Thread by @Scott_Kocher

1/6
The marketers hired to greenwash @oregondot's effort to widen the I-5 freeway thru central Portland are rebranding it with with Black themes. This is 3 days after community groups sued, and 1 day before a protest rally at Harriet Tubman school. bikeportland.org/2021/04/08/odo…

2/6
They/we bulldozed Portland's Black community to build this freeway, declaring that “urban renewal, largely clearance, appears to be the only solution to not only blight [...] but also to avoid the spread of that blight to other surrounding areas.” blackpast.org/african-americ…

3/6
The $900m freeway expansion comes at a time when funds are desperately needed in disadvantaged neighborhoods: @Oregondot's multi-lane, high-speed, poorly-lit urban drag strips in East Portland don't meet safety standards, and kill Black Portlanders at 3x the rate of whites.*

4/6
*Sources:
ODOT memo: bikeportland.org/2021/03/05/ore…
Oregon Walks report:
wweek.com/news/city/2021…
Multnomah County report:
multco.us/file/96700/dow…

5/6
P.S. that rally? Friday 4/9/21 at 5-7pm at Harriet Tubman Middle School
nomorefreewayspdx.com/tubmanrally/

6/6
Thank you for reading
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