On Steps of US Supreme Court, AG Rosenblum Rallies Abortion Rights Supporters
Speaking at an ACLU-organized rally on the steps of the United States Supreme Court this morning, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum made an impassioned defense of abortion as essential healthcare, and of medication abortion as a key part of those healthcare rights. The rally coincided with arguments being presented inside the Supreme Court in the AHM (Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine) v. FDA (Food & Drug Administration) case.
Should College Essays Touch on Race? Some Feel the Affirmative Action Ruling Leaves Them No Choice
When the Supreme Court ended affirmative action, it left the college essay as one of few places where race can play a role in admissions decisions. Yet the added weight of the college essay has fallen unevenly on students of color, who often feel pressure to exploit their hardships as they compete for a spot on campus.
Bird Flu, Weather and Inflation Conspire to Keep Egg Prices Near Historic Highs for Easter
The cost of filling a basket or completing a Seder plate reflect a market scrambled by disease, high demand and growing costs for farmers. While global prices are lower than they were at this time last year, they remain elevated.
Strippers' Bill of Rights Bill Signed Into Law in Washington State
Gov. Jay Inslee signed the measure on Monday which creates safer working conditions for people in the adult entertainment industry. The law requires employee training in establishments to prevent sexual harassment, identify and report human trafficking, deescalate conflict and provide first aid.
The Portland Art Museum presents Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks
Exhibition on view March 30 - August 11, 2024. Programs to include sneaker-focused Summer Camps and in-gallery activities ...
Portland Street Response Hosts Town Hall
PCCEP is seeking community input to help shape their recommendation in support of Portland Street Response. ...
Joint Center Responds to the U.S. House Office of Diversity and Inclusion Disbandment
This decision jeopardizes the establishment of policies to support diverse communities and threatens the pursuit of inclusivity for...
Bonamici, Kaine Praise Billion Dollar Increase for Child Care, Early Childhood Learning
Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) and Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) —members of the House Committee on Education and Workforce and the...
Portland Rose Festival 2024 Court Member from Benson Polytechnic High School Announced
The Rose Festival Princess from Benson Polytechnic High School, Laedyn Romero, was selected March 22. ...
Lou Whittaker, among the most famous American mountaineers, has died at age 95
SEATTLE (AP) — Lou Whittaker, a legendary American mountaineer who helped lead ascents of Mount Everest, K2 and Denali, and who taught generations of climbers during his more than 250 trips up Mount Rainier, the tallest peak in Washington state, has died at age 95. RMI Expeditions,...
Should college essays touch on race? Some feel the affirmative action ruling leaves them no choice
CHICAGO (AP) — When she started writing her college essay, Hillary Amofa told the story she thought admissions offices wanted to hear. About being the daughter of immigrants from Ghana and growing up in a small apartment in Chicago. About hardship and struggle. Then she deleted it...
Georgia ends game on 12-0 run to beat Missouri 64-59 in first round of SEC tourney
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Blue Cain had 19 points, Justin Hill scored 17 off the bench and 11th-seeded Georgia finished the game on a 12-0 run to beat No. 14 seed Missouri 64-59 on Wednesday night in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Cain hit 6 of 12 shots,...
Georgia faces Missouri in SEC Tournament
Missouri Tigers (8-23, 0-18 SEC) vs. Georgia Bulldogs (16-15, 6-12 SEC) Nashville, Tennessee; Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. EDT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Bulldogs -3; over/under is 147 BOTTOM LINE: Georgia plays in the SEC Tournament against Missouri. ...
COMMENTARY: Is a Cultural Shift on the Horizon?
As with all traditions in all cultures, it is up to the elders to pass down the rituals, food, language, and customs that identify a group. So, if your auntie, uncle, mom, and so on didn’t teach you how to play Spades, well, that’s a recipe lost. But...
A Full Court Press to Get the Lead Out
With a “goal of identifying and remediating lead hazards in at least 2,800 Lancaster County homes,” LG Health is setting an example for the private sector. And the Biden-Harris administration’s focus on environmental justice and access to clean and safe...
OP-ED: Congress Is Right: Federal Reserve’s Reg II Will Hurt Minority Communities in America
The Fed is taking every effort to promote income equality and workplace diversity and inclusion, but Regulation II would undercut its great work in this respect and cause potential harm to millions of minority families. Now that a congressional coalition has...
OP-ED: A Silent Killer No More
Data from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City shows that more than 13 percent of African American men between the ages 45 and 79 will develop prostate cancer in their lifetimes. And Black men have a 70 percent higher rate of developing...
Why did more than 1,000 people die after police subdued them with force that isn't meant to kill?
Carl Grant, a Vietnam veteran with dementia, wandered out of a hospital room to charge a cellphone he imagined he had. When he wouldn’t sit still, the police officer escorting Grant body-slammed him, ricocheting the patient’s head off the floor. Taylor Ware, a former Marine and...
Key findings from AP's investigation into police force that isn't supposed to be lethal
Every day, police in the U.S. rely on common use-of-force tactics that, unlike guns, are meant to stop people without killing them. But when misused, these tactics can still end in death. Over a decade, more than 1,000 people died after police subdued them through physical holds, stun...
This is how reporters documented 1,000 deaths after police force that isn't supposed to be fatal
After George Floyd was killed under a Minneapolis police officer’s knee, reporters at The Associated Press wanted to know how many other people died following encounters in which law enforcement used not firearms but other kinds of force that is not supposed to be fatal. The U.S....
Celebrity birthdays for the week of March 31-April 6
Celebrity birthdays for the week of March 31-April 6: March 31: Actor William Daniels (“St. Elsewhere,” ″Boy Meets World”) is 97. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 90. Actor Shirley Jones is 90. Musician Herb Alpert is 89. Actor Christopher Walken is 81. Comedian Gabe Kaplan...
