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

As a grandparent, I am acutely aware of what is riding on my shoulders. We need you to step up for the future of our Kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. We need your help at the NAACP to foster a “Kids First” agenda focused on what Byron Allen has tried to tell us.

Byron Allen at the Grio talking about closing the achievement gap

Join us at the NAACP to demand canceling student loans and closing the Achievement GAP. pdxnaacp.org

IT’S  MY BIRTHDAY

I woke up this morning the sun was shining knowing that today was my birthday. I was thinking if anyone wanted to give me a gift, I would ask them to JOIN our Portland Branch of the NAACP 1120-B (pdxnaacp.org). This is not too much to ask because God knows the fight against racism, discrimination, and hate is a battle we cannot afford to lose.  I am reminded that at 78 we need every weapon on the battlefield including us old folks.

Check out our Mission:

https://studio.youtube.com/video/5bwCfhLCS14/edit

Beatrice Morrow Cannady

I know this is Black History Month but I am still surprised that very few people, blacks in particular know about this great black woman and the contribution she made to blacks in Oregon and across the USA.

Beatrice Morrow Cannady-Portland NAACP Black History

Black men are less than animals

My wife and I just went to see the movie “The Color Purple”   Although the movie was a tear-jerker, I did not like the depiction of black men as animals. I hope someone will come out with a balanced view of who black men were during that period and tell the whole story.

Columbia Sportswear Chair, President and CEO Tim Boyle’s unhealthy obsession with the garbage on the highways is not his alone. (comments at the 2023 Oregon Business Leadership Summit) Most of us hate it, too. But most don’t have the collective wherewithal to do much about it. However, I would like to suggest that while the trash on streets is a physically visible problem we can all see and commiserate about, we have deeper problems with how our most vulnerable citizens, especially Black people, are treated.

That is, the city of Portland continues to treat its Black citizens like trash. For example, how is it that the city continues to accept a 50% educational achievement gap between Black and white students? And as if we didn’t already know it, a recent State disparity study graphically shows that Blacks are continually being economically discriminated against in acquiring government contracts.

As sure as the neck bone is connected to the shoulder bone and the shoulder bone is connected to the backbone, likewise we can see why Black unemployment numbers continue to be triple that of whites. Furthermore, Black folks similarly disproportionately populate our prisons and the criminal justice system. And it is straight up ugly to realize that Blacks have the lowest home ownership rate of any ethnic group.

If you want to see some garbage, these are only a few devastating indicators of the real trash problem in Portland. Perhaps we can enlist Tim Boyle and many other successful private sector capitalists here to be more pissed off and obsessed enough to help clean up this mess.