Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

This Sunday, Feb. 28, the Freedom Socialist Party will be screening “10,000 Black Men Named George”, a film that tells the true story of black porters for the Pullman Rail Company attempt to unionize during the Great Depression.

During the hard time that marked the era, work was scarce for black men trying to support their families. Some managed to score jobs in the Pullman rail yards, but had to endure a sweatshop-like work environment where being disrespected was part of the job. Black porters couldn’t even expect to be acknowledged by their given names, instead, they were called “George,” after George Puillman, the first man to hire emancipated slaves at the company.

The film chronicles the struggle of Asa Philip Randolph, a black journalist and labor organizer, who fought to establish a union for the porters.

The film begins at 3 p.m. at the FSP office located at 819 North Killingsworth Street.

A $2 door donation is requested. Seven dollars for a meal.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

A national marijuana advocacy organization is calling for MTV to allow the cast of “The Real World” and “jersey Shore” to use the drug as a safer alternative to alcohol.

“The Real World,” a docu-drama on MTV that has been running since 1992, puts a cast of average twenty somethings in one house for several months, allowing viewers to witness the heated drama and friendships that naturally occurs.

A recent episode, featured an alcohol-soaked incident where one cast member pushed another down a flight of stairs resulting in their hospitalization.

Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER) is using the incident to convince MTV that participants in the show should be allowed to use marijuana, arguing that such an incident would never have occurred had the cast been mellowing with reefer than guzzling booze.

Similar incidents have occurred periodically while “The Real World” has been on the air. Sometimes with cast members being sent to the hospital.

The organization also points to the reality show “Jersey Shore” where scenes have spiraled out of control after cast members have had too much to drink. In one episode, a female cast member was struck in the face by a man at a bar during an altercation.

“In the real world, millions of people use marijuana and every objective study on it has concluded it is far safer than alcohol both for them and for society,” said SAFER Executive Director Mason Tvert. “Yet when it comes to ‘The Real World’ and other MTV reality shows like ‘Jersey Shore,’ the network makes sure alcohol is always available in abundance, and that cast members never make the safer choice to use marijuana instead.”

SAFER is also arguing that allowing the cast of reality television shows to use marijuana would make them all the more “real,” since they are often drawn from a demographic likely to use pot.

Here’s the text of the petition is pushing using Facebook and Twitter:

Future cast members of “The Real World,” “Jersey Shore,” and other MTV reality shows should be allowed to use marijuana as a safer recreational alternative to alcohol.

In the real world, millions of adults enjoy using marijuana responsibly, and every objective study on it has concluded it is far safer than alcohol both for them and society. Yet MTV embraces — and often encourages — the use of alcohol by its cast members, and it prohibits them from making the rational choice to use a less harmful substance instead.

“The Real World,” “Jersey Shore,” and MTV’s other reality shows should stop driving cast members to drink and “start getting real.”

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

This evening, Friday Feb. 26, come come celebrate the 40th anniversary of Portland State University’s Black Studies Department at the historic Billy Webb Elks Lodge.

The event, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will feature a panel of the found members of the department, as well as students, members of the NAACP, the AFrican Association of Students, and the Black Cultural Affairs Board.

Darrell Millner, a professor in the department, will also talk about current efforts to incorporate the Black Studies Department with the Chicano/Latino Studies Program, the Women’s Studies Program and Native American Studies Program into one school.

Avel Gordly, a the first African American female elected to the Oregon Senate and current professor in the department, will moderate the event.

The event will also feature music and food.

The Billy Webb Elks Lodge is on 6 North Tillamook Street.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

Willamette Week has learned that Dick Bogle, the city’s second black city commissioner and first television news reporter, passed away this morning in Vancouver at the age of 79.

In the 1950s, Bogle joined the police force as a patrolman working in the detectives and intelligence divisions.

While a police officer, he worked part-time as a reporter and jazz critic for the now-defunct Portland Reporter.

In 1968, he turned in his badge when he was hired by Bruce Baer as a reporter for KATU-TV.

He later took a job as an aide to City Commissioner Mildred Schwab in 1982. He would go on to make his own bid for City Council to replace the retiring Charles Jordan, the first African American elected to City Council.

