Black Lives Matter and Don’t Shoot PDX are Emerging as Political Forces in Portland

Friday, August 14, 2015

Jack Rushall and the GoLocalPDX News Team

Teresa Raiford, Don't Shoot PDX

The Black Lives Matter movement in Portland is feeling empowered and its influence is growing for two reasons; the energy behind the recognition of the one year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death and a number of game changing bills passed by the Oregon legislature. Black Lives Matter is not the only emerging political force as Don’t Shoot PDX is also mobilizing and becoming a a force.

One day in the politics of the Presidential campaign, Black Lives Matters protested at progressive Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders' event in Seattle and the next event in Portland. Sanders responded by rolling out a major platform focused on civil rights reforms. It events helped to elevate the perceived political influence of the emerging organization.

In Portland, Growing Activism

Black Lives Matter Portland is “led by black activists – mostly young, queer female activists,” according to Black Lives Matter Portland organizer Adrienne Cabouet.

The primary motivator for groups like Black Lives Matter Portland and Don’t Shoot PDX is simply to save lives, claim the groups activists.

Teressa Raiford of Don’t Shoot PDX was arrested last Sunday for disorderly conduct while protesting at the corner of SE Division and 82nd. She claims that it was for just eight minutes before she was arrested

“Obviously, the arrest was targeted. This was disgraceful,” fellow Black Lives Matter Portland activist Maggie Adam said. Adam was also present at the protest.

However, Raiford claimed she was arrested for “stepping two feet into a bike lane.” Raiford connects her arrest to the low tolerance local police have for determined African-American activists and African-American individuals.

Adrienne Cabouet,

In relation to Black Lives Matter’s ideological intervention, Raiford has expressed that, “Nobody cares that our kids are being killed or that they’re killing themselves. There is no value in our lives. When we shut stuff down, it’s to get everyone to stop and look and see that our kids are killing eachother and that they’re not even nineteen years old. Our kids are inheriting the world that we allow them to live in.”

To Don’t Shoot PDX, they aren’t creating history – they’re bringing awareness to prejudice that is preexisting.

“We are just trying to remind folks of the history that already exists,” said Raiford.

Tension between emerging civil rights groups and the police have ebbed and flowed over the past year. The Michael Brown demonstrations created a series of conflicts and a local police officer posted on Facebook messages of solidarity to Darren Wilson - the police officer who shot Michael Brown.

As GoLocalPDX reported last November:

A Portland activist said she was “disgusted” over recent Facebook postings by Portland police that displayed solidarity with a Missouri police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teen.
On Monday afternoon, a Missouri grand jury had yet to announce if it had indicted officer Darren Wilson after Michael Brown, 18, was shot and killed on Aug 9.

Sunday evening, a social media flurry kicked up on Facebook after three Portland police officers posted images of a police badge covered by a black band reading “I am Darren Wilson.”

Legislative Wins, But Flawed Legislation

This year, the Oregon Legislature overwhelmingly passed HB2571 by 50-9, which requires law enforcement agencies to establish cameras on all police personnel so that interactions with members of the public can be recorded.

However, Black Lives Matter Portland stresses the unintended consequences of the bill.

“It (HB2571) lets them decide when to turn on their cameras and when to edit their footage,” Adrienne Cabouet said. “We would prefer a law where the footage is held by an independent body, and we want the recordings publicly accessible without being edited. We want to raise awareness that this law is not going to help police accountability.”

In the same legislative session, the 2015 Oregon Legislature passed HB2002, which creates a system for individuals to report incidents of racial profiling.

Though HB2002 is viewed as a political achievement by Black Lives Matter Portland, HB2571 creates a potential catch-22 that organizers fear. Though instances of racial profiling can be reported and recorded, they can also be altered by the police officers themselves.

Standardized Testing Reforms May Be Discriminatory

Another bill passed by the 2015 Oregon Legislature that worries Don’t Shoot PDX is HB2655, which allows parents to opt their children out of standardized testing. The bill is thought by Don’t Shoot PDX to have specific adverse consequences for pre-dominantly African-American communities living in poverty in Oregon.

Standardized testing results help the federal government with data mining as well as with allocating funds. A lack of results altogether could mean less financial support for African-American communities in poverty.

“We use education as a tool to bring our community out of poverty,” Don’t Shoot PDX activist Teressa Raiford said. “Without standardized testing, it makes it harder for us to do that. It makes it harder for our children to receive an education. We actively worked to let school board members have relationships with parents.”

HB 2655 has inspired groups like Don’t Shoot PDX to connect with a broader audience on the subject of Oregon’s public education system, while also energizing Don’t Shoot PDX’s base.

Growing Influence

The two emerging organizations will surely be tested. Can they sustain their activism over time? The Occupy Movement was once an emerging political power calling for Wall Street reforms and pay equity and five years later the movement is somewhat of a footnote.

Related Slideshow: Oregon Black Pioneers Exhibition Opening at Oregon Historical Society

The Oregon Black Pioneers have partnered with the Oregon Historical Society to present a Community on the Move, an in-depth exhibit about the impact of WWII Shipyards, the Vanport Flood, and urban renewal programs on Portland-area black families and businesses in the 1940s and 50s.

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The state’s premier Black heritage organization is dedicated to illuminating African Americans’ contributions to Oregon’s history through research, publications, exhibits, and community outreach. The organization’s newest exhibition, A Community on the Move, directly builds on two highly successful collaborations with the Oregon Historical Society and reflects the all-volunteer organization’s increasing capacity to create meaningful opportunities for community dialogue and learning.

Launching Tuskegee Victory Ship, 1946

Photo Credit: Oregon Historical Society (image cropped)