Cancer is a word that is feared in the African American community. It's affecting mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, and sons and daughters at an alarming rate. In honor of Black History Month, Cierra Sisters is hosting its second annual community conference on cancer.

Powerful Schools reading tutor Kathryn Bryson interviews Allonie Jones, one of her students at John Muir Elementary School, about how she's benefited from the reading program during the Powerful Schools 10th annual Breakfast, Jan. 24 at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel.

An exhibition of sculpture by 20th century African American artist James W. Washington Jr. will run from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout February in the City Hall Gallery, 600 Fourth Ave.
The exhibit features 14 sculptures, a dozen photographs of the artist at work and four large text panels giving context to the work of Washington, who lived from 1911 to 2000.
Washington's work expresses the unity of humankind and nature, with symbols derived from religion, freemasonry and the animal world.

North Portland resident Chakila Scott-Riley leads the organization Sisters Having to Exceed to provide King Elementary School girls with positive role models.

The Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes addresses a crowd of over 100 people, including the children's choir from Powerhouse Temple, at a candlelight vigil for peace on Jan. 20 in Old Town near the area where Sir J. Millage, 15, was tasered and struck by Portland police in December. Millage, who is autistic, is the great-grandson of Pastor Mary Overstreet Smith, of Powerhouse Temple.

Willie Brown knows first hand how racial profiling can affect an individual.
"There was a time I myself was laid down on the pavement with a gun to my head," he said.
The incident, he added, ended peacefully after officers realized the robbery suspect they were looking for didn't exactly fit Brown's description.
Brown's experience is not entirely exceptional. A 2006 "Listening Sessions Report" — written by Oregon Action and several other community action groups — chronicled pervasive racial profiling by Portland police. The contents of the report were compiled after Oregon Action held several public sessions with both members of the community and police and examined traffic stop data from the police. The data indicated Blacks and Latinos are being stopped and searched at significantly higher rates than their percentage of the population.
After Oregon Action confronted the city with the report, the Portland Police Bureau admitted that racial profiling did in fact occur in its ranks. In response to the report, the City Council appointed Brown and 18 others to a committee enlisted to defeat racial profiling.

SALEM — Starting with the senior class of 2014, it will get tougher to graduate from high school in Oregon, under a plan passed last week by members of the state Board of Education.
That means that this year's fifth graders will need to take four years of English, three years of math at the algebra I and higher level and three years of science to get a high school diploma.
They'll also need to show that they've mastered a set of what school board members are calling "essential skills," including the ability to read and interpret a variety of texts and apply mathematics in a variety of settings.

In an effort to break down the communication barriers between parents and teens, the Multnomah County STARS Program is teaming up with Portland State University to produce an educational DVD about teen sexuality.
The STARS Program, or "Students Today aren't Ready for Sex," uses an abstinence-based approach toward sexual education. Program Manager Kathy Norman said STARS partners with local schools to provide education; local schools determine whether to include contraceptive or reproductive health curriculums.
Norman will co-host several community forums with the PSU students to help determine the direction and content for the yet-to-be produced DVD. The DVD will aim to provide parents with tools to help them communicate with their teen and pre-teen sons and daughters about dating, sexual involvement and decision-making.

CHICAGO — It took 41 years for a Black head coach to make it all the way to the Super Bowl.
Lovie Smith did it Sunday on a snowy afternoon in Chicago. Four hours later, his good pal and mentor Tony Dungy joined him. Not one, but two Black coaches meeting in the nation's biggest sporting spectacle.

Nineteen students received $1,000 scholarships from sponsors of The Skanner's 21st annual Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast on Jan. 15.  Over 1,100 people attended the event, which was keynoted by Luke Visconti, publisher, DiversityInc magazine.