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Currency should reflect on all of us By Marian Wright Edelman Every day I wear a pair of medallions around my neck with portraits of two of my role models: Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. As a child I read books about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. She and the indomitable and eloquent Sojourner Truth represent countless anonymous slave women whose bodies and minds were abused and whose voices were muted by slavery, Jim Crow, segregation and sexism throughout our nation’s history. Although Harriet Tubman could not read books, she could read the stars to find her way north to freedom. And she freed not only herself from slavery but returned to slave country again and again across forests, streams and mountains to lead other slaves to freedom at great personal danger. She was tough. She was determined. She was fearless. She was shrewd and she trusted God completely to deliver her and other fleeing slaves from pursuing captors who had placed a bounty on her life. In April 2016, the Obama Administration Treasury Department under then-Secretary Jacob Lew announced that Harriet Tubman’s face would grace the front of the redesigned $20 bill, making her the first woman in more than a century and first African American ever to be represented on the face of an American paper note. But President Trump said he was opposed to the idea of honoring Harriet Tubman that way before he even took office, and three years after the initial announcement, current Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has since said that under the Trump Administration the Treasury Department is unsure when or whether that change will still happen. Now a bipartisan pair of House members, Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and John Katko, R-N.Y., has reintroduced the Harriet Tubman Tribute Act of 2019 (H.R. 1083) to require the Treasury Department to put Tubman on the $20 bill. We must follow through and insist that as our nation prepares to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in 2020 we will be able to celebrate with redesigned American currency that reflects all of us. When Secretary Lew originally announced this bill honoring Harriet Tubman I celebrated with deep joy and noted that she would not be alone. The Treasury Department also announced that Sojourner Truth and women suffragette activists and leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott would be featured on the back of the $10 bill. It also said great contralto and opera singer Marian Anderson, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would be featured on the back of the $5 bill, honoring Marian Anderson’s concert and Dr. King’s March on Washington as groundbreaking events at the Lincoln Memorial that helped shape our democracy. It was 80 years ago on Easter Sunday 1939 that Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for Marian Anderson, for whom I am named and about whom great conductor Arturo Toscanini said “yours is a voice such as one hears once in a hundred years,” to perform at the Lincoln Memorial before a crowd of 75,000 after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let her sing at Constitution Hall because she was black. These additions would round out the inspiring group of determined moral warriors who expanded the civil and human rights of women, people of color and all of us, and would now be featured on the bills we use every day. Former Secretary Lew said he had an ‘aha’ moment about how important these changes were after recognizing the groundswell of public response to his announcement that the Treasury Department was considering changing the design of the currency. To so many people these new bills will be much more than pieces of paper. For too long and for too many money has been the most powerful symbol of what we value as a nation. Making these leaders and s/heroes among the faces of America by placing them on our currency will send powerful messages about what—and who—we Americans are, value, and strive to become. The new bills also will teach our children and grandchildren and remind all Americans that Black history and women’s history are American history. It is so important to make sure all of our children can see themselves and their ancestors pictured on something as basic as the money used every day by millions and this will deepen the meaning of how we define success in America. Now it’s time for the Treasury Department to finish the job of paying tribute and public homage to Harriet Tubman and honoring these other great women and Dr. King who died seeking to redeem the soul of America. They never stopped demanding that we live up to our declared creeds of freedom, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and equality for all. Please tell your Members of Congress today that you support the bipartisan efforts to insist that this change happens right now! Marian Wright Edelman is founder and president emerita of the Children's Defense Fund.

Rev. Lawson to help form civil resistance chapter Rev. James Lawson Rev. James Lawson, one of the key architects of the modern Civil Rights Movement, is coming to Portland to assemble an Institute on Nonviolent Civil Resistance at Portland State University, starting a five day visit with a public talk on Wednesday, April 24, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the University Place Hotel and hosted by PSU’s Students United for Nonviolence . A close colleague and friend of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Lawson led some of the most capable civil rights campaigns of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Most notably, he organized sit-ins at racially segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn., which ultimately led to desegregation of those facilities and other public accommodations. “Few grasp that nonviolent direct action requires planning, preparation, strategizing, recruiting, outreach, messaging and all the mechanisms needed for a campaign, including fierce discipline,” said Lawson in announcing the plans for the Portland civil resistance chapter, its sixth assembly to date. “This doesn’t happen spontaneously. It must be done systematically.” Participants in civil resistance start by focusing on the history of nonviolent action that has been found wherever scholars have searched for evidence of social movements. They learn both the theory and practice of nonviolent struggle from case studies, planning tools, exercises, skits, and research, taught by a faculty of experienced scholar practitioners and facilitators. Lawson’s Institute on Nonviolent Civil Resistance will be hosted by Portland State University’s Conflict Resolution program and will take place over five days, concluding on Sunday, April 28. For more information, visit jameslawsoninstitute.org/2019portland.

