Once again irresponsible, ignorant whites are using black people as an excuse to commit domestic terrorism. Yes, I said it. “Domestic Terrorism”. These criminals are trying to promote a violent agenda using a murdered black man in Minneapolis to justify mass anarchy and chaos in our community. Black people must do everything they can to prevent this from happening again.

Decade after decade we have watched local political leadership be compromised by outrageous acts of disobedience to civil rights and a precipitant decline of common values of property and human rights. It’s been a slippery slope expressed in part by the proliferation of unchecked graffiti on property everywhere.   We can see by the evidence that just a few deranged individuals likely from outside the state, are wreaking havoc and tramping on the very values we hold dear. This has to Stop. We need to help the police and all government officials stop this “S*it”. Don’t tell me the FBI and other criminal investigators can’t expose these Terrorists.

Be clear, the complete devastation of property that occurred in Portland last night will be laid at the feet of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, adding insult to injury.

There is a lot to be sad about during this Covid-19 virus pandemic and at times, it seems like whole elements of my life are unraveling. But the closing of Geneva’s to me is catastrophic. It represents a decline of black cultural mooring for this town. I infrequently got my hair cut at Geneva’s because I had my own barber at another location for 30 years until she got sick, Dora Campbell who I loved dearly. But we all know that in the black community we go to the barbershop and the beauticians for more than just a haircut or a perm. For more than 30 years Dora was my psychologist, comedian, confidante, lay-Pastor, weather person, surrogate mother, friend, sounding board, D.J. and more. Through her lens, I saw different aspects of our community I could never experience on my own in my single lifetime. I also knew her family, watched her kids grow up, as she did mine. In other words, we had a relationship on many levels. I know similarly that Geneva’s had a much broader base of customers and clients that reached deep into the fabric of not only the black community but spilled over in nearly every aspect of life that is good about people in Portland, regardless of race. Family, community, health, wealth, entertainment, youth, engagement, business, style, sports, music, fashion, church………..you name it, Geneva’s symbolized the best. Whatever happens, after this virus thing is over and Geneva’s is not reflected in our mirrors, we will have to search hard and long for another comparable Northeast Star.

My Mom, who I think my oldest daughter favors, was born in 1924 in Orlinda Tennessee, graduated high school in 1940 when the family lived on a tobacco farm (plantation lite). She helped raise white people’s kids, did their laundry and housing keeping, and was being called a nigger every day. I marvel at the fact that she was able to graduate high school in the south under that kind of trauma. My Mom is gone now, but I don’t believe she was an atypical black woman. Blessed be those black Moms who were able to survive America to this day.

Citizens need to get involved because the Portland City Council is interfering with the independence of the Auditors Office through the budget process. Check out what the Auditor is urging us to do. I have already made a statement on the record and you should too. 

The Auditor, Mary Caballero will send all the links to back up documentation:Hull Caballero, Mary <Mary.HullCaballero@portlandoregon.gov>

I am writing to ask you to object to City Council interfering with the independence of the Auditor’s Office. My statement is below, and background documents are attached. City Council should not expect the Auditor’s Office to divert resources away from it core accountability and transparency work to subsidize Council’s Hearings Office. If you would like to provide comment at the virtual public hearing on May 12, you must sign up by tomorrow’s deadline. You also can provide written comment with this online form or by contacting Council offices directly. While the 2017 Charter amendment improved the independence of my office a great deal, I continue to work on and need a budget-setting framework to keep this kind of interference from happening. Please forward this message, too!

Virtual Public Hearing on the Mayor’s FY 2020-21 Proposed Budget

Tuesday, May 12, 6:30pm – 8:30pm.

Public Comment Sign-Up Form: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/cbo/article/759213 must complete form by 4pm Friday, May 8^th.

Livestream: www.portlandoregon.gov/video

Watching the NAMC-Oregon debate this evening, it comes increasingly clear that our current Mayor thinks he is in the groove and is making all the right moves. But he is so wrong. He reels off a series of committees he’s stood up and I have participated with a few of them. For the most part, they are all spinning their wheels and going nowhere. I think he has good intentions, but he doesn’t have a clue.

I was leaning toward Ozzie but I can tell he is on the wrong track with his affiliation with OAME and the talk about this new Black Chamber of Commerce fostered by E.D. Mondaine and the local branch of  the NAACP.  These are both bogus organizations meeting no one’s needs but their founders.  This makes me think he”s like Ted and easily snookered.

I liked Teressa’s emphasis on Reparations but I am not confident she could implement anything she is proposing.

I really liked Sarah’s emphasis on planning and bench marking. I think she genuinely captured the way to move the needle and is competent enough to get the job done. I was impressed.

Apartheid Pure and Simple

I got a random call tonight from Sam Adams’ campaign representing themselves as union activists. I could tell they got my name from some Democratic solicitation list. Little did they know that I am one of those who has been trying to expose the construction union’s grip on the local political process as government imposed economic apartheid.

It makes good sense to me why they would be supporting Sam Adams. Under the Vera Katz/Sam Adams administrations, they were successful in denying full participation of black workers and tradespersons across the construction crafts for the last several decades. And it’s continuing under previous and current administrations. Don’t take my word for it, look up the data. Sam was the master architect behind so many policies and practices at the City that preached diversity and inclusion but to the union’s delight, went nowhere. They have over several years maintained an almost all-white male union workforce. If that’s not economic apartheid, I don’t know what is.

If they can get Sam on the City Council, the construction unions are assured of at least one vote maintaining the white male status quo while giving diversity and inclusion lip service as a disguising cover. It’s no accident that Sam has chosen the weakest candidate to challenge for a council seat. You can believe he is consulting with these racist unions.

Disclaimer:

Please don’t lump the construction unions in with the broad range of good union activity.

Politics makes for “strange bedfellows”

I thought I had a handle on calculating political motives but JoAnn has me completely baffled. I supported her when she essentially talked Dan Saltzman out of running for another term. Nice guy but he had been there too long.  Now she has her face all over high priced TV ads falsely touting the praises of another out of touch old dude named Earl Blumenauer. What’s sad is watching her justifying her support by explaining Earl’s trickle-down advocacy for housing at the national level. He’s been about as abstract from the black community as you can get.  And again, he’s an old dude that’s been there too long. I think he supported her one day on twitter because of an incident at City Hall before she got elected. But other than that, I don’t see the connection. Maybe she is angling to run for his seat in two more years if he gets re-elected. The heat must be on since they’re spending big money on high priced ads.

But what is even more disappointing is her flip flop for Ted Wheeler. When she was running, she graded Ted’s performance as a C minus. Now that she is in office, she gives him a drooling endorsement. It’s pretty sad to watch but who knows what goes on behind closed doors? I’ve learned that politics makes for ”strange bedfellows.”