Think Out Loud

The first Tibetans came to the Pacific Northwest to work in the lumber industry. Then, in the early '90s, more refugees were resettled here. Earlier this month, The Northwest Tibetan Community Association celebrated 30 years of Tibetan language and cultural programming.  Jampa Nyendak Lathsang and Dechen Bartso, both volunteers in the community, join us to talk about the Northwest’s Tibetan community.

TOL VMs from listeners about favorite memories of Damian Lillard, following announcement of his trade to the Milwaukee Bucks

Tanya Barham, the CEO of Community Energy Labs, is featured on the Grist 50 list of leaders in the U.S. who are working on solutions for a sustainable future. Grist states that it reviews thousands of nominees before whittling down the final list. Barham’s company works on helping schools and other public agencies create more energy efficient buildings.  Barham joins us with details of the company.

The Sunrise Movement and more than 50 high schools from across the country are working on the Green New Deal for Schools Campaign. The proposal has several demands including safe and clean school infrastructure, pathways to green jobs, and climate disaster planning. We learn more about the new deal proposal from Adah Crandall, an organizer with the Sunrise Movement and graduate of Grant High School in Portland.  

Portland Community Football Club is like a lot of sports organizations for kids. It focuses on soccer, provides coaching, training and opportunities for kids of different ages to play competitively. But the PCFC is unlike many otherwise similar organizations in its mission to serve kids regardless of their gender or their family’s ability to pay. Founder Kaig Lightner says his love of sports began when he was in grade school. He said while he was bullied for not fitting into traditional gender roles, as he was raised a girl, sports was where he felt at home, first with softball, then with basketball, soccer and volleyball. He started coaching at 15. Lightner started PCFC in 2013, mainly serving kids in first and second generation immigrant and low-income families. His mission is to serve everyone who’s interested.and more broadly to “liberate sports.” The teams are not organized by gender and the cost is sliding scale. PCFC will even provide the uniforms and cleats if needed. He also decided to come out to his players as a transgender in 2017 and received more support than he could have hoped for. He joins us, along one of the PCFC players, Saidu Yillah, a high school senior who also referees.

Julian Saporiti found a lot of Asian American songs and musicians when he was doing research for his PhD in American History. But the lack of popular understanding of that history was frustrating. In response, Saporiti founded No-No Boy, a Portland-based music and multimedia project that combines vivid narrative storytelling with Asian American history. Saporiti joins us to play songs from his newest album, “Empire Electric.”

Earlier this month, Nike told the Soul District Business Association that the company would be closing its store in Northeast Portland permanently. Ron Herndon was one of the people who brought that store to NE Portland in the 1980s. As a leader in the community organization Black United Front, Herndon helped convince Nike to support and invest in the Black community. We talk to Herndon about the legacy of that store, and what the closure means for the neighborhood.

The Portland Association of Teachers’ nearly 4,500 union members are currently working without a contract. The union has been in mediation with Portland Public Schools since late August, and both parties have repeatedly stated they would like to avoid a strike. Angela Bonilla, president of the Portland Association of Teachers, tells us what teachers and coaches are hoping for, and what the start of the school year has been like.

For the first time in four years, Oregon State Hospital is in compliance with a federal order requiring that certain patients be admitted to the hospital within seven days. Emily Cooper is the legal director of Disability Rights Oregon. She joins us to share more on what changed at the hospital and its future looking forward.

Oregon is the third state in the nation to seek federal approval for a basic health plan under the Affordable Care Act. Last week, the Oregon Health Policy Board unanimously approved the state’s blueprint for the program. Dave Baden is the interim director for the Oregon Health Authority. He joins us to share more on BHP, who could potentially qualify and what makes this program different than the Oregon Health Plan.