Thread by @jwcroxton

I'll be live-tweeting for the @DailyEmerald tonight from the #EugeneOregon federal courthouse for A.D.O.S.' "Where Do We Go From Here" rally starting at 5 p.m.

Some quick research shows that A.D.O.S. — or American Descendents of Slavery — separate themselves from many other BIPOC-oriented groups.

Titled "Black Agenda," some of their demands include:

- Affirmative action is streamlined as a government program only and specifically for ADOS.

- Demands that 15% of SBA loans be distributed to ADOS businesses.

- H1-B program reduces opportunities for ADOS searching for careers in technology, so, the government must strictly limit the number of H1-B Visa workers each year.

- ADOS college debt should be forgiven in the same way losses were forgiven for the banks on Wall Street.

- A health care credit to pay for medical coverage for all ADOS. This would cover surgery, pharmaceutical, and counseling needs.

- H.R. 40 be fully rewritten to include reference to ADOS as the recipient group, cash payments, and additional supportive measures implemented.

They can be check out here: ados101.com/black-agenda

At the courthouse now.
About 30 or so people here setting up.

Unfortunately no sign of the advertised food carts yet.

Music just started playing on speakers.

Mayor Lucy Vinis (in yellow) is here.

EPD Chief Skinner is also in attendance.

A speaker is up at the podium now.

"This is a monumentous occasion."

Starting off with a prayer now.

The group is reiterating that this will be a peaceful gathering "from start to end"

"We are here to be a unified front" and to "reconcile the police with the community"

The speaker is now talking about their experiences in #PortlandOregon at the protests.

The current speaker is now criticizing other protests and rally for not having a designated leader and not "understanding the things they're calling for."

George Russel, the former superintendent of Eugene Public Schools, is speaking now.

*Russell

"We cannot continue to have Black lives be so undervalued and looked at as disposable."

The speaker is saying that this is not the time for an abolishing of the police. They're citing the sentiments of Black residents in Springfield who don't feel safe around their neighbors.

Black Unity says that they've had an opportunity to sit down with Chief Skinner to discuss police reform.

Someone just shouted "this is bullshit. Skinner should step down."

The first speaker is back at the podium discussing reparations.

"40 acres and a mule" would have equated to 400 million acres to Black families.

"We acquired 15 million acres that was then taken."

Naming the first Black families here in Eugene and how their properties were taken away so that "Ferry Street Bridge could be built."

The Johnsons also happened to be the first family to give birth to triplets. They were evicted out of their home a few days later.

Lily Parker (spelling?) is up next.

The Black Cultural Center is named after her.

"I am a product of this community and God has blessed me with 74 years in this community. I didn't stay because I had to, but because I had a desire."

She is decrying violence citing Martin Luther King Jr.

The first speaker is back at the podium saying that "other minorities benefit from our work."

Chief Skinner has officially been recognized for being in attendance.

A speaker is announcing a blood drive for sickle cell anemia on August 7

One of the previous speakers is now singing the Black national anthem.

The rally has concluded.

No food carts still.

/thread