Tag: Racism

Portlanders Gather in Support of Justice for Trayvon Martin

Story and photos by Pete Shaw A crowd of over 400 people gathered in Peninsula Park on Sunday July 14th in response to the verdict that acquitted George Zimmerman of second degree murder and manslaughter charges. Zimmerman was on trial for killing 17 year old Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida. At…

State Legislature Lobbied to Extend Driving Rights to All

Story and photos by Pete Shaw The Oregon DMV currently allows driver’s licenses to be issued only to documented US citizens and immigrants with work permits under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) a 2012 executive order issued by President Obama. Various immigrant rights groups and other groups supportive of immigrants’ rights have been pushing…

Sheriff Staton’s Loyalty to ICE Leaves Local Groups Cold

Story by Pete Shaw Activists Coming Together For Justice and Dignity (ACT) has issued a response challenging Multnomah County Sheriff Dan Staton’s December 20, 2012 statement claiming that he has no discretion in deciding whether or not to comply with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holds. Speaking for the local faith groups and member organizations that…

The Power Is With The People

Story and photos by Pete Shaw Sindy Avila is a member of the Oregon Dream Activists, a group working to advance immigrant rights and the rights of all people of color. Speaking at a forum about creating community control and putting radical politics into practice in communities of color, she noted that as the Dream…

Why Aren’t There More Black People in Oregon?

Story by Pete Shaw “When is history not history?” asks Walidah Imarisha, at a recent Why Aren’t There More Black People in Oregon? presentation sponsored by the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project.  Imarisha, a Portland State University and Oregon State University instructor, poses the question to our group after we have spent 90 minutes examining, wrestling…