Black-led groups unveil sweeping demands for combating systemic racism in Oregon

[Nevilledog]

https://www.opb.org/article/2020/07/28/black-led-groups-unveil-sweeping-demands-for-combating-systemic-racism-in-oregon/

Black-led organizations and activists in Oregon have unveiled a sweeping set of policy demands aimed at rooting out the entrenched systemic racism that has marred the state since its founding.

Hoping to leverage momentum from two months of protests over racial injustice in Portland and around the country — and with buy-in from elected leaders at every level — the newly formed coalition unveiled its “Reimagine Oregon” plan in a press event Tuesday morning.

A subsection of the crowd marches toward the Marriott hotel in downtown Portland, Ore., July 25, 2020. Portland has sustained protests against police brutality and systemic racism for 58 days.
A subsection of the crowd marches toward the Marriott hotel in downtown Portland, Ore., July 25, 2020. Portland has sustained protests against police brutality and systemic racism for 58 days.
Bradley W. Parks / OPB
“Oregon this is your chance,” Kali Thorne Ladd, executive director of Kairos PDX, said during the event. “Now is your chance to prove that Black Lives Matter in a tangible and actionable way.”

The many-pronged plan defies easy summary, roping in policymakers from a wide range of government bodies, and touching on such central issues as criminal justice reform, housing equity, transportation access, education, health care and more. Among demands that supporters announced:

*snip*

Yes, it's a cliffhanger.....demands at the link

[crickets]

1. Some initiatives they've developed are getting more receptive response than others,

but good on Portland activists for sustained effort as well as pushing beyond the protests to the plans.

“What we’re seeing too little of is the media talking about the reasons that people have to take to the streets in the first place,” she said. “I am a daughter of Oregon. I am an American. And yet I have to fight to be treated as an American… This is about lives and the rights of people to be free. After I get free, I’ll focus on the graffiti.”