In 2015, are there still
Whites Only signs
in Portland, Oregon?

If so, what do they look like? As I drove down Interstate Avenue
this morning I noticed a new yoga studio open up at the bottom
of brand new multistory housing complex...

REST OF STORY: 
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/racism

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For Immediate Release:      Contact: Lindsey Hortenstine: 504-827-8169 / 404-520-3087 / Tony Papa: 646-420-7290

Saturday in New Orleans: Rally Calls for Clemency for Bernard Noble

Father of Seven Serving 13 Years for Simple Marijuana Posession

New Orleans- Criminal justice stakeholders, New Orleans city Council members, sentencing reform advocates, community activists, concerned citizens, friends and family will gather Saturday to rally for clemency for Bernard Noble, currently
serving 13.3 years 2.8 grams for simple possession of marijuana.  This is nonsense.

more info on this insanity:  No Fear, No Compromise, & No Surrender!

Marijuana Reform Portal
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/marijuana

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"Police violence comes at what Imarisha, echoing Angela Davis, calls “the intersections of intimate and social violence.” Police are not killing unarmed Black people because the thought occurs to them out of the blue. Behind these murders lie all sorts of institutional forms of violence. Likewise, poverty and gentrification do not form from thin air. They are the result of laws, regulations, contracts, red lines, predatory loans, and other systemic oppression made in the name of a society hiding behind a cloak of equality, freedom, and the American dream.
They are the by-products and enforcement tools of white supremacy."
read more: NW Alliance Portal for police accountability! 
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/policeaccountability

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Attending these forums could mean life or death to some (literally) its an important opportunity to Make A REAL Difference!

On April 2nd, the COAB will hold its first Public Hearing. 

here is the rest of the story... ThePortlandAlliance.org/police       Police Updates

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THE REAL NEWS NETWORK PRESENTS THE FORD REPORT

Metro Areas With the Largest,

   and Smallest, Gay Populations

PDX in top Five! rest of the story: The NW Alliance Portal to the NY Times!    

http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/nytpa

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   Servant Leaders vs. Empty Suits

 by Winslow Myers

 

In a normal world, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress would have been roundly mocked by the audience for its hypocritical fear-mongering. In a normal world, 70 years beyond Hiroshima, major powers would have long since acceded to the wishes of their constituents and established far more extensive arms reduction treaties. In a normal world, there would be a single, not a double standard challenging the undiluted evil of nuclear weapons, no matter who possesses them. That single standard would underpin not only a regional but also a planet-wide effort at nuclear disarmament. And in a normal world, a foreign leader would not have been handed the most prestigious possible venue to undermine delicate, complex negotiations merely to allow him to score political points in two countries simultaneously. 
more info:  Winslow Myers Portal:  http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/myers

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Release Date:  April 2015        
Octavia's Brood, co-edited by Walidah Imarisha
& Adrienne Maree Brown, is an anthology of
radical science & speculative fiction written by
organizers & activists, based in the idea that
those working to change the world are sci-fi/speculative thinkers!
PAGE INFO:  http://www.ThePortlandalliance.org/octavia
find out more at:  ThePortlandAlliance.org/walidah

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A Defined Voice

A Poem by Herman Wallace

"They removed my whisper from general population
To maximum security I gained a voice
They removed my voice from maximum security
To administrative segregation
My voice gave hope

They removed my voice from administrative segregation
To solitary confinement
My voice became vibration for unity

They removed my voice from solitary confinement
To the Supermax of Camp J
And now they wish to destroy me

The louder my voice the deeper they bury me
I SAID, THE LOUDER MY VOICE THE DEEPER THEY BURY ME

Free all political prisoners, prisoners of war, prisoner of consciousness"

more information and resources at:

http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/prisonradio Prison Radio Alliance Portal  

By Don McIntosh, Associate Editor 

The AFL-CIO has begun an all-out campaign to defeat “fast track” in Congress, and a vote on it is
expected within days or weeks.

Fast track, also referred to as trade promotion authority, is legislation that would make it easier for Congress to pass more NAFTA-style trade agreements — including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a super-secret agreement being negotiated with 11 other Pacific Rim nations. Under fast track, when
the president presents a trade agreement,
Congress must hold an up-or-down
vote within 90 days, with limited
debate and no amendments.   more info:  http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/nwlaborpress

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                          Calling For a New Result
Who should analyze police misconduct? It’s time we take oversight out of cops’ hands.
Police accountability experts ARE available.
In other posts, we describe the role of a Community Oversight Advisory Board (COAB), installed as part of a Federal agreement that the City of Portland, Oregon eliminates illegal use of force in policing. Unfortunately, the prime influence on this body of political appointees and citizen volunteers have been the perpetrators of civil rights violations … and their agents.  the rest of the story:    www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/consulthardesty  A Portal to Consult Hardesty

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If Congress passes fast track this time, the consequences could be enormous. TPP has been called “NAFTA on steroids” by its critics. It would cover almost 40 percent of the world’s economy, including Australia, Brunei,

