By Janet Goetze
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Groups of Portlanders have gathered on street corners in North and Northeast Portland for more than two months, waving signs seeking justice and equity for all people. They feel support from the honking of passing cars, trucks and, sometimes, buses.
The gatherings, lasting about an hour on designated days, began after the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. They continue with participants waving signs that read “United for Justice” or “Justice for George Floyd” or “How Many Aren’t Named? Justice for Elijah McClain.”
It’s a far cry from the noise and controversy on downtown streets around the federal Justice Center where groups of protestors, Portland police and federal agents have squared off late at night after larger groups of peaceful protestors have gone home.
The people waving signs also are a far cry from the late night group that smashed windows on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in May and another group that broke windows, sprayed graffiti and started a fire off MLK Boulevard and Killingsworth Street in June.
The June vandalism damaged Black owned businesses as well as the Police Bureau’s North Precinct, where people were inside the building as a fire started and doors were barricaded.
Black community leaders held a press conference the day after the damage on Killingsworth Street, denouncing the violence as an attempt to distract people from the Black Lives Matter movement.
Jamaal Lane, owner of Champions Barbering Institute, was among Black business owners decrying what he called “tearing down the community.”
Tony Hopson Sr., president and CEO of Self Enhancement Inc., which supports youth in education and other opportunities, also urged people not to be distracted by the destruction. “Not only is it not about Black Lives Matter,” he said. “It’s against Black Lives Matter.”
Farther south on MLK at Knott Street, Leonna Hardiway, manager of the Nike Factory Store, lamented the May destruction and looting at the community store. She’s Black and her 70 employees make up the company’s most diverse staff, she said.
While vandals may have thought they were striking at a big corporation, they actually were threatening the livelihoods of local people of color and the community they want to serve, Hardiway said.
“When I see the hurt and the anguish and the frustration, I sympathize,” she said. “But I’m an adult. I know it’s vandalism and not the way to go.”
“We’re not just the brand,” she said, standing in front of the Nike store’s boarded windows. “We’re people here, too.”
The store on MLK was to stay open while remodeling progressed this summer, she said, but with smashed windows and interior damage, the company decided to close the shop temporarily to complete remodeling. The plan is to reopen when the work is finished.
On street corners, in daytime hours, those supporting Black Lives Matter said they plan to continue waving signs to continue support for justice and equity.
“I don’t want to lose momentum and I don’t want people to forget this is as urgent now as it was three months ago,” said Eleanor Escafi, who was demonstrating her support at Northeast 42nd Avenue and Killingsworth Street while holding her 4-month-old son, Vincent. “Also, I’m reminding myself I can’t become complacent.”
Ann Hubbard, wearing a T-shirt saying “Juneteenth Matters,” joined the group waving signs at noon weekdays on Northeast Broadway between 15th and 16th avenues.
“It’s a reminder that white people should be doing something,” she said, explaining why she waves her sign to passing cars.
A companion, Taylor West, said she wants to see equity achieved. “The process is finally starting and we want to keep it going,” she said.
Peter FitzGerald, who helped organize the group meeting at 5 p.m. weekdays at Northeast 24th Avenue and Fremont Street, has a personal reason to support justice and equity. He has five grandchildren and two, he said, are designated by American culture with the “race – a social construct that is only skin deep – of the group that has the least social, economic, and political power. I am standing up for a better world for them to survive in.”
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July 30, 2020 at 11:57PM
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Neighbors continue to gather on street corners, seeking justice and equity - Hollywood Star News
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