UPDATE: The Vote has been set over to January 6th.
Support Restitution Now! for Displaced Families
of the Emanuel Hospital Expansion
Send in written testimony to City Council by January 5th!
Email: cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov
We had a great showing at City Council this week and the work continues….
Please join us in calling for Restitution Now for local families displaced by the Emanuel Hospital expansion. As a community we demand the debts due to the families, (some of which are listed in the Emanuel Hospital atrium), who were displaced and continue to suffer the negative impacts of the various development schemes in play over the years.
Funds and a commitment to build more (affordable) housing MUST be included in the budget as a condition of the debt approval for the Interstate Urban Renewal Plan 2021 on the Portland City Council agenda! This must be spelled out! Weigh in today by submitting written testimony to cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov by Jan 5th. See talking points & sample letters below.
Community To Dos/ Can you:
- Send an email by Jan 5th. Key message: Reclaiming Stolen Black Land In Portland: Survivors and Descendants Are Entitled to Restitution. Fund & Build the promised Replacement Housing in Resolutions 1330.
- Sign & share the Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2 (EDPA2) Community Statement of Support for Enforcement of a Federal Restitution Agreement.
- Stay Involved! See ourGP NOW facebook page for more details and discussion. Send an email to greaterportlandnow@gmail.com with the Subject: Restitution Now! to get our update in January.
During the 1960’s and 70’s; Emanuel Hospital, the City of Portland, Home Forward and Prosper Portland (formerly PDC) partnered to demolish a prosperous Black neighborhood in Central Albina. Now, city leaders want to include this same property into an urban renewal area. If included in the IURA, it generates 67 million dollars for the City of Portland through The Portland Housing Bureau and Prosper Portland. Impacted families get nothing, despite a city Relocation Housing policy and uncompleted Federal Restitution Agreement, Resolution 1330 which was passed on March 15,1971
During the 1960’s and 1970’s. Emanuel Hospital and the Portland Development Commission (PDC) utilized the Federal Fair Housing Act of 1949 to forcefully remove Portland’s thriving and predominantly Black community in what was Central Albina. To this day, racist exclusionary policies continue to lead decisions about the allocation of legally promised resources — including money, land, and oversight power owed to the individuals most directly impacted by the demolition of surrounding homes and local businesses.
As Prosper Portland and Portland City Commissioners try to move forward on plans for this area via Urban Renewal plans in North Portland, we call for support, solidarity and restitution now for the families displaced by these efforts toward so-called progress. We can not leave those who have been subject to “Urban Removal” in the name of “Renewal” behind as plans are being made to move forward. Let’s take steps to make this right! Send your email of support in advance of Portland City Council’s proposed vote to increase the debt capacity for the Interstate Corridor Urban Renewal Plan 2021 on Wednesday morning Jan. 6th.
Here is the Prosper Portland webpage with the most detail about the Williams & Russell area, Including history and timeline for plans and proposals in 2021.
There are more details elsewhere about the unkept promises in regards to those who lost their homes & businesses in several waves over the years. We know we as a community want to do better & we will!
The displaced families should have restitution funds coming to them! We demand this funding and the agreements about housing unit replacements be detailed & included in any approved plans to spend additional funds or move these projects towards redevelopment.
We won’t stay quiet, we demand awareness of the harmful impacts and COMPENSATION OVERDUE to the community and families involved since all this started in the early 70s. We demand economic justice and enrichment of the opportunities for all Portlanders, not just developers and institutions.
Send in written testimony to City Council by January 5th!
Email: cctestimony@portlandoregon.gov
More Contacts:
Project Working Group
Co-Chair Bryson Davis bdavis@sussmanshank.com
Co-Chair Lakeitha Davis lakeithaelliott@gmail.com
City of Portland
Mayor Ted Wheeler mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov
Chief of Staff Kristin Dennis kristin.dennis@portlandoregon.gov
Mayor Wheeler’s Chief of Staff Jamal Fox jamal.fox@portlandoregon.gov
Director of Strategic Initiatives Cupid Alexander cupid.alexander@portlandoregon.gov
Director of Policy Nicole Grant nicole.grant@portlandoregon.gov
Senior Policy Advisor Tia Willams tia.williams@portlandoregon.gov
Strategic Initiatives Manager Mustafa Washington mustafa.washington@portlandoregon.gov
Constituent Services Specialist Sierra Ellis sierra.ellis@portlandoregon.gov
Northeast Portland District Liaison Nan Stark Nan.Stark@portlandoregon.gov
Sample Letter of Support:
Dear ____________,
Recently, I was made aware of the Emanuel Displaced Persons Association 2, EDPA2 and the work they are doing to enforce a Federal Restitution Agreement concerning demolished homes in the predominantly Black community of what was Central Albina during the 1960’s and 70’s. I am appalled to discover the City of Portland, Prosper Portland and Emanuel Hospital utilized the Emanuel Hospital expansion under federal urban renewal law to target and intentionally rid Central Albina of a majority Black population. Portland has a longstanding history of uprooting Black communities on a political whim. I am convinced this practice needs to stop and leaders have publicly made known this history and the role racist city policies play in the forced removal of this community.
Nationally, the City of Portland is known to be progressive. Locally, Mayor Wheeler and Prosper Portland’s Executive Director Kimberly Branam make public vows to address historic damage, adopt equity policies and implement diversity, equity and inclusion in all city operations. Yet, the impacted families of the Emanuel Hospital expansion are not intentionally included in recent efforts to address the harm that was inflicted upon them. In a local documentary titled Root Shocked, Mayor Wheeler recognizes the financial destruction caused by racist policies “What happened decades ago has an impact on the generational wealth of African Americans today.” He further states “The institutional racism…Black families in particular have experienced in this community– and we need to address the wrongs that we’ve created…we need to reach out to and overtly and intentionally support people…to demonstrate we’re committed to a better future.”
Mayor Wheeler can demonstrate his proclaimed commitment by listening to members of EDPA2 and using his position as Mayor to actively enforce the City of Portland adopted Relocation Housing Policy and Cooperative Replacement Housing Agreement to adequately and directly address the ongoing economic, social, cultural and psychological damage caused by “what happened decades ago.” Chiefly, there must be replacement of every house that was demolished, with no exception. By writing this letter, I support the demands and efforts of EDPA2 and join in the growing community call toward fulfillment of the Replacement Housing Agreement.
See our previous post on this topic with more links, photos etc. here
