A competitor in the Ethos Music Center's B-Boy Battle shows off his moves on the floor of the Reed College Student Union on Saturday night, where hundreds gathered to watch breakdancers compete. Saturday's event was a fund-raiser for the nonprofit Ethos, as well as for its director, Charles Lewis, who is raising money for his bid for City Commissioner.
Photo by Jenny Konopinksi 

Eric Ward, the field director with the Center for New Community, a faith-based civil rights organization sited in Chicago;  believes the Oregon initiatives are part of a nationwide trend toward pointing to immigrants and refugees as the cause of all kinds of social and economic problems.
"In the wake of the collapse of the national bipartisan immigration reform legislation, we notice that the anti-immigration movement has grown ever more powerful and more hateful," Ward told the Skanner. 
"It is not finding any real solutions for the forced migration that really is a global phenomenon – including here in the USA. But what it is doing is scapegoating immigrants and refugees for the real problems we face — the disparity in wealth in this country, for example.
Ward, who attended Lane Community College in Eugene and graduated from the University of Oregon, said if Initiative 112 were to be passed it would erode civil rights for all Americans – and particularly people of color.
"It will have a substantial impact on African Americans and further disenfranchise many African Americans," he said. "One of the largest impacts of anti-immigrant legislation is that where it has passed African American participation in elections has fallen by around 5 percent." ....

You've heard that old saying, "The South shall rise again." You'd probably never guess that the South could rise again in the Pacific Northwest. But you'd be wrong.
The Portland Chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is constructing a park to honor Jefferson Davis, who helped create the Confederacy and served as its president throughout the Civil War.
 The park, on a quarter acre of private property along I-5 just south of Carty Road, will prominently feature a highway marker dedicated to Davis that was placed in Vancouver in 1939....

Betty Walker runs to meet the school bus when it pulls up outside her door. But the wide-eyed 7-year-old who comes into the house and asks for his Mickey Mouse doll is not Walker's son or grandson. Alimasi is one of Walker's two foster children.
"This is a seven day job, 24 hours a day," Walker said. "People sometimes think I stay home all day doing nothing, but it's rare to have one or two days a week when you don't have a meeting or something you need to do. You can keep yourself really busy."....

What's happening for us this week in Portland?

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The African Children's Choir performed Friday, Nov. 9 at the First Covenant Church in Seattle. The choir, whose members range in age from 7 to 11, are from Uganda and have lost one or both parents to AIDS. The concert was a fund-raiser to help pay for schools and emergency relief in Uganda and other African countries.

In front of a record crowd of 68,331, the Seattle Seahawks shutout the San Francisco 49ers in front of a nationally televised audience on "Monday Night Football" at Qwest Field.
The Seahawks are now 5-4 and led the NFC West by one game ahead of the Arizona Cardinals with the 24-0 win over the 49ers.
Coach Mike Holmgren said ....

Washington State moved up this year from the 15th to the 12th healthiest state in the country, according to a new report.  The state's strengths included a significant decrease in infant mortality and fewer children in poverty. However, a profile of the state's African Americans showed significant health disparities.
The report, "America's Health Rankings," an annual list compiled by the United Health Foundation, is based on an analysis of 14 health determinants and six outcome ....

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More than 300 prospective buyers attended the 2007 African American Home Buying Fair on Sat. Oct. 27, and over 52 vendors, and 65 individuals participated in the on-going workshops. Cheryl Roberts, executive director of the African American Alliance for Homeownership said the event was successful in educating prospective buyers about the resources available in the community. Roberts expressed her gratitude for all the sponsors who made the fair possible. ....