After running into some troubles after a former aide filed a sexual harassment claim against him, and allegations he didn’t account for all of his travel expenses emerged, he lost his bid for re-election.

In his later years, he returned to journalism while working part-time for the Police Bureau doing public affairs work on cold cases.

Bogle died at Legacy Salmon Creek Hospital in Vancouver of congestive heart failure, reports WW.

We’ll have a more extensive obituary in next week’s paper, and any information on celebrations of Bogle’s life.

Ernets Hartzog, a former Portland Public Schools assistant superintendent who was involved in efforts to desegregate the city’s schools, stands next to a bus outside of Humboldt Elementary in northeast Portland. Photo by Jake Thomas

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

In 1954, winds of change started to slowly breeze through the country when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools could no longer segregate students by race- even if they promised the same quality education.

Portland, a city that still struggles with its own racist past, was slow to launch efforts to desegregate its schools after the landmark ruling. And even today, the city finds itself grappling with the same problems that seemed insurmountable when the issue first surfaced.

Minority students are still concentrated in a few schools. There is still a sobering achievement gap, and there are still disparities in how discipline is applied in public schools.

“The history of desegregation and integration efforts in the Portland Public Schools is almost as old as the school district itself,” reads a document from the PPS archives, which explains that Portland, being a virtual frontier in the remote Pacific Northwest, has always had to grapple with periodic influxes of different kinds of people.

The same document states that after the court ruling there was “little community pressure to deal with it.”

That was until the 1960s, when civil rights activists- like William McClendon of the local NAACP grew fed up with minority children being stuck in underperforming inner-city schools and called segregation in Portland schools “a cultural and racial disservice to the entire community.”

At the time, most of Portland’s black population was concentrated in north and northeast portions of the city, particularly the Albina community, and the schools serving that population didn’t have the same resources as their more affluent suburban counterparts.

After coming under pressure, the school district turned its focus to improving the quality of education in inner-city schools — transforming some into magnets- while taking steps to encourage racial integration district wide.

Ernest Hartzog, who served as PPS assistant superintendent, oversaw the district’s early efforts to bring more diversity and equity to schools in the 1970s.

“It was doomed to failure,” said Hartzog bluntly of the district’s effort.

According to Hartzog, the problem with the district’s plan to integrate schools was that it depended on parents voluntarily busing their children across town.
Many white parents were reluctant to send their children to the inner city, leaving the burden to fall largely on black families.

“It was a one way situation,” he said.

There were other problems associated with the efforts, as educators and administrators struggled to deal with an influx of students from a different part of town, said Hartzog.

Hartzog recalls a tense atmosphere, “loaded with emotions.” Fights broke out at sporting events. Black parents complained that their children were being unfairly treated. There were threats of lawsuits and actual lawsuits. Hartzog remembers a police officers being stationed in schools, which he described as a welcome presence.

Black parents were also rankled by district plan to keep students from the Boise Neighborhood from transferring to Jefferson High School, and the Black United Fund raised a ruckus at school board meetings, with organizers jumping on tables because of the disproportionate burden on African American families.

By 1980, Hartzog had stepped down from his position, as PPS passed a series of resolutions that tried to monitor it better, make the burden more equitable, and placed it under the direct control of Superintendent Matthew Prophet.

During the 1980s, the district gave additional money and teachers to schools with concentrations of minorities and established magnet programs in them. It then made it easier for students to transfer, and assumed that integration would happen by choice.

The district’s efforts had some success. In 1966 there were only 388 transfers. In 1980, there were 4,961, according to PPS records.

But schools seem to have gravitated back to being divided along racial lines, with minorities concentrated in certain schools. For instance, Jefferson High School is 57 percent black.

PPS is currently in the midst of an ambitious redesign of its high school system that seeks to make course offerings at each high school more equitable and close the achievement gap. The plan will severely limit transfers, requiring students to attend their neighborhood school.

Carole Smith, PPS superintendent, said that restricting transfers will bolster diversity throughout schools.