Rev. Lawson to help form civil resistance chapter Rev. James Lawson Rev. James Lawson, one of the key architects of the modern Civil Rights Movement, is coming to Portland to assemble an Institute on Nonviolent Civil Resistance at Portland State University, starting a five day visit with a public talk on Wednesday, April 24, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the University Place Hotel and hosted by PSU’s Students United for Nonviolence . A close colleague and friend of the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. Lawson led some of the most capable civil rights campaigns of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Most notably, he organized sit-ins at racially segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn., which ultimately led to desegregation of those facilities and other public accommodations. “Few grasp that nonviolent direct action requires planning, preparation, strategizing, recruiting, outreach, messaging and all the mechanisms needed for a campaign, including fierce discipline,” said Lawson in announcing the plans for the Portland civil resistance chapter, its sixth assembly to date. “This doesn’t happen spontaneously. It must be done systematically.” Participants in civil resistance start by focusing on the history of nonviolent action that has been found wherever scholars have searched for evidence of social movements. They learn both the theory and practice of nonviolent struggle from case studies, planning tools, exercises, skits, and research, taught by a faculty of experienced scholar practitioners and facilitators. Lawson’s Institute on Nonviolent Civil Resistance will be hosted by Portland State University’s Conflict Resolution program and will take place over five days, concluding on Sunday, April 28. For more information, visit jameslawsoninstitute.org/2019portland.

Roderick Darnell Brown Sr. Roderick Darnell Brown Sr., better known as Darnell or simply D by those who loved and admired him, quietly slipped away to join his Lord and Savior on April 11, 2019. He was born on Nov. 25, 1960 in Los Angeles to the union of Richard Brown and Cora Mae Taylor. He was the second oldest of four children. In 1961, the family moved to Portland, where he attended Jefferson High School and graduated in 1979. Darnell was known for his extravagant car collection and he was unashamed to be seen driving said collection 25 mph on the freeway and what felt like 5 mph up and down the street. Darnell enjoyed four wheeling, skating and being around those who loved him. You could easily find him at a family gathering laughing and smiling. In his spare time, he loved watching old westerns and documentaries to gain more insight on the world and further his curiosity. Darnell had many talents. In his youth he was known for his ability to play football. He had a great ear for music and took pride in his ability to identify the melody of a song. He served as a bass player for many local funk, jazz and R&B bands. Many were unaware that Darnell was a skilled nail technician with a steady hand and an aptitude for beautiful designs. He loved to BBQ. It did not matter if it was snowing he would BBQ because that is where he was able to bond with his children and grandchildren. To know Darnell was to love him. He was truly one in a million and will be greatly missed. He was preceded in death by his son Roderick Darnell Brown Jr.; his father; and a brother, Richard Craig Brown. He leaves to celebrate his memory and life two daughters, Amber Marie Walker and Sharnell La'Trice Brown; son Roderick Darnell Brown III; his mother; two brothers, Reyburn L. Brown and Reginald A. Brown (Ulanda); two sisters, Sharron Brown and Angelique Moreland; cousin, Wonsetta U. Grant; grandchildren, Ja'iyr (Jai), Rylie, Amiya and Ja'haryi; and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and friends.

