Saturday, July 18
Black Unity — in collaboration with Patty Medina, the founder of the Hooper Mentality Foundation — held a Speak Up and Dribble event at Washington-Jefferson Park in Eugene at 2 p.m. that also included a march.
The march began around 3:30 p.m., starting at the park where Black Unity offered food and several people were playing games of pick-up basketball.
A crowd of approximately 80 people and children marched downtown past Charnelton Street while dribbling basketballs and chanting. The group listened to various speakers during one of several sit-ins taking over intersections.
The first of two incidents with vehicles, with a large pickup truck, left after being confronted by the Bicycle Safety Crew. The second — at the exit of an alley in-between the BSC and the sit-in involving a red sedan — escalated when the man got out of his vehicle and shoved the cyclists back who were blocking the exit.
After a few tense minutes of back-and-forth with the man, including him getting a hammer from his car and threatening to kill those in front of him, he left.
Later during the march, an SUV drove through the BSC who were blocking an intersection, narrowly missing two cyclists.
Once the crowd returned to Washington-Jefferson Park, Kona Ice handed out shaved ice. Other eateries offered food in-between contests hosted by the group.
Sunday, July 19
The Ham Slam Pig Roast and poetry reading — a collaboration between Lane County Mutual Aid, BIPOC Liberation Collective, Disarm UOPD and Stop Death on the Streets — saw a gathering of approximately 200 people at Monroe Park in Eugene starting at 7 p.m
A speaker from LCMA updated the crowd on the ongoing hunger strike in the Lane County Jail. The speaker said guards have begun wearing masks and handing out cleaning solutions to inmates.
A representative from BLC spoke about community self-defense and solidarity while highlighting the recent arrest of Jay St James, an activist and sex worker. St James alleged they were sexually assaulted by an EPD officer. They were later arrested when demanding evidence that the officer had resigned.
Stop Deaths on the Streets argued against the criminalization of poverty and houselessness and said the Eugene Police Department has continued to sweep through homeless camps against the Center for Disease Control’s recommendations not to do so during the COVID-19 pandemic. A speaker for the group added that there have been 15 deaths within Eugene’s unhoused population so far in 2020.
A Disarm UOPD speaker condemned the fact that the multimillion dollar budgeted University of Oregon Police Department answers only to the university’s board of trustees. They added that UO buys discounted prison labor-made furniture. “It’s easy to rename buildings,” they said. “It’s hard to make real, material changes.”
After the speeches and prior to opening up the mic for anyone to speak about their interactions with local law enforcement, the group held a poetry slam critical of law enforcement. Poems included Langston Hughes’ “Kids Who Die” and “ACAB: A Nursery Rhyme” by Sean Bonney.
One speaker during the open-mic session described being arrested a few days prior and handcuffed inside a patrol car for so long they had to be hospitalized prior to being processed into the jail.
At the end of the night, a member of LCMA announced that they were getting a group together to skate towards the reservoir to see Comet NEOWISE which is visible for the month of July.
Wednesday, July 22
Black Unity held an open-forum at the Springfield Public Library starting at 7 p.m. that saw another group with opposing views join for a discourse.
Attendees from both sides gave speeches and answered questions for approximately 80 minutes. Though there were no physical confrontations, verbal threats weren’t uncommon.
A speaker from BU claimed a victory, following the city of Eugene’s announcement that it would create a committee that will consult the city council regarding policing policies.
The committee will include two members of BU.
Marcus Edwards, the spokesperson for the July 10 All Lives Matter rally, was the first speaker for the opposition. He asked the crowd, “What do you mean about the things you say?” He specifically referred to the term ACAB, or All Cops Are Bastards.
BU leadership sympathized with the opposition that the term ACAB is triggering and said that it is in reference to the systems created to marginalize and oppress people of color.
When a speaker from BU brought up the Department of Homeland Security’s occupation in Portland, a member of the opposition group said, “if you do that in our city, it isn’t shit compared to what’s going to happen here.” There were also shouts of “there is no white supremacy” and “there are no racists here.”
The opposition left at around 9:20 p.m., after saying they “felt belittled” while participating in the open-mic. Everyone else dispersed shortly after.
C. Francis O’Leary contributed reporting to this story.