“I would not call what we’re doing desegregation,” stressed Smith, who once worked on efforts to integrate Boston public schools in the 1980s. She added that mixing students from different ethnic and social backgrounds improves success across the board, which she hopes to do with the redesign.

In 2007, the Supreme Court issued a ruling prohibiting schools from using race as a factor in school choice, essentially ending mandatory busing programs in other parts of the country.

But busing might not be the best way to achieve parity and diversity.

“It does come down to relationships,” said Smith, who explained that moving people around town will make little difference if students don’t feel welcome and part of the community their attending school in.

Hartzog adds that it means little if schools are the only place that is integrated.

“If you don’t have racial equality and parity in the work place, and the church place, and neighborhoods, why should we think it works in the school place? What happens is people mirror and reflect what they learn in segregated living,” he said.

“The jury is still out on what the best way to do this is,” he added.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

On Feb. 22, an unmarked police car parked in the driveway of an officer was broken into, with thieves making off with a loaded weapon.

After disabling the car alarm, suspects took a locked container containt a Glock 17 duty weapon with a magazine, one bureau issued Taser, and one vest were taken from the vehicle.

The bureau is investigating the incident.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

Today the Oregon Senate passed a bill allowing the state to keep more of its money in credit unions.

The bill, which passed on a 26-4 vote, removes restrictions that prohibit the state from keeping more than $250,000 of state money in credit unions.

“As our communities work to rebuild and rethink how best to support local, sustainable growth, the ability for public entities to invest more funds into credit unions provides them with additional local options. Since credit unions by definition serve a local community, those public fund deposits will stay and be reinvested in that community through consumer and business loans as well as sustaining and creating jobs. It’s a positive cascade effect,” said state Senator Rick Metsger, D-Welches in a statement.

Critics of the bill argued that credit unions are owned by non-profits and shouldn’t be receiving public funds.

But proponents of the bill won out, arguing that the restrictions prevented financial institutions from competing for the state’s business.

As large banks have become increasingly villanized in the wake of the financial crisis that has left legions of people unemployed, there has been a nascent movement that calls on people to move their money to credit unions.

Recently, Bill Bradbury, a Democratic candidate for governor, proposed redirecting state money to smaller financial institutions in hopes that they would increase lending and spur much-needed economic activity.

Earlier this month, the New Mexico House voted to move its money to credit unions.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

Police reform, a long elusive goal for the African American community and a handful of committed activists, might be within striking distance as pressure on City Hall reaches a fever pitch after in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of Aaron Campbell, an unarmed Portland black man who was shot by police after a tense stand off.

“I think it could be different this time,” said Jo Ann Bowman, a local African American political leader and longtime police critic who serves as e executive director of Oregon Action.

Rev. T. Allen Bethel, the president of the Albina Ministerial Alliance, an organization representing black churches and someone who has long been on the front lines of policing issues, echoes Bowman’s remark.

“This time it seems to be sustaining a lot of momentum, more than it has in the past,” said Bethel, who attributes the surge to last week’s visit by national civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jackson was invited to address Campbell’s death as he traveled to Oregon for a prior Black History Month engagement at the University of Oregon in Eugene. He met last week with Mayor Sam Adams and Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman. He also spoke at Maranatha Church in northeast Portland telling over 1,000 people that if the officer involved in the shooting returned to work the next day as scheduled, they should march on City Hall at high noon.

And they did just that, marching from the Justice Center all the way to the mayor’s office.

Over the last several years, Portland has fallen into a familiar pattern after someone dies after a police encounter: Marches are held and forceful denunciations are made; the Police Bureau promises to review the incident and make changes; the outrage boils off, but leaves a stinging residue of resentment on many Portlanders.

Shortly after the officer involved in the Jan. 29 shooting of Campbell was found to have acted within the law by a grand jury earlier this month, the AMA held a rally on the steps of the Justice Center and called for four specific points of reform.

The AMA called for the establishment of a public inquiry into the incident, the appointment of a special prosecutor for police violence, a thorough review of bureau’s training and policy on excessive and deadly force, more oversight of the bureau, and a revision of state law governing the use of deadly force by police officers.

