Sunrise PDX Endorses PAALF & Unite Oregon’s Demands

Our City Must Defund the Police, Reinvest into Black Futures, and Protect Communities from Violence

On May 25th, George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. This officer was enabled by his fellow officers who joined him at the scene, and by a law enforcement system that regularly kills, terrorizes, and criminalizes Black people throughout the country. This law enforcement system was built by white people with wealth and power to maintain and consolidate their control over society. 

The same law enforcement system exists here in Portland and has enabled officers to take the lives of Kendra James, Aaron Campel, Quanice Hayes, Andre Gladen, Patrick Kimmons, Chase Arnae Peeples, Terrell Kyreem Johnson, and Jason Washington.* Portland considers itself progressive, but it’s ingrained with deeply rooted racism that has been ignored by white people with power while Black, Indigenous, and Brown communities are oppressed and displaced. The same is true for the climate movement.

When the profits of carbon traders and polluters are prioritized over the health of frontline communities, we see white supremacy in action. When charging stations for expensive electric cars and solar incentives exclusive to homeowners are professed as the solutions to climate collapse, we see white supremacy in action. Just as all lives can't matter until Black lives matter, we can’t have climate justice until we have racial justice.

We recognize that this statement is late in coming. Our hub's capacity these last three weeks has been taken up trying our best to show up for the PDX BLM events. But showing up in the streets is not enough. Sunrise Movement PDX needs to do a better job reckoning with our city's history and the ways in which we perpetuate a culture of white supremacy within our hub. Internally, we are reflecting on and working to address the ways in which we uphold traits of white supremacy culture. Externally, we are striving to continuously improve how we show up for and support Black organizers in Portland.

The Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF) and Unite Oregon have produced a comprehensive list of demands to defund the Portland Police Bureau and allocate that funding toward communities in need, effective emergency response services, and reinvestment into Black futures. We enthusiastically endorse these demands because they work to end racist state sanctioned violence and ensure progress to a future that prioritizes community control, restorative justice, and the well-being and protection of all Portlanders.

On Wednesday, the Portland City Council voted to cut $15 million from the Portland Police Bureau’s (PPB) budget, dissolving the Gun Violence Reduction Team (GVRT), the School Resource Officer (SRO) program, and PPB's transit police program entirely. These reforms are the product of years of diligent advocacy by community leaders like Jo Ann Hardesty that have built the foundation for this moment. We recognize that beginning to defund, rather than increase, police budgets for the first time in years represents a major leap forward for this city. We also affirm what many of our friends and partners in Black-led organizations are saying: if we aim to bring an end to police and state violence against Black people, we must continue to push for more and greater changes that fundamentally challenge white supremacy and the institutions that uphold it. This isn’t over. We need to follow and uplift Black organizers and keep showing up.

If you’re able to show up physically, check out the Portland Black Lives Matter event calendar for information about many events all around the city! We also recommend following Don’t Shoot PDX (@DontShootPdx), Justice for Patrick Kimmons (@justiceforpatrickkimmons), Snack Bloc (@SnackBloc), and Youth Environmental Justice Alliance (@yejapdx).

Whether or not you’re able to attend marches and rallies, you can also show up virtually by writing a letter to Portland City Council members stating your support for PAALF's Defund Portland Police Bureau Demands

*This is not an exhaustive list.