It’s time for $15 and a union By Negin Owliaei Last month, McDonald’s announced a dramatic about-face in its political priorities. After years of strikes and protests from labor activists, the burger giant has decided to end its involvement in lobbying campaigns against increasing America’s paltry $7.25 federal minimum wage. It’s a big victory for the Fight for $15. It’s been less than a decade since a few hundred fast-food employees walked off the job to demand a $15 wage and a union. Now, they’re a global movement that’s fundamentally changed the conversation on the rights of low-wage workers. For the most part, federal lawmakers have watched idly while cities and states have boosted their minimum wages up to $15. Just last month, Maryland became the sixth state — and the third just this year — to phase in a $15 minimum wage after lawmakers overrode Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto. But the idea now has more traction in Congress thanks to the recently introduced Raise the Wage Act, which would set a national minimum pay of $15 an hour by 2024. The legislation would lift pay for almost 40 million workers, the Economic Policy Institute has found. As the push for higher wages continues to gain steam across the country, the movement promises to keep fighting: Workers greeted the new announcement from McDonald’s with more protests. It’s not enough to decide, they say, that you “wish to advance, not impede” the discussion on a livable wage by simply ending your campaign against an enormously popular policy. Employees are still calling on the fast food franchise pay $15 an hour and respect their right to unionize. That’s a pretty fair demand, considering their CEO made nearly $22 million $22 million in 2017 — over 3,100 times what the typical McDonald’s employee took home that year. They’re also continuing their fight to make the company take workplace harassment seriously. McDonald’s is often — and rightfully — portrayed as a villain in the fight for fair wages and workplace protections. But it’s also only one player in an economy that continues to tighten its chokehold on anyone who works for a living. Raising the federal minimum wage is one necessary change we can make to a system that throws endless amounts of money towards the rich while balking at workers’ demands to be able to live off their earnings. How can we begin to imagine the inequity baked into that system? Take a look at Wall Street’s bonus culture to see just how warped our economy has become. Last year, Wall Street employees took home $27.5 billion in bonuses alone. That pool of money could pay all of the United States’ full-time minimum wage workers more than three times over, a new reportfrom the Institute for Policy Studies has found. Those bonuses mean the average Wall Street employee added $153,700 to their base pay in 2018 — a truly mind-boggling sum of money that’s increased by 1,000 percent since 1985. If the minimum wage had grown at that rate, McDonald’s workers would be making over $33 an hour today. These staggering numbers go a long way toward illuminating how stark the concentration of wealth and power has become in this country. They also highlight the enormity of the task of remaking our economic system so that it works for everyone, not just CEOs and Wall Street bankers. But, thanks to Fight for $15, we’ve been given a clear place to start: $15 and a union. Negin Owliaei is a researcher at the Institute for Policy Studies and a co-editor of Inequality.org. Distributed by OtherWords.org.

Tips to help you get prepared The Portland Community College Job Fair will once again bring a who’s who of Portland-area employers to the Cascade Campus gym in north Portland. The annual event is slated for Tuesday, April 30. Several of Oregon’s most admired companies will be on hand this year when the Portland Community College Job Fair returns for its 22nd year. Columbia Sportswear, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Providence Health & Services, and New Seasons Market all rank among the most admired and respected companies in the state and they will be among more than 100 area employers represented at the PCC Job Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday, April 30, in the college’s Cascade Campus gym, 705 N. Killingsworth St. Becky Washington, career services coordinator at the Cascade Campus, said with the unemployment rate at or near a historical low, employers are competing for the most qualified candidates. “It’s a good time to be a job-seeker in Portland,” Washington said. “This is a great chance to put yourself on the market.” Washington said one of the most appealing aspects of the fair is the opportunity to meet with and speak to a number of employers in succession. This means a job-seeker is able to compare and contrast the compensation packages available from various employers and industries, and get an idea of how his or her qualifications measure up. The PCC Job Fair is a who’s who of Portland-area employers such as Amazon, Portland Trail Blazers, and OnPoint Community Credit Union. In addition, there will be a host of local and regional nonprofits and government agencies participating. Students in nearly all of PCC’s professional/technical programs can find an employer at the job fair that is related to their degree or certificate. Many job fair employers are offering internship opportunities, as well. A complete list of participating employers can be found at pcc.edu/cascadejobfair. The web site has tips on how to dress and what to say, including a brief video on developing an “elevator pitch” for employers. “We encourage people to dress like they’re going to an interview,” Washington said. “And because we attract lots of job-seekers, it’s also a good idea to show up early.”

