Founded in February 2010, the Albina Ministerial Alliance (AMA) Coalition for Justice & Police Reform works to assure oversight to the Portland Police Bureau. The AMA Coalition represents the wide community interest in justice and police reform in Portland, Oregon. Members of the Coalition include: American Civil Liberties Union (Oregon chapter), Disability Rights of Oregon, Mental Health America (Oregon chapter), National Lawyers Guild (Portland chapter), Oregon Action, Sisters of the Road, Basic Rights Oregon, PFLAG (Portland, Oregon), Center for Intercultural Organizing, Urban League of Portland, NAACP Portland, First Unitarian Church of Portland, and the Portland Campaign to End the New Jim Crow.
Portland Copwatch (PCW) is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action. Portland Cowpatch, originally known as POPSG (People Overseeing Police Study Group) was formed as a project of Peace and Justice Works (formerly Portland Peaceworks) in June of 1992. In January of 1992, Portland Police shot a 12-year old boy who had been taken hostage, and in April of that year, Los Angeles erupted in the wake of the Rodney King verdict. Since its formation, PCW has consulted dozens of groups and individuals locally and nationwide on the issue of civilian review of the police, assembled a broad range of reports, articles, interviews, and other resources; and written a "Proposal for an Effective Civilian Review Board." PCW publishes The People's Police Report three times a year and PCW maintains a list of police shootings and deaths from 1992 to the present day. PCW conducts trainings and seminars, engages in copwatching, maintains an incident report telephone line for monitoring police behavior, and more.
Why Aren't There More Black People in Oregon: A Hidden History video documentation
A project by writer/educator Walidah Imarisha
Also see: The Oregon Black History Timeline
A project by writer/educator Walidah Imarisha
Also see: The Oregon Black History Timeline
From The Oregon Black History Timeline: "This is a 50 slide timeline and audio commentary created by Walidah Imarisha for a program called "Why Aren't There More Black People in Oregon?: A Hidden History," which looks at the history of race, identity and power in Oregon and the larger nation. Oregon has a history not only of Black exclusion and discrimination, but also of a vibrant Black culture that helped sustain many communities throughout the state—a history that is not taught in schools. Oregon as a state was explicitly founded on the idea of creating a white nationalist utopia, and in that way is a useful case study to see the mentality that nationally shaped the institutions that govern our lives."
From the FTP site: "We are a grassroots, volunteer-run organization that focuses on police accountability. We film police encounters in the community."