How to make an Easter ham last all week
The beauty of making a baked ham for Easter (or any holiday or large gathering) is that there's bound to be leftovers. Leftover ham, which will last for up to five days in the fridge, can be a springboard for other meals during the week. Of course you’ll want a sandwich or two, but...
Book Review: 'Glorious Exploits' turns classical history into an endearing comedy about tragedy
Best friends Lampo and Gelon are potters by trade, but their souls are filled with poetry. It’s 412 B.C. and the city of Syracuse doesn’t know what hit it when these two hatch up the best worst idea: They’ll put on a play using the Athenian prisoners of war who are starving to death down in...
Top-seeded North Carolina and Clemson looking to move ACC beyond Sweet 16 vs Alabama and Arizona
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Armando Bacot and his North Carolina teammates heard the bashing about the ACC's quality this...
UConn, San Diego State set for title game rematch in Sweet 16; Iowa State, Illinois target Elite 8
BOSTON (AP) — Connecticut coach Dan Hurley won’t shy away from the notion that his team has consistently been...
VP Harris says US agencies must show their AI tools aren't harming people's safety or rights
U.S. federal agencies must show that their artificial intelligence tools aren't harming the public, or stop using...
Lawmakers in Thailand overwhelmingly approve a bill to legalize same-sex marriage
BANGKOK (AP) — Lawmakers in Thailand's lower house of Parliament overwhelmingly approved a marriage equality...
The death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack rises to 143, while 80 others remain hospitalized
MOSCOW (AP) — The death toll from last week's Moscow concert hall attack rose to 143, Russian authorities said...
Opposition figure who became Senegal's president-elect won over 54% of the vote, results show
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegal's little-known opposition figure who was elected president this week in a tightly...
While many tides have changed in the years since the Civil Rights Movement, both locally and nationally, injustices in the Black community still continue to run rapid on a host of issues, so much so that its given birth to a new movement called, Black Lives Matter.
That term, “Black Lives Matter” exists both as a free-to-use by anyone term in the realms of social media and beyond, it is also an established organization with chapters all across the country, including Portland.
Adrienne Cabouet, filed to start a Black Lives Mater chapter here in Portland back in February, and earlier this month the young faction celebrated hosting its first new member orientation.
We caught up with Cabouet, to discuss the mission of Black Lives Matter Portland, the recent revelations that the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter may be under surveillance by local governmental agencies, and why the group has chosen to limit membership to people who identify as being of African descent amongst other things.
TSN: When and why did you decide to file to become a chapter of Black Lives Matter?
AC: Our chapter was founded in February of 2015, and we connected with the national organization founded by Patrice, Aliza, and Opan, in June. We were formed basically because we saw the need for a Black-only space in the Black Lives Matter movement here in Portland, after going to a lot of actions and rallies that were dominated by White folks we realized Black people needed spaces that work around them.
Indeed, and why do you guys feel, in Portland it’s important to have a Black-only space in this movement.
AC: Because the city, although it has a reputation as being very liberal and very progressive it has a continued history of white supremacist violence against Black folks including in organizing spaces. So, a lot of times in meetings there was pretty direct racism and threats. So, it was important in terms of safety, and determination to have a Black-only space.
We work with ally groups, but our actions, our meetings those are planned by Black folks.
TSN: I was reading an article in the LA Times that said, “Black Lives Matter is a slogan, it’s an organization and it’s a movement, but those don’t always overlap.” Can you offer some more insight into the these differences.
AC: #BlackLivesMatter, the hashtag was created in the wake of the non-indictment of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin. Patrisse Cullors, Aliza Garza, and Opal Tometi in the years since, particularly after Ferguson [which is the banner] to a nationwide movement, those three founded the Black Lives Matter Network, of which Black Lives Matter Portland is a chapter. There are [more than 20] chapters in the US, including chapters in Canada and Africa. We are accountable to each other, and accountable to a larger organization, but we operate autonomously. So because it’s an organization and a hashtag, not everyone that uses the hashtag is a part of our organization, you have to be a registered chapter in order to claim affiliation with the network. But, there a number of groups working in the larger movement that use the hashtag, like Black Youth Project, like Don’t Shoot Portland.
TSN: What is it that Black Lives Matter Portland is working for specifically?
AC: We’re working on the campaigns for Kendra James and Keaton Otis, two Black folks that were murdered by the police in Portland. We want new investigations into their deaths, and the firing of the officers that killed them.
We want community control of the police of Portland, Black families who’ve been moved out by intentional gentrification to move back into their homes. We’re starting a Copwatch in Northeast Portland, in the area around PCC Cascade and Jefferson High. And we’re working on more educational programs as well as working with the All-African People’s Revolutionary Peoples Party breakfast program.
TSN: Can you speak to some of what you just mentioned too—why queer and trans people are important to your movement.
AC: This movement was founded by three queer Black women. Previously in the 60s, the Black Liberation movement and Black nationalists were very misogynistic and homophobic, and this time we recognize that those folks are the most marginalized in our community and need to be leading us.
TSN: Indeed. Also, with the news that Black Lives Matter as a hashtag may be under watch by the DOJ and other government organizations, who is BLMPDX moving forward?
AC: We’ve always moved under the assumption that we were being surveilled. We all know the history of COINTELPRO.
TSN: Indeed, and in terms of the work that you all are doing who do you want to be a member of Black Lives Matter Portland?
AC: Every single Black person in Oregon. It is open to all Black folks. The only way that Black folks are going to get free, is a mass movement for liberation.
TSN: How long do you see movement lasting into the future.
AC: The work that we’re doing now, we’re not going to see the benefits now, it’s going to be for our children.