Instructor applies life experiences Portland Community College accounting instructor Usha Ramanujam applies life experience to support her students. PHOTO COURTESY PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE Usha Ramanujam gets inspired when she talks about her perspective students. The Portland Community College Business Administration Program instructor knows how an associate degree or short-term certificate from PCC in accounting, can land good positions as payroll specialists, bookkeepers or assistants with accounting responsibilities at law firms, for example. If they continue their studies at a four-year school, they can become accountants, move up the ranks of management, and earn professional certifications, such as the Certified Public Accountant or Certified Management Accountant “They can take these classes and get one step ahead in their education, and it’s definitely cheaper,” said Ramanujam, who has been at the college since 2005. At PCC, Ramanujam teaches accounting, which is a core course in the college’s business program. In her class, students learn the leading computer application software programs to become proficient in managing accounts and budgets. Once they’ve completed their studies, they can enter the workforce or transfer to public or private universities like Portland State, Oregon State or Reed College. Student support is a hallmark of the Business Administration Program, which is offered at all four comprehensive PCC campuses. In addition to teaching, Ramanujam advises students on their academic and professional careers and underscores just how critical it is for students to have the support they need to move through the program and graduate. “For first-generation college students, feeling supported makes all the difference in the world,” she said. “It’s time wasted if they get shuffled from one general advisor to another. There are a lot of steps ahead of them, and connecting them to the right people at the right time is crucial.” Ramanujam grew up in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, in India. At the age of 19, she started working in India while simultaneously earning her first master’s degree in business. In 1988, she left India and went on to earn her second master’s degree, in accounting, at State University of New York, in Albany. She found work in IBM’s internal audit department, and as an accounting instructor at a New York community college. She moved with her husband to Austin, Texas to work in IBM’s microelectronics division before taking time off to raise her children. When they moved again, this time to Portland, she completed the CPA examination. “With my experience, I definitely know what PCC students are going through,” Ramanujam said. “They are working hard to support their families while in college, which I’ve done myself.”

photo by David Mayne/Portland Public Schools The committee charged with finding a new identity for Franklin High School has come up with a list of six possible mascot names for the school’s community to consider and will send their recommendations to Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero for his review this month. A final Board vote will be in June. The 19-member Franklin Mascot Identification Committee – which includes students, staff, alumni, family members and community members – recently identified these possible names: Ambassadors, Chargers, Falcons, Firs, Lightning and Thunderbolts. Franklin is undergoing a mascot name change because its current identity, Quakers, has been found to violate district policy that forbids names with a religious affiliation. Once the new name is determined, changes will be made to update items at the school that display the Quakers name.

Oregon Lottery says investigation is due diligence Seattle Seahawks Quarterback Russell Wilson scrambles in a NFL game against the San Francisco 49ers in 2017. The Oregon Lottery plans to bring back sports betting at the start of the new NFL season this fall, but has hit a stumbling block with its preferred contractor. (AP photo) The rapid expansion of legal sports betting nationwide hit a stumbling block in Oregon this month over concerns about the company chosen to manage the state’s sports betting program. The new development dealt a potentially significant blow to a rapidly growing segment of the gaming industry in America, which employs a strikingly high number of African-Americans and other racial and ethnic minority employees. Black and other workers of color, nationwide, make up 40 percent of the gambling industry’s workforce, per the American Gaming Association. Oregon is set to become one of the first Western states to offer legalized sports gambling, which state officials have said they hope to introduce by the start of the 2019 NFL season. Legal sports betting has become increasingly widespread following a US Supreme Court ruling last year allowing states to legalize the activity. But the state’s chosen gambling services contractor, SBTech, a European company that provides online gaming platforms in countries across the globe, is now under investigation. SBTech recently has drawn scrutiny over its relationships with gaming industry operators in Iran, which is under a broad range of economic sanctions from the Trump Administration. A new round of sanctions, which went into effect in early November, required all companies that operate in the US to cease business relationships in Iran. Industry analysts have noted that the new sanctions could pose a problem for SBTech and other companies with alleged relationships to companies that provide gambling services in Iran. One of the losing bidders for the Oregon contract, SG Digital, has lodged a formal protest of SBTech’s bid that raised questions about the company’s character and fitness. A statement from SBTech has refuted the allegations, saying it has “no relationships with operators in Iran, and does not itself operate in Iran or in other illegal markets.” Oregon Lottery Spokesman Matt Shelby told the Portland Observer Friday that its investigation of SBTech was a standard background check and not related to the claims of a competing vendor. Shelby said the Lottery had no reason to believe the company was operating in Iran or had any issues that would prevent its contract with the state moving forward. Oregon Lottery announced SBTech as its preferred vendor on March 22, and the company was slated to enter contract negotiations with the state. Fielding questions from commissioners on April 2, Farshad Allahdadi, chief gaming operations officer at the Oregon Lottery, said "final contract terms, duration and conditions are currently under negotiations." He added that the Oregon Lottery personnel will conduct a security and due diligence investigation. The Oregon state lottery has estimated that the state’s sports betting industry could generate up to $120 million annually if it reaches its full potential. Until last year, sports gambling was widely restricted in the US under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. Oregon was permitted to continue offering a limited form of gambling on NFL games that it offered prior to the law's passage. The state chose to discontinue the game in 2007 in an effort to recruit the NCAA to host tournament games in the state. Editor's note: This story was updated to include a clarification from Oregon Lottery that investigation was a standard background check and not related to the claims of a competing contractor, and a statement from SB Tech denying it had any business dealings with Iran.