So far, the call for a special prosecutor hasn’t been acted upon, and with the Legislature wrapping up its current session the chances of it reviewing the state’s use of force laws seem nil.

But other two of the other priorities by local activists seem to be gaining traction. At a press conference on Friday, Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman said he was going to initiate a “top-to-bottom” review of the police bureau, which is currently reviewing the incident. He, along with Mayor Sam Adams, also announced they were calling on the U.S. Justice Department to look into the incident.

Commissioner Randy Leonard, who has had a contentious relationship with the bureau, is drafting an ordinance for more independent oversight of the police that could take flight given the current climate.

In 2001, the city formed the Independent Police Review Division to receive citizen complaints of officer misconduct.

However, police critics have long complained that it has few tools to actually hold officers accountable. The director of the IPR has only an advisory role on key boards that review officer misconduct. IPR can’t propose or enforce discipline on officers, and have few ways to compel the Police Bureau to cooperate in its investigations.

Leonard’s ordinance would penalize the bureau for not cooperating in an investigation. It would also allow a review panel to propose and challenge discipline for officers, broaden its ability to initiate investigations, and make its director an integral part of key review boards in the police bureau.

“As a general matter, it’s meant to add teeth to the current IPR function,” said Ty Kovatch, Leonard’s chief of staff of the ordinance, which will be brought before City Council in coming weeks.

Portland Copwatch spokesperson Dan Handelman, who’s never seen the bureau under so much scrutiny, applauds this move. He also hopes that the city will use the upcoming negotiations with the police union to revisit how officers are protected after using force.

In December, the union flexed its muscles after Saltzman suspended a controversial officer who shot a 12-year-old girl with a beanbag gun on a MAX platform. The union held a massive rally and threatened to release results of a no confidence vote on him and Police Chief Rosie Sizer, until he backed down.

The city will begin negotiations this spring with representatives of the union over its contract, which expires in June. The city is hoping to make the negotiations public this time around.

“For me, it’s about the contract,” said Ann Bowman, who sees the negotiations as an opportunity to reassert control over the union, which some worry is undermining civilian control of the police.

The current contract mandates that the city not discipline officers publicly, a provision Bowman wants out, so the public can determine “who’s good and who’s bad.”

But Bowman stresses that public pressure on the city needs to be sustained if real change will happen.

“So we got a window to make that change happen now, and if we don’t do it now we’ll be stuck with it,” she said.

Amo DeBernardis, first president of Portland Community College, opens the Sylvania Campus with a torch.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

The founding president of Portland Community College, Dr. Amo DeBernardis, has passed away on Friday. He was 96.

Known as “Dr. De,” he served as the college’s president from 1961 to 1979, when he retired.

DeBernardis help steer the college toward its current vocation-orientation by strengthening ties with businesses and making sure the curriculum matched employers needs.

“When we started Portland Community College in 1961 the name of the game was ‘students come first and everything else about the college is supportive and secondary,’” wrote DeBernardis in the PCC historical book “They Just Did It.” “This perception of what a college should be should never change.”

PCC was initially an extension of Portland Public Schools, until the Legislature allowing it to become an independent entity. DeBernardis worked as the administrator of the new college, while also working at PPS.

DeBernardis, the son of Italian parents, eventually moved full-time to PCC, which was viewed by many as a risky move.

One of the most controversial moves while president was constructing the college’s Rock Creek Campus, in Washington county.

The decision was hotly contested by then-state legislator Vera Katz, who went on the be mayor, and PCC Board Member Earl Blumenauer, who would later be elected to Congress.

Before going on to earn a doctorate in education from the University of ORegon, DeBernardis taught shop class at Ockley Green Elementary School where he adhered to an ethos of “learning by doing” that he would take with him to PCC.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

The Hill is reporting that Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, has said that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, will pass the public option using budget reconciliation if he can muster enough votes for it.

So far, 23 Democratic senators have signed on to a letter asking Reid to take this step.

The public option was eventually dumped when the Senate took up the health care bill in hopes of attracting support from moderate Democratic senators, who were needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

However, after the Democrats lost their super majority with the election of Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Republicans have been able to sustain a filibuster against the bill, which has spurred calls to use a parliamentary move that only needs a majority vote.

