti-Black trauma has had
on the psyche of Portland’s Black com-
munity,” said Sam Sachs, founder of The
No Hate Zone, a Portland racial justice
organization. “The billboard campaign
is done out of love and compassion, with
the intent to bring awareness, action and
solutions to the overwhelming number
of shootings that impact communities
of color, but more specifically Black men
in Portland.”
Portland Police Bureau data as of
Monday shows 30 homicides this year,
which includes 22 deaths from gun-
shots, including one fatal shooting by
a police officer. There have been about
370 shooting incidents, and 118 people
injured in shootings.
Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian photos
S. Renee Mitchell, left, crafted the language for
the anti-gun violence billboard that was recently
erected on Portland’s Sandy Boulevard, shown in the
background.
TODAY
Today is Thursday, May 13, the 133rd day of
2021. There are 232 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On May 13, 1607, English colonists arrived by
ship at the site of what became the James-
town settlement in Virginia. (The colonists
went ashore the next day.)
In 1568, forces loyal to Mary, Queen of
Scots were defeated by troops under her
half-brother and Regent of Scotland, the Earl
of Moray, in the Battle of Langside .
In 1914, heavyweight boxing champion Joe
Louis was born in Lafayette, Alabama.
In 1917, three shepherd children reported
seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary near Fatima,
Portugal; it was the first of six such appari-
tions the children claimed to have witnessed.
In 1961, actor Gary Cooper died in Los Ange-
les six days after turning 60.
In 1967, a vault fire at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
in Culver City, California, destroyed hundreds
of the studio’s early films.
In 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and
seriously wounded in St. Peter’s Square by
Turkish assailant Mehmet Ali Agca.
In 1985, a confrontation between Philadel-
phia authorities and the radical group MOVE
ended as police dropped a bomb onto the
group’s row house, igniting a fire that killed
11 people and destroyed 61 homes.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton nominated fed-
eral appeals Judge Stephen G. Breyer to the
U.S. Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice
Harry A. Blackmun .
In 2002, President George W. Bush an-
nounced that he and Russian President Vlad-
imir Putin would sign a treaty to shrink their
countries’ nuclear arsenals by two-thirds.
Ten years ago: Libyan leader Moammar
Gadhafi taunted NATO in an audio broadcast,
saying he was alive despite a series of air-
strikes and “in a place where you can’t get to
and kill me.”
Five years ago: The Obama administration
issued a directive requiring public schools
to permit transgender students to use bath-
rooms and locker rooms consistent with their
chosen gender identity.
One year ago: President Donald Trump
urged governors to work to reopen schools
that were closed because of the coronavirus .
Today’s Birthdays: Actor Buck Taylor is 83.
Actor Harvey Keitel is 82. Author Charles Bax-
ter is 74. Actor Zoe Wanamaker is 73. Actor
Franklyn Ajaye is 72. Singer Stevie Wonder is
71. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich is 69. Bas-
ketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman is 60.
“Late Show” host Stephen Colbert is 57. Rock
musician John Richardson (The Gin Blossoms)
is 57. Singer Darius Rucker (Hootie and the
Blowfish) is 55. Former NBA player Mike Bibby
is 43. Rock musician Mickey Madden (Maroon
5) is 42. Actor Iwan Rheon is 36. Actor-writ-
er-director Lena Dunham is 35. Actor Robert
Pattinson is 35. Actor Hunter Parrish is 34.
— Associated Press
26-year-old charged with murder
of his grandparents in Eugene
A 26-year-old man has been charged with
killing his grandparents in Eugene, following a
chase in which police say he challenged officers
to shoot him. Nicholas Borden-Cortez was ar-
raigned Monday in Lane County Circuit Court.
Along with two counts of first-degree murder,
Borden-Cortez was charged with two counts of
abuse of a corpse and attempting to elude officers.
Eugene Police identified the victims Mon-
day as Borden-Cortez’s grandmother, Nancy
Loucks-Morris, 85, and his step-grandfather,
Gerald Morris, 87. Police responded to a re-
port of “suspicious conditions” at a home in
the Falconwood Mobile Home Park just before
10:30 a.m. Friday, Eugene Police spokeswoman
Melinda McLaughlin said. Borden-Cortez was
taken into custody Friday reportedly following a
vehicle chase that ended in Springfield .
— Associated Press