TPP, Peace and Conflict – it’s not about trade, it’s about how we trade

By Patrick T. Hiller

Let’s get one thing straight to begin with. Trade is good. We do it all the time. Trade has been pretty much part of recorded human history and evidence reveals prehistorical trade routes in many parts of the world. It becomes a little bit trickier when we look at large-scale international trade agreements. The question as to whether foreign trade promotes peace and development or destructive conflict has been debated for a long time. One of the most current controversies on free trade agreements evolves around the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The history of free trade agreements, the secrecy around TPP, and the leaked information of the actual agreement suggest tremendous potential for social conflict if implemented.
more info:  at Alliance PeaceVoice Portal     http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/peacevoice

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A group of Senate Democrats accused the White House of trying to censor significant details in a voluminous report on the use of torture by the Central Intelligence Agency.

During a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill with Denis R. McDonough, the White House chief of staff, the senators said that the White House was siding with the C.I.A. and trying to thwart negotiations over the report’s release.    read more: http://www.theportlandalliance.org/Munk

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Ursula K. Le Guin's fiery speech at the National Book Awards is generating a big reaction Thursday morning.

"Ursula K. Le Guin Steals the Show" says National Public Radio, which reported that "the crowd went wild," after Le Guin called Amazon "a profiteer" and said it was trying "to punish a publisher for disobedience, and writers threatened by corporate fatwa," a reference to Amazon's pricing dispute with Hachette. "And I see a lot of us, the producers, accepting this — letting commodity profiteers sell us like deodorant."
                                         read more: http://www.theportlandalliance.org/breakingnews
                                                      BREAKING NEWS AT THE ALLIANCE

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http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/art.html

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JWJ News and Updates

2015 Portland Jobs with Justice Annual Dinner

Join Jobs with Justice
more information:  http://www.theportlandalliance.org/jwjupdates
 

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A Brutal Beating Wakes Attica's Ghosts By TOM ROBBINS Three corrections officers at the prison in western New York face gang-related assault charges after an inmate was brutally beaten. more info at:  The NW Alliance Portal to the NY Times!   http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/nytpa

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• Monday, April 13 at 6:00pm in PDT

• Oregon State Capitol 900 Court St NE, Salem, Oregon 97301

Join us in a show of force for $15 in Oregon! The bill to make Oregon the first state with a $15 minimum wage will have a public committee hearing at the state capitol building in Salem on Monday April 13 at 6pm. This is our opportunity to show our state legislators that the people of Oregon demand $15 Now!

more information:  www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/15NowPDX!

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        LABOR RADIO SHOW
http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/laborradio
 KBOO Community Radio  90.7 FM presents: 
Labor Radio Show
 6:00-6:30 pm Every Monday Night!
CALL-IN and join the conversation! : 503-231-8187

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Why Can't One of the US's Most "Progressive"
Cities Reform Its Police Force?

17 November, 2011: Portland Police in Riot Gear Holding the Line in Downtown Portland, Oregon during a Occupy Portland protest on the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. (Photo:JPL Designs / Shutterstock.com)

It was just after midnight on a September Sunday when several police officers,
responding to reports of property damage, approached a small group of young
black men walking down a street in north Portland, Oregon.

Among them was 16-year-old Thai Gurule, a football player at Roosevelt High
School, and his older brother Giovanni. Officers ordered Thai to stop.
He kept walking.

Within minutes Thai would be tackled by several officers, forced to the ground,
tased and handcuffed. Later, despite a judge’s ruling that the initial stop was illegal,
he’d face charges of resisting arrest, assaulting a public safety officer and attempted
strangulation. Giovanni would face similar, though less serious, charges. The Portland
Police Bureau worked quickly to defend their officers, releasing a statement that explained
that the Gurule brothers were “very hostile,” and that Thai demonstrated “active aggression,
including his choking the female officer.”

Cell phone videos captured a different scene: Thai, slight of body, standing still between two officers. “Can I ask you a question?” Giovanni can be heard saying. “What did my little brother do? He don’t do nothing. He plays football for Roosevelt, come on now. He don’t drink. He don’t smoke.” Suddenly, the officers pull Thai towards the ground. His white hat falls off, and he reaches for it through the scrum. Officers bark orders, and bystanders shout: “Stop pulling his hair!” “Why are you punching him?” “That’s illegal!” “What’s the problem that he caused?” “Fucking pigs!” When they tase him, Thai begins to gasp, his high-pitched keening overlaid by the hoarser, panicked protests coming from his older brother.

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For the rest of the story about PDX Police Reform:   http://www.ThePortlandAlliance.org/thenation

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The right to rebellion is the right to seek a higher rule... GEORGE ELIOT Speaking Truth To Power!

Support Real News! PDX, OR / MSLA, MT

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       And Checkout The Alliance Community Action Calendar
ThePortlandAlliance.org/communitycalendar

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Shannon Wheeler's Too Much Coffee Man Portal at The Portland Alliance

http://wordsmithcollection.blogspot.com/2013/06/writing-creative-arts-cutting-edge-of.html

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