Divisive as the division it claims to combat By Joshua Adams As the 2020 campaign lurches to a start, get ready to hear a lot about “identity politics.” If a candidate mentions or draws attention to her race, gender, or sexuality, some people say, she’s making our country “more divided.” We need to stop engaging in identity politics and start appealing to the “average” American, they say. Which raises the question: Just who is “average”? To be blunt, I’m convinced the charge of “identity politics” is mostly cynical. It’s a rhetorical whip used to guilt women, queer folk, and minorities into not advocating for their specific political needs. It’s as divisive as the division it claims to combat. I was born in raised in Chicago — a microcosm of our country’s immense diversity as well as its segregation. Being a black man from the south side of Chicago, I have experiences that are different from someone who lives in a majority-white town in southern Illinois. Why is mentioning this difference divisive? How does remaining silent about the specific issues that affect me help? Politicians can’t talk to “average” voters. They have to persuade real people — voters with different backgrounds, who share most of the same concerns, but sometimes different ones. People accused of practicing “identity politics” are often just people fighting for the particular issues that affect them. People who are critical of this are often blind to the ways that ordinary politics center their own (real or imagined) identity. Politicians direct “identity politics” to them all the time — they just can’t see it. For example, when white people in Appalachia demand jobs, better health care, and a public health response to drug addiction, politicians in both parties scramble to promise all of those things and more. When black Chicagoans ask for the same resources, the response is often: “No, what you need is more police.” It would be hard to imagine Donald Trump going to a small town in Ohio and making only one comprehensive appeal to white voters there: “What do you have to lose?” Obviously those voters would feel they deserve a more detailed pitch than a dice roll. So why did we find it acceptable when he offered exactly that — political crumbs — to African-American voters in 2016? When Republicans come to African -American communities and historically black colleges, often the very first thing they do is “remind” the audience that the GOP is “the party of Lincoln.” These same conservatives often blast identity politics as a distraction from policy issues, yet bring up oversimplified history that has no relevance to the present black experience instead of policy. Pundits on Fox News often suggest that residents of the “heartland” are “more” American than those who live in major cities or on the coasts. What is that other than identity politics, appealing to people’s sense of “we deserve more” and “they deserve less”? When people blame “illegal immigrants” for “taking their jobs” but never critique the businesses and corporations that exploit workers of all races, that’s identity politics, too. All communities have the right to accurately, clearly, and genuinely state what they want — not to be told what they need. When we accept underlying ideas about who “deserves” help and who doesn’t, that’s based on two identities: who we think “we” are and who we think “they” are. That’s called “identity politics.” The trick is that we don’t see it as “politics” when it appeals to our own identities. Joshua Adams is a writer, journalist and assistant professor at Salem State University. Distributed by OtherWords.org.

Latawnya June Whitney Latawnya June Whitney (Brownie), 38, answered God’s calling on April 1, 2019. She will be deeply missed but never ever forgotten. She was born in Portland on June 30 1980 to parents Tracey Bernard and Samuel Whitney III. She graduated from Jefferson High School in 1999. Home going services are scheduled for Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m. at Philadelphia Church, 238 N.E. Mason St.

A young explorer shows off his critter discovery during a field survey of amphibians and reptiles. You’re invited to make Saturday, April 13, a day of discovery as Vancouver’s Water Resources Education Center celebrates its 19th annual Critter Count. The day will begin at 9 a.m. at the Water Center, 4600 S.E. Columbia Way, with a search for amphibians and reptiles in the morning to help wildlife officials monitor the health of local natural areas. A wildlife expert and a site coordinator will be on hand at each location to help. Frogs and other amphibians are extremely sensitive to water quality and changing environmental conditions. Keeping track of the numbers provides a better understanding of the challenges they are facing. Participants should come equipped with boots, warm clothes, a lunch, and if possible binoculars, officials said. They must also provide their own transportation to field sites. All ages are welcome to participate, but children must be accompanied throughout the survey by adults. For more details, visit cityofvancouver.us/watercenter or call 360-487-7111.