I don’t think it’s any question that this year’s Portland NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner was successful on many levels. We must count it as a measure of progress because 27 years ago, we marched around the Convention Center protesting the absence of Black Jobs on the Convention Center site and other construction on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

As I held my grandson this year, it is clear that we must continue the fight if he and other black kids are to have a bright future in Portland.

A black man making money

Dr. Steven Holt

A black man making money is such a novelty that I suppose the world can’t help but suspect something nefarious is going on. To some on the right and left, it is simply too outrageous. When a black man becomes successful regardless of the sector, he becomes an immediate target. Couple this narrative with the juicy divisions purposely devised and cultivated in the black community, and Wow, you got a doozy of a story.

I doubt that this story will yield Nigel another Pulitzer, but it will ensure that seeds of dissension, mistrust, and division in the black community continue. This all while true benefactors of corrupt and deplorable systems escape scrutiny, and white carpetbaggers grow exponentially into the future. We may never know who got most of the 130 million spent by ODOT on technical support, but you can be sure it was not black people.  Moreover, it will be forever written that a black man ostensibly scammed the system and that several black community ponds received 48 thousand dollars in gift cards over four years.  This was a harmful story on so many levels, but it is not new, and black people ought to get used to it because they are not hiding the fact that they are coming for you. It is the classic Willie Lynch playbook.

Nigel Jaquiss

At the first sign of trouble “Let’s not CUT and Run”.

I’m standing up for Joe Biden. I think it’s outrageous for anybody not to consider the amazing job that Joe Biden has been doing for the last several months. His schedule can only be described as grueling. What this senior citizen guy has demonstrated over the last several months is remarkable. I challenge any 35-year-old to do what Joe has done without being tapped out.  His trips overseas to commemorate the D-Day invasion and attend the G-8 summit alone were spectacular. Next, he traveled to HBCU Howard and gave the commencement speech. Then he went to Philadelphia, California, and across the country like a hurricane, rallying the troops.  This man’s stamina, work ethic, and intensity to get the job done cannot be denied, regardless of age.  What I am quite frankly amazed and saddened by is our general lack of respect and appreciation for a man who has made great sacrifices for our country and the world. Have we no shame? As an old guy myself, older than Donald Trump, I know Joe must be exhausted and might even be sick traveling around the world in this COVID-mired environment. Show Joe some real love and loyalty because we all know he is trying to save us from the Devil.

If loving you is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

I regret I only have a few physical photos of my grandma born Fannie Mae Young Posey born on July 9th, 1898, but I have many beautiful pictures of her in my heart. She was the rock and true foundation of our family.  Although she passed many years ago, she had a profound influence on my life.  And on this Mother’s Day, I honor her and all other wonderful mothers and grandmothers raising black kids in America.

Portland’s Black Professional Brain Drain

Dr. Rosco Shields

Today, I shed several tears about the departure of Sharon Seven Day Adventist church Pastor Rosco Shields. Not just because he was the Chair of our NAACP Religious Affairs committee but because I recognized an unmistakable pattern of black professional talent leaving Portland in what seems like droves. We have experienced, for some time, a defacto African American brain drain. Dr. Rosco Shields and his family are the latest. My point is that these people are not only valuable assets to our community in a general sense, but they also are our best hope for solving critical problems and creating an ecosystem essential for developing black prosperity and healing. If we are ever to change the negative black community paradigms, we must stop the unfettered exit of our best and brightest.  

Several other recent losses:

Biko Taylor Chief Procurement Officer-City of Portland

Latrica Tillman Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer in Washington Co.

Dr. Markisha Smith Director of Equity and Human Rights City of Portland

Danielle Outlaw Portland Police Chief