The White House has been trying to hash out an agreement with Congressional Republican leadership to get some sort of bill passed. Today it announced that it did not think the votes are there for the public option, which much of the debate has focused on.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

The City of Portland is looking for people to serve on its Community Budget Advisory Board, which will have input on how City Council slices up its financial pie.

The board is composed of five citizens who review budget proposals, amendments to the budget, and generally provide a voice for regular Portlanders as City Council goes through its budgeting process.

Currently, there are three vacancies on the board. Anyone interested should fill out a form here.

According to Roy Kaufman, communications director for Mayor Sam Adams, the current budget is $2.7 billion.

Applicants are considered on a rolling basis, but Kaufman encourages people to apply soon, as major input on the budget begins on March 15, and will wrap up in June.

People appointed to the board will likely be asked to serve on in a limited capacity.

Jake Thomas

Black History Month gets center stage during a History Pub series night at McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 Northeast 33rd Ave.

“Renewal and Removal in North and Northeast Portland” is the topic of the Monday, Feb. 22 discussion, co-sponsored by the Oregon Historical Society and Holy Names Heritage Center.

The 7 p.m. talk will focuses on the dramatic changes brought upon the predominantly African-American community radiating from Northeast Broadway and North Interstate Avenue, beginning in the 1950s.

Carl Abbott, Portland State University professor of Urban Studies and Planning, will introduce the topic and provide a contextual framework. Thomas Robinson, Historic Photo Archives, follows with a slide presentation of vintage photos of the changing landscape. Donna Maxey and Harvey Rice will then share their first-hand accounts about the community that was displaced by these developments.

The event is open to all ages and is free, although a donation of canned goods for the Oregon Food Bank is welcome.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who heads the Office of Neighborhood involvement, issued a statement today on the course of action the city plans to take with Last Thursday, a monthly free-form arts event on Alberta Street that has drawn the ire of neighbors.

The event, which has been occurring for roughly 13 years in the gentrifying part of town, has been loosely organized and spontaneous, with no one overseeing it.

One of the biggest issues surrounding the event is the $10,000 the city shells out to close the streets, and provide extra security and logistical support. There have been calls for stakeholders of the event to take on a greater responsibility and shoulder some of these costs.

In a statement released this afternoon, Fritz points out that there is going to $33 million in unmet needs in this year’s annual city budget.

She also announced the formation of “Friends of Last Thursday.” The new group will be composed of stakeholders along Alberta and will have a role in organizing it.

From the statement:

It is clear that an event attracting thousands of people each month needs a formal organizing committee with the capacity and structure for non-profit fundraising. Several speakers at the Town Hall mentioned Burning Man – that event is very carefully planned for months, for a once-a-year festival, and it’s held in the desert where the only people affected are those who choose to be there. On Alberta, residents and businesses are involved whether they want to be or not. Each constituency should have a voice in governing Last Thursday. Thanks to neighborhood, business, and regional support, it has become bigger than any one interest.
The Mayor and I plan to convene a meeting in early March to discuss establishing a “Friends of Last Thursday” organizing group, with delegates invited from the four Neighborhood Associations, the Business Association, and other stakeholders. Stephanie Reynolds will be working us to set the date, and will send out invitations soon. Please reply to Stephanie if you are interested in participating in this organizing meeting, stating which stakeholder group you are most closely affiliated with (artist, business owner, participant, neighbor who likes it, neighbor who doesn’t, etc).
The Mayor and I are working on funding options and other support to ensure the ongoing success of Last Thursday, with fewer unintended adverse side-effects, which we will discuss with the group. We greatly appreciate your input on Last Thursday, and I hope you will work with us to define how the community and the City can work together to minimize problems and make the events self-sustaining.

Jake Thomas
jthomas@portlandobserver.com

Joe Hyer, the mayor pro tem of Olympia, has been busted for his alleged involvement in a pot trafficking operation.

Hyer sold pot to a police informant on two occasions and has been booked under investigation of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance and unlawful use of a residence for drug purposes.

So far, he has yet to comment.