Portland, Oregon, though widely considered as a liberal bastion, likewise has had a hard time historically with ethnic diversity; undoubtedly, the 2010 census found it to be “America’s whitest significant city.” In early acknowledgment of such diverse realities, a group of African American activists in the 1960 s formed a local branch of the Black Panther Celebration in the city’s Albina District to rally their community and be heard by city leaders. And as Lucas Burke and Judson Jeffries expose, the Portland branch was quite different from the more popular– and infamous– Oakland head office. Rather of parading through the streets wearing black berets and ammunition belts, Portland’s Panthers were more concerned with opening a health clinic and starting complimentary breakfast programs for area kids. The group had been squeezed out of regional politics by the early 1980 s, its legacy lives on through the numerous activist groups in Portland that are still fighting many of the exact same fights. Combining histories of the city and its African American community with interviews with previous Portland Panthers and other essential players, this long-overdue account includes intricacy to our understanding of the protracted civil liberties motion throughout the Pacific Northwest.
No comments:
Post a Comment