THE PEOPLE SPEAK

 MUSIC:  guitar,

 It was a nearly perfect early summer afternoon when most of Portland was starting out on a three-day holiday weekend….One of those hot, dry days that makes your eyeballs sweat ….The end of a long winter, the beginning a summer that's here at last …for Muslims, it was the eve of Ramadan….

 Music: a few bars…

 Yet suddenly, at ------ that Friday afternoon, when the news started to come down…it was as if the whole world stopped in its orbit and the planet quit turning on its axis and the news began to make an indelible imprint…

 (Train sounds…police car sirens…ambulance sounds…)

 

On Friday, the eve of Ramadan, two men were murdered and another severely injured following an altercation with a white supremacist in Portland, Oregon. North Portland resident Jeremy Joseph Christian, 35, allegedly screamed Islamophobic and racist slurs at two teenage girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab, while riding a commuter train. When Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23, Ricky John Best, 53, and Micah David-Cole Fletcher, 21, intervened, Christian attacked them with a knife — killing Best and Namkai-Meche in the process.

 Music: a few more bars, continuing from above…

It's August now, just three months after the event, and KBOO news is back at the Hollywood Station. The story of what happened and howit happened are still unfolding and we're trying to see how that day will fit in the history of Portland.

 In this and the next four episodes of this brief serial report, we'll try to put the events of May 26 into a context. What do those events mean and what significance do they have for our city?

 As we were interviewing and writing this story, the national media spotlight focused on a confrontation in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a white racist allegedly plowed into a group of demonstrators and killed one person…

 Music: a few more bars, continuing from above…

 First we're reporting from the scene… what's there now…what are the thoughts of station users as they pass through the station today…Let's hear the "Voice of the People."

 I'm at the station now, 3:30 PM, August 8.  Here are some voices from Hollywood station users, some of them people who passed through this station on May 26 and most of the days since. 

Hi, I'm from KBOO, 90.7 FM, and we're following up with a series on the hate crime murders that took place here on May 26:

• Did you use this station on May 26, the day of the murders?
• What was your reaction to what happened that day?
• How have you processed the emotions you've felt since then?
• How do we put this behind us?

  In our second episode, tomorrow, we'll talk to community leaders about how the event fits into the City's history and what it means in terms of race relations.  how do City leaders see the long-term impact…how about religious leaders and the Muslim community?  And what about our safety?...how can we protect ourselves on the metro and in other public places…? And, how did the suspected murderer survive his arrest?

 

Our third episode is about the victims and their families:  what is and will be the impact of these murders on the lives of people directly involved in the event…. What were the results of the fund-raising efforts that followed the incident?  How about the children of the victims? And will there be justice in the courts, and how satisfactory can it be? 

In our fourth episode we'll try to find the national perspective… why has Congress failed to recognize this event?  What's been the effect of this event on the national image of Portland ----Boston became "Boston Strong," but what has Portland become?  Is white racism somehow winning in a conflict with democratic pluralism?  Is racism becoming… respectable, main-stream?

 And finally we ask the question: how do we leave this?  How do we write the history of what happened that day?  Will May 26 be seen as a turning point in the history of this city, or will it be just another mile marker on a long trail that begins with the systematic mistreatment of native people and a misguided constitution and leads to a seemingly endless series of hateful racial encounters? What permanent results if any, should we expect?  Were the victims heroes?  Will there be a permanent memorial? What, if anything, have we learned from what happened on May 26, 2017?

 

MUSIC:  a little more somber, … fading under the closing text… 

You've just heard the first in a five part series; Listen in tomorrow for the second episode:  "The Holllywood Murders:  A Time for Leadership."

 

COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP

This is the second episode in a 5-part series on the Hollywood Metro Station murders that took place on May 26.

(Train sounds…police car sirens…ambulance sounds…)

 Today we talk with community leaders and others about what happened that day and how the event fits into the City's history and what it means in terms of race relations.  how do City leaders see the long-term impact…how about religious leaders and the Muslim community?  What about our safety?...how can we protect ourselves on the metro and in other public places…? And, how did the suspected murderer survive his arrest?

 Today and in the next few episodes of this series, you'll hear these voices:

• Micah Fletcher, the victim who survived: I was just going to work..(M-6)
• Asha Deliverance, mother of Taliesin: We all need to take the grand journey of love. (A-4)
• Linda Castillo, ONI and Portland United Against Hate: C-1 PUAH stands for Portland United Against Hate
• Randy Blazak, sociologist/criminologist: B-1 Station has become hallowed ground
• Zahir Khan, K- 2, Hate has become an acceptable part of governance….
• Shweta Moorthy, Coalition of People of Color, M-1 death by 1,000 cuts

 

Moorthy:  permanent impact on victims

Khan:  impact on community

On the question of how the suspect survived his arrest, this issue in some ways embodies that underlying division of opinion that separates people by race in Portland.  Here's Linda Castillo:

            C-5 white suspects treated differently from people of color

 

In our third episode, tomorrow, We'll consider the victims and their families, and the impact of these murders on the lives of people directly involved ….we'll talk with a mother who lost a son that day. What were the results of the fund-raising efforts that followed the incident?  How about the children of the victims? And will there be justice in the courts, and how satisfactory can it be? 

 

MUSIC:  a little more somber, … fading under the closing text…GS: Babel?

You've just heard the second in our five part series; Listen in tomorrow for the third episode:  "The Holllywood Murders:  The Victims and Their Families?"

MUSIC:  guitar, light but and fun but  serious at the same time…

 That's it for Episode 2. Listen to the whole series at our website, K-B-O-O DOT F-M and call or e-mail us with your comments.

 

  VICTIMS AND FAMILIES

 

MUSIC:  guitar, light and fun but  serious at the same time…m 

This is the third in a 5-part series of KBOO evening news, on the murders that took place on May 26 at the Hollywood Metro Station.  We decided to review the events of that day and try to answer some questions that, in our view, have never been fully answered.

 

Today we talk about the victims and their families:  what is and will be the impact of these murders on the lives of people directly involved in the event…. What were the results of the fund-raising efforts that followed the incident?  How about the children of the victims? And will there be justice in the courts, and how satisfactory can it be? Were the victims heroes? 

 

C-3:  for the two women who were the object of the abuse, it was life-changing

 

Micah Fletcher was one of those victims.  He almost died that day but here he is at KBOO:

M-1

M-2

M-3

M-4

 Asha Deliverance is the mother of Taliesin who died that day…Here we talk about her son and the impact of his murder:

 A-1

A-2

A-3

 You just heard Asha Deliverance and Micah Fletcher, two people who were victims in very different ways, and two people with strong cores who have very different responses to what they experienced.

 

MUSIC:  a little more somber, … fading under the closing text…GS: Babel?

 

In our fourth episode, tomorrow,  we'll try to put the event in a national perspective:  why has Congress failed to recognize what happened here?  What's been the effect of this event on the national image of Portland ----Boston became "Boston Strong," but what has Portland become?.  Is white racism somehow winning a fight with democratic pluralism?  Is racism becoming… respectable, main-stream?

 That's it for Episode 3. Listen to the whole series at our website, K-B-O-O DOT F-M and call or e-mail us with your comments.

 

 

 

PORTLAND IN THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

 

MUSIC:  guitar, light and fun but  serious at the same time…m 

 

This is the fourth episode in a 5-part series on the Hollywood Metro Station murders that took place on May 26

(Train sounds…police car sirens…ambula