PORTLAND, OR (KPTV) – On Monday groups unveiled a billboard campaign to raise awareness about gun violence in Portland, with a focus on the Black community.
Founder of nonprofit The No Hate Zone, Sam Sachs helped organize the effort with several other leaders in the community.
Sachs said during the press conference to unveil one of the billboards at Northeast Fremont Street and Northeast Sandy Boulevard that he wanted this campaign to address the gun violence that’s killing Black men in our community. …
During that press conference, artist Elijah Hasan who helped craft the billboards shared their meaning and purpose.
Billboard in Portland, Oregon, Blames Gun Violence in Black Community on Racism + Self-Hate
On 5/11/21 at 10:33 AM EDT
A northeast Portland, Oregon, billboard takes on the effect of gun violence within Black communities, drawing attention to the city s recent homicide rate increase.
The billboard shows an image of a Black man and a bullet with the message, Racism + Self-hate = gun violence. Reject the oppression. Anti-gun activists and leaders of the group behind the billboard, The No Hate Zone, urged members of the Black community to destroy white supremacy, not each other during an unveiling of the sign last Monday. Portland native Elijah Hasan told
Billboards aim to expose racism’s violent impact on Black people in Portland
Updated May 10, 2021;
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“Destroy white supremacy, not each other.”
That’s the message plastered on several new billboards across the Portland area. The provocative message is displayed between a large gold-colored bullet that includes a superimposed image of a slave ship.
At a Monday unveiling of one of the new billboards, the artist behind the image Portland native Elijah Hasan said the bullet, like a slave ship, is a vessel of trauma for Black people.
“It is my intention to remind the Black minds inside these Black bodies that they may think that these bullets fly because someone snitched or even killed a loved one,” said Hasan. “But I am suggesting that this is not the reason you’re shooting. But instead, it’s a symptom of the environment you find yourself in.”
PBOT to spend $4 million on Fremont Street upgrades April 16 2021
The Portland Bureau of Transportation says the improvements include repaving roads, adding street signs and curb ramps.
Northeast Fremont Street is getting a little TLC from the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
PBOT is spending roughly $4 million to upgrade and refresh a stretch of the bustling east-west corridor between North Williams and Northeast 59th avenues, with the improvements including repaved and restriped traffic lanes as well as new curb ramps and street signs.
As motorists likely already have discovered, crews are grinding and repaving between Northeast 59th and 40th avenues, or about 2.4 miles of separate lanes. The job is expected to cost $250,000 and should be completed